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No doubt you’ve heard of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, but you may not have known that they belong to a class of creatures called cryptids. The technical definition is a creature that can’t be proved to exist, even though sightings of this “thing” may have occurred. The definition also includes sightings of creatures thought to be extinct.
Yeah, so that’s the “technical” definition. One that makes more sense to me is, “Creatures you might see featured in the Weekly World News.” Which is not to say that these creatures aren’t really lurking somewhere – in fact, some cryptids have been proven to exist. For example, the Kraken, a mythical sea monster, is now widely accepted as an early description of the giant squid, which does, in fact, inhabit the seas (although it’s hard to catch alive).
So, on the chance that some of these cryptids aren’t just local legend or mythological beings, here are nine to watch out for.
1. The Mongolian Death Worm
Even the name is terrifying. This two-to-four foot-long worm supposedly makes its home in the Gobi Desert. Locals refer to it as “allghoi”, which means “blood filled intestine worm”. Yummy. The allghoi’s might be able to kill you by secreting a yellow poison that kills on contact, but it probably doesn’t need to. It’s rumored that it can also kill from a distance by some sort of electrocution. Adventurers should definitely avoid the Gobi Desert in June and July, because that’s when the allghoi is the most active. Also, you’re going to want to avoid wearing your “When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade” shirt, because the Death Worm is attracted by the color yellow. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Note: Kinda reminds me of the sandworms from Beetlejuice.
2. The Beast of Bray Road
If you’re near Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and see something resembling Bigfoot or perhaps a large wolf walking on its hind legs, don’t stop to see if it’s friendly. The Beast of Bray Road might not actually kill you – so far the only suspicious activity chalked up to this maybe-werewolf is the slaughter of small game and deer. One Web site says it behaves aggressively, though, so I probably wouldn’t try its patience.
3. Beast of Gévaudan
While we’re talking about Beasts, we should discuss the Beast of Gévaudan. It’s a French cryptid that killed an estimated 60-100 people between 1764 and 1767. It must have been quite a peculiar-looking thing, because eyewitnesses describe it as being about the size of a cow with a long, lion-like tail, red fur and a head with small pointed ears and sharp fangs. King Louis XV sent acclaimed hunters after the beast, who successfully killed an abnormally large wolf in September of 1765. When more attacks occurred in December of the same year, it was concluded that the wolf that was killed was not the Beast in question. Another large creature was killed in June of 1767 – when they gutted it, the remains of a little girl were found inside. The deaths ended after that, so presumably the right thing was killed… the question remains, though, what was that thing?
4. The Brosno Dragon
If Nessie has a cousin, the Brosno Dragon could be it. He’s been lurking in Lake Brosno in the Russian city of Novgorod since the 13th century, according to one report. That’s when he ate some of Batu Kahn’s (grandson of Genghis Khan) soldiers and horses when they tried to let their horses drink from the lake. Supposedly Batu Khan and his soldiers were so scared that they turned tail and ran, leaving Novgorod in peace. Today, most people are understandably skeptic about the existence of the dragon and some seem to think it could be a mutant beaver… which really seems just as strange in my book, but whatever. One scientific approach suggests that gas bubbles up from the bottom of the lake and makes it look like something large is moving under the water.
5. The Jersey Devil
The Jersey Devil, AKA the Leeds Devil, supposedly came about in the 18th century when a woman had her 13th child. She was so sick of having children with her husband (whom she did not love) that she would rather have the Devil’s child than have one more child by her husband. Her wish was granted and the baby was born with claws, a tail and hooves. Ouch. It flew out the chimney and began to terrorize New Jersey, including some notable people like Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother and Commodore Stephen Decatur. There was a week in January of 1909 that the Devil seemed particularly bent on wreaking havoc – it was sighted every single day, attacking dogs and people. By Friday of that week, people were so scared that businesses and schools were actually shutting for the day out of fear.
6. Dobharchu
A traditional Irish ballad tells the tale of Grainne Ni Conalai on September 24, 1722. She went to Glenade Lake in County Leitrim to bathe and never came back. When her husband went to look for her, he found her mangled near the water with a huge beast, a cross between an otter and a dog, lying asleep on her. Her husband returned home and got his brother; together the two of them went back to the lake and used their horses as bait. When the dobharchu lunged at the horse, the brothers stabbed it in the heart. Some stories say they sliced its head off.
Before it died, though, let out a whistle to call its relatives to seek vengeance. It doesn’t look like there have been any sightings since, but just the same, I can’t imagine they get many skinny-dippers in Glenade Lake these days.
7. The Pope Lick Monster
With a name like that, you would expect the Pope Lick Monster to have a very odd story of origin. You might be disappointed to learn that it’s really just named for the creek/railroad trestle it was sighted at – Pope Lick Creek and trestle near Louisville, Kentucky. The half human, half goat kills people in one of two ways: he’s either so horrifying that when people encounter it near the trestle, they would rather jump off the bridge to their deaths than be near it, or he hypnotizes whoever he finds and tosses them off.
No matter what you believe, the fact remains that there is a relatively large number of accidental deaths at that very location.
8. Kikiyaon
The Kikiyaon gives a whole new meaning to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. It lives in West Africa and looks kind of like an owl… an owl with razor-sharp talons and a deadly beak. You know it’s coming after you when you hear the strangled cry it makes, which turns into a scream that lingers in the air. One account says it’s similar someone being strangled very slowly. If you see it and escape, don’t start thanking your lucky stars just yet – you’ll probably die soon afterward anyway. It flies faster than a man can run, so most likely you’re doomed anyway… if it exists.
9. The Mothman
Our list concludes with a cryptid you might have heard of, especially if you saw the Richard Gere-Debra Messing movie The Mothman Prophecies. The Mothman is, as you would expect, a creature that looks like a human with giant wings on his back. Most descriptions say he has bug-like red eyes. He was first sighted in West Virginia by two couples who were out on a late night drive. For the next year he was sighted by numerous people, some claiming to be chased at more than 100 miles per hour. A little more than a year after the first sighting, the Silver Bridge collapsed into the Ohio River, killing 46 people. The Mothman wasn’t seen as much after that. So was the Mothman trying to warn locals about the impending doom? Or did he cause it? Either way, Point Pleasant, W.V. has become well-known as being the home of this cryptid and even embraces the fact: the town erected a 12-foot statue of the Mothman and just celebrated their sixth annual Mothman Festival in September.
Do you have any cryptids in your area, or know of some I didn’t cover here? Do tell. I love this stuff.
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Comments (49)
Comment
How about the Chupacabra? That one has always been my favorite. For a while I thought one was living behind my apartment in San Diego.
I think there was a news story recently about a woman thought to have captured a chupacabra, but it ended up being a really unfortunate looking coyote.
posted by Lauren on 12-7-2007 at 8:06 am
Thanks for the great post. I love this stuff, too. You mention the Richard Gere film about Mothman, but you could have also mentioned the 2001 French film called, The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which is about the Beast of Gévaudan. The movie proposes a solution to what the beast was. Cool flick.
posted by Scott A. on 12-7-2007 at 8:07 am
For centuries since colonial times, Frederick County, Maryland, was terrorized by the Snallygaster, a sort of cross between a bird and a reptile, by most accounts. It hasn’t been seen in recent decades, as far as I know. In 1932 there was a fanciful story in a local newspaper telling about a sighting that ended with the poor creature plunging into a large vat of moonshine (remember, this was during Prohibition) and meeting its end. Legend says it may have left an egg behind, however.
posted by MandC on 12-7-2007 at 8:32 am
Hey MandC! I live in Frederick County! I think I remember hearing about the Snallygaster as a child, but I will definitely have to research this now. I’ve experienced some of the local lore, like putting powdered sugar on the back of the car to see the handprints at Spook Hill. There are a lot of stories in this county!
posted by Lauren on 12-7-2007 at 8:42 am
Regarding the “Pope Lick Monster,” AKA The Goat Man among locals, the high number of casualties attributed to this phenomenon might have something to do with the tendency for people to cross The Trestles [as train bridge is known among locals] impaired by alcohol and other intoxicants. Like cow tipping, going to The Trestles and hunting The Goat Man is not something one usually finds interesting while sober. Not surprisingly, active train track + intoxicated pedestrians = high risk of squishiness.
You might think by all this that I don’t believe in The Goat Man, that it’s just Darwin taking care of some drunk teenagers on a bridge. I wholly believe in The Goat Man and all the mysterious phenomena attributed to the Pope Lick Road area [witches, Satanists, etc.] It’s all true. The Goat Man will mess you up.
posted by Edward on 12-7-2007 at 8:56 am
If you guys like this sort of stuff, check out the Weird U.S. series of books. I heart them. I was obsessed with Weird Pennsylvania when I lived in Philly; now I’m just waiting for Weird Iowa to come out. It’s probably not a big priority for the authors, though. =)
posted by Stacy on 12-7-2007 at 9:01 am
Great post!
As a former resident of NJ I grew up w/ the Jersey Devil stories ( and Weird NJ) ……
Now I live in Northwestern Montana, and we have a cryptid here! I live on the Flathead Lake, home to the Flathead Lake Monster (think Nessie). It’s very cool. They even have sightings reported in the local newspaper all the time.
posted by qt314159265 on 12-7-2007 at 9:08 am
Weird NJ rocks. The magazine and books are FANTASTIC (the show on the History Channel, not so much). For such a tiny little state we sure have a lot of craziness. A friend of mine used to live on Leeds Road (of Jersey Devil fame) and his neighbor (with the last name of Leeds) claimed to a descendant of the infamous mother. Pretty creeptacular. If you’ve ever been through the Pine Barrens it’s easy to see where these scary stories would come from.
posted by Jessica on 12-7-2007 at 9:36 am
Wikipedia has a pretty good list of cryptids
posted by Will on 12-7-2007 at 11:07 am
I loved this post! These things are great… The rational brain doesn´t believe in any of it but I would not go walking alone in the dark in any of these places!
posted by GTT on 12-7-2007 at 11:27 am
My sister-in-law’s husband also claims relation to the family of the Jersey Devil, not sure exactly how closely related. Another cryptid I grew up with was Champ the Lake Champlain lake monster, I remember my dad taking me up there to visit Fort Ticonderoga and telling me to keep my eyes out for the monster. I really should read up on Weird NJ now that I live there.
posted by Eli on 12-7-2007 at 12:21 pm
The Beast of Gevaudan was likely a Barbary Lion. Cows were much smaller then because of diet and lack of vet care and antibiotics, so the size would be about right, and Barbary Lions are from the coast of North Africa, and were captured for shows and collections, so one getting loose is not out of the question.
posted by JP on 12-7-2007 at 1:13 pm
There was a movie made about #3. I think it was called “Les Pact De Lous” or “Brotherhood of the Wolf”. Pretty good French film with allot of Savate martial arts action.
posted by Jared P on 12-7-2007 at 1:19 pm
The Big Muddy Monster of Murphysboro, Illinois.
posted by Tammy White on 12-7-2007 at 2:36 pm
We have Champ in Lake Champlain between Vermont and New York. Similar to the Loch Ness Monster, it is also the mascot for the Vermont minor league baseball team.
posted by Courtney on 12-7-2007 at 3:00 pm
Unfortunately for me, due to slander and gossip spread around my community, I am the local cryptid.
(also on 2 message boards and a blog)
posted by Tdave on 12-7-2007 at 11:21 pm
The Rhinelander, Wi HODAG
posted by Anonymous on 12-8-2007 at 2:43 pm
If anybody is interested in more of this stuff, then look up “cryptozoology” - yeah, there are people that study/search for these creatures.
Also, unexplained-mysteries forum has a section dedicated to it.
posted by Tokio on 12-8-2007 at 3:08 pm
Really enjoyed this article.
Haven’t been to this site before but will check up on it now :)
posted by Ben on 12-8-2007 at 3:36 pm
This might sound a little strange, but my friend and I are convinced that we saw the Chupacabra. We were driving down a rural road late at night in New Mexico, and we saw this animal on the roadside. It was about three feet high, silver/brown colored with spines on its back and a long snout. Everyone keeps saying it was a coyote but I’ve seen enough of those to know that I might have seen the Chupacabra
posted by Sarah on 12-8-2007 at 3:45 pm
One word: ManBearPig
posted by Stephen on 12-8-2007 at 3:45 pm
us Vermonters have our very own Champ (the Lake Champlain Monster)
posted by Thomas on 12-8-2007 at 3:47 pm
is there anything bout NY?
posted by lil monsta on 12-8-2007 at 3:49 pm
You didn’t talk about the Missouri Momo…look it up…it’s equivalent to most of the other bigfoot stories.
posted by Shay on 12-8-2007 at 3:53 pm
Thanks, this was really interesting. About 30 miles north of St. Louis on the Illinois side of the river are some white limestone cliffs. In 1673 early explorers discovered on the face of these cliffs, a painting by Native Americans of a flying dragon like beast known as the Piasa Bird. The Bird That Devours Men Legend has it that that the bird would attack and kill Native American Indians.
When I was growing up in this area during the 60’s’and 70’s, the original painting was still visible, quite large, and scary looking. It has since been recreated.
More information is available on Wikipedia.
posted by Mike on 12-8-2007 at 5:40 pm
Um. In terms of the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot, the definition of “cryptid” isn’t accurate.
Not: “CAN’T be proven to exist.”
Instead: “HAVE NOT YET been proven to exist.”
If they DO exist, that CAN potentially be proven… it just hasn’t. If they DO NOT exist, then certainly that can’t be proven (kinda ironic, but there it is).
-Pie
posted by EatingPie on 12-8-2007 at 6:05 pm
The electricity-spewing worm is not the allghoi, it’s the algore. And it pays for tree planting in the Gobi desert, to compensate for its over-large carbon worm print.
posted by Mark on 12-8-2007 at 6:11 pm
John Keel (author of “The mothman Prophecies) wrote another book, “The complete guide to mysterious beings” in which, besides aliens, bigfoot, and nessie, he lists hundreds of legends of cryptozoology by country, state, and dates. For instance, the flying men in the mid west in the 1800’s, the creatures of White Plains NY, a lot of European creatures etc. check it out. My personal favorite, and one i believe i saw as a child, is the Grinning Man.
posted by asamorris on 12-8-2007 at 6:42 pm
You neglected Australia’s infamous ‘drop bears’, who savagely drop on unsuspecting tourists. An urban legend that has yet to wear out its welcome.
posted by Jordan on 12-8-2007 at 7:01 pm
If you love this topic, be sure to check out Coast To Coast AM. Art Bell, and then George Noory discuss cryptozoology frequently. Also check out the website coasttocoastam.com
Enjoy
posted by Atlantia on 12-8-2007 at 7:47 pm
i was told a story when i was younger about the “Red Devil” that ravaged people down by the Frisco river (arizona). story said that it claimed many lives, and was finally killed one night by soldiers. when the sun rose they looked at it, and it was a crazed camel that was being slowly strangled by it’s shrunken leather saddle. odd eh?
oh, and lets not forget the llarona (ye-rona)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona
posted by Dreux on 12-8-2007 at 8:42 pm
Here is Australia we have these things called Min Min Lights. They’re not what you’d call cryptids, but they’re still interesting and creepy. There have been heaps of reports of people who drive along deserts roads at night and they see what look like headlights from a car heading towards them and then all off a sudden the lights will kinda fling off to the side really fast, faster than a car and disappear. Other versions have the lights following the cars to the side, off of the road.
Sound a lot like ufo sightings but they’re on the ground and are small, not really spaceship size, which leads people to think they’re little light monsters or something…
There’s also the Bunyip/Yowie which lives by rivers and creeks and eats animals and humans at night and apparently it screams a lot… They had a “news” story about it once on tv, some weird eccentric type guy was trying to hunt it down. He hasn’t found it… yet! Dun-dun-ddddduuuuuuuuun!!!
posted by Darleen on 12-8-2007 at 8:42 pm
Also, in Far northern Australia we have the paddykin cryptid, part humanoid part banana.
posted by Keelback on 12-8-2007 at 9:04 pm
My mother tells me about how my grandmother heard la chusa foretell the death of her relative (we live here in San Antonio) . It’s another form of a witch, and looks like an owl. It’s call sounds like a human’s whistle [the kind I can’t do:(].
posted by Zenord on 12-8-2007 at 9:24 pm
wow… about the monster near louisville kinda creeped me out… cause i live in owensboro and thats only 2 hours away. lol but this was a great post though. made me want to look up ghost hauntings… i love this kind of stuff :)
posted by Stephanie on 12-8-2007 at 10:39 pm
One of my favorites is the Wendigo, which is more of a spirit than a monster: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo
Anyone familiar with the Stephen King novel “Pet Semetary” may remember the Wendigo from when Louis Creed is about to re-bury his son.
posted by Christopher on 12-8-2007 at 11:20 pm
i’m mongolian. luckily i’ve seen the allghoi(olgoi. it means part of your stomach) in gobi dessert(govi) Our car was stucked in sand hole or dessert wolfes’ hole. Then one of us said ” i see one worm that is very big like sausage. Suddenly that worm spitted on our car and digged into sand then worm was disappeared. then We get off our car, we saw what he did on our car. That was very big hole
posted by Munka on 12-8-2007 at 11:28 pm
Re: “The Pope Lick Monster”
“or he hypnotizes whoever he finds and tosses them off.”
Hmmm, I’d rather jump off the bridge the bridge than be wanked to death by some monster.
posted by Slacker75 on 12-9-2007 at 4:43 am
Slacker, that’s hilarious. Perhaps if Jason sees this, he will change the wording in that particular paragraph to “throws them off”.
posted by stacy on 12-9-2007 at 9:44 am
Re: The Mothman
I live in Pittsburgh, which is near Point Pleasant, WV. The Mothman is very famous around here. I don’t know anyone who has seen it, but stories abound.
posted by Eric on 12-9-2007 at 9:47 am
I live in Maryland, and we have 2 in this state. One is Chessie, the so-called Chesapeake Bay Monster. It is supposed to be the Chesapeake Bay’s equivalent to the Loch Ness Monster, although it’s pretty much just a joke. I don’t think there have ever been any legitimate sightings of it. The other is The Maryland Goatman. It’s reported to be a Fawn type thing that lives around the abandoned Glen Dale Tuberculosis Hospital in Bowie. It hasn’t killed anybody, according to legend, but it does incapacitate the eyewitnesses so it can make an escape. Just thought I’d add those.
posted by Billy on 12-9-2007 at 2:49 pm
I don’t mean to sound nit-picky, but there are a couple of comments about “the Chupacabra.” The name is Spanish and should be written as El Chupacabras, meaning the sucker of goats (not the sucker of goat). Sorry, but everyone is always so picky about errors and I didn’t see anyone correcting this one.
posted by Ssquach on 12-10-2007 at 12:41 am
I also live in Maryland, and there is SOMETHING in my neighborhood. I was driving home late from the grocery store one night in the Mays Chapel area, and I saw something on the side of the road that I thought was a cat, but it was slightly larger. Then I saw it had bigger ears than a normal cat, but a strangely full tail… it looked like a mixture between a cat and a fox. So I called it the CatFox. I told some friends and one friend claims to have seen something similar. Any ideas?
posted by Molly W. on 12-10-2007 at 11:15 am
Regarding the Bunyip that was mentioned, that’s supposed to be one of the “scariest” because none of the legends that surround it mention any way of killing it. It’s not supposed to be an encounter to be survived.
posted by JS on 12-10-2007 at 9:17 pm
One summer during my childhood, I think it might have been 1984 or so, the area surrounding Leesville, SC was terrorized by “the Lizard Man”. Sightings and attacks made the local news, and I remember a local t-shirt shop making shirts featuring wanted posters and a cartoon “lizard man.” I guess the sightings stopped, but when one of the local news stations celebrated an anniversary recently they joked about the coverage they once gave to the subject.
posted by Jenni on 12-11-2007 at 4:03 pm
You forgot Cthuhlu! ;)
- Jaden
www.undergroundunrest.com/blog
posted by Jaden on 12-16-2007 at 8:39 am
1 word: rougarou
posted by Bridget on 12-21-2007 at 7:51 pm
Molly (#43),
Um. A raccoon? :P
posted by SaDiablo on 1-24-2008 at 4:28 am
How about the Lizard Man of Bishopville, SC, recently reported on FOX NEWS as having reappeared. Check it out. Interesting stuff.
posted by Debbie on 3-8-2008 at 1:18 pm