I Once Read

in a book whose title I've long since forgotten that old-time lore passed down among lumberjacks in the logging camps of North America included tall tales of a weird creature known, rather literally, as the "Staybehind".  That's exactly what it did -- pick some logger or traveler caught out alone in the woods, get right up behind him and stay with him.  If the unfortunate fellow happened to hear its footsteps or somehow sense it and whirled around to confront it, no matter how fast he turned it was always faster than he was and managed to stay right behind him.  But even though the victim could not see it, he knew the creature was there, right behind him, and he could not escape it no matter how fast he ran.  Naturally, no one could tell you what it actually looked like so there was no visual depiction that I could find.  And I don't remember what else, if anything, the Staybehind did.  Could be, it simply followed a victim around in the woods without actually doing anything else by way of physical harm, but simply aroused fear and anxiety by its very presence.  But on the other hand, perhaps it whispered knowingly in his ear, too, or maybe it touched him softly -- or perhaps not so softly -- in sensitive places.  And of course, not being able to see the creature would cause a person to conjure up all kinds of horrible apparitions in his imagination.  The creature was most likely a crystallization of the vague but very real discomfort one is apt to feel when alone in the wilderness, especially in a densely wooded place with all its unseen potential dangers.

Seeing this photo in my Facebook memories reminded me of an incident from my own life from years ago.  There was a period in my past when, for quite some time, I could not shake the feeling that I was being followed and watched everywhere by someone -- or some thing.  I finally got the bright idea -- way too obvious in hindsight -- to check out my shadow.  And sure enough, to my shock -- and simultaneous good fortune -- I was able to capture my own analogue of the Staybehind in this photograph.  And... it turned out to be a giant flying amoeba.  A giant flying amoeba.  Yes, I did freak when I first saw it:  God only knows where it came from or when and how it glommed on to me, but you know what, the good thing is it also turns out that once you learn the identity of your stalker they lose their power over you, to my huge relief.  The amoeba accordingly removed itself from my life instanter, and I have not been bothered by it since.  Whaddayaknow!

This memory reminded me of "The Old Man of the Sea" episode from the tales of Sinbad the Sailor.  The unrelenting, unshakable closeness of the monstrous Old Man certainly is redolent of the nature of the Staybehind.  And I was also reminded of another monstrous being in a movie I once saw, titled It Follows; it was all about a murderous creature which was invisible to everyone but its victims, but chose to appear in human guise -- usually of some grotesque or scary aspect -- to its chosen victim as it followed him/her relentlessly, tirelessly, until it caught up to them.  Once it's killed the victim, it proceeds to follow the last person the victim had had sex with, and so on all way up the line.  It was clearly low-budget, but well made and well acted.  There was no attempt at all to explain away the monster, which was wise;  a clumsy, made-up origin story probably would only have sounded clunky and fake.