Kraken

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TOP 10 SCARIEST: Ranked #10

GO DEEPER: Scary Sea Monsters

ORIGINS: Tales about the Kraken go all the way back to the 12th century, when sailors in Norway and Iceland first reported a sea creature so massive in size it was often mistaken for an island. According to Norwegian mythology, the Kraken had large eyes the size of dinner plates, a high forehead and tentacles the size of ships. Is it possible something so monstrous could be more than a tall tale?

STRANGER THAN FICTION: Once believed to be a mythical sea creature, scientists discovered a giant squid in 1853 that could explain the stories long told by ancient mariners. Though not as enormous as Kraken legends suggest, the giant squid is capable of latching on to a small boat with tentacles that reach up to 55 feet (16.7 meters) in length, and it can swim up to 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour). In 2007, fishermen caught a jumbo squid weighing more than 900 pounds (408 kilograms) in New Zealand's Rose Sea; by most accounts, it's the largest squid ever captured. Could the giant squid be the Kraken? Or does something even larger and more fearsome wait in the darkest depths of the sea?

UNLEASH THE KRAKEN!: The Kraken has inspired countless works of fiction throughout history. The earliest ode to the Kraken is a sonnet (aptly entitled "The Kraken") penned by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, which inspired the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea published in 1869 by Jules Verne. More than a century later, the fascination with this mythological monster hasn't abated. Hollywood recently unleashed this monster squid on the big screen in films like the remake of Clash of the Titans and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.