![]() Mythical creatures have been discovered before, as have animals thought to be extinct. Monster hunters may seem flaky to some, but there's historical precedent for their passion. "We live in a time when even though the world has been Google-Earthed to death and GPS'd to the infinitesimal point, there are really large stretches of land that have not been explored and thousands of miles of oceans that no human being has set foot in," Morphy says. Monster hunters are some of the last romantics they believe there's still magic and mystery out there, says Rob Morphy, an artist who has collected accounts of monster sightings at American Monsters since 2000. There are no more uncharted regions of the globe marked by the declaration, "Here there be monsters." In the sprawling sameness of the global village, everything looks the same: People go to the same chain restaurants, listen to the same pop music and wear the same jeans. We like to know that there's something out there bigger than us."īut why are so many Americans getting into monsters now? Some suggest it's a rebellion against modern life. "People have been telling campfire stories forever. Godfrey, author of "American Monsters," which features Gendreau's Wolfman sighting. "People like a good scare," says Linda S. Hinduism gave us the Makara, a legendary sea monster - the list goes on. Greek mythology gave us the fierce Medusa, whose frightening visage turned men into stone the Bible gave us the massive sea creature called the Leviathan in Job, and the beast with seven heads and 10 horns in the Book of Revelation. It all may sound new and bizarre, but people have been swapping stories about monsters since prehistoric man drew pictures of them on cave walls. No hoax.Īlthough "crisis apparations" - visits by the spirits of the recently departed - can be chilling, they are also comforting, say those who've seen them. People are self-publishing stories about creatures kidnapping and ravishing women with titles such as "Moan for Bigfoot" and "The Horny Werewolf." Serious. Monsters have become so popular that they've even become sex symbols. Cable shows such as "Mountain Monsters" and "Monsters & Mysteries in America" draw big audiences monster investigators hold national conventions and Sasquatch festivals and eyewitnesses meet online to swap shaky, blurry videos of monster sightings and swap monster-hunting tips. Monsters are so hot that they've spawned their own subculture. There's the Jersey Devil, a creature so real that police with bloodhounds reportedly once tried to corner it the Dover Demon, a Massachusetts monster that climbs walls like an insect and has an egg-shaped head and the Mothman, a huge winged creature with red eyes that has supposedly chased terrified drivers in West Virginia. In this United States of Monsters, some creatures have been sighted so often that they've become virtual celebrities. Bigfoot is the most well-known, but thousands of people say they've seen all kinds of wolfmen, prehistoric birds, giant bats and bizarre creatures living among us. Just as each has its own flag, most have an unusual creature people have been claiming to see for years. ![]() America may be divided by red and blue states, but virtually every state is a "monster" state.
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