Aquatic creatures. Turkey

Stories of something strange inhabiting Lake Van go back centuries. It has been speculated that tales of “water dragons” from Armenian folklore called Vishaps have been present here for centuries, and there is apparently a church on a lake island called called Akdamar Island that carries an engraving of one of the creatures in the lake dating back to 915 AD. However, perhaps the earliest documented news report of something bizarre lurking within Lake Van comes from the Ottoman Period, when in the year 1889 three men were on a journey through the area on their way from Tatvan to Ahlat and stopped to rest and set up camp at the lakeshore, at the time undoubtedly not expecting at all what was to happen next.

According to the report, which was carried in the Ottoman newspaper the Saadet News, at one point they made their way to the water’s edge in order to wash their hands, and as they did an enormous and very fierce monster came surging up from the depths to attack them. The beast allegedly grabbed one of the men and began to drag him into the water, and although the others tried to fight it off with fire they were unable to overcome its immense strength. The creature purportedly thrashed wildly and let out an ear piercing shriek before bolting under the waves with its still screaming victim, the body of which was never found.