10 Scary Real Life Monsters That Actually Exist!

Like something out of an alien movie, this real-life monster is the giant isopod. It is a dweller of the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. They can grow to two and a half feet long and are a cousin of the common woodlouse. Like the woodlouse, they also possess the ability to curl up into a ball, where only the tough shell is exposed. This protects them from predators trying to strike at the more vulnerable underside.

The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is a rare, poorly known species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This species looks, unlike any other shark, with a long flattened snout, highly protractible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth, and pink colouration. It is usually between three and four meters (10 - 13 ft) long when mature, though can grow considerably larger. Goblin sharks inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons, and seamounts around the world at depths greater than 100 m (330 ft), with adults found deeper than juveniles.

The jawless, spineless hagfish is the only known animal to have a skull, but no vertebral column. It is a primitive creature that lives at the bottom of the ocean and dates back as far as 500 million years. It has a special defence mechanism by which it exudes a very slippery slime which it uses to escape predictors.

With a name like Goliath Tigerfish, you'd expect it to be one humongous, ferocious creature, and you'd be right. The goliath tigerfish (Hydrocynus goliath) makes a piranha look like a goldfish by comparison. The Goliath tigerfish is one of the most famous tigerfish and it can grow to a weight of 50kg (110lb), with the largest ever caught nearly 1.5m (5 feet) long and weighing 70kg (154 lb). It's mainly found in the Congo River system and Lake Tanganyika in Africa. Locals say it's the only fish that doesn't fear the crocodile and that it actually eats smaller ones.

The blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) is a deep sea fish of the family Psychrolutidae. It inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania, as well as the waters of New Zealand. Due to its low-density flesh, the blobfish's shape is very different when it is out of the water, and takes on a very grumpy look, so much so that it was recently voted the worlds most ugly animal .

The coconut crab (Birgus latro) is the largest land-living arthropod in the world and can grow up to 1m (3ft 3in) in length from leg to leg and weighs up to 4.1kg (9lb). It is found on islands across the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific Ocean as far east as the Gambier Islands, mirroring the distribution of the coconut palm from which it is named.

The colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni), sometimes called the Antarctic or giant cranch squid, is believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass. It is the only known member of the genus Mesonychoteuthis. It is known from only a few specimens, and current estimates put its maximum size at 12 - 14m (39 - 46ft) long. We still know very little about the colossal squid, including how it hunts and we have been aware of the giant squid for centuries, but surprisingly, it still has not been seen alive in its natural habitat. This is mainly because it lives at depths of 2,000 - 3,000ft and it is very difficult for us to conduct research at that depth without noisy and very bright equipment which scares any marine life away.

or a species that has inspired some of the best horror films in history, vampire bats themselves are kind of a let-down. For starters, vampire bats rarely attack people, they prefer sleeping cattle and horses. Secondly, they're not bloodsuckers - they open a patch of skin on their victims using razor-sharp teeth and lap up the plasma that leaks out. The vampire bat's saliva contains chemicals that keep the wound from clotting, which has led some scientists to explore bats as potential stroke treatments.

The Burmese Python is one of the largest snakes in the world and usually grows to 7.5 metres (25 ft) in length and some 90kg (200 lb) in weight, but there have been pythons as long as 15m (50 ft) and as heavy as 450kg (1,000 lb). They grab their victims with sharp teeth, wrap themselves around their target and squeeze. After their prey has suffocated, the pythons swallow them whole.

Recently discovered in May 2013, the blood red slug is a totally bizarre giant new species of slug. It was discovered living around Mount Kaputar near Narrabri in New South Wales - around 323 miles northwest of Sydney. In this remote part of Australia, the slug can grow to lengths of up to 20 cm (8 inches).