BoM/TWS Message Forum

No. The masks and mind bands check for human essentia. Ghouls may be human-like, but it's most likely they have different essentia, and the same would be for sasquatches.

To attempt to bind the concept to the discussion by taking another tangent: as far as we know, Aidan is a human being, but there's a good possibility that he's a Lamia, given the parallels with the captured creature in "The Vampire and the Snowman". If Aidan becomes capable of using a mask, it would be proof that he has human essentia, and if he is of the same cryptid type as the creature from that story, then it's reasonable to think that said creatures also have human essentia.

Of course, that would imply defining whether essentia is associated with a creature's species, genus or family. It's obvious it's not associated to a creature's kingdom because that would make masks work with every animal; it's also reasonable to think that humans are unique enough that our essentia is extremely different from every other animal. But it's entirely possible to figure whether something that checks for "cat" essentia would not just react to all species of house cats and wildcats (Felis) but also big cats (Panthera), lynxes and bobcats (Lynx) and cougars (Puma), as they're part of the same family and we associate with being either a "cat" or "cat-like".

This is what matters entirely. Is a sasquatch "human" or "human-like"? Is a ghoul "human" or "human-like"? If not, then it doesn't count as human. Given how ghouls are related to undead, they may be "human-like" but cannot be human because they're undead - and most likely, they lack essentia altogether.

(For an easier way to see it: if you've played D&D or any kind of RPG that has creature "types", and you... say, attack with a weapon that deals additional damage to a specific kind of creature such as "flying" or "undead", the weapon "checks" if the creature is from that type before triggering. This kind of "check" is how it works for the masks: it checks for "human" or "humanoid" type.)