Bat Boy
(Wikipedia) Bat Boy is a fictional creature who made several appearances in the defunct American supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. The Weekly World News published patently fabricated stories which were purported to be factual. Within the pages of the paper, Bat Boy is described as a creature who is 'half human and half bat'. His pursuers, according to Weekly World News are scientists and United States government officials; he is frequently captured, then later makes a daring escape. The original scientist who found him was named Dr. Ron Dillon. Matthew Daemon, S.O.S. (Seeker of Obscure Supernaturals) crossed paths with him on several occasions. Bat Boy was created by former Weekly World News Editor Dick Kulpa. He debuted as a cover story on June 23, 1992. The original front-page photo of Bat Boy, showing his grotesque screaming face, was the second-best selling issue in the tabloid's history, and he has since evolved into a pop-culture icon. He became the tabloid's de facto mascot of sorts. The story of Bat Boy was turned into an Off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The Musical.
Jackalope: (Wikipedia) The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore (a so-called "fearsome critter") described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail (and often hind legs). The word jackalope is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antalope", an archaic spelling of antelope. It is possible that the tales of jackalopes were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit's head and body. However, the concept of an animal hybrid occurs in many cultures, for example as the griffin and the chimera. Indeed, the term chimera has become the categorical term for such composites within the English language. A common southwestern U.S. species of jackrabbit is called the antelope jackrabbit, because of its ability to run quickly like an antelope. It is easily imagined that this species might be humorously misconstrued to possess horns and represent a jackrabbit-antelope cross.
Mothman: (Wikipedia) The Mothman is a cryptid reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia from November 12, 1966, to December 1967. Most observers describe the Mothman as a man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large wings. The creature was sometimes reported as having no head, with its eyes set into its chest. A number of hypotheses have been presented to explain eyewitness accounts, ranging from misidentification and coincidence, to paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories.
Jersey Devil: (Wikipedia) Most accounts of the Jersey Devil legend attribute the creature to a "Mother Leeds", a supposed whore although the tale has many variations. According to one version, she invoked the devil by saying "let it be the devil" while giving birth to her 13th child, and when the baby was born, it either immediately or soon afterward transformed into a devil like creature and flew off into the surrounding pines.
Mermaid: (Wikipedia) Much like sirens, mermaids will sing to people or to gods to enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing people to walk off a ship's deck or to run their ship aground. Other stories depict mermaids squeezing the life out of drowning men while attempting to rescue them. They are also said to carry humans down to their underwater kingdoms. In Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, it is said that mermaids forget that humans cannot breathe underwater, while other stories say they drown men out of spite, while still other fables portray mermaids as benevolent toward men.
Which one do you most wish actually existed??
I have always been fasinated by Mothman and the Jersey Devil. Those are a couple of creatures I would not want to run into.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I love the Mothman. Kinda bad/kinda good, but all knowing.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the Batboy mags in the grocery stores when I was a kid. He freaked. Me. Out.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm just mildly amused. It'd be fun to photoshop him into precocious places...
……. Autumn! … lol … I can't remember a single year of my life when I wasn't drawn to monsters. Either mythological or folkloric, or from the imagination or the long & winding annals of Fortean literature, I was down with monsters. When I was just twelve, the late, great Fortean, John Alva Keel came out with his Strange Creatures From Time & Space, which served as a veritable Bible for me. Its gorgeously wrought cover by one of fandom's greatest artists, Frank Frazetta, also helped to catapult the tome into circles it might have easily not been read by. Thanks for doing this particular blogticle on your blog.
ReplyDeleteYour cryptozoologist in Virginnie,
Anadæ Quenyan Effro ~ (•8-D
LII;
ReplyDeleteYou would be sooooo good at that. I could see him howling over the horrible hats at the royal wedding or screaming at Donald Trump announcing his candidacy.
Bror;
As a kid, we talked about the Melungeans--a breed of Appalachian huge people that would eat us kids if we were bad. Uncovering these stories is so intriguing. That reminds me, it's time to put a post up about that breed.
i wish bat sex to be banned.
ReplyDeleteMothman for me is the one.
ReplyDeleteAdrian;
ReplyDeleteYes. There is something rather sexy about the Mothman to me. I like that he sort of hovers around, knows things but isn't going to spell it out for us, only a select few.
You have a very interesting theme. I have never lived unusual experiences but my boyfriend actually "met" a strange dark creature 20 years ago in an old house. He still remembers vividly what happened back then and he is totally convinced it was some sort of a ...demon.
ReplyDelete