Skinwalkers are a type of harmful witch in Navajo culture who have the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal. They are never referred to as healers and are associated with trickster animals such as coyotes, as well as other creatures associated with death or bad omens. Skin-walkers may be male or female and can possess living animals or people and walk around in their bodies. Skin-walker stories told among Navajo children may be complete life and death struggles that end in either skin-walker or Navajo killing the other, or partial encounter stories that end in a stalemate. Non-Native interpretations of skin-walker stories typically take the form of partial encounter stories on the road, where the protagonist is temporarily vulnerable, but then escapes from the skin-walker in a way not traditionally seen in Navajo stories.

Skinwalkers are not well understood outside of Navajo culture, but they have inspired scary stories of all varieties. They are humans that change into animals, often wolves, and are often lumped into the werewolf category of horror stories and the dogman/wolfman category of cryptids by settlers. Skinwalkers are evil beings in Navajo stories, witches, and human sorcerers of dark magic who attain their status by committing specific atrocities such as murdering a family member. Their defining characteristic is that they can shapeshift into other creatures, such as foxes and coyotes, but mostly they turn into wolves. Skinwalkers want to be monsters and are not tragic characters turned lupine against their will, as in horror stories, nor are they some species of evolutionarily-confusing creature, as in cryptid legends.

In recent years, there have been reports of sightings of skinwalkers, and some people have claimed to have encountered them. However, these claims are not scientifically proven, and there is no concrete evidence to support the existence of skinwalkers.