I’m going to be looking at cryptids in October with the yearly monster posts. So, I thought it would be fun to list a cryptid from each of the 50 states. For those who don’t know, a cryptid is a creature of myth and folklore. It covers a lot of ground, but many tend to use it primarily for creatures believed to actually exist. Let’s go in alphabetical order:
- Alabama– White Thang (A white Sasquatch?)
- Alaska– Tizheruk (aquatic serpent)
- Arizona– Thunderbird (large bird of storms)
- Arkansas– Fouke Monster (hairy ape-like creature)
- California– The Dark Watchers (large, humanoid ghosts in the mountains)
- Colorado– Tommyknockers (small creatures that live in mines)
- Connecticut– Melon Heads (weird violent people)
- Delaware– Pukwudgie (small trickster human)
- Florida– Skunk Ape (smelly Sasquatch)
- Georgia– Altie (river monster)
- Hawaii– Menehune (dwarves)
- Idaho– Sharlie (lake monster)
- Illinois– Enfield Horror (possible alien)
- Indiana– Beast of Busco (large snapping turtle)
- Iowa– Van Meter Visitor (winged humanoid)
- Kansas– Sinkhole Sam (really big worm)
- Kentucky– Sheepsquatch (humanoid sheep)
- Louisiana– Rougarou (werewolf)
- Maine– Wessie (giant snake)
- Maryland– Snallygaster (chimera beast)
- Massachusetts– Dover Demon (sounds like Gollum)
- Michigan– Nain Rogue (imp with fur boots)
- Minnesota– Wendigo (angry cannibalistic wind spirit)
- Mississippi– Three-Legged Ghost (girl ghost with three legs)
- Missouri– Jimplicute (ghost dinosaur)
- Montana– Shunka Warak’in (hyena creature)
- Nebraska– Walgren Lake Monster (obvious)
- Nevada– Water Babies of Pyramid Lake (deformed abandoned babies)
- New Hampshire– Devil Monkeys (dog-faced monkeys)
- New Jersey– Spook Rabbits (violent bullet dodging bunnies)
- New Mexico– La Llorana (weeping woman)
- New York– White Lady (female ghost searching for daughter)
- North Carolina– Wampus Cat (murderous cat that was never caught)
- North Dakota– Miniwashitu (shaggy insanity-inducing beast)
- Ohio– Frogman (humanoid frog
- Oklahoma– Giant lake octopus (yup)
- Oregon– Colossal Claude (giant serpent)
- Pennsylvania– Squonk (hairy pig creature with warts who always cries)
- Rhode Island– Palentine Ghost (ghost of a girl left on a burning ship)
- South Carolina– Boo Hag (breath and skin thief)
- South Dakota– Badlands Banshee (wailing ghost)
- Tennessee– Spearfinger (shape-shifting woman with knives for fingers)
- Texas– Lechuza (shape shifting witch owl)
- Utah– Old Briney (enormous brine shrimp)
- Vermont– Pigman (humanoid pig)
- Virginia– Beast of Bladenboro (phantom cat)
- Washington– Lake Chelan Dragon (winged sea lizard)
- West Virginia– Flatwoods Monster (large alien critter with red eyes)
- Wisconsin– Phantom Kangaroos (Yup . . . Ghost Kangaroos)
- Wyoming– Jackalope (hare with antlers)
You have any cryptids from your area?
Legends of Windemere 
That is quite a list! Illinois also is known for the Thunderbird cryptid.
I think I read Stephen King’s Tommyknockers. 😊
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I saw Thunderbird, but thought it was too well-known. Really hoping to hit as many obscure ones as I can this month.
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A local college’s team name is the Thunderbirds.
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It is a cool name.
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I’ve never seen one here but I did look for Nessie when I was on Lock Ness this year.
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I read an article that there might be two Nessies. Not sure of the proof.
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Actually, they now think Nessie is a large snake. They’ve found lots of snake DNA in the loch. The idea it is a plesiosaur has been debunked because it was not a freshwater creature.
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Weird. Wonder how they know an extinct animal wasn’t freshwater. Could have been a freshwater version or it can handle both.
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I suppose if it survived in some form it could have mutated, by the pleiosaur fossils are always associated with salt water – probably when the oceans covered more of the land?
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A fun list, Charles. I have never heard of a lot of these. The Texas Lechuza is a new one for me.
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Thanks. 😊
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A humanoid sheep sounds the most unlikely. Anything in water could be possible, so many strange creatures lurk in the depths of the ocean, stranger than we can imagine.
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Guessing Sheepsquatch is probably a really rabid satyr. That or a ram who got into some experimental steroids.
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This is a great list. Maybe I’ll pass it along to Lizzie and the hat. They’re always on the lookout for something new.
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Happy hunting to them.
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In the UK there’s the famous Nessie. The Loch Ness monster. What many people don’t know is that there are two more in Scotland–Morag, in Loch Morar and Garry in Loch Garry.
These creatures appear in lakes in other parts of the world, too. Deep lakes.
There are also, in the UK, silkies, which are shape shifters. They have a beautiful woman shape and a seal shape and they will seduce young men and take them out to sea to drown. At least I think that’s what they do.
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I’ve heard of the silkies or selkies. Seen both spellings. UK cryptids feel more well-known than what we have in the US outside of Bigfoot.
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So fun! Almost anywhere with a major lake seems to have rumors of some water monster or other. Lake Pend Oreille (ID) has the “Paddler” and Flathead Lake (MT) has a serpent monster with antlers called “Flessie.”
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I was thinking about that. Maybe next October can be all lake monsters. 😁
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I see the Flatwoods Monster for WV. It is a known entity that my son did a report for but I did question why you choose it over the Mothman? It would certainly seem that the Mothman has more history than the Flatwoods Monster. Point Pleasant, WV could almost be considered X Files ground zero.
We just vacationed in TN and Sasquatch or TN Wildman is prominent there. I did not notice too many Bigfoot or Sasquatch mentionings on your crypto’s list.
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For this post, I tried for more obscure cryptids. I figured most people knew of Mothman, so I wanted lesser known cryptids in the area to get some attention.
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in california I saw the a dark watcher but they are kind common I saw some in Arizona and nevada by Las vegas and suburbs of phoenix but they are more common in california
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Very cool. Are they scary in person?
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