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[Dutchling]

We don't actually have that much in my exact area, but there is a lot on the Indian reservations near us (Arizona is about 1/4th indian land; about 38% of all the total reservation land in the U.S.) so up on the different Rez's you have a lot of that older native mythology (skinwalkers, and all other sorts of native goodies).

O_o

Those still exists? That's definitely my WTF of the day.

[Aqizzar]

Spoiler: I have one exactly like this over my fireplace. (click to show/hide)

I never would have guessed how expensive they are.  I know they're hard as balls to catch and all (I'll tell you the whole story some time), but there can't be that much demand.

[Max White]

Ah the mystical jackalope.
You call that a mythical beast? We have Drop Bears.

[Guardian G.I.]

All of the local myths I've heard are about the Brest Fortress.
When Russian troops were retreating from Brest-Litovsk during World War I, they blew up the entrances to underground supply warehouses. A Russian soldier standing on guard duty was trapped underground in these warehouses (he was unaware of the retreat order). He had been living there for years, surviving on war rations and rainwater, until the warehouse was discovered by some Polish workers in the late 1920s.

[Thecard]

I heard this myth once that there was this place called "Australia."  It's full of magical jumping bears or something.  No one really believes it though.

[Helgoland]

All of the local myths I've heard are about the Brest Fortress.
When Russian troops were retreating from Brest-Litovsk during World War I, they blew up the entrances to underground supply warehouses. A Russian soldier standing on guard duty was trapped underground in these warehouses (he was unaware of the retreat order). He had been living there for years, surviving on war rations and rainwater, until the warehouse was discovered by some Polish workers in the late 1920s.

Sounds like a good fortress idea. DF-wise, I mean.
Also:

Breast Fortress

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[dei]

The local community college teaches a class on mythology, witchcraft and religion.

...Yeah I've got nothing that isn't the babblings of a schizophrenic or a hippie, of which there are a lot of both where I live.

[Thecard]

Breast Fortress

Sounds like a good fortress idea. DF-wise, I mean.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[Guardian G.I.]

Also:

Breast Fortress

(sorry, couldn't resist)

It's a standard American response to the name of our town. Actually, it has nothing to do with breasts - the name of the city comes from the Slavic root "beresta" meaning birch or bark. The original name of the town - Berestye was eventually shortened to Berestiy, then to Berest', then to Brest-Litovsk, and finally Brest.
When the film "The Brest Fortress" (about the defense of the above-mentioned fortress during the first days of the German invasion of the USSR; it's pretty good, by the way) was released on DVD in the USA and EU, its title was changed to "Fortress of War", because Freud was right.

After the battle, the few surviving defenders retreated into the system of basements and underground pathways connecting various parts of the fortress. At night, they went to the surface, ambushed the patrols and then retreated underground. It's easy to imagine how fun was the night patrol for an average German soldier. Soldiers (and especially officers) were especially afraid of the mysterious "frau mit automat", which was basically the Soviet female incarnate of Predator - she had perfect aim, she hunted German officers, and she scared everyone shitless. The Germans didn't have the guts to go into the underground catacombs and clear them out, so they just flooded them.

If you go off the pathways in the fortress, you may stumble upon entrances to the above-mentioned flooded underground pathways. If you're careless enough, you can fall down there and drown.

[Thecard]

Soldiers (and especially officers) were especially afraid of the mysterious "frau mit automat", which was basically the Soviet female incarnate of Predator - she had perfect aim, she hunted German officers, and she scared everyone shitless.

"Woman with Washing-machines"?  Did she throw quarters at them? 

[Guardian G.I.]

Soldiers (and especially officers) were especially afraid of the mysterious "frau mit automat", which was basically the Soviet female incarnate of Predator - she had perfect aim, she hunted German officers, and she scared everyone shitless.

"Woman with Washing-machines"?  Did she throw quarters at them? 

Nah, she had a submachine gun.

[Scoops Novel]

So it actually means wood? You can't win.

[Thecard]

Oh, "Automat" is Deutsch for "machine gun"?

I wonder if any German tourists get scared when they see people in America going in and out of automats carrying full trash bags.

[silverskull39]

not exactly local for me, but in Tennessee and maybe surrounding states of the U.S. you hear about the "Wampus Cat", which I guess stems from Native American folklore. Basically if you have to walk outside at night and you're not from around there the locals try to scare you with vague stories about how the Wampus Cat will get you.

[Helgoland]

Thecard: No, it's not, but language has changed since then. "Automatisches Gewehr" (automatic gun) might have been in use then, giving the "Frau mit Automat" her name.

This is what most Germans today would think of when hearing the word Automat:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)