American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America

307 Pages·2014·9.74 MB·English

by  Linda S. Godfrey

ALSO BY LINDA S. GODFREY
Real Wolfmen: True Encounters in Modern America

JEREMY P. TARCHER/PENGUIN
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Godfrey, Linda S.
American monsters : a history of monster lore, legends, and sightings in America / Linda S. Godfrey.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-10162528-6
1. Monsters—United States. I. Title.
GR825.G564 2014 2014012009
001.944—dc23
Version_1
To my uncle, World War II army veteran LaVern Blado, who fought far more
terrible things than the monsters in these pages
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is deeply enriched and indeed made possible only by so many who
have left their helpful paw prints upon it.
My deepest thanks and appreciation to my Tarcher/Penguin editors, Mitch
Horowitz and Gabrielle Moss; my agent, Jim McCarthy; and an awesome raft of
fellow authors, researchers, and investigators: Stan Gordon, Brian and Terrie
Seech, Lon Strickler, Ken Gerhard, Scott Corrales, Preston Dennett, Tal H.
Branco, the indomitable William Kingsley, the encyclopedic William Hancock,
Sean Viala, Chad Lewis, Terry Fisk, Kevin Nelson, Noah Voss, Bart Nunnelly,
Scott Marlowe, Mark Hall, Charlie Carlson, Matt Lake, Laney Hanzel, Dr.
Phylis Canion, Phyllis Galde and FATE magazine, C. R. Rober, Jonathan D.
Whitcomb, Roy Mackal, Mark Moran, Mark Sceurman, adventurous friends
Kim Del Rio and Sandra Schwab, the ever-refreshing Media Mavens Breakfast
Association, and all of the eyewitnesses who generously and bravely shared their
encounters with the world.
CONTENTS
Also by Linda S. Godfrey
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE
MONSTERS BY AIR
1. Feathered Fiends
The Webb Lake Big Bird • Big Birds of the Past • The Chilean Roc •
Stork Uncorked • Bigclaw • Big Claws Across the Country • Pennsyl-
avians • Alask-avians • Tex-avians • Kentuck-avians • Florid-avians • The
Piasa Puzzle • Thunderbirds • The Micmac Culloo • Giant Condors and
Washington’s Eagle • The Giant Bird of Hickory Creek and Other
Historical Big Birds • Teratorns Return?
2. Batsquatch
Wisconsin’s Man Bat • Batsquatch of Tacoma • Bat Men of Pennsylvania,
Missouri, and . . . Chicago? • Tex-Mex Bat Beasts 3. Moth-mania
Mystic Mothman • Hall’s Bighoot and AWOL Owls • Washington
Bighoot • Flying Heads and Owl People • The Cornish Owl Man 4.
Untimely Pterosaurs
Lingering Winged Things • Roving Ropen • Texas Pterosaurs • Pterosaur
Tour 5. The Jersey Devil: Monster of the Pines
6. Challenge of the Chupacabras
Hell Monkeys from Beyond • Ravaging Puerto Rico • The Texas Blue
Dogs Mystery 7. Dragons and the American Gargoyle
Gauging the Gargoyle • The Tomah Gargoyle • The Van Meter Visitor •
Dragons and Sky Serpents • Dragons of Oconto Falls • Deer Dragons •
Ohio Highway Dragon 8. Quetzalcoatl and Other Dragons of the Ancient
Americas
Reptilian Gods • The Mystery Lights Link • Flying Manta Rays PART
TWO
MONSTERS BY SEA
9. Aquatic Aliens: Unidentified Submarine Objects
Extremely Ancient Aliens? • Underwater Bases • Sturgeon River USO •
California Coastal Creatures • In the Bellies of the Beasts 10. Mermaids:
People Acting Fishy
The Terrible Triton • Human Fish out of Water • Native American Water
People • Frog-Faced Aliens 11. The Florida Gator Man
Part I: Gator Man • Part II: The Figure in the Cypress • Part III: The
Manatee’s Warning • Part IV: How Strong Is That Porthole? • Other
Creatures of the St. Johns River • Pinky 12. Serpents of the Sea
The Gloucester Sea Serpent of 1817 • Kreature of the Keys: Florida 1905
• Monterey Bay’s Bobo, Old Man of the Sea, and Other Oceanic Oddities
• Chessie of Chesapeake Bay 13. American Kraken: Giant Squids of
Humboldt Bay
Colossal Squid • Red Devil Mayhem • Giant Octopus 14. The St.
Augustine Monster and Other Gruesome Globsters
Drowned-sters: The Montauk Monster 15. Inland Lake Monsters
The Beast of Bear Lake • The Much-Featured Creature of Flathead Lake
16. Native American Water Spirits
Devils Lake • Altamaha-ha: No Laughing Matter • Water Lynx • Horned
Serpent • Lake Guardians 17. Seeking Aquatic Answers: From Archelon
to Zeuglodon
Titanic Turtles • More Monster Stand-ins • Ancient Sea Beasts PART
THREE
MONSTERS BY LAND
18. Upright Canine Monsters
McHenry Dogman • The Wolfman of Chestnut Mountain • Point Pleasant
Beast • St. Cloud Creature • New Mexico Walker • Shape-Shifters: The
Shifty Side • Not So Heavenly in Heavener • British Columbia Baffler •
Bulletproof Beasts and the Invincibility Question • Missouri Marauder •
The Jefferson Parish Prowler • The Scornful Wolfman • Creature
Communications • Marking Dogman Territory 19. Native American Ice,
Bone, and Cannibal Monsters
Windigo: Ice Cannibal of the North • Skeleton Monsters 20. Unholy
Hybrids and Other Manimals
Snake-Headed Dog • Porcine People • Connecticut Frogfolk • Ghastly
Goatmen 21. Reptoids, Cold-Blooded Conundrums
Alien Reptoids • South Carolina Lizard Man • Regional Reptilians 22.
Freakish Felines and Odd Dogs
The Wampus Cat • Doberman-Lynx • The Beast of Bladenboro • South of
the Mason-Dixon Lion • “There Ain’t Nothing Right About That Thing” •
Shunka Warak’in and Waheela • Ear-Eater of Jasper County 23. Watch for
the Sasquatch
Little-Man-with-Hair-All-Over • The Chickcharney • The Matlog • From
Hairy Giants to Sasquatch • Truth or Bluff on Bluff Creek? • The
Minnesota Iceman • Bigfoot with Dead Dog • The Blue Ridge Bounder •
Sasquatch of the Swamps • Pennsylvania Bigfoot • Bigfoot Body Art? •
Washington Wildling • The Sightings Explosion 24. Author Encounters
The Random Beginning • Creature Revealed • Another Kettle ’Squatch •
Blond Bigfoots Have More Fun • In Closing
Notes
Index
About the Author