THE MONSTERS AMONG US
Scooby-Doo taught us that there were monsters among us. They also taught us to ask questions about those monsters. What are they? Where did they come from? What evidence did they leave behind? And when we finally pull off the mask, is there an ordinary explanation underneath?
Let’s get into it.
Cryptids are creatures people claim to have encountered but whose existence has never been scientifically confirmed. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster are obvious examples, but the category is much larger than that. Once we include spiritual and folkloric beings such as Skinwalkers, the Windigo, shapeshifters and Little People, we are no longer dealing strictly with undiscovered animals. We are dealing with the broader collection of beings humanity has reported, feared and passed down through generations.
The interesting part is how often the same types appear in completely different regions.
Wild Men and Ape-Men
This group includes Bigfoot or Sasquatch in North America, the Skunk Ape in Florida, the Fouke Monster in Arkansas, the Grassman in Ohio, Momo in Missouri, the Yeti in the Himalayas, the Almas in Central Asia, the Yeren in China, Orang Pendek in Sumatra and the Yowie in Australia.
The details vary, but they are generally described as large, hairy humanoids that live in forests, swamps or mountains. Some appear more apelike, while others resemble primitive human beings. Witnesses commonly report large footprints, long arms, strange vocalizations, tree knocking, rock throwing and the feeling of being watched.
Some sightings can probably be explained by bears standing upright. However, bears do not easily explain every reported footprint, vocalization or close-range encounter. If these creatures are physical animals, the strongest possibility would be an unknown primate or surviving human relative. The largest problem is the absence of confirmed bodies, bones or DNA from the breeding population that would be required to sustain them.
Dogmen and Wolf-Humanoids
This group includes Michigan Dogman, the Beast of Bray Road in Wisconsin, the Land Between the Lakes Beast in Kentucky and Tennessee, the Louisiana Rougarou, European werewolves, the Scottish Wulver, the Adlet from Inuit stories and the dog-headed cynocephali described by ancient and medieval writers.
These beings combine human and canine characteristics. They are usually described as muscular, covered in fur, equipped with pointed ears and a long muzzle, and capable of standing or running on two legs.
They are not all supposed to be the same kind of being. Dogman is usually described as a physical creature, while werewolves and Rougarou are transformed human beings. The Wulver belongs to Scottish folklore, and the Adlet comes from a separate Inuit tradition.
The repeating form is what connects them: a humanlike intelligence inside the body of a wolf or dog.
Known animals such as bears, wolves, coyotes and large domestic dogs may explain some encounters. A physical Dogman would be difficult to explain biologically because there is no known evolutionary line producing a canine with a humanlike torso and permanent upright movement.
Not Deer and Deer Humanoids
This group includes the modern Appalachian Not Deer, Deer Men, Deer Women, Deer People, antlered forest beings and contemporary reports of deer behaving in ways that seem anatomically impossible.
Witnesses describe deer with overly long legs, strange joints, forward-facing eyes, humanlike bodies or the ability to stand comfortably on two legs. Others report deer moving more like dogs than deer, producing unusual sounds or staring with what appears to be human intelligence.
There are ordinary explanations worth considering. Deer can stand upright, reach speeds of approximately 35 to 40 miles per hour and look extremely elongated while sprinting. Chronic wasting disease, mange, tumors, injuries and neurological conditions can alter their bodies and behavior.
I have still seen two deer that I cannot comfortably explain.
One appeared to have a muscular, humanoid body while standing on its back legs and staring at me. The other had an elongated body and unusually long limbs and sprinted more like a greyhound than a deer.
I cannot prove that either was paranormal. What I remember is the immediate feeling that something was wrong and that I needed to leave.
Skinwalkers and Animal Shapeshifters
This group includes the Skinwalker from Diné or Navajo belief, the Nagual from Mesoamerican traditions, European witches who transform into animals, werewolves and other people believed capable of assuming animal forms.
A Skinwalker is not simply a strange creature in the desert. Within Navajo belief, it is a harmful human witch associated with forbidden practices and the ability to disguise, possess or transform through an animal form.
The Nagual is a separate and complicated concept involving a person’s connection with an animal counterpart and, in some accounts, transformation. European folklore contains countless stories of people becoming wolves, birds, cats and hares.
These traditions repeat the idea that an animal may be carrying human intelligence. The disturbing question is not whether an unknown animal is nearby. It is whether the animal watching you is actually an animal at all.
Windigo and Cannibal Beings
This group includes the Windigo or Wiindigoo from Algonquian traditions, the Wechuge from Dene or Athabaskan traditions, the Chenoo from Wabanaki stories, Stonecoats from Haudenosaunee traditions and the ogres and cannibal giants found throughout Europe and Asia.
The Windigo is not traditionally just a skeletal deer monster with antlers. That is primarily a modern horror image. Depending on the tradition, it may be a cannibalistic being, malevolent spirit, possessing force or human transformed by starvation, cannibalism, greed and corruption.
These beings represent hunger without satisfaction. The more they consume, the hungrier they become.
The stories may have warned people about cannibalism and selfishness in places where starvation during winter was a genuine threat. They may also describe the psychological transformation that happens when someone abandons every moral boundary to survive.
Pale Crawlers
This group includes Pale Crawlers, the Rake, Fleshgaits and older stories involving ghouls, cave dwellers and subterranean humanoids.
They are usually described as thin, hairless and gray or white, with extremely long arms and legs. They often crawl on all fours and are reported near caves, forests, abandoned buildings and isolated roads.
The Rake originated as internet horror fiction, and Fleshgaits are another modern internet creation. Neither should be confused with Skinwalkers.
Pale Crawlers may be animals distorted by darkness, emaciated humans, sleep-paralysis figures, hoaxes or memories influenced by online fiction. They may also demonstrate how the internet can create a new monster by giving thousands of people the same image and vocabulary.
Winged Humanoids
This group includes Mothman in West Virginia, Owlman in Cornwall, the Chicago Phantom, the Van Meter Visitor in Iowa, Batsquatch in Washington, the Ahool in Java and the Orang Bati of Seram.
These creatures are described as large humanlike or birdlike beings with enormous wings and glowing or reflective eyes. Some reportedly glide silently, rise vertically or keep pace with moving vehicles.
Large owls may explain many sightings. Their faces can appear human, their eyes reflect light and their silent flight makes them difficult to identify at night.
Mothman became especially famous because its sightings were later connected with the collapse of the Silver Bridge. This transformed it from an unknown flying creature into an omen that supposedly appears before disaster.
Thunderbirds and Giant Birds
This group includes Thunderbirds from Indigenous North American traditions, the Roc from Middle Eastern stories, the Kongamato of Central Africa, the Ropen of Papua New Guinea and modern sightings of birds with enormous wingspans.
Thunderbirds are powerful spiritual beings associated with storms, thunder and lightning. They should not be reduced to ordinary oversized birds, although cryptid researchers sometimes interpret them as surviving prehistoric animals.
The Kongamato and Ropen are commonly compared with pterosaurs. Modern witnesses also report birds considerably larger than known eagles and condors.
People are poor at judging size against an empty sky, and known birds can travel outside their recognized ranges. However, the fossil record proves that enormous flying animals once existed. What remains unproven is whether any survived long enough to enter human stories.
Lake Monsters and Sea Serpents
This group includes the Loch Ness Monster, Champ in Lake Champlain, Ogopogo in Okanagan Lake, Manipogo, Memphre, Nahuelito in Argentina, the Lagarfljót Worm in Iceland and Storsjöodjuret in Sweden.
Most are described as long-necked, serpentine or humped creatures that surface briefly and then disappear.
Water makes accurate identification difficult. Swimming otters can resemble the humps of one large animal. Boat wakes continue moving after the boat disappears. Logs roll, fish surface and distance becomes difficult to calculate.
The ocean versions include the Kraken, the Lusca of the Bahamas, Cadborosaurus along the Pacific coast and Japan’s Umibōzu.
Unknown large animals are more plausible in the ocean than on land because the ocean is enormous, deep and incompletely observed. The discovery of the giant squid also demonstrates that a heavily exaggerated legend can contain a real animal underneath it.
Surviving Prehistoric and Extinct Animals
This group includes Mokele-mbembe, Emela-ntouka and Mbielu-mbielu-mbielu in Central Africa, the Burrunjor in Australia, possible surviving thylacines and disputed sightings of ivory-billed woodpeckers.
Mokele-mbembe is commonly described in Western cryptozoology as a surviving sauropod. Emela-ntouka is sometimes compared with a ceratopsian dinosaur, while Mbielu-mbielu-mbielu is described as having plates along its back.
A breeding population of enormous dinosaurs should leave bones, waste, trails and unmistakable effects on the surrounding ecosystem. That makes these claims extremely difficult to support.
A surviving thylacine is more plausible. The animal existed until recently, and small populations can be difficult to locate in isolated terrain.
Extinct animals have been rediscovered before. That does not mean dinosaurs are hiding in every remote swamp. It means presumed extinction is not always the same as confirmed extinction.
Chupacabras and Blood-Drinking Creatures
The original Puerto Rican Chupacabra was described as an upright, alien-looking creature with large eyes and spines along its back.
After the story reached the mainland United States, the creature changed into a hairless four-legged canine. Most photographed American Chupacabras appear to be coyotes or dogs suffering from severe mange.
This shows how one name can collect completely different encounters. Once people know the name Chupacabra, livestock deaths, unidentified animals and strange carcasses begin getting placed into the same category.
Black Dogs and Hellhounds
This group includes Black Shuck, the Barghest, the Church Grim, the Scottish Cù-Sìth, the Welsh Gwyllgi and the Cadejo of Central America.
They are usually described as enormous dogs with dark fur and glowing eyes. They appear near empty roads, churches, graveyards and other boundary locations.
Some may be ordinary dogs distorted by darkness, distance and eye shine. Within folklore, however, they are usually more than animals. They serve as warnings, guardians or escorts between the living world and whatever comes after it.
Little People and Hidden Beings
This group includes Pukwudgies, the Anishinaabe Memegwesiwag, Irish and Scottish fairies, Iceland’s huldufólk, Latin American and Filipino duende, Scandinavian nisse and Japan’s kappa.
These beings come from separate cultures and should not be treated as identical. What connects them is the belief that smaller intelligent beings share the landscape with humanity while remaining largely hidden.
They may help people, deceive travelers or punish disrespect. They are frequently connected with forests, water, rocks, hills and particular pieces of land.
How Real Could They Be?
They should not all be assigned the same probability.
An undiscovered deep-sea animal is more plausible than Dogman. A surviving thylacine is more plausible than a surviving sauropod. A bear mistaken for Bigfoot is more likely than an unknown eight-foot primate.
But explaining some reports does not explain every report.
An unexplained encounter is not proof that a monster exists. A possible ordinary explanation is also not proof that a particular case has been solved.
Most sightings probably involve known animals, poor visibility, disease, altered memory, folklore, hoaxes or fear. Some could involve rare animals or species that have not been documented. Spiritual beings belong to a different category and cannot be investigated as if they are simply undiscovered wildlife.
How to Investigate for Yourself
Begin by studying known wildlife. Learn how deer, bears, coyotes, owls and other animals look and behave when they are healthy, injured, sick or frightened. You cannot recognize something abnormal until you understand what is normal.
Research local newspaper archives, historical societies, wildlife records and regional stories. Determine when each claim first appeared and which details were added later.
If you witness something, document it before searching for a name. Record the time, location, weather, distance, movement, sounds and duration. Write down your first impression before discussing it with anyone. If several people were present, collect their accounts separately.
Photograph the entire environment and include objects that establish scale. If you find tracks, photograph the complete trackway with a ruler beside it. Return in daylight and recreate the viewing angle.
Try to prove yourself wrong. Look for known animals, shadows, branches, fences and human activity. If an ordinary explanation survives every test, accept it.
Respect private and tribal land and the living cultures behind spiritual traditions. Do not trespass, imitate ceremonies or reduce sacred beliefs to monster-hunting entertainment.
And if something feels dangerous, leave. That feeling is not proof of anything paranormal, but your brain may have noticed a legitimate threat before you consciously recognized it.
The Pattern
Maybe these creatures repeat because human beings repeat. We possess similar brains, fear similar dangers and create similar monsters.
Or maybe some stories began with actual encounters.
A witness sees something for a few seconds and describes it using the closest ideas available within their culture. The story is repeated, changed and given new meaning. Generations later, the original encounter is still present beneath everything that has been added.
Maybe folklore is a damaged transmission.
The creature’s name changes, but its shape survives.
That does not prove every monster is real. It raises the possibility that our ancestors were not describing hundreds of completely different creatures. They may have been describing a much smaller number of recurring phenomena, interpreted through different cultures and given different names.
Or maybe Scooby-Doo was right, and there is an ordinary explanation beneath every mask.
We just have not pulled all of them off yet.
Things get interesting when you go… Beneath The Brain.