Tradition / Region: Russian Mythology
Alternative names: Manya
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Maniac is a ghostly being of Russian folklore associated with evil spirits and uncanny apparitions. It is an elusive creature with no fixed form, appearing as a phantom, vision, or wandering spectre.

In northern Russia, northeastern regions, and Siberia, the Maniac often takes the shape of a frail old woman. Such apparitions were especially known by the name Manya, and people regarded them as ghosts rather than living beings.

In central and southwestern Russia, however, the Maniac was believed to appear in a different form. It manifested as a fiery spirit resembling a falling star streaking across the night sky. These celestial apparitions were considered sinister omens.

According to popular belief, anyone who witnessed such a falling star invited misfortune upon themselves. The sight foretold inevitable death, either for the observer or for a member of their family. Because of this, experienced people avoided looking at shooting stars and regarded those who casually remarked, “A maniac has flown,” with suspicion and unease.

Another tradition held that Maniacs appeared to women harvesting grain in the fields on the feast day of Saints Kirik and Julitta, celebrated on July 28. These apparitions were vague and shadowy, more like haunting visions than physical beings.

Known variously as ghosts, spirits, and ill-omened phantoms, the Maniac was feared not for violence but for the doom and death believed to follow in its wake. Whether appearing as an old woman or as a blazing star falling from heaven, it remained one of the unsettling spectres of Russian folk belief.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Manjak. In New Bestiary: Encyclopedia of Imaginary Beings. Retrieved June 20, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/manjak

The Myth

Igosha is a spirit found in Russian folk belief, understood as the soul of a stillborn baby or a child who died before baptism. It is described as an armless and legless creature, sometimes invisible, sometimes imagined as a small, malformed being. Because it died without baptism, the igosha is believed to be unable to find rest.

According to belief, stillborn or unbaptized children often remained close to the place where they were buried—frequently under the floor of the house, near the hut, or within the household space itself. Over time, such spirits could become domestic beings, lingering inside the home and wandering through it at night.

The igosha behaves much like other house spirits such as the brownie or kikimora. It plays pranks, causes disturbances, and brings mischief, especially if it is ignored or disrespected. People believed that if the household failed to acknowledge the igosha—by not leaving a spoon, a piece of bread, or other small offerings—it would become more troublesome. In some traditions, people would throw a mitten or hat out the window as a gesture of recognition, treating the igosha as a house spirit rather than denying its presence.

One belief says that the kikimora feeds the igosha wolfberries, which the spirit can eat without choking, reinforcing its non-human nature. The igosha is often described as incomplete or unfinished, reflecting the idea that it barely entered the world before dying. Its lack of arms and legs is sometimes interpreted as a sign of this incompleteness or as a hint of a snake-like nature.

Information about igosha is rare, and the belief appears only sporadically in folklore records. The figure later inspired the literary fairy tale “Igosha” by V. F. Odoevsky, published in 1833, which drew directly on these traditional ideas of an unbaptized, restless child-spirit haunting the domestic space.