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Magical figures

Even in Forio, as in the rest of the island and in many other areas of the South and of Italy, traditional stories testify the existence of beliefs about magical figures and imaginary creatures. Among the most common there are munaciello, the ianara and the werewolf.
The munaciello,The munaciello, home spirit, ambiguous dispenser of fortune, could occur both in human and animal aspect, such as a white rabbit or a goat.
The ianara was a witch, to which were attributed innate evil and supernatural powers, including the right to cause a 'ndressia, ie conflicts between couples and between parents and children, and to prove u scartiello, the hump. According to the folk tales ianara, woman almost normal during the day, at night it became dangerous, she infiltrated and hid in the house of the person waiting to damage and to land on the belly until he gets out of breat.
The werewolf,mythical figure typical of peasant and pastoral societies was recurrent protagonist of scary tales of family or friends. He was a man who in the full moon is covered with hair and wandered the countryside until dawn howling like a wolf. According to some versions of the legend, it is a disease, a type of asthma, in this case, compared to ianara, to whom the werewolf had in common the birth on Christmas Eve, it was a harmless figure as ill, instead bearer. Other versions instead describe it able to tear other human beings.