We’ve seen oodles of werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, and ghosts. Oodles of boring. But every once and a while, when drowning in the death pool that is free eBooks, you’ll run across the more obscure species. Here are some fun ones.

Pooka: This is the scariest creature of all: an Irish black horse that compels you to ride it . . . then throws you off. Some tales say the pooka/pwwka/puca can be any shape, others don’t. No matter what, any book with a pooka involved promises great fun. Especially when the characters take this finicky horse so seriously.

Kitsune: Think the Pokémon “Ninetails,” which was based off of this Japanese fox spirit. They normally have nine tails (obviously) and have great skill with magic and illusions. A few authors will use the kitsune to back up their “werefox” idea. As you can imagine, anyone that would scrounge up this creature usually has a quirky plot to go with it.

Kappa: Here’s a mischievous little water spirit that rarely ever makes a true appearance. It has many random names from different parts of Japan that also won’t grace this page. These little minions are labeled a nuisance if mentioned at all as most characters focus on weirder things like a nine-tailed fox. Which is their loss since these little blood suckers attack when their prey is rude. That’s right. The kappa’s biggest weakness: manners. Teenagers beware.

Kelpie: This describes a Celtic half horse, half fish – think a mermaid but the lady bits are horse bits – that hangs out in rivers and ponds. Sometimes it will drag people underwater and eat them. Other times it will compel them to take a ride (sound familiar?), then gets super sticky and jumps into the water, drowning its rider. Despite the legends of death, this animal has lately been one of benevolence, even associated with the “White Stag” myth.

Djinn: This term is not so much “fun” as a necessity. Forget “genie.” There is no genie. That word is left to references to 5 year-olds and references to “Aladdin.” Disney morphed the original, Arabic “djinn” or “jinn” into a charismatic, blue blob named “Genie.” Any book or story that uses “genie” in all seriousness should be mocked and abandoned for its childishness. It’s djinn. D. J. I. N. N.