Scotland’s Vanishing Monsters: From Vampires to Kelpies
For centuries, people in Scotland genuinely believed in terrifying creatures — vampires, werewolves, shape-shifting water spirits and more. These entities were once considered a real danger to everyday life.
Ron Halliday, one of Scotland’s leading experts on UFOs and the paranormal, is giving a talk this month in Glasgow about these so-called “disappearing monsters”.
Halliday, who has written multiple books on UFOs, Scottish folklore, and unexplained phenomena, says fear used to focus on mythical beasts — but today it has shifted toward aliens, Loch Ness-style monsters and cryptids like Bigfoot or Dogmen.
He suggests that these beings become “real” because people collectively believe in them.
Below are just a few of the most famous creatures from Scottish legend:
The Gorbals Vampire (Glasgow, 1954)
In 1954, children in Glasgow claimed a seven-foot vampire with iron teeth was killing local kids. Panic spread — hundreds of children armed with stakes, knives and homemade weapons entered a cemetery at night to hunt it. Police were shocked.
Later, adults realized the “vampire” was simply a broken tomb with rusted iron railings that children had mistaken for a monster.
The Wulver (Shetland)
A wolf-like creature with a human body, said to live in the Shetland Islands. Unlike werewolves, the Wulver was not evil — it was believed to leave fish on the windowsills of poor families. It could not shapeshift and was never human.
The Kelpie (Water Demon)
Kelpies were shape-shifting water spirits said to live in Scottish lochs. They often appeared as elegant white or grey horses, but could transform into human form — sometimes still showing hooves, which led some to compare them to the Devil.
Folklore claimed they could be killed with a silver bullet.
Today, their memory survives in the 100-foot steel Kelpie sculptures beside the M9 motorway.
