This is America’s most celebrated mythical creatures with a modern-day illustrated bestiary of the fifty absolutely made-up, imaginary monsters that definitely aren’t creeping around your home state waiting to strike.
- Alabama – White Thang
- Alaska – Tizheruk
- Arizona – Mogollon Monster
- Arkansas – Fouke Monster
- California – Dark Watchers
- Colorado – Slide-Rock Bolter
- Connecticut – Melon Heads
- Delaware – Selbyville Swamp Monster
- Florida – Skunk Ape
- Georgia – Altamaha-ha
- Hawaii – Menehune
- Idaho – Sharlie
- Illinois – The Enfield Horror
- Indiana – Beast of Busco
- Iowa – Van Meter Monster
- Kansas – Sink Hole Sam
- Kentucky – The Kelly Little Green Men / Hopkinsville Goblins
- Louisiana – Rougarou / Loup-Garou
- Maine – Specter Moose
- Maryland – Chessie
- Massachusetts – Dover Demon
- Michigan – The Michigan Dogman
- Minnesota – Wendigo
- Mississippi – Pascagoula River Aliens
- Missouri – Momo (Missouri Monster)
- Montana – Shunka Warak’in
- Nebraska – Alkali Lake Monster
- Nevada – Tahoe Tessie
- New Hampshire – Wood Devils / Wood Devils of Coos County
- New Jersey – Jersey Devil
- New Mexico – Teratorns
- New York – Champ
- North Carolina – The Beast of Bladenboro
- North Dakota – Thunderbird
- Ohio- Loveland Frogmen
- Oklahoma – Oklahoma Octopus
- Oregon – Colossal Claude
- Pennsylvania – The Squonk
- Rhode Island – Vampire Mercy Brown
- South Carolina – Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp
- South Dakota – Taku-He
- Tennessee – Tennessee Wildman
- Texas – Chupacabra
- Utah – Bear Lake Monster
- Vermont – Northfield Pigman
- Virginia – Snallygaster
- Washington – Bigfoot
- West Virginia – Mothman
- Wisconsin – The Beast of Bray Road
- Wyoming – Jackalope
Alabama – White Thang
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Deep in the North Alabama woods lurks a creature that many people claim to have seen. The legend of the Alabama White Thang has been a staple of the state’s folklore since the early 1900’s. Most sightings of the Alabama White Thang occur in a triangle between Morgan, Etowah and Jefferson counties. People have reported sightings in Walnut Grove, Moody’s Chapel, Happy Hollow, and Wheeler Wildlife Refuge just to name a few.
The descriptions that witnesses give vary wildly. Several accounts describe the Alabama White Thang as being seven to eight feet tall and covered in thick white hair. Other descriptions of the famous creature paint a picture that sounds more like a white lion. Among some of the more strange descriptions reported, one stands out as the weirdest: a tall white creature standing roughly seven feet tall and resembling that of a kangaroo with the head of a cat.
Despite being gigantic in stature, it’s allegedly known for it’s ability to move extremely quickly. Some have reported that even though it stands on two legs, it runs on all fours. Many people claim that the creature sounds like a woman screaming, others report that a foul odor, like that of dead animals, fills the air when the creature is around. Whatever it is, the Alabama White Thang has certainly caught the attention of many Alabama residents.
Alaska – Tizheruk
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In mythology, the Tizheruk are large, snake-like sea creatures that are believed to roam Alaska’s waters. They are described as having a head 7 feet long with a tail ending in a flipper, for a total of 12 to 15 feet long. Tizheruk were said to snatch people from docks and piers.
I’m sure not one of them accidentally fell in, because the docks never get iced over and slippery. Maybe the next time I’m down at the docks in Seward and find myself haphazardly sliding down the ramps on the ice, I’ll blame the Tizheruk instead of my own clumsiness.
The Tizheruk have some similarities to the Haietlik, or “Lightning Snakes,” occasionally associated with the Thunderbird of Southeast Alaska and Pacific Northwest native cultures. Once the Thunderbird spotted a killer whale, it would launch Haietlik as living weapons by throwing them from the skies like lightning.
Arizona – Mogollon Monster
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The Mogollon Monster is commonly described as a large bipedal creature, over 7 feet (2 m) tall with large, red eyes. Its body is said to be covered with long black or reddish brown hair, with the exclusion of the chest, face, hands and feet. Reports claim it has a strong and pungent odor described as that of “dead fish, a skunk with bad body odor, decaying peat moss and the musk of a snapping turtle”
Anecdotal reports indicate the creature is allegedly nocturnal, omnivorous, territorial and sometimes violent. It is generally reported to: walk with wide, inhuman strides; leave behind footprints measuring 560 millimetres (22 in); mimic birds, coyotes and other wildlife; emit unusual whistle sounds; explore campsites after dark; build nests out of pine needles, twigs, and leaves; and hurl stones from locations that are hidden from view. The creature has also been said to decapitate deer and other wildlife prior to consumption. In numerous reports, the monster has been said to emit a “blood-curdling” scream; described as sounding like a woman in “great distress”.Accounts of the creature describe an “eerie silence prior to the encounter, an appreciable stillness in the woods that commonly surrounds predatory animals”.
Arkansas – Fouke Monster
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The Fouke Monster has been the subject of two documentaries in which the filmmakers visited the area to investigate rumors of a big hairy beast. Both groups were lucky in that they returned from the trip unharmed, and unfortunately without any evidence.
People who have glimpsed the beast describe a large, red-eyed creature covered in long dark hair. Some say it stands around 7 feet tall, others say 10 feet. It swings its arms like a monkey and smells like a wet dog combined with a skunk.
California – Dark Watchers
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The Santa Lucia Mountains are a marvel to behold. But as the mountains rise into the California skies with an endless ocean before them, shadowy figures sometimes materialize on the afternoon horizon above them: the Dark Watchers.
Known to 18th-century Spanish settlers as “Los Vigilantes Oscuros,” or the Dark Watchers, these featureless silhouettes appear like witches with brimmed hats and walking sticks in hand. Oral tales across generations warn that approaching these specters could result in one’s disappearance.
Though modern science has suggested that the Dark Watchers might simply be the result of a hallucination, the phenomenon is no less mystifying — or terrifying.
The Dark Watchers have been spotted in the Santa Lucia Mountains for 300 years.
Tales of the Dark Watchers are often attached to the Chumash people of California, but apparently, these Indigenous Americans don’t actually have anything quite like these specters in their folklore.
According to the accounts of Spanish settlers, however, who recorded the massive beings in the 1700s, the creatures towered over mere mortals at 10 feet tall and appeared to be draped in cloaks and donned large, wide-brimmed hats atop their heads.
Colorado – Slide-Rock Bolter
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The Slide-Rock Bolter is a bizarre creature recounted by the lumberjacks of North America during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is believed to live in the mountains of Colorado, but this beast only lived in the mountains where the slope was more than a 45-degree angle. It has an immense head, with small eyes, and a large mouth. It has a tail ending in a fluke like a dolphin, with enormous grab-hooks.
All day long this creature will just wait for a tourist or helpless creature below it. At the right moment, it will lift its tail, thus loosening its hold on the mountain, and descend rapidly down the slope. With the beast’s mouth wide open it would swallow all that got in its way. Whole parties of tourists are reported to have been gulped up in one scoop by taking parties far back into the hills. Its body is also so large and strong that trees in its path are broken and destroyed. Its own impetus carries it up the next slope, where it again slaps its tail over the ridge and waits.
Connecticut – Melon Heads
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Every New England town can claim a ghost and many have a witch in their past, but the melon heads belong to only a handful of places in southwestern Connecticut.
The melon heads live on the outskirts of town on heavily wooded country roads, known as melon head roads. Zion Hill Road, for example, is Milford’s melon head road. Saw Mill City Road is Shelton’s. The melon heads also supposedly live on the outskirts of Monroe, Stratford, Seymour, Weston, Easton, Oxford, Southbury, Fairfield, New Haven and Trumbull.
They look like small humanoids with oversized heads, and they rarely come out from hiding. They survive by eating small animals, stray cats and human flesh, usually the flesh of teenagers.
And for runaway teens or hikers who disappear, the melon heads serve as convenient explanations.
Delaware – Selbyville Swamp Monster
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In the 1960s, an actor named Fred Stevens dressed up as this hairy monster to frighten passing road users, apparently to provide a juicy ongoing story for a newspaper editor friend. However, sightings of the beast since and even decades before Stevens’ hoax are a good reason to stay vigilant.
Descriptions of the monster are inconsistent; sometimes it is said to be a hairy bipedal creature, while other accounts describe a ghostlike figure.
Florida – Skunk Ape
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The Skunk ape, also known as the Swamp ape and Florida Bigfoot, in American folklore, is an ape-like creature that is purported to inhabit the forests and swamps of some southeastern United States, most notably in Florida.
Supposed evidence of the creature’s existence is based on a number of anecdotal sightings as well as disputed photographs, audio and video recordings, and footprints, etc. The majority of mainstream scientists have historically discounted the existence of the Skunk ape, considering it to be the result of a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living animal.
Georgia – Altamaha-ha
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The Altamaha-ha is an aquatic cryptid reported from the myriad network of small streams and abandoned rice fields near the mouth of the Altamaha River (after which it has been named) in southeastern Georgia, particularly around Darien and elsewhere in McIntosh County. Those who claim to have seen it report it to be 10 to 50 feet in length.
No physical evidence has been reported.
The Altamaha-ha is often described as having snake or eel-like qualities (being reported in waterways where ordinary-sized eel species are common) and is said to traverse the river and streams in an undulating fashion with two to three “humps.” It is said to have a tail that is horizontal, rather than vertical, like that of a porpoise.
There have been many reports of such a creature in southeastern Georgia (and a smaller number of similar reports in Florida) going back to at least the 1700s. The local Tama Indian tribe has legends of a giant, snake-like creature inhabiting the waters of and near the Altamaha River that presumably pre-date English settlement of the Georgia coast.
Some have speculated the Altamaha-ha may be an oceanic cryptid that engages in reproductive spawning in the fresh waters in and around the Altamaha River. In any event, there have been several reports of what appear to be juvenile specimens of the creature, in addition to the more numerous sightings of what are presumed to be adults.
Hawaii – Menehune
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Hawaiian legend has it that many centuries ago, the Menehune were a mischievous group of small people, or dwarfs, who lived hidden in the forests and valleys of the islands before the first settlers arrived from Polynesia. These Menehune, who roamed the deep forests at night, were said to be about two feet (60 cm) tall, though some were as tiny as six inches (15 cm), small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. They enjoyed dancing, singing and archery, and their favorite foods were bananas and fish.
The Menehune have been known to use magic arrows to pierce the heart of angry people, igniting feelings of love instead. They also enjoy cliff diving, and according to local lore, they were smart, extremely strong and excellent craftsmen. They were rarely seen by human eyes, and they are credited with mighty feats of engineering and overnight construction.
Idaho – Sharlie
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Sharlie is the name given to a reptile-like sea serpent much like the Loch Ness Monster that is believed by some to live in the deep alpine waters of Payette Lake near McCall, Idaho. The first reference to the sea serpent may be the belief of Native Americans, predating western settlement of the area, that an evil spirit dwelled in the lake. The first documented sighting by western settlers occurred in 1920 when workers cutting ties at the upper end of the lake thought they saw a log in the lake. The “log” began to move.
In August 1944 the serpent was reportedly seen by several groups of people who described it as 30 to 35 feet in length, with a dinosaur-type head and pronounced jaws, humps like a camel, and a shell-like skin.
In September 1946 the serpent was reportedly sighted by a group of twenty people. Dr. G.A. Taylor of Nampa, Idaho explained that “it appeared to be between 30 and 40 feet long and seemed to keep diving into the water. It left a wake about like a small motor boat would make. In 1954 A. Boone McCallum, Editor of The Star News held a contest to name the serpent of Payette Lake. The winning name, “Sharlie”, was submitted by Le Isle Hennefer Tury of Springfield, Virginia. In her letter to Mr. McCallum she said, “Why don’t you call the thing Sharlie? You know – ‘Vas you der, Sharlie?” This was a reference to the popular catch phrase often spoken by Jack Pearl during his old time radio show. Sharlie was reportedly sighted dozens of times between 1956 and the last documented sighting in 2002.
Illinois – The Enfield Horror
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This hissing tripod can leap at least 25 feet in a single bound and may be an evil spirit or an alien, depending on who you ask. But one eyewitness was requested, by the local sheriff, to stop telling his tale as it was attracting real danger to the neighborhood – in the form of beer-swilling monster-hunters hoping to fire a shot or two at the creature.
The Enfield Horror is reported to be a greyish, 4 1/2 feet tall, three-legged beast with two pink eyes as big as flashlights. It has been seen hopping around like a kangaroo, leaving dog-like footprints with six toes.
Indiana – Beast of Busco
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The Beast of Busco resides in Churubusco, Indiana , where it is supposedly a giant snapping turtle. Legend has it that the story starts in 1898, when a farmer named Oscar Fulk supposedly saw a giant turtle living in the seven-acre lake on his farm near Churubusco. He told others about it, but eventually he decided to leave it alone.
A half century later, in July, 1948, two Churubusco citizens, Ora Blue and Charley Wilson, also reported seeing a huge alligator snapping turtle (weighing an estimated 500 pounds) while fishing on the same lake, which had come to be known as Fulk Lake.
A farmer named Gale Harris owned the land at that time. Harris and others also reported seeing the creature. Word spread, and many expeditions were held to try and get the big beast out of the lake, including draining and motor boating the lake. Not much else is known about the Beast of Busco. Some say it is just hibernating and waiting for food to come to it. Some say the Beast never existed and it was just Oscar’s way of making the sleepy town feel alive.
Iowa – Van Meter Monster
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117 years ago, a strange creature was said to have paid a visit to the small town of Van Meter in Iowa.
The strange events occurred in October of 1903. Several respected members of the community told of a mysterious half-animal, half-human winged creature that terrorized some of the town’s residents during several nights in the course of the week. Descriptions of the beast suggested that it had large bat-like wings, left a terrible stench wherever it went, and, even stranger, it fired beams of bright light from its forehead.
The bizarre account recalls how several of the locals attempted to shoot the beast but their gunfire didn’t appear to have any effect. Fed up with the menace, a group of townsfolk banded together one evening and pursued the creature to an abandoned coal mine. There they confronted not one, but two of the beasts, which both turned and disappeared down in to the gloom of the mine as the men opened fire, never to be seen again.
Kansas – Sink Hole Sam
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According to the legend there’s a fairly straightforward explanation for Sink Hole Sam, Kansas’s aquatic answer to the exogorth from Star Wars; it’s just a foopengerkle… whatever that is.
Locals have speculated that the eel-like creature had been living in a prehistoric underground cavern that had filled with water from a sinkhole. This flooding allowed the creature to finally escape. Fishermen reported seeing something that was 15 feet in length and as round as an “vehicle tire.”
Kentucky – The Kelly Little Green Men / Hopkinsville Goblins
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The mythology began, in part, on the night of August 21, 1955, when a large extended farm family called the Suttons arrived breathlessly at the Hopkinsville police station in southwestern Kentucky. Their story of a terrifying siege by otherworldly beings would become one of the most detailed and baffling accounts of an alien close encounter on record—notable for the large number of witnesses (nearly a dozen), the duration of the encounter (several hours) and the close proximity between the witnesses and creatures (sometimes just a few feet away). The incident quickly became regional and even national news.
The alleged encounter occurred on the Suttons’ farm in the tiny rural hamlet of Kelly, Kentucky, where the family lived in an unpainted three-room house without running water, telephone, radio, TV or books. Of all the details of their story—the UFO landing and the appearance of small alien creatures—one fact is indisputable: When the eight adults and three children arrived at the nearby Hopkinsville police station at about 11 p.m., they were genuinely terror-struck.
“These aren’t the kind of people who normally run to the police for help,” police chief Russell Greenwell later told investigators. “What they do is reach for their guns.” Yet here they were, women and children hysterical and one man with a pulse of 140 beats per minute, measured by an investigator.
Louisiana – Rougarou / Loup-Garou
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If you grew up in Louisiana, it’s likely you’ve heard of the rougarou. This beast of cajun folklore is often depicted as a man with a wolf or dog’s head, closely resembling a werewolf. It’s a truly magnificent monster–the pinnacle of legends–and many wonder: how did the legends begin?
Furthermore, where does a rougarou live? What are its traits and characteristics? Should I move away from Louisiana? In this article, we’re going to answer these questions and more to help you decide whether or not the legends are true and what you should do if they are.
The rougarou (also spelled rugaru or rugaroo) has its origins in 16th century medieval French folklore. At the time, it was called the loup-garou, and many crimes were blamed on the beast. If a child disappeared or a house was ransacked, loup-garou often became the scapegoat. Belief in the monster was so strong that many civilians were accused of being the culprit, put on trial, and found guilty.
French and French Canadian settlers eventually spread the legend of the rougarou to Louisiana, and it was through the cajun French that the term loup-garou evolved into rougarou.
Often described as half-man, half-wolf, the rougarou is essentially a French version of the werewolf. According to Louisiana legends, the monster lurks in swamps around Acadia and Greater New Orleans.
Fables based on the rougarou have been used to instill fear and obedience. Growing up, children were sometimes told if they misbehaved, the rougarou would come to take them away. It was also said that French Catholics who broke Lent for seven years in a row would be hunted down and killed by the beast.
Maine – Specter Moose
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In 1891, an extremely large white moose was first seen in Maine by Clarence Duffy of Oldtown, a hunting guide who was working around Lobster Lake. Though he did not get near enough to the animal to take a shot, he could see him plainly.
Horrified by the encounter, when Duffy told his story, he was laughed at. However, a few months later, a Bangor lumberman named John Ross, who was also at Lobster Lake, also saw the big moose. With this second sighting, some people began to believe.
That same year, a New York hunter saw the big moose near Sourdnahunlt Lake and fired several slugs into the animal without the least apparent effect, except for making it angry. The moose then charged the man who took refuge in a bear cave, where he remained for about an hour before the large animal sauntered away.
However, these tales were still mostly discounted until a New York City sportsman, Howard Van Ness, saw the big moose and shot him several times in 1892. This event occurred about 30 miles northeast of Norcross, when Van Ness and three other New York men were hunting.
Van Ness was separated from his companions when he shot the moose, which he described as “weighed a ton, and as tall as a camel, with magnificent head and antler.” After his shot hit the animal just above the shoulder, the moose let out a deep bellow and a grunt before coming after Van Ness, who took shelter beneath a tangled mass of fallen trees and branches. The moose then circled the area at tremendous speed and once jumped over his hiding place before finally giving up.
Maryland – Chessie
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Chessie (Nessie) is Chesapeake Bay’s own blurry, camera-shy water monster. Could be an oarfish; could be an alien. Either way, she’s been particularly shy since video footage emerged in the 1980s – perhaps because overfishing has devastated the local seafood population.
Sightings of Chessie describe a serpent-like creature with flippers. It said to be 25-40 feet long and swims like a snake to move through the water. There are so many movies made based on this creature
Massachusetts – Dover Demon
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The Dover Demon is a famous cryptid that has been spotted in and around Dover, Massachusetts.The demon is described as a grey or white creature having very large, glowing eyes and abnormally long “tendril like” fingers. It can walk on two feet but it prefers to run on all fours.
For the cryptid being so popular, the town of Dover is actually very small with a population of about 7,000 people.
The first sighting of the Dover Demon was in 1977. Dover residents William Bartlett John Baxter separately reported seeing a creature with glowing eyes and long fingers. The next night, Abby Brabham saw the beast on a different road in town. The locations of the three sightings form a straight line.
Michigan – The Michigan Dogman
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He was seven feet tall with glistening eyes of blue or yellow and a terrifying, humanoid howl. He looked like a man, but also had the qualities of a canine-like creature. He was the Michigan Dogman.
Rachel Clark with the Michigan History Center walked us through the legend and sightings of the Michigan Dogman, which date back to the 1800s.
The beast has been on the minds of Michiganders for the last 130 years starting in 1887. That’s when two lumberjacks saw a creature they described as having a man’s body and a dog’s head. According to legend, the Dogman appears to humans in a ten-year cycle that falls on years ending in the number seven.
“So, the early reports are usually of men working in the woods who encounter this beast during their time there. And then over the years, it’s a lot of times people who are again alone, either on an isolated road or the woods,” Clark said. “Their encounters are very similar though. They do talk about this beast coming out of the woods, it is very agile, it jumps in front of their car or in front of them. It scratches at their houses or their tents.”
Minnesota – Wendigo
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The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Its body was unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, giving off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption. — Basil Johnston, Ojibwe teacher and scholar, Ontario, Canada.
In the north woods of Minnesota, the forests of the Great Lake Region, and the central regions of Canada is said to live a malevolent being called a wendigo (also spelled windigo). This creature may appear as a monster with some characteristics of a human, or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them become monstrous. It is historically associated with cannibalism, murder, insatiable greed, and the cultural taboos against such behaviors. Known by several names — Windigo, Witigo, Witiko, and Wee-Tee-Go — each of them roughly translates to “the evil spirit that devours mankind”.
This creature has long been known among the Algonquian Ojibwe, Eastern Cree, Saulteaux, Westmain Swampy Cree, Naskapi, and Innu peoples who have described them as giants, many times larger than human beings. Although descriptions can vary somewhat, common to all these cultures is the view that the wendigo is a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being that is strongly associated with winter, the north, coldness, famine, and starvation.
Mississippi – Pascagoula River Aliens
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The carrot-headed aliens who visited a pair of night-fishermen on the Pascagoula River in a glowing egg-shaped spaceship may just have been symptoms of the witness’s hunger. Or they might have been robots; either way, they’ve not returned, having apparently been satisfied by the experiments they conducted on the two perfectly sober men.
The fishermen claimed they heard a “zipping” sound and saw a glowing object hovering above the ground. Then three robot like aliens, that were just over 5 feet tall, exited from the craft.
Missouri – Momo (Missouri Monster)
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Momo the Monster, also known as the Missouri Monster (Momo), is a purported ape-like creature, similar to descriptions of Bigfoot, that was allegedly sighted by numerous people in rural Louisiana, Missouri in 1972. Unlike some other areas with similar reports of cryptids such as the Fouke Monster in Fouke, Arkansas or the Moth Man in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Momo did not become a major tourist or economic folklore attraction.
The most well known alleged sighting occurred on July 11, 1972, when two young boys were playing in the backyard on the rural outskirts of Louisiana, Missouri. Their older sister, Doris, was in the kitchen when she heard her brother’s screaming. When she looked out of the window, she observed a massive, dark haired, man-like creature holding what appeared to be a deceased dog. She described it as having a “pumpkin-shaped head”, and large glowing orange eyes.
Many alleged sightings occurred that year, most notably was local fire department chief and member of the city council, Richard Allan Murray, who reported driving along a creek bed when he saw a massive upright creature in his vehicle’s headlights. As a result of these reported encounters, a 20 person posse was formed to hunt the creature but nothing was ever found.
Montana – Shunka Warak’in
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The Shunka Warakin, or Shunka Warak’in is an animal mentioned in American folklore that is said to resemble a large canine such as wolf or a hyena, or an animal species that has the resemblance to both.
According to cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, Shunka Warakin is a creature unknown to modern sources. Its name means “carries off dogs.” An animal shot in 1886 by Israel Ammon Hutchins, on what is now the Sun Ranch in Montana, has been suggested by Coleman as an example of this mysterious creature.
Joseph Sherwood, a taxidermist, acquired it from Hutchins, mounted it and put it on display in his combination general store-museum in Henry’s Lake, Idaho. Sherwood named the beast “Ringdocus”. This stuffed trophy, the only piece of physical evidence, was never examined by qualified scientists and went missing for some time, before it was rediscovered in December 2007.
Nebraska – Alkali Lake Monster
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While some claim the Alkali Lake Monster to be a hoax invented to sell newspapers, you can’t help but feel the hoaxers got the tone just right – no magic here, just a combination of an alligator (terrifying), a rhino (dangerous), and a stench (unsavory) rolled up into one and expanded to a 100-foot length. Whatever it is it caused a big stink.
The Alkali Lake Monster is described as a giant brown alligator with a rhinoceros horn on its nose and is said to be 40-100 feet long.
Nevada – Tahoe Tessie
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The legend of Tahoe Tessie dates back to the mid-19th century as tales were told by members of the Washoe and Paiute Tribes. These days Tahoe Tessie is known as anything from a black serpent-like creature to a friendly green reptile.
Sightings have been described as, “It was about as big around as a telephone pole and maybe 30′-60′ in length,” and, “What looked like a green kayak that had flipped and sank below the surface,” and, “A very tall object with a long face and long neck reaching above the water, like a very big python, with two humps behind it.”
Tahoe Tessie is said to live in an underwater lair beneath Cave Rock located on Tahoe’s East Shore. With Lake Tahoe being 1,645 feet deep, the second deepest lake in the country, there is plenty of room for Tessie to hide, live, play, and creep without being seen. As the years go on, so does the story. So, keep your eyes open and see if you can spot the big green reptile who calls Tahoe home.
New Hampshire – Wood Devils / Wood Devils of Coos County
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When you’re in the woods, do you ever get the feeling that something is watching you? Well, maybe something is.
People see a lot of things in the forests around Pittsburg, New Hampshire: moose, bear, fox and, occasionally, things they just can’t explain. One of those mysterious things some people have reported seeing here in Coos County is what is known as a “wood devil.”
According to eyewitness reports, these wood devils stand more than 7 feet tall, are covered in grayish hair or fur, and they are known for their sleek, thin build. They walk on two feet, much like a human, and can move with surprising speed. They use their tall, thin build to hide behind trees, and legend has it they are so good at blending in with their surroundings that you’d nearly walk into one before you saw it. These wood devils are said to shy away from human contact and prefer the remote woods of northern New Hampshire near the Canadian border.
Some people have suggested these wood devils might actually be a sasquatch (or bigfoot).
New Jersey – Jersey Devil
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An eighteenth century mother, frustrated that she’d fallen pregnant yet again, cursed out loud that her unborn thirteen kid would be “the devil.” Big mistake. Although born humanlike, the little guy soon mutated into the midwife-slaughtering, cattle-bothering demon we know and love today.
Upon the newly born child’s sudden transformation, it grew a goat head, hooves, bat-like wings and a barbed tail.
New Mexico – Teratorns
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Las Cruces Teratorns are alleged Pterodactyls found in the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. The Las Cruces Teratorns are described as living Pterodactyls that are six feet tall with leathery skin, a crest on the back of its head, and a wingspan that is said to be twenty feet long.
Witnesses are scared of these creatures worrying that they’ll be taken up into the sky by them. Cryptozoologists believe that Las Cruces Teratorns are living Pterodactyls since Pterodactyl skeletons have been found in La Brea Tarpits which is close to New Mexico where these creatures are said to live.
New York – Champ
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Centuries ago, the Abenaki and Iroquois people called the creature of Champlain Lake ‘Tatoskok.’ Whether it’s the same boat-sinking, camera-blurring horned serpent that troubles the waters today, we can’t be sure.
In 1819, Captain Crum of the ship Bulwagga Bay saw a black monster that stretched 187 feet long. According to him, the monster had a head like a seahorse and eyes the color of a peeled onion. It also had three teeth, and a white star on its forehead.
North Carolina – The Beast of Bladenboro
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The Vampire Beast (colloquially known as the Beast of Bladenboro or Vampire Cat) is a large monster identified with vampiric qualities; that made several livestock and pet killings in Bladenboro, North Carolina in December of 1954. It lasted for ten days. In 2007, the beast returned, but in other regions such as Boliva, Greensboro, and Lexington.
The killings first happened on December 29, 1954, when a farmer reported a large cat-like beast has attacked one of his dogs and dragged it to an underbrush. More killings happened on New Years Day, 1955, where two dogs were found dead, all of their blood was drained out. The next day two more dogs were attacked by the mystery predator.
North Dakota – Thunderbird
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Thunderbird, in North American Indian mythology, a powerful spirit in the form of a bird. By its work, the earth was watered and vegetation grew. Lightning was believed to flash from its beak, and the beating of its wings was thought to represent the rolling of thunder. It was often portrayed with an extra head on its abdomen.
The thunderbird was frequently accompanied by lesser bird spirits, often in the form of eagles or falcons. Although it is best known from North America, evidence of similar figures has been found throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe
Ohio- Loveland Frogmen
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A frogman? In Loveland? Sounds sweet, huh? Sure, until you find out it’s AS BIG AS A CHAIR and RUNS LIKE A MAN and has a MAGIC WAND. Aaaaargh!
In 1955, a man pulled over to help 3 human-like figures on the side of the road. He saw creatures of around 4 feet tall, with webbed hands and green, leathery skin. They had frogs faces and the largest of them held a wand over its head which was spitting sparks.
Oklahoma – Oklahoma Octopus
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The Oklahoma Octopus is a mysterious creature generally said to inhabit three lakes in Oklahoma (Lake Thunderbird, Lake Oolagah and Lake Tenkiller) where it attacks and kills unsuspecting swimmers. According to legend and rumor, this freshwater demon measures the size of a horse and resembles an octopus, with long tentacles and leathery, reddish-brown skin. Skeptics question how an octopus — an ocean creature — could survive in freshwater lakes, but it is easy to believe that such a creature would be a fearsome predator. The Giant Pacific Octopus, for example, has tentacles that each boast the strength of a 200-pound man and a powerful beak that it uses to kill prey.
Oregon – Colossal Claude
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Colossal Claude is said to be 15 to 40 feet long, has a round, tan body, snake or horse like head, an 8 foot long neck, and a long serpentine tail.
In 1934, L.A. Larson, mate of the Columbia River lightship, saw a 40 foot animal at the mouth of the river. Crew members studied it for some time with binoculars.
In 1963, the Shell Oil Company during an oil search off the Oregon coast recorded a video tape that shows a 15 foot animal with barnacled ridges swimming in 180 feet of water.
Colossal Claude is believed to either be an inland whale that was misidentified or possibly a plesiosaur.
Pennsylvania – The Squonk
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The Squonk (Lacrimacorpus dissolvens) is a mythical creature reputed to live in the Hemlock forest of northern Pennsylvania. Legends of Squonks probably originated in the late nineteenth century, at the height of Pennsylvania’s importance in the timber industry.
The earliest known written account of Squonks comes from a book by William T. Cox called Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts.
The legend holds that the creatures skin is ill fitting, being covered with warts and that, because it is ashamed of its appearance it hides from plain sight, and spends most of its time weeping. Hunters who have tried catching squonks have found out the creature is capable of dissolving completely into a pool of tears and bubbles when cornered. A man named J. P. Wentling is supposed to have coaxed the creature into a bag, of which when he carried it home it suddenly lightened. Upon further inspection he found that all that remained was the liquid remains of the sad animal.
Rhode Island – Vampire Mercy Brown
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In 19th-century New England, there was an outbreak of tuberculosis known as Consumption through Rhode Island and other parts of the country.
It was called the New England vampire panic and the most famous case was that of the Brown family and their 19-year daughter Mercy Brown. The Mercy Brown vampire incident occurred in 1982 when Mercy died from the disease.
During the panic, The Brown family lived in the small town of Exeter in Rhode Island. George and Mary Brown were well-respected farmers and there was no reason to suspect that they were anything but a normal family.
The unusual case started with the death of Mary Brown in 1883 and in 1888 their eldest daughter Mary Olive died from the same disease. After their deaths, in 1890 their son Edwin became ill and his father tried everything to keep him alive. In the meantime, Mercy died from the Consumption in January 1892.
Scared from the terrifying symptoms of tuberculosis, the locals started to believe that this illness was influenced of the undead and it was caused by vampires. They concluded that one of the demons lived in one of the Brown graves. It was determined that Mercy Brown was a vampire who draw the life out of her entire family.
On the morning of March 17th, 1892, the bodies of her mother and sister were dug up and it was determined that neither was a vampire because the bodies were decomposing as would be expected but, when they dug up Mercy’s body they found her in excellent condition.
There was no decay and her body was not in the position it had been buried. They found fresh blood in her heart which was immediately removed from her chest and burned to ashes on a nearby rock. The remnants of her heart were mixed with water and given to Edwin to drink them. His father was hoping that the ashes of a “vampire heart” could cure him. The ritual failed and Edwin died within two months.
Mercy Brown’s body was held in a casket above ground in winter and many modern scientists were convinced that her body was in excellent condition because of the freezing temperatures.
South Carolina – Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp
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The lizard man is true horror movie material: in operation since the 1980s, he’ll leap on your car if you try to drive away. Survivors can expect to find serious scratch marks on the roof if they manage to shake him off.
Reports of what emerged from the lake describe a green, wet, 7-foot-tall creature. Furthermore, it has 3 fingers, red eyes and scales.
South Dakota – Taku-He
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South Dakota is a rather empty state. Smaller settlements being more common, it is unusual, then to say that South Dakota is oddly devoid of cryptids. The state has a large amount of “haunted” roads, forests, and buildings, but a surprising lack of monster legends, excluding bigfoot, which can be found in almost any state. South Dakota, however, is home to a very special bigfoot that goes by the name Taku-He.
Bigfoot generally stick to rural, forested areas, which they find it easier to hide in.
They are often referred to as “forest giants” and can be construed as protectors or guardians of said forests, as their attacks seem to be primarily focused on driving people away from certain areas. The Taku-He, on the other hand, is seen mostly in wide-open areas, dragging dead prey behind him or simply staring at witnesses. There are many mysterious deaths linked to the eight-foot monster, though those who have actually seen it and survived never mention anything about feeling threatened.
Tennessee – Tennessee Wildman
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The origins of the Tennessee Wildman goes way back to the 1800s in McNairy County, Tennessee. One of the stories is that a circus freak showman somehow captured the beast and put him on display in a cage to where everyone can see him for exploitation until it finally broke free. The description of the Tennessee Wildman is much similar in appearance to Sasquatch but only more human
He supposedly has either dark grey hair or dark ginger hair, is about 7 feet tall and is always accompanied with piercing red eyes. It is known to spout out a disturbing war cry that can frighten anyone that hears it and has a horrible smell that’s reminiscent to the Skunk Ape. It’s very aggressive in behavior and could possibly be the archenemy of Sasquatch ironically, often fighting for territory reasons. Not surprisingly the Wildman possesses great strength, agility and speed.
There have been many groups of men that have went out hunting for the creature but all the times, usually they don’t find anything or something traumatizing happens. The monster is known to have a strange targeting obsession with dogs and women. Many women came out to say the Wildman had attempted to snatch them up and carry them away. It is suspected, however, that these attempts were always unsuccessful.
Texas – Chupacabra
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This is what first drew Benjamin Radford to the chupacabra, a supposedly vampire-like creature. Its roots are in Latin America, but stories about it have since spread to the rest of the world, including his native New Mexico.
Tales of the chupacabra first emerged in Puerto Rico in the late 1990s. They described a bipedal creature four or five feet tall with large eyes, spikes down its back and long claws. This beast, people claimed, was responsible for killing and draining the blood of livestock, an act that earned it its name – which is Spanish for “goat-sucker”.
Utah – Bear Lake Monster
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MAKING OF A MONSTER: Since its first reported sighting in 1868, the Bear Lake Monster has been a source of pride for locals in a small Idaho town.
A Mormon colonizer, Joseph C. Rich, published a series of articles in the Desert Evening News claiming locals had seen a monster on the lake. Witnesses gave differing descriptions of the monster; some compared it to a walrus, while others described it as a large reptile or crocodilelike creature. Rich later recanted his stories, but the legend of the Bear Lake Monster prompted an influx of tourists hoping to catch a view of the lake beast.
Vermont – Northfield Pigman
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Stories behind the Northfield Pigman vary. From a half-man, half-pig creature, to that of a missing boy who grew to haunt the woods wearing a hollowed out pig head, you can take your pick. We landed on the 1971 farmer’s account of finding a man with facial features of a pig rummaging through his trash.
At that same time, Northfield youth slipping the views of chaperones had their own stories of pig-headed figures lurking about, watching from the shadows.
Virginia – Snallygaster
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For centuries, a large winged beast known as the Snallygaster is said to have terrified the people of Frederick County, Maryland. The dragon-like beast is described as being a half-reptile and half-bird that lives deep in the caves of South Mountain. The mysterious creature is said to swoop silently down from the sky, stealing farm animals and children from the unsuspecting farm folk. Some say it’s real.
The area was settled by German immigrants beginning in the 1730s, who called the creature a Schneller Geist, meaning “quick spirit” in German. The earliest folklore mixes the half-bird features with nightmarish features of demons and ghouls.
Other descriptions describe the beast as half-reptile, half-bird with a metallic-like beak lined with razor-sharp teeth. Sometimes it is described as having octopus-like tentacles. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims.
Washington – Bigfoot
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Large, hairy, bi-pedal apes similar to Bigfoot have been spotted on just about every continent in the world. Tales of Bigfoot are thought to have originated from thousands of years ago when giant apes known as Gigantopithecus roamed Asia. Bigfoot and creatures similar have been spotted all over the world.
The Bigfoot craze launched in the 1950’s, but many Native American tribes long before had records of a creature they referred to as the “forest spirit” with physical attributes similar to Bigfoot. Yeti, Yowie, Almas, Skunk Ape and Wendigo are all names of creatures similar to, if not the same as, Bigfoot.
West Virginia – Mothman
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Journalist John Keel showed up to investigate sightings of the Mothman in 1960s Point Pleasant, and soon began to receive messages from the Mothpeople, including a warning about a regional blackout that was to occur. When the moment came, though, the lights stayed on – but a bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed, killing 46 people.
In 1966 two couples reported the first sighting of the Mothman. It was described as 6-7 feet tall with huge wings and red eyes in the center of its headless body.
Wisconsin – The Beast of Bray Road
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The Beast of Bray Road, also known as the Bray Road Beast and the Wisconsin Werewolf, is a purported humanoid wolf-like creature allegedly witnessed in or near the rural community of Elkhorn, Walworth County, Wisconsin. It has since become a part of Wisconsin folklore and has been the subject of multiple books, documentaries and a 2005 horror film.
Named for the farm road in which it was first allegedly sighted, Bray Road, reports of the creature in the 1980s and 1990s prompted a local newspaper, the Walworth County Week, to assign reporter Linda Godfrey to cover the story. Godfrey was initially skeptical, but later became convinced of the sincerity of the witnesses.
Her series of articles later became a book titled The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin’s Werewolf.
Reports of a similar creature in the neighboring state of Michigan also tell of an alleged wolf-like humanoid, the Michigan Dogman.
Wyoming – Jackalope
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Another mystery creature is this jacklope But while the true explanation for the existence of horned rabbits may be scientifically satisfying, it still doesn’t account for the fact that these terrifying but tragic creatures can apparently sing along with human songs. (They’re usually tenors, by the way).
That’s right you read correctly: cowboys have reported that while they were singing around the campfire, a distant jackalope joined in with the chorus.
