Chupacabra & Other American Monsters Map

The Mogollon Monster is a bipedal humanoid. At over 7 feet tall, it has inhuman strength and large eyes that some claim to be “wild and red”. Its body is covered with long black or reddish brown hair, with the exclusion of the chest, face, hands and feet. Further, reports claim it has a strong and pungent odor described as that of “dead fish, a skunk with bad body odor, decaying peat moss, and the musk of a snapping turtle.”

Further, numerous urban legends exist about the creature’s origins and the methods it employs to claim its victims. According to some accounts, the creature uses either hypnosis or voice mimicry to lure trespassers onto the trestle to meet their death, before an oncoming train. Other stories claim the monster jumps down from the trestle onto the roofs of cars passing beneath it.

Equally important, other legends tell that it attacks its victims with a blood-stained axe. And that the very sight of the creature is so unsettling that those who see it while walking across the high trestle are driven to leap off.

But keep on reading to learn about the Chupacabra.

In Michigan folklore, Bessie is a name given to a lake monster in Lake Erie, also known as South Bay Bessie. The first recorded sighting of Bessie occurred in 1793, and more sightings have occurred intermittently and in greater frequency in the last three decades.

Bessie is snake-like and 30 to 40 ft (9.1 to 12.2 m) long, at least a foot in diameter, with a grayish color.

Chupacabra can be literally translated as ‘goat-sucker’, from chupar (‘to suck’) and cabras (‘goats’).

It is known as both chupacabra and chupacabras throughout the Americas, with the former being the original word, and the latter a regularization of it. Further the name is attributed to Puerto Rican comedian Silverio Pérez, who coined the label in 1995 while commenting on the attacks as a San Juan radio deejay.

Then, in the early 2000s, a different chupacabra arrived on the scene. This one shared some of the traits of earlier sightings, but was a little less alien. Described as a hairless, dog-like animal walking on four legs.

And unlike most monsters, this type is not based exclusively on sightings. Chupacabra bodies have been found.

Then the national press picked up the reports and helped spread the story across the United States. On November 12, 1966, five men were digging a grave at a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia. All five men claimed to have seen a man-like figure fly low from the trees over their heads. In addition, this is the first known sighting of what became known as the Mothman!