Pagan Europe used to be more diverse before Christianity came over.
Just let's take Slavic folklore of Central/Eastern Europe with creatures like Baba Yaga (forest), Poludnitsa (summer fields, noon time heatstrokes), Rusalka (water), Vodnik (water) lot of fire and swamp daemons - everything which was considered harmful for kids.
These remains are still part of children education mostly with literature, rituals from pagan times and of course grand parents passing these stories.