We’ve taken it upon ourselves to compile a list of the scariest animal names known to man. Some of these creatures are well suited to their nightmare-inducing titles and others, not so much. Read on to discover the top 5 animal names you don’t want whispered in your ear in a dark alley.

1. Goblin Shark

While some of these animals only sound terrifying, the Goblin Shark’s name doesn’t come close to doing the deep-sea creature justice. Aptly called a “living fossil” this shark is generally between 3 and 4 meters long. That’s almost 13 feet of fear-inducing fish. Luckily, this monstrous creature lives at the very bottom of the ocean, far enough away that you don’t have to worry about it’s ratchet teeth nibbling your toes.
Although, Tracy Morgan might have a different opinion on this particular shark.

2. Nightmare Dreamer

The Nightmare Dreamer was allegedly caught in the Northwestern Atlantic; it’s an Angler fish with no known photographs. Shrouded in mystery, this is one fish in the sea we don’t want to catch.

3. Satanic leaf-tailed gecko

This little gecko looks more like an old pile of leaves than a lizard, which works in it’s advantage when avoiding predators. The Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko also has a gaping, wide red mouth for when it wants to scare away threats or call upon it’s daemonic ancestors.

4. Hellbender

Giant, snake eating salamanders, oh my! The Hellbender family are aquatic dwelling giant salamanders unique to eastern North America. They’ve been around for an estimated 65 million years and are actually fairly harmless towards humans. The massive Sallys are also known as Snot Otters, Devil Dogs, Mud Devils, Grampus and Allegheny Alligators.

5. Bone-eating Snot-flower Worm (aka Zombie Worm or Osedax)

Basically the stuff nightmares are made of, this worm actually burrows into a dead whale’s bones to survive. They do look a bit like flowers, however so their corpse-condo living habits are slightly less terrifying. The Bone-eating Snot-flower worm is also a very female empowered species. The male worms are considered to be “microscopic dwarves” compared to their giantess lovers, and they actually live inside of “harems” in gelatinous tubes which surround the females. Hundreds of these tiny, gigolo worms can live inside of the ladies’ harem-sacks at any given time.

Next time you’re looking for a solid insult, a name of a cartoon villain or a terrifying halloween costume, look up this list. We’ve got you covered for all things that go bump in the night.

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