Post by swamprat on Nov 1, 2014 9:50:46 GMT -6
Why Bigfoot is Getting Nervous
Monster stories have been around for millennia, and just about every state has its own creature. Now monster hunters are hot on the trail, armed with cameras, drones and night-vision goggles. Can they catch one?
By John Blake, CNN
Rachel Gendreau was driving on a deserted rural road one October night when she decided to take a shortcut through a patch of thick woods.
There was a full moon that night, and the road was tinged with an eerie glow. As Gendreau chatted with her fiancé, she squinted into the darkness ahead and saw something strange: A massive wolflike creature was standing upright in the road, staring at her with shimmering white eyes.
As Gendreau drew closer, the creature leaped from the road and bounded into the woods.
"What the hell was that?" Gendreau sputtered. "Did you see it?"
"I don't know what it was, but it had dog legs," said her fiancé.
Gendreau looked into the rearview mirror and had another scare: The beast had circled behind her car in a flash and was watching her again with those glittering white eyes as she and her fiancé sped away.
Gendreau didn't know it at the time, but she had spotted the Wolfman of Chestnut Mountain, an elusive creature that people had sighted in rural Illinois for years. You may not have heard of the Wolfman, but chances are there's some strange creature lurking near you -- and a group of monster hunters is hot on its trail.
Have you met the 'Horny Werewolf'?
America may be divided by red and blue states, but virtually every state is a "monster" state. Just as each has its own flag, most have an unusual creature people have been claiming to see for years. 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.
In this United States of Monsters, some creatures have been sighted so often that they've become virtual celebrities. 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.
Monsters are so hot that they've spawned their own subculture. 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 have become so popular that they've even become sex symbols. "Monster erotica" is a new book genre. People are self-publishing stories about creatures kidnapping and ravishing women with titles such as "Moan for Bigfoot" and "The Horny Werewolf." Serious. No hoax.
Although "crisis apparations" -- visits by the spirits of the recently departed -- can be chilling, they are also comforting, say those who've seen them. Can bonds between loved ones defy death?
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. 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. Hinduism gave us the Makara, a legendary sea monster -- the list goes on.
"People like a good scare," says Linda S. Godfrey, author of "American Monsters," which features Gendreau's Wolfman sighting. "People have been telling campfire stories forever. We like to know that there's something out there bigger than us."
But why are so many Americans getting into monsters now? Some suggest it's a rebellion against modern life.
Read more: www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/10/us/monsters-in-america/?hpt=hp_c2
Monster stories have been around for millennia, and just about every state has its own creature. Now monster hunters are hot on the trail, armed with cameras, drones and night-vision goggles. Can they catch one?
By John Blake, CNN
Rachel Gendreau was driving on a deserted rural road one October night when she decided to take a shortcut through a patch of thick woods.
There was a full moon that night, and the road was tinged with an eerie glow. As Gendreau chatted with her fiancé, she squinted into the darkness ahead and saw something strange: A massive wolflike creature was standing upright in the road, staring at her with shimmering white eyes.
As Gendreau drew closer, the creature leaped from the road and bounded into the woods.
"What the hell was that?" Gendreau sputtered. "Did you see it?"
"I don't know what it was, but it had dog legs," said her fiancé.
Gendreau looked into the rearview mirror and had another scare: The beast had circled behind her car in a flash and was watching her again with those glittering white eyes as she and her fiancé sped away.
Gendreau didn't know it at the time, but she had spotted the Wolfman of Chestnut Mountain, an elusive creature that people had sighted in rural Illinois for years. You may not have heard of the Wolfman, but chances are there's some strange creature lurking near you -- and a group of monster hunters is hot on its trail.
Have you met the 'Horny Werewolf'?
America may be divided by red and blue states, but virtually every state is a "monster" state. Just as each has its own flag, most have an unusual creature people have been claiming to see for years. 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.
In this United States of Monsters, some creatures have been sighted so often that they've become virtual celebrities. 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.
Monsters are so hot that they've spawned their own subculture. 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 have become so popular that they've even become sex symbols. "Monster erotica" is a new book genre. People are self-publishing stories about creatures kidnapping and ravishing women with titles such as "Moan for Bigfoot" and "The Horny Werewolf." Serious. No hoax.
Although "crisis apparations" -- visits by the spirits of the recently departed -- can be chilling, they are also comforting, say those who've seen them. Can bonds between loved ones defy death?
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. 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. Hinduism gave us the Makara, a legendary sea monster -- the list goes on.
"People like a good scare," says Linda S. Godfrey, author of "American Monsters," which features Gendreau's Wolfman sighting. "People have been telling campfire stories forever. We like to know that there's something out there bigger than us."
But why are so many Americans getting into monsters now? Some suggest it's a rebellion against modern life.
Read more: www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/10/us/monsters-in-america/?hpt=hp_c2