A manuscript from Isfahan, Iran, was written by a soothsayer about astrology, magic, and demons. You might think the 56 illustrations that accompany it were from the medieval era, especially one that shows a demon riding an elephant that has no ears. But the watercolor images were added to the volume in 1921, ten or twenty years after the text was written. Plenty of these paintings, although not all of them, depict terrifying demons that come to bedevil humans, plucking out their teeth and poisoning their food. A common theme is that of a demon appearing to people as they sleep, like this monster who licks feet, while his tail sports another mouth and tongue.
These definitely sprang from nightmares. Other beings sport multiple heads, human-animal mixes, and plenty of horns. Read more about the manuscript on demons and see a gallery of pictures at the Public Domain Review. -via Messy Nessy Chic