Sure, we imagine the creatures on other planets and the ones deep in the oceans, but what about the ones in the dark and forgotten caverns of earth? Let's explore the monsters in the caves -
Perhaps one of the earliest "accounts" comes in a legend of the Cyclops. It was said in Greece that beneath Mt. Edna were caves where three Cyclops lived.
The world's largest cave, Son Doong Cave in Vietnam has a whole world inside including waterways and forests. What is also said by locals is that the cave houses a devil; the devil of Son Doong Cave. The photo (above) was taken by tourists who were touring the cave and said they witnessed a reptilian-like being inside.
At Lovelock Cave in Nevada, there are Paiute legends of redhaired cannabilistic giants long ago, back when there was a post ice age lake there. The legend says these giants ate the Paiute people and even dug up new graves to eat the dead. Finally, the Paiutes trapped them in Lovelock Cave, filled the entrance with brush and burned it, suffocating the menacing troublemakers. In the 1930s, guano farmers went into the cave to dig out bat guano and found skeletons of several giants.
Many cultures have legends of dragons and their dwelling place is referred to as caves.
Tommyknockers were born from Cornish and Devon folklore. These gnome-like creatures were believed to be subterranean and often referred to by miners. The Welsh called them Coblyn. The Irish had something similar in the leprechaun, and the English and Scottish called them brownies. They are often considered troublemakers.
Reptilians or Reptoids are reptile-looking humanoids reported to be living underground in caverns. They've been reportedly see in Western Europe and America. In fact, a few years back there was a bicycle race across the desert outside of Tucson, AZ when some cyclists took a break and apparently witnessed a 6-foot tall one walking through the desert. Reports have come in from caverns where spelunkers said, the reptilians could walk through walls and drove strange hover motorcycles within.
The Kandahar Giant is one of the most recently reported encounters with a cave-dwelling monster. In Afghanistan, a military team was out to find a missing team when they came upon the gear of the missing team strewn all about the entrance to a cave. When they went in, they encountered a massive 15-foot-tall redhaired giant that proceeded to impale one member of the team on a spike. The team opened up fire and it took some time with all their weaponry to bring the giant down. A military helicopter was said to come and net the beast and fly off with it to parts unknown.
Movies that will get you in the cave monster mood -
Journey to the Center of the Earth (original 1959)
The Descent
The Cave
The Labyrinth
The Cavern
Trog
It Waits
Beast From Haunted Cave
Man Beast