Posts tagged monsters.

Vancouver Island is the largest Island on the West Coast of North America. Covering an area larger than many nations, Vancouver Island is actually a relict landmass from the South Pacific that moved up to meet southern Canada.

Mysteries abound in the vast wilderness that ranges from remote mountains to fringe extents of subtropical woodlands. Interspersed are the lakes. Cameron Lake is extremely deep at over 600 meters. In the shallower sections, an airplane was discovered with bodies preserved inside. 

Cameron Lake has become the subject of serious investigation by the BC Cryptozoological Society following reports and a short video recording of a mysterious lake creature.

Skeptics suggested a large beaver or otter, but something much more unearthly may be at play. Sonar scanners brought out by researchers discovered a large, massive object that moved in the depths, apparently of organic origin.

An unknown lake creature has been suggested, along with the possibility of a subterranean river from extending from the nearby sea inlet back to the “landlocked” lake?

Creature of Lake Memphremagog (Quebec, Canada)

Lake Memphremagog is a thin twenty seven mile long freshwater glacial lake which some believe is the home to a huge serpent like creature known as Memphré. Lake Memphremagog spans across the border between Canada and the United States of America. Seventy three percent of the lakes surface are is in Quebec, Canada, with the reaming situated in Vermont, USA. The creature seems to to be well established in local folklore and tales of the local Indians sighting the serpent have emerged since the earliest contact with white settlers in the 18th century.

1961: A partially submerged 13m long black creature was seen by two fishermen as it past their boat at a distance of 200m.

September 1994: A large black creature measuring 30 - 50 feet in length (sources vary) was seen by four witnesses. They described it as having three humps and the witnesses were split between two boats. The creature swam under one of the boats and vanished into the depths of the lake.

July 1996:  Four people witnessed a creature for over a minute. It was described as being 20 foot long and having humps.

Research from Sonia Bolduc of the University of Sherbrooke shows there are as many as 215 documented sightings up to 1997.

Lovecraft’s terrifying, almost god-like creature that has an almost “coming soon” feel to it. He is described as a truly horrible monster with a body that is a combination of an octopus, a dragon, and a human. It is said to be “dead but dreaming” in the city of R’lyeh, a place of non-Euclidean madness that is sunken in the depths of the pacific ocean.

It was said to have been a high priest of the Great old ones – unnatural alien beings who ruled the earth before humanity formed, worshiped as gods by the few misguided people. It is said that they are a horrible nightmare, and will return causing worldwide insanity and mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever.

“While psychically sensitive humans have been contacted by Cthulhu through telepathy (which is assumed to be the “language” of the Old Ones), the only reported sighting by a human in recorded history occurred on March 23, 1925.

This was twenty-two days after R’lyeh rose above the water, only to sink once more shortly after when the merciful stars’ shifting position caused Cthulhu to resume his death (the conditions required for R’lyeh to rise are also required for the Old Ones to live). This was reported by Gustaf Johansen, the only remaining crew member of the Emma. He later died under mysterious circumstances in his hometown of Oslo.” – Urban Dictionary

The Kraken is one monster that has roots with a real animal and how a sailor’s mind and imagination can make nightmares. The Kraken is a giant, monstrous squid (or octopus by some accounts) who was able to wrap its tentacles around a ship’s hull and capsize it; the unfortunate souls would then drown or be eaten by the beast. In 1752, when the Bishop of Bergen, Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan, wrote his Natural History of Norway, he described the Kraken as a “floating island” one and a half miles across. He also noted: “It seems these are the creature’s arms, and, it is said, if they were to lay hold of the largest man-of-war, they would pull it down to the bottom.” – Monstrous.com

In the ’30s, ships were attacked by Krakens three times, and the squids got the worst of the attack from the propellers, leading scientists to believe the giant squids mistook the ships for whales.

Beadle’s Monthly carried a startling feature in November 1866: two drawings of a “great sea-monster” witnessed by the author, Jesse H. Lord, during a visit to Green Harbor, Nova Scotia, in August 1855. Lord recalled that he had just arrived in town when he found the townspeople in a great commotion over “the snake.” Presently he saw a monster emerge from the sea, pursuing boats through a channel and into the harbor:

Near what might be the head, rose a hump, or crest, crowned with a waving mass of long pendulous hair like a mane, while behind, for forty or fifty feet, slowly moved, or rolled, the spirals of his immense snake-like body. The movement was in vertical curves, the contortions of the back alternately rising and falling from the head to the tail, leaving behind a wake, like that of a screw-steamer, on the glassy surface of the ocean. … In a moment he raised his head, from which the water poured in showers, and opening the horrid jaws he gave utterance to a noise resembling nothing so much as the hissing sound of steam from the escape-pipe of a boiler.

The beast withdrew, but Lord glimpsed it again beneath his rowboat the following morning:

The tide was ‘making,’ and the serpent lay head to the current, which was flowing into the harbor, keeping up an undulatory movement just sufficient to retain his position. The shell-like head was just abaft the stern of the boat and the immense mane flowed wavingly, either by the motion of the current or the convolutions of the body. … Hethcote moved silently to the stern and cut the rope that held the ‘kilick,’ and we drifted quietly with the tide into the harbor.

Lord was a journalist, not a short story writer, and Beadle’s presented his tale without a wink. But it seems most likely a simple hoax — why would a newsman withhold such a sensational story for 11 years? Unfortunately, we’ll never know the whole story: A few days after the article appeared, Lord shot himself on his wife’s grave.

A skin walker is a human who is able to shape-shift into various animal forms through witchcraft. Skin-walkers are generally considered frightening, evil, dangerous, and difficult to kill.

The word “yeenaaldlooshii” is a Navajo word that means “with it, he goes on all fours.”

One Navajo writer on Monstropedia was quoted: “They curse people and cause great suffering and death …

At night, their eyes glow red like hot coals. It is said that if you see the face of a Naagloshii, they have to kill you. If you see one and know who it is, they will die. If you see them and you don’t know them, they have to kill you to keep you from finding out who they are. They use a mixture that some call corpse powder, which they blow into your face. Your tongue turns black and you go into convulsions and you eventually die. They are known to use evil spirits in their ceremonies.

The Dine’ have learned ways to protect themselves against this evil and one has to always be on guard.”

Fossilized giant discovered in 1895 by Mr. Dyer during minerary activities in County Antrim, Ireland. In the photo (published by the British magazine “Strand”) it is compared to a goods wagon.

The main measurements were: total height 12ft and 2 in, thoracic circumference 6ft and 6in, length of arms 4ft and 6in, weight 2 tons and 112 lbs. The right foot had six fingers.

After various legal debates to determine the ownership, nobody knows what happened to the giant. 

In Slavic folklore – the wild old woman, the witch, and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of other spirits. She is thought to be a Hideous, evil witch with iron teeth. She is said to have an unquenchable appetite, but is still as skinny as a skeleton. She travels in a mortar with her knees touching her chin and pushes herself around with a pestle. Her home is said to stand on chicken legs and either spins around or keeps its back to the forest. She has three servants: the white horsemen, the red horsemen, and the black horsemen. When asked she will say these are my red sun, my bright dawn, and my black midnight.

There are so many variations of the Baba yaga legend that it’s not even certain if she’s evil or a wise woman. Some say she eats innocent maidens, and some say she helps. Either way it was worth putting her on here since she probably started as a tale to keep wayward children in line.

The word ‘Wendigo’(pronounced wehn-dee-go) comes from the Native American Algonquian language, meaning ‘evil spirit that devours mankind.’

The Wendigo is a terrifying beast, but because they are so swift, it is extremely difficult to get a good look at the monster. Most are tall, have long limbs, and are extremely thin (because they are always hungry). Most have no hair at all, but those that dwell in extremely cold climates can sometimes be found with snow-white, gore-stained fur or matted, bloody hair. Its maw is filled with sharp yellowed fangs, and its hands and feet end in razor-like talons. The Wendigo’s twisted lips are flecked with blood, and their long tongues are a disgusting dark blue. Its eyes are one of its most frightening aspects, which range in color from glowing red to bright yellow. The lore on this beast is enormously diverse, all of which emphasize its size.

The Wendigo is so big that the human mind is unable to fully comprehend it, and the beast’s sheer size is enough to make the human heart stop. The Wendigo is a hideous, abhorrent beast. Its needle-like teeth are made all the more disturbing by its lack of lips (some say that the creature’s hunger is so great that it devoured its own lips!).

Although vaguely human in appearance, it is nonetheless what most would call terribly deformed. Its enormous eyes are yellow and protuberant like an owl’s (although some say that the eyes are pushed deep into the sockets, and all that one can see is the terrible yellow glow). They are far larger than human eyes, and are said to roll about in blood. It has massive, paw-like hands that end in talons that are a foot long, while the beast’s feet are said to be three foot in length and have but a single toe, tipped with a dagger-like nail. The Wendigo uses these to slash and tear at its victims. Some legends say that the Wendigo may be missing toes, due perhaps to frostbite

The Tasmanian Sea Monster (otherwise known as the ‘Tasmanian Blob’) was washed ashore on a beach in (have a guess) Tasmania.

The mysterious dead organism, despite having no identifiable bone structure, was originally believed to be a new species of mammal. Attempts to scientifically explain away such claims were initially unsuccessful.

The creature lacked eyes, a visible mouth and was covered in stiff white hairs, though given the colossal size (over 20ft in length) it was hypothesized that the creature was a badly decomposed whale. Media outlets quickly latched onto the mystery of the case, given the initially reasonable claim that the Tasmanian Blob was a cryptic.

The true identity of the globster remained a mystery until 1981, when scientific analysis of collagen fibers confirmed the creature to be a whale.

After a storm on the island of Stronsay in 1808, located in the Orkney Islands, a gigantic serpentine creature washed ashore. In the present day, over two hundred years after the discovery, the creature remains totally without explanation from biologists.

In terms of appearance, the Stronsay Beast shared strikingly similar characteristics to the so-called Loch Ness Monster – the neck and tail were extremely long and slender, with a wider torso with three pairs of short paws attached. The creature had a mane of sharp bristles which continued down from the neck to the lower back.

Measurements indicated that the creature was fifty-five feet long from head to tail, and would have been even longer, but much of the tail had decomposed. This rules out the commonly cited explanation of a basking shark, as the longest basking shark recorded in history was less than forty feet in length.

During the time period, the natural history society of Edinburgh attempted to classify the creature, but failed, and concluded the beast to be a serpent. In the present, many cryptozoological figures have attempted to explain the enigma of the Stronsay Beast, but given the absence of photographs, is unlikely the mystery will ever be solved.

Pteranodon is a genus of pterosaurs that included some of the largest known flying reptiles. They held a wingspan of over 6 meters (20 ft) and existed in North America, specifically present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. For over 200 years, people in these areas of the United States have reported enormous birds. The bird sightings are so prevalent that the creatures have been given the name Thunderbirds, which is taken from Native American mythology. In many cases, Thunderbird reports are accompanied by large footprints.

Probably the most controversial report surfaced on July 25, 1977, when a group of three children from Lawndale, Illinois, claimed that two giant birds chased them and then grabbed a ten-year-old boy named Marlon Lowe. One of the birds reportedly clamped down on Lowe’s shoulder with its claws, lifted him about two feet off the ground, carried him some distance, and then released him.

Thunderbird sightings continue to intrigue cryptozoologists to this day. The creatures are said to have lizard-like features, which is similar to the extinct pterosaurs. In the 1950s, an unusual photograph was published in a “believe it or not” type book in the U.S. The picture shows a collection of American Civil War soldiers standing over an enormous bird carcass. The carcass holds a strong resemblance to a Pteranodon. According to the story, the bird was shot down by soldiers during the American Civil War in 1864 near the city of Vicksburg. The story says that the publication referred to the creature as “some kind of unknown bird or monster.”

In an interesting twist, there is a second photograph on the Internet that displays the exact same scene, but is known to be faked. The picture is not as convincing, but was made to look similar to the original for a television show named Freaky Links, which aired on the Fox network. The fake picture shows soldiers standing over a different carcass. The image is deceiving and the fact that there are two photographs that show the same thing has discredited the original. Whatever the case, the picture remains an interesting story. Today, Thunderbirds are one of the most popular cryptids in North America.

Early explorers to Australia described bizarre creatures never before seen by Europeans. They wrote of creatures with heads like deer that stood upright like men and hopped like frogs. The creatures sometimes sported two heads – one on their shoulders, and one on the stomach.

Such accounts were understandably disregarded and ridiculed by fellow colleagues.

That changed in the 1770s, when a dead specimen of this odd beast was exhibited in England as a public curiosity.

Today, this creature is known as the kangaroo, a widespread marsupial endemic to Australia. Well-known for their leaping abilities and the female pouch for carrying young (marsupium), kangaroos are a nationally recognized icon of Australia. Four species of kangaroo exist: the Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus), the Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), the Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), and the Antilopine Kangaroo (Macropus antilopinus).

When fifteen year-old Owen Burnham explored Bungalow Beach in Gambia, he did not expect to discover a bizarre sea carcass which would remain shrouded in mystery for years to come. Being a wildlife enthusiast, Owen decided to make sketches of the creature (shown above) which are the only surviving likenesses, as the carcass was never photographed.

The beast, named ‘Gambo’ after the geographical location of its discovery, was transported to a nearby village where Owen lived, and was decapitated by villagers, who proceeded to sell the head to an unidentified tourist.

In terms of appearance, the creature was described as being fifteen feet in length, with a light brown coloration and oily skin. The head bore similarities to that of a dolphin, though the mid-section was significantly wider than such an animal. Gambo appeared to have been wounded before death, as the rear flipper was almost severed and internal organs were openly exposed.

The current location of the creature is unknown, and scientists can only speculate as to what species Gambo truly belongs to.

Kumakatok

In the middle of the night, a knock will sound at the door and outside are three hooded figures, one a pretty, young woman and two elderly men. There are no stories of how the group was formed or where they originated but tales about them have popped up all over the Philippines and with more frequency around the time of outbreaks. Legend has it that a visit from them is an omen that someone in the family will soon die.

There are no paintings or hangings that can keep them at bay. Leaving the door unanswered does not help either. They simply knock and leave and then someone would still die shortly thereafter.