Tough Traveling – Otherworldly Creatures (Tentacles preferred)

Nathan over at Fantasy Review Barn is the mastermind of Tough Traveling. What’s Tough Traveling? Pretty much, it’s a weekly feature on Thursdays where we dig around to come up with examples of common tropes in fantasy, using Diana Wynne Jones’ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland as our inspiration and guide. Nathan has invited one and all to join in the fun, so feel free to come up with your own lists and add the link on Nathan’s weekly post, which will also contain (unleash) the next weeks theme. So let the fun begin …

This weeks theme?  Otherworldly Creatures (Tentacles preferred)

Just for Tiara, this topic explains itself. Creatures not of our world or even our plain of existence, perhaps living in another dimension. Preferably, though not required, with tentacles. Or really anything with tentacles can be considered weird enough to be otherworldly.

I kinda feel like I should be flogged, and probably eight times, for my inability to come up with a single creature with tentacles. Major fail on my part. I right away thought of Kraken, but I haven’t actually read it! 🙂 So, here is my un-preferred, tentacle-less list of Otherworldly creatures 🙂

Well, I take that back. I actually was able to think of a couple of tentacle creatures. 🙂 So, no flogging needed for me  🙂 Also, as a side note, I now know there is such a thing as tentacle erotica (this really should not surprise me). Thank you internet.

Crazy Baby Scissorhands (for lack of a better name) from Gleam by Tom Fletcher

I don’t know what else to call this thing as it didn’t have a name in the book. Pretty much it is a terrifying, blood thirsty creature with razor sharp claws that also cries and/or giggles like an infant. There are so many creatures in this book that could be included in the list, but I’m going to go with this one, because well, how often does the terrifying creature giggle? Or cry for that matter? This one? It does both! Just like a baby.

Bubble Creature thing from Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reeves

This thing may have had a name, but I honestly can’t remember. And the down side of an audiobook is I  can’t easily flip through to figure it out. Oh well, the name is not important. What is important is that this is a very unique and otherworldly creature. It does not have tentacles, but it is a fun one. It is shaped much like a bubble, with the colors shifting on it as a way to sort of communicate and reflect how it is feeling. I really enjoyed it, but my kids LOVED it!

Vomit Zombies from Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

So, what’s grosser than a zombie? How about a zombie that vomits? Like continually? Like to the point where I had to put the book down because I read one too many zobie style barfapalooza. The book was actually quite good, just a lot of vomit zombies.

Shape-shifting Tentacled Demon from Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett

So, a demon that shifts shapes while your fighting it, but tends to also have lots of tentacles? Yeah, that’s fun. Especially when it has Renna in its grasp! (Sorry, I’m bad, I know. In all fairness, she was a bit less annoying in this one)

Toothy Tentacley Thing from City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Once again, I don’t know what to call this thing. Maybe the theme should have been “nameless crazy creatures that happen to have tentacles”. Or if any of them actually have names, they are forgotten under the details of the creatures themselves. In this one the creature has lots of teeth and lots of tentacles, and a touch of the tentacles causes skin to burn, turning black and bubbling. Yeah, these are not your ordinary cephalopods.

And  now I will leave you with a poster for something I’ve never seen and know absolutely nothing about, but LOOK! Tentacles!