Ratmen in Folklore

In ‘Fireside Horror,’ the English City of Birmingham, one of the centres of British production during the industrial revolution, has a problem, and from the title of this particular blog, I imagine you can take a healthy guess at what kind of problem that is.

But are there really any Ratmen to be found in British Folklore, well actually yes, albeit a relatively modern piece of folklore. So I present to you dear reader: The South-end-on-Sea Ratman.

The story goes that an old tramp took shelter in an underpass one wintery night. unfortunately for this rambling hobo, he was discovered by the town drunks, who gave him a beating, and stole his blanket. (I have to say, the beating is bad enough, but to steal the poor chaps blanket too, well I’m lost for words…..) Anyway it was a cold night, and the chill, combined with his injuries was enough to finish this poor drifter off. However, before the body was discovered the rats had taken to gnawing his remains. From then on the underpass became haunted, but it was not merely the ghost of an old man that troubled this place, Oh no, it was the ghost of rat, walking on two legs like a man, squealing and scuttling in the dark!

Ratmen also appear in Dungeons & Dragons, where they are called Wererats, as the name suggests these beings are akin to werewolves, transforming from men and women, into human-rat hybrids. though whether this change is induced by the full moon or simply the sight of a full wheel of cheese I cannot say for certain.

Games Workshop also created a wonderful race of Ratmen for their miniature wargames system, they are marvellously fun models, I actually own an army of the ratty ne’er-do-wells, photos of my army can be seen below, they fight in mighty hoards, over-whelming their opponents.