Ukrainian Halloween: Five mystical creatures from Ukrainian folklore you can dress as

While Ukrainians never had a tradition of celebrating Halloween the way it's shown in pop culture worldwide, they've always enjoyed dressing up. During Christmas and New Year celebrations, people in Ukraine traditionally wear the costumes of animals, fairy-tale characters, or even political figures to go caroling or perform fun ancestral rituals.

Profoundly connected to their ancient traditions and beliefs, Ukrainians preserved an abundance of folklore legends, myths, and stories about magical or even dark creatures, which you can use as inspiration for eerie Ukrainian Halloween costumes.

If you're fascinated with all things Ukrainian, would love to learn more about Ukraine's culture, and get some Halloween costume ideas, continue reading. Rubryka offers a list of five Ukrainian folklore creatures you can dress as on Halloween.

1. Mavka

Halloween costume ideas: Ukrainian artist Sofia Karaffa-Korbut created illustrations for Lesia Ukrainka's Forest Song publication in 1971. Photo collage: Rubryka

Ukrainian people have passed the image of Mavka, one of the most alluring figures of Ukrainian mythology, through generations in fairy tales, legends, and works of literature. They imagined her as a beautiful young woman with flowing green hair and a long white gown adorned with flowers, so she's often compared to a nymph or mermaid.

Ukrainian folklore says Mavkas are the restless souls of drowned girls who dwell deep in the forests, planting flowers and dancing in clearings. Traditionally, Ukrainian people believed that these creatures were dangerous, especially for young men. A man lured by a mavka into the woods would be lost and never find his way home.

In modern popular culture, Mavka has lost its original darkness. Now, she's most associated with the work of Ukrainian playwright and poet Lesia Ukrainka, mainly her play The Forest Song, in which Mavka is the leading character, romanticized to represent the magic and gifts of nature. The creators of the animated film Mavka: The Forest Song reinterpreted the play's plot for children. You can watch it online for Ukrainian Halloween inspiration.

2. Chuhaister

Halloween costume ideas: The Ukrainian folklore creature Chuhaister protected the forest. Photo: UKRCOL

Like Mavka, Chuhaister is another mystical creature of Ukraine's mythology, destined to roam the forests. One legend from the Carpathian Mountains says he was once a human whose neighbor cursed him to wander in nature for eternity.

From a man, he turned into a creature as high as a fir tree with a long white beard, piercing blue eyes, and skin covered in fur. Despite his fierce appearance, Chuhaister isn't dangerous. In old stories, he's known to be friendly to people. He often appeared at campfires set by travelers in the meadows and invited people for wild dances.

Ukrainians believed he was a protector of the forest and people who might venture into it, like shepherds and their flocks of grazing sheep from the nearest mountainous villages. Chuhaister's true role as a guardian was to hunt Mavkas. He caught and tore the forest nymphs apart for food and helped lost men find their way out of the woods.

3. Povitrulia

Halloween costume ideas: Povitrulia is affectionate but as elusive as the breeze. Photo: Magic World

Povitrulia is another mythical female creature that could be perfect for a Ukrainian Halloween costume. Because her name derives from the word "povitria," meaning air, Ukrainians associated her with the air element and often called her the "daughter of the mountain winds." This Ukrainian folklore figure is commonly depicted as a red-haired, ethereal beauty draped in flowers with delicate wings that help her float above the ground.

Unlike many mystical women-like spirits of forest, mountains, and water, such as mavkas or mermaids, the povitrulia is compassionate and kind to people, even said to aid lovers. Povitrulias were also believed to love music and dancing, especially the sound of the flute, so shepherds and travelers carried musical instruments with them for a chance to charm these free-spirited beings.

According to the myth, a man can even marry a povitrulia, but to do that, he must steal her wings. Once a man takes her wings, she may become a loving wife and mother, bound to her earthly life. However, the moment she reclaims her wings, she will vanish into the unknown, and her husband should journey across the world to find her and earn back her love.

4. Pesyholovets

Halloween costume ideas: Pesyholovtsi, Ukrainian mystical creatures, were illustrated by Iva Mykhailian for the children's book "Mavka Verbychka and Pesyholovtsi." Photo: Iva Mykhailian/Behance

One of the most terrifying creatures in Ukrainian mythology, Pesyholovets, a monstrous man-eating giant, came to Ukraine from ancient Greek stories and became typical of Ukrainian folklore. Legends often portrayed it as having a human body and a dog's head with a single huge eye in the middle of its forehead. Some tales describe these creatures as also having just one arm and one leg, moving in pairs by holding onto each other for support.

Barbaric, uncivilized, and brutal, Pesyholovtsi lived in distant lands or unexplored parts of the forest. According to myth, they were vicious, incredibly fast, and impossible to defeat. They would drink the blood of their enemies and also capture people, throw them into deep pits, fatten them up with nuts and candies, and then feast on them. Some believe they symbolized cruel foreign invaders — a horde that destroyed everything in its way.

5. Viy

Halloween costume ideas: Viy's gaze could kill anyone in its path. Illustration by librovortex.blogspot

We're finishing our Ukrainian Halloween list with Viy, who might be the most well-known folklore character in Ukraine's popular culture. Viy is a dark and outlandish creature who lives in the underworld and comes to the human plane at the darkest hour of the night. Hunched and covered in mud, Viy has long eyelashes and massive eyelids that couldn't open without the help of its servants. Ukrainians feared the "evil eye," which explains why this creature was believed to have a deadly gaze. 

The novella Viy by Ukrainian writer Mykola Hohol popularized its image. The story told of Viy, surrounded by dark forces, who comes to the funeral of a witch. Some researchers argue that there were no written mentions of Viy until Hogol wrote the story. They tend to believe Viy was the fruit of the writer's imagination, inspired by different Ukrainian folklore creatures. This fact doesn't make Viy any less terrifying and mysterious.

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