What is Gulyabani? Anatolia's Most Terrifying Folkloric Creature
What is Gulyabani? One of the most terrifying figures in Anatolian/Mesopotamian folklore; a creature with backward feet, hairy body, wandering through graveyards, attacking travelers and graves. Origin: A multi-layered legend extending from Persian and Arab mythology to Anatolia. Physical characteristics: Tall, bearded, foul-smelling, sometimes appears disguised as a woman. Literature & cinema: Popular culture impact extending from Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar’s novel to the film “Süt Kardeşler.” Imagine a creature wandering among graveyards on dark nights, confusing those who follow it with its backward feet, terrifying people with its hairy body and horrific smell. If you immediately thought “jinn” at the backward feet part, you’d be wrong. Gulyabani, one of…
What is a Jump Scare?
Our protagonist opens the mirrored bathroom cabinet and grabs their toothbrush and toothpaste. Meanwhile, the music gradually swells, and we brace ourselves for the moment when the cabinet door closes to reveal something sinister in the mirror’s reflection. But nothing appears, and the music has built up for nothing. It doesn’t come because the director figures this formula has been overused, audiences won’t fall for it anymore. That’s why we actually experience that heart-stopping moment immediately after, when the camera pans to reveal a silhouette in the bathroom door’s glass panel. In the end, that moment happens, our bodies jolt from the scare, and then we surrender to that sweet…
