The Monstrefact: Mud Monsters Attack

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses a couple of different mud monsters from global traditions…

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from
Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas,
and monsters in time. Sift around through urban legends and

(00:26):
hauntings websites enough and you'll come across talk of the
mud Man of Metz said to haunt Metz Bridge and
mets Iowa. Websites such as Haunted Places mentioned tales of
a mud monster in the depths beneath the bridge, perhaps
a ghost or revenant of a man who died in
a fatal car accident at the site. Some accounts raised

(00:48):
the possibility that this individual died while fleeing a crime
scene and that their bloody crimes doomed them to this
horrible existence in central Iowa. Haunting men of mud can
be found elsewhere in the world as well. Specifically, there
is the do ro Tabo of Japan. The name means

(01:09):
either mud man or rice patty man. This yokai is
generally described and depicted as a humanoid of mud, or
at least a torso of mud emerging from the mud
of a rice patty, grasping about with its arms and
staring out of a single wide eye in its head
as it wails in the night. According to Hiroko Yota

(01:33):
and Matt Alt in their excellent book Yokai Attack, the
do Rotabo is not generally believed to be dangerous. It cries,
it frightens those who encounter it. Some traditions say it
originated in the spirit of a man who lost his
hard earned farmland and now haunting those very rice patties,
cries for its return in the night. The authors share

(01:56):
that the do Rotabo's origins go back at least as
far as say can Toriyama's famous eighteenth century your Kai
book Tales of Monsters then in now, And while it
might be based on pre existing folk tales, it's more
likely a creation of Toriyama himself. I'll have to admit
that this frightening spirit loses some of its appeal given

(02:18):
that it might have been a little more than the
embodiment of a crude sexual metaphor quote to stick a
pole in the rice patty. The door o Tabo's appearance
is vaguely phallic, and the authors point out that Toriyama
may have been referencing Brothels that were located north of
Edo Castle at the time. Mud monsters pop up in

(02:38):
our modern fictions as well. Just to name a few appearances,
you'll find them in the goose Bumps book series and
TV show, as well as the movies Spookies and Terry
Gilliam's two thousand and five fantasy film The Brothers Grimm.
Mud Men have also emerged from the muck and such
role playing games as Dungeons and Dragons, and you'll be

(03:00):
able to smite them in such video games as Blasphemous.
In the natural world, many creatures take advantage of mud,
either as part of their habitat or as an excellent
cooling and sun productive coating for their skin. Mud can
also aid in the removal of ecto parasites, provide relief
from biting insects, and prevent skin from drying out. And yes,

(03:21):
it can also aid in camouflage. The wart hog is
a great natural example of this, but of course, if
you ever find yourself battling invisible aliens in the jungle,
this trick also comes in handy for muscular commandos as well.

(03:43):
Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster fact or
the Artifact each week. As always, you can email us
at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.
Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio.

(04:03):
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