The Flatwoods Monster

September 12th, 1952, three boys saw an object streak across the evening sky in West Virginia. The object landed on a nearby farm in Flatwoods. Seven locals went to the farm in search of the object. After traveling about ¼ of a mile they reached the top of a hill where they reportedly saw a large pulsating "ball of fire". They also saw and smelled a mist that burned their eyes and noses. The owner of the farm noticed two small lights, and directed his flashlight towards them, revealing the creature, described as approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, with a round red face, a large "hood-like shape" resembling the ace of spades, eyes that emitted greenish-orange light, and a dark black or green body with small, claw-like hands and metallic clothing-like folds. They reported that it emitted a shrill hissing noise and glided towards them, changed direction and retreated towards the red light. At this point the group fled. After, they called the local sheriff and a reporter. The reporter interviewed them and went to the site, where he reported "there was a sickening, burnt, metallic odor still prevailing". The next morning, he returned and discovered two tracks in the mud, and traces of a thick black liquid. He reported them as possible signs of a saucer landing based on the fact the area had not been open to traffic for over a year. It was later revealed the tracks were likely from a truck driven by a local, who had gone to the site to look for the creature. Investigators obtained several accounts from witnesses claiming to have experienced similar or related phenomena. These included a mother and daughter, who encountered a creature with the same appearance and odor a week prior to the Flatwoods incident, the encounter reportedly affected the daughter so badly, she was confined to a hospital for 3 weeks. They also gathered a statement from the mother of the farmer, stating, at the time of the crash, their house was violently shaken and her radio cut out for 45 minutes, they also received a report from the head of the local Board of Education claiming he saw a saucer take off at 6:30 on the morning of September 13th.

The Maryland Goatman

The Goatman of Maryland is a 7ft tall legendary half-goat half-human creature that has the head and hindquarters of a goat and the body of a human. According to urban legend he was once a scientist who worked in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The tale holds that he was experimenting on goats until one experiment backfired, and he was mutated, becoming goat-like himself and loosing grip on his sanity. He then began attacking cars with an axe along Fletchertown road, roaming the back roads of Beltsville, Maryland and slowly became an old hermit taking up residence in the woods. According to University of Maryland folklorist Barry Pearson, the Goatman legends began "long, long, long" ago and were further popularized in 1971 when the death of a dog was blamed on the Goatman by local residents. Pearson says "bored teenagers" keep the Goatman legend alive by repeating the story and suggesting that the creature attacks couples frequenting the local lovers lane, subsequently stirring interest in sites like Fletchertown Road. Along with his lust for blood, he is also believed to exhibit unrestrained and violent sexual tendencies linking the myth to tales of Satyrs in Greek Mythology as early as 520 BCE, who held an almost identical role despite there being a gap of three thousand years between them.

Spring Heeled Jack

Named because of his ability to jump effortlessly through the air, Spring-Heeled Jack was greatly feared in London during the 1800s. A diabolical, super-villain of sorts, he was described as tall, thin, and cloaked in a tight-fitting oilskin suit, as well as a flowing cape. Jack first gained notoriety when he began to accost solitary, young women by ripping at their clothing with steely claws while he breathed noxious, blue flames into their faces. The first report of Jack was from a businessman returning home one night, who stated that a mysterious figure jumped with ease over the high railings of a cemetery, landing right in his path. He wasn’t attacked, but did give a disturbing description of a man with devilish features including a large nose, pointed ears, and glowing eyes. In Oct 1837, Mary Stevens, was attacked by a cloaked figure who leapt at her, gripped her firmly and tore off her clothes. As the girl screamed, Jack fled and despite a thorough search no trace of him was ever found. The next day, he was seen in Mary's neighborhood, where he jumped before a coach, causing it to lose control and meet with an accident. He then gave out a shriek of laughter and jumped over a 9 foot high wall. Im 1838 on Feb 19th, Jane Alsop, was in her father's house when there was a knock at the door from a man claiming to be a policeman, asking for a light as he claimed to have caught Spring-Heeled Jack in a lane. As she opened the door to hand him a candle, he threw off his cloak, revealing "a most hideous and frightful appearance". He vomited blue and white flames in her face, and tore off her gown inflicting wounds on her neck and arms. Jane's sister appeared and Jack fled. Again on 28th Feb, Lucy Scales, was returning with her sister from their brother's house. As they passed an Alley, Lucy encountered Jack, who unexpectedly spurted out a blue flame onto her face, disabling her sight and caused violent fits for hours. In Aug 1877, at a Barracks in North Camp, a sentry came across a strange figure who slapped him several times in the face. A guard shot at Jack, but to no avail. Jack then disappeared mysteriously with astounding leaps

The Snallygaster

In the 1730s, the eastern United States were settled by German immigrants. Early accounts tell of these settlers being terrorized by a monster called a Schneller Geist, meaning "quick spirit". Reports of a strange beast known as the Snallygaster resurfaced in the early 20th century in New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. In 1909, the first person to see it, James Harding, described it as having enormous wings, a long sharp beak, with appendages resembling the tentacles of an octopus, claws like steel, and one eye in the middle of its forehead. He said it made shrill screeching noises like those of a locomotive. It was reported to have killed a man, Bill Gifferson, by piercing his neck with its sharp bill and slowly sucking his blood. In West Virginia, it almost killed a woman, roosted in Alex Crow's barn, and laid an egg nearby, where it was reported that some men rigged up an incubator to try to hatch it. The Snallygaster was sighted in Maryland by a brick-burning kiln owner. It was seen warming itself on the kiln. When it’s sleep was disturbed, it emitted a blood-curdling scream and fled. Sightings of the Snallygaster created such a commotion that President Theodore Roosevelt offered to lead an expedition to capture it. The last sighting in 1909 occurred when three men fought the creature outside a railroad station for an hour and a half before chasing it into the woods. Twenty-three years passed before the Snallygaster reappeared. The beast was seen flying back and forth between Washington and Maryland. This snallygaster was believed to be the offspring of the 1909 beast as it was said to take 20 years for a Snallygaster to mature. It is reported that the creature was attracted to the aroma of a 2500-gallon vat of moonshine belonging to a man named John Barleycorn in Washington County. However the beast was overcome by the fumes and fell into the vat. Revenue agents George Dansforth and Charles Cushwa had received information about the still, but were startled at the sight of the monster. They set 500 pounds of dynamite under the still, destroying the remains of this Snallygaster and Barleycorn's operation.

The Nameless Thing of Berkeley Square

In 1840, Sir Robert Warboys heard of the haunting of 50 Berkeley Square in his local pub. Inebriated Robert claimed it was “poppycock” and fellow patrons challenged him to stay in the house. He accepted, and went to arrange the accommodation. The landlord advised him to keep a pistol handy for the night. He stayed in the second floor room that night. After midnight the landlord was woken by a gunshot and rushed to the room where he found a corpse in the corner with a twisted expression on its face as if it had literally been scared to death. There was no trace of what had killed him. Reports grew of an entity on the premises, described as a blob of ooze with claws and tentacles, that made “sloppy noises” as it moved. It drove those who gazed upon it crazy, such as a maid who had gone to clean the house and was later found stark raving mad. A nobleman spent a night and was found the next day a blithering, drooling basket case, his mind shattered by some unseen force. A little girl was once killed in the house by a servant and a young woman committed suicide by jumping from the top window. Another tenant, Mr Myers was a reclusive hermit who went insane and died in the house. Lord Lyttleton stayed in the attic in 1859, where he saw a globular phantom octopus, with deformed features that left a viscous trail of stinking ooze. In 1887 two sailors named Robert Martin and Edward Blunden stayed in the house. They were woken by “wet noises” and the floorboards creaking and groaning. When Blunden awoke he found an amorphous, pulsating mass that attacked him, attaching itself to his throat. Martin fled to get help and flagged down a policeman. When they returned to the room it was empty with no sign of Blunden. They eventually found him mauled and dismembered in the basement, his face contorted in terror. Some believe the house is a doorway between dimensions through which the entity ventures. Others argue that it is some sort of mysterious octopoid cryptid, mutant or experiment gone awry that crawled up the pipes from London’s sewer system. In 1938 the base floor became a bookshop and the upper floors are now off limits.

Gef the talking Mongoose

In 1931, in the village of Dalby on the Isle of Man, the Irving family, James, Margaret and their daughter Voirrey, claimed to hear persistent rustling, and vocal noises behind their farmhouse's wall panels. They claimed, a creature named Gef introduced itself and told them it was a mongoose born in New Delhi, India, in 1852. Gef told them he was "an extra extra clever mongoose", an "Earthbound spirit" and "a ghost in the form of a mongoose" and once said, "I am a freak. I have hands and I have feet, and if you saw me you'd faint, you'd be petrified, mummified, turned into stone or a pillar of salt!". He also proclaimed, “I’ll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!”. Sometimes his rants could be rude, “I have been to nicer homes than this. Carpets, piano, satin covers on polished tables. I am going back there. Hahaha!”, or terrifying, “I could kill you all, but I won’t”. Gef was also known to throw stones, kill rabbits, and sing bawdy renditions of "Home on the Range." However the Irvings also claimed Gef guarded their house, informed them of approaching guests or unfamiliar dogs, extinguished the stove if they forgot to put it out, would wake them if they overslept and kept the house free of mice. In return they fed him biscuits, chocolate, sausages, bacon and bananas in a saucer suspended from the ceiling. Gef himself also claimed to travel to town on the bus and would share gossip about the neighbours with them. Gef became a media phenomenon appearing in many tabloids, but only one newspaper claimed to have actually seen Gef, in an article called "'Man-Weasel' Mystery Grips Island: Queerest Beast talks to 'Daily Dispatch' reporter". Gef was investigated by several well known paranormal researchers such as celebrity investigator, Harry Price. Though many claimed Gef was some kind of hoax, the Irving’s insisted he was real. They all claimed to have seen Gef with their own eyes. Margaret and Voirrey left the home in 1945 after James died. They sold the farm at a loss because of its haunted reputation. Voirrey died in 2005. In an interview late in life, she maintained that Gef was real.

The Red Ghost Camel

In 1857 the American government imported 72 camels and put them to work in the southwest. The camels proved well-suited to the region, but their unpleasant disposition, habit of frightening horses, and tendency to wander off during the night, made them unpopular with soldiers. They were used until the Civil War broke out, they were then sold at auction or set loose in the desert. Over time these feral camels were captured or died as they were not suited to living in the wild by themselves. However, the tail of one camel persisted. In 1883, a woman was trampled to death and, on her body and a nearby bush, were clumps of reddish fur. Large hoof prints were found in the area, but locals were perplexed. Shortly later, a large animal careened into a tent where two miners lay sleeping. They were unable to identify the beast but, large hoof prints and tufts of red hair were left behind again. The locals eventually recognized the animal as a camel. People began to report seeing the camel carrying a rider, though he appeared to be dead. A group of prospectors saw the camel and saw something fall from its back. They went to see what it was and discovered a human skull. For several years, numerous others saw the camel, who was dubbed the “Red Ghost,” carrying its headless rider. In 1893, an Arizona farmer found the red camel grazing in his garden, and he shot and killed the beast. By this time, the camel had shaken free of its dead rider, but still bore the saddle and straps with which the corpse had been attached. The rider is believed to have been a soldier, who was afraid of the camels, and was having difficulty learning to ride them. In order to teach him how, his fellow soldiers tied him to one of the beasts, hoping he would get over his fear. They then hit the camel on the rump and the beast took off running. The soldiers pursued the camel but the red beast easily outpaced them and escaped into the desert. Seemingly, all the “real” army camels were dead by 1934. However, legends continue to abound of people sighting a giant red camel, carrying a headless rider, in the deserts of Arizona. “Red Ghost,” may very well be living up to his name.

The Skunk Ape

Also known as the Skunk Ape, Myakka Ape, swamp ape, stink ape, Florida Bigfoot, swamp cabbage man and swampsquatch, is a bipedal humanoid, possibly a Bigfoot, reported in the South Eastern United States, most notably in the Florida Everglades. It has dark fur and glowing red eyes, unusual for most primates because most primates lack a tapetum lucidum, a layer of tissue behind the retina that reflects light. The Skunk Ape's most obvious character is its terrible odor, which gives it its name. The first ever sightings of the Skunk Ape were reported in the 1960's and 70's and it has been continually sighted ever since. In 2000, the police of Sarasota County, Florida received a letter from an anonymous woman. With the letter were two attached photographs of what the woman said was what she thought to be some sort of an escaped orangutan who had been stealing apples from her back porch for three nights. These photos were later found to be taken near the Myakka River. After the images were released to the public, cryptid enthusiasts dubbed the creature in the photograph the "Myakka Skunk Ape." Most sightings of the Skunk Ape, are very similar to Bigfoot sightings and some can be dismissed as black bear sightings. It is entirely possible for a black bear to stand upright, making it appear like another animal entirely. Bears are also known to rummage through bins, which could possibly explain the smell which is associated with this creature. However, on October 28, 2013, a video titled "I think i saw a skunk ape - please help" was uploaded to YouTube. It depicts a large, hairy humanoid creature crouching in the water and pulling bark off a tree with ease. It is considered to be one of the most convincing ape man videos ever taken as the creature can clearly be seen tearing a large chunk of bark from a tree to get at bugs within and the sound made by the breaking bark indicates that it was not rotten, meaning it would require considerable strength to pull off such a task. A human in a suit, sitting in water, wearing rubber gloves would not be capable of doing this with the same ease shown by the creature in the video.