Mike
Every state in America has its own local legends, and thanks to Barbara Davidson, we now have an illustrated guide to the most well-known mythical creatures lurking in each one.
From Bigfoot’s many regional cousins to lesser-known cryptids that sound like they were invented on a dare, this collection proves that no matter where you go, something weird is watching from the woods (or lakes, or skies).
Each wild creature comes with a brief description, so you can finally learn which nightmare fuel your state contributes to the country’s cryptid catalog.
Let’s take a look at these legendary beasts from across the U.S.
1. Alabama – White Thang
The White Thang is described as an 8-foot-tall creature covered in white hair, resembling an albino Bigfoot or a white lion with red eyes.
2. Alaska – Tizheruk
A giant sea serpent, 15 feet long with a flipper, known to snatch people from docks and piers.
3. Arizona – Mogollon Monster
A Bigfoot-like creature, 7 feet tall, covered in long hair, with red eyes and a terrible stench.
4. Arkansas – Fouke Monster
A large, hairy creature with red eyes, standing between 7 to 10 feet tall, smelling like a wet dog mixed with skunk.
5. California – Dark Watchers
Mysterious, silent dark silhouettes up to 15 feet tall, seen against the twilight sky, often with cloaks and hats.
6. Colorado – Slide-Rock Bolter
A whale-like mountain monster with a huge mouth and flared tail, last seen a hundred years ago.
7. Connecticut – Melon Heads
Inbred cannibal descendants of asylum patients, with huge heads and bulging eyes, lurking in the woods.
8. Delaware – Selbyville Swamp Monster
Described inconsistently as either a hairy bipedal creature or a ghost-like figure, initially a hoax by an actor.
9. Florida – Skunk Ape
A large, foul-smelling, hairy ape-like creature that runs upright on two legs, hiding in the swampland.
10. Georgia – Altamaha-ha
A 20-30 feet long green cryptid with a sturgeon-like body, large protruding eyes, and sharp teeth.
11. Hawaii – Menehune
Tiny beings, about 2 feet tall, appearing only at night to build structures, rarely seen by humans.
12. Idaho – Sharlie
A 35-feet long lake monster with a dinosaur-like head, humps, and a shell-like complexion.
13. Illinois – The Enfield Horror
A hissing, three-legged creature, 4 1/2 feet tall, with pink flashlight-like eyes and kangaroo-like movement.
14. Indiana – Beast of Busco
A gigantic snapping turtle, reportedly the size of a Volkswagen, seen in the late 1940s.
15. Iowa – Van Meter Monster
A human-shaped bat with giant wings and a glowing horn, last seen escaping into a mine shaft.
16. Kansas – Sink Hole Sam
An eel-like creature, 15 feet long, believed to have escaped from a prehistoric underground cavern.
17. Kentucky – The Kelly Little Green Men / Hopkinsville Goblins
Silver, greenish-glow aliens whose bullets bounce off them, tormenting a farmhouse in 1955.
18. Louisiana – Rougarou / Loup-Garou
A shapeshifting werewolf, often described with a human body and a wolf’s head, glowing red eyes, and sharp teeth.
19. Maine – Specter Moose
An enormous, ghostly white moose, 10-15 feet tall with glowing antlers, appearing and disappearing at will.
20. Maryland – Chessie
A serpent-like creature, 25-40 feet long, with flippers, swimming like a snake in Chesapeake Bay.
21. Michigan – The Michigan Dogman
A seven-foot-tall creature with a canine-like appearance and a human torso, known for its fearsome howl.
22. Minnesota – Wendigo
A gaunt, ash-gray creature that gives off a disturbing odor, known for its cannibalistic tendencies.
23. Massachusetts – Dover Demon
A creature with rosy orange skin, a large head on a small body, glowing eyes, and often traveling on all fours.
24. Mississippi – Pascagoula River Aliens
Robot-like aliens, just over 5 feet tall, with carrot-shaped heads, emerging from a glowing egg-shaped spaceship.
25. Missouri – Momo (Missouri Monster)
A foul-smelling, hairy creature with three-toed footprints, no neck, and a face hidden in hair.
26. Montana – Shunka Warak’in
A nearly black, wolf-like creature with high shoulders and a sloping back, known to carry off dogs.
27. Nebraska – Alkali Lake Monster
A giant brown alligator with a rhinoceros horn on its nose, 40-100 feet long, emitting a foul stench.
28. Nevada – Tahoe Tessie
An 80-foot-long serpent living in a cave beneath Lake Tahoe, often compared to Nessie.
29. New Hampshire – Wood Devils / Wood Devils of Coos County
Tall, grayish creatures, over 7 feet tall, blending in with their surroundings and startling locals.
30. New Jersey – Jersey Devil
A creature with a goat head, hooves, bat-like wings, and a barbed tail, said to be the thirteenth child cursed by its mother.
31. New Mexico – Teratorns
Giant, airplane-sized birds with wings spanning 20 feet, believed to have died out six million years ago.
32. New York – Champy
A 187-feet long lake monster with a seahorse-like head, three teeth, and a white star on its forehead, living in Champlain Lake.
33. North Carolina – The Beast of Bladenboro
A 4 1/2 feet long, bushy creature, resembling a bear or panther, known for draining the blood of horses.
34. North Dakota – Thunderbird
A colorful bird with a 12-foot wingspan, capable of stirring up storms and shooting lightning bolts from its wings.
35. Ohio- Loveland Frogmen
Human-like creatures, about 4 feet tall, with webbed hands, green leathery skin, and one holding a wand spitting sparks.
36. Oklahoma – Oklahoma Octopus
A horse-sized, shark-toothed octopus with long tentacles and leathery, reddish-brown skin, living in human-made lakes.
37. Oregon – Colossal Claude
A 40-foot-long monster with a big round body, a vicious-looking tail, and an evil, snake-like head.
38. Pennsylvania – The Squonk
A miserable creature with saggy, ill-fitting skin covered in warts, escaping captivity by crying itself into a pool of water.
39. Rhode Island – Vampire Mercy Brown
A perfectly preserved young girl, dug up from her grave, believed to be a vampire by locals.
40. South Carolina – Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp
A 7-foot-tall, green, wet creature with red eyes, scales, and three fingers, known for leaping on cars.
41. South Dakota – Taku-He
A Bigfoot-like creature, often seen in a coat and top-hat, blending in with its surroundings.
42. Tennessee – Tennessee Wildman
A seven-foot-tall, manlike creature with red eyes and a high-pitched scream, known for its aggressive behavior.
43. Texas – Chupacabra
A reptilian creature with spines along its back, known for draining the blood of livestock.
44. Utah – Bear Lake Monster
A 90-foot-long creature with short, powerful legs and a lizard-like head, living in Bear Lake.
45. Vermont – Northfield Pigman
A half-man, half-pig creature with a pig’s head and a human body, known for its grotesque appearance.
46. Virginia – Snallygaster
A dragon-like creature with tentacles, known for swooping down and snatching livestock and children.
47. Washington – Bigfoot
A bat-winged, Bigfoot-like creature with piercing red eyes, known for its eerie sightings near Mount St. Helens.
48. West Virginia – Mothman
A humanoid creature with large wings and red glowing eyes, known for its ominous appearances.
49. Wisconsin – The Beast of Bray Road
A bull-horned, spiked-backed creature with a frog-like face, known for its fierce appearance.
50. Wyoming – Jackalope
A mythical creature, part jackrabbit and part antelope, known for its humorous folklore and rare sightings.