This is mostly about the bogeymen in adventure mode.
I spent a lot of time yesterday looking up mythical creatures, something which would have obvious ties to Dwarf Fortress, but I found something completely unexpected. Under
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendary_creatures_of_the_Argentine_Northwest_region was this:
"If a woman had improper relations with one of the relatives of Almamula, he would punish that woman by transforming her into a series of different forms. First, the woman was transformed in a bogey that would stroll about in the night, seducing, murdering, and devouring any men that she encountered who were alone. Later, Almamula would transform the woman into a mule. The woman, in mule form, would be forced to drag chains during nights on which there were thunderstorms. Finally, Almamula would turn the unfortunate woman into a gigantic black dog with teeth of fire."
So... obviously the bogeymen aren't entirely based on this, because they don't try to seduce you, but most of that first part seems to fit eerily well, especially when wikipedia's main article on the "bogeyman" says that all it is is a creature used to scare children to keep them from being naughty. Pretty much all the examples fill that roll too. I don't think Toady's bogeymen actually care if you're naughty or not(anybody wanna try not fighting anything and see if that makes them safe at night?).
Also, I'm not sure if the creature was actually called a bogey or if that's just a translation thing. Mostly, I just thought this was interesting and obscure enough that I should share.