I feel I need to clarify this question first. So, I'm not asking about crazy people - because there's still people today that worry about ghosts and demons and so on. Also, I'm not talking about ascribing bad things to the supernatural with a shrug like "Bobby's soul is now ensnared by Satan, that's why he beats his wife every night."
I'm asking if there was ever a time when they took real precautions against the monsters mentioned in their traditions as if they were real. Would a person ever be more afraid of the monsters lurking in the dark at night than the potential brigands waiting to have their way with him?
Just to stress one final time, I'm not talking about the cultural zeitgeist being more open towards believing in the supernatural. I'm asking if any of this ever entered their daily life in any significant way.
the main thing I want to say here is that I think you are mistaken about the extent to which people have rejected their cultural beliefs. there are places friends of mine do not go because of sasquatch. other communities know that wihtiko is real. within some Christian churches I have attended, the devil and angels are not in any way not real or metaphorical.
the idea that it is only a cultural zeitgeist to believe more in the supernatural misses the fact that it was only ever a minority of the population that ever stopped believing.
for much of the world brigands were never a threat in the way the cold was or being alone or unexplained accidents.
to be clear. many of these monsters were not lurking in the dark, they were known to live in specific places or were understood to be people or such, but people definitely did and do take precautions.