Snallygaster

The part-bird and part-reptile Snallygaster pictured on the ground with grey wings and a red underbelly.

The snallygaster is a mythical cryptid that features prominently in American folklore. It is a fantastical dragon-like creature usually represented as a cross between a reptile and a bird. Legend says it lives in caves in the South Mountains that form the northern part of the Blue Ridge range in Maryland. The earliest claimed sightings … Read more

Elwetritsch

Elwetritsch standing with feathers and arms up in a forest.

The Elwetritsch is a bird- or fowl-like cryptid from German folklore. The creature is supposedly native to the forests of the Palatinate region of southwest Germany. However, the folklore occurs in various locales spread over a wide area of southern Germany. The Elwetritsch is only one of several mythical birds from German folklore. Other regions … Read more

Fouke Monster

The Fouke Monster seen as a reddish humanoid in a forest

The Fouke Monster is a humanoid cryptid from the folklore of rural Arkansas. According to folklore, the Fouke Monster lives in the Sulphur River bottom and creeks around Fouke, a small town in Miller County, southwest Arkansas. The monster derived its name from Fouke, where the first alleged sightings occurred in 1971. Since 1971, scores … Read more

Honey Island Swamp Monster

The Honey Island Swamp Monster seen here as an apelike humanoid emerging from a dark swamp

The Honey Island Swamp Monster is an alleged humanoid creature from Louisiana (United States) folklore. Folklore says the monster is a Bigfoot-like creature native to the Honey Island Swamp and the wetlands (bayous) around Pearl River. Honey Island Swamp consists of pristine marshlands covering about 70,000 acres near Slidell in St. Tammany Parish. The island … Read more

Grootslang

a serpent-shaped Grootslang opens its mouth in a scene with a waterfall in the background

The Grootslang is a cryptid from South African folklore. Grootslang means “Great Serpent” in the Afrikaans language of South Africa. Afrikaner legend describes the Grootslang as a gigantic primeval snake that lives in a pit or subterranean cave in a remote part of Richtersveld, a desert in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Legends … Read more

Mapinguari

The Mapinguari is seen here in a green-tinged forest. The creature is a large and squat ape-like creature.

The Mapinguari is a legendary ground-dwelling sloth-like creature resembling an ape which is reported to still roam the jungles of Brazil and Bolivia. Description The Mapinguari is thought to be a relative of a type of giant ground sloth (possibly a Megatherium) that is generally believed to have died out some 10,000 years ago. However, … Read more

Mongolian Death Worm

The Mongolian Death Worm seen rearing above its tiny human victims. It has a gaping maw filled with teeth in a giant circle.

The Mongolian Death Worm is a giant worm-like cryptid said to live in the sands of the Gobi Desert. The terrifying creature has deadly venom. Description Olghoi-Khorkoi is Mongolian for “large intestine worm,” otherwise known as the Mongolian Death Worm. Local tribesmen have told tales of the worm for generations; however, there has never been … Read more

Montauk Monster

The Montauk Monster see here with a pale dinosaur-like head with wide nostrils poking its head just above the waterline.

The Montauk Monster was the carcass of an unidentified creature that washed ashore in July 2008 on the Ditch Plains Beach, a surfing spot near the East Hampton village of Montauk, on the east end of Long Island, New York. The identity of the carcass became the subject of debate and speculation that involved local … Read more

Sigbin

The Sigbin seen here as a vampire-like dog creature with horns.

The Sigbin (Sigben, Zegben) is a terrifying cryptid from Filipino mythology. Sigbin folklore is reportedly widespread in the Visayas and Mindanao Islands of central and southern Philippines. Many accounts portray the Sigbin as a vampire or carnivore that lives in remote forests of central and south Philippines and hunts at night for animal and human … Read more

Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil seen here with bat-like wings, cloven feet and a ghastly red mouth.

The Jersey Devil is a legendary creature and one of the world’s best-known cryptids. New Jerseyans have told tales of a cloven-hoofed creature with wings and horns for almost 300 years. The creature’s homeland has traditionally been in the wooded areas of Pine Barrens in the southeast of the state. However, over the years, it … Read more