Scooby Doo's famous "create a monster to scare people off property" plots were often loosely based on real stories. Take this 1926 story of a woman who was harassed by a shaggy furred apeman. She believed it was a person in a costume trying to scare her to lower her home value

In 1978, a report on the laughing owl of New Zealand was published. In it an alleged photo of the animal, extinct since 1914, was mentioned. However, its now lost media. The wildlife director mentioned in the article, Ralph Adams, also recently passed away. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/p...

Across North America come reports of massive creatures that resemble the believed extinct ground sloth. Could they have survived in the Northern hemisphere longer than fossil evidence shows? youtu.be/X9b0lHN6usc

NEW VIDEO Americans have a longstanding tradition of hunting cryptids. From bigfoot, to river monsters, to giant polar bears, to a strange green furred creature, these are real stories of Americans taking on mysterious creatures. youtu.be/bgLMiZ7xLWQ

Across the world come reports of bizarre, sometimes dangerous, frogs. From screaming "golf ball" frogs, to ones with fangs, to frogs the size of bears, these are the cryptid frogs of the world. Happy Frogthers Day! youtu.be/D4lIrbGweZU

In North America there is a reoccurring terrifying story in multiple lakes. Underwater divers will come face to face with giant monsters in the deep. They've even been connected with disappearances. Could there really be massive fish in the water? youtu.be/_QTSreHmc0Y

In 1993, fisherman Lyle Dyslin pulled up a rather strange catfish. It had a flat head, a flat tail, a dog-like face and almost feet-like fins. After taking a photograph, he threw the fish back into the lake. Theories on what it was range from a long extinct species to a mutation

Bernard Heuvelmans was once sent reports of giant lizards in Vietnam that were able to run on their hind legs at great speed. He compared their running to frilled lizards speculated that they may be some kind of small living dinosaur.

In 1960s Lebanon a young man reportedly encountered a giant snake near Castle Byblos. He estimated the snake's size was about 45 feet or 14 meters in length. This was the last time he decided to explore the castle's ruins

Sundays Should be Weird! Join me in Oak Creek, WI for some of the weirdest stories from our past. Bizarre deaths, peculiar people, mysterious creatures, psychic phenomena and it's FREE!

The Twelve Types of Cryptids I've Encountered

The recently published “Elephants and Their Fossil Relatives” has 2 pages on “Cryptozoology” which it describes as “a relatively recent pseudoscientific discipline”, then lists 16 accounts of “modern mammoth” sightings from 579AD in China, to a 2012 video from Siberia. @bestcryptids.bsky.social

Biologist Roy Mackal once came up with an interesting theory about the possible survival of the dodo. Mauritius, where it once called home, has a handful of small surrounding islands. He believed the dodo could live there, though post-extinction sightings happened on the mainland

In China and Chile there are scarily similar reports of a cryptid that preys on people. They are massive creatures that ambush people and drink their their blood. There have been sightings of them for centuries, but is there any truth to these reports? youtu.be/hvtJ7SCi5_Y

The Bloodsucking Cryptids That Hunt Humans

YouTube video by Truth is Scarier than Fiction

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In honor of the late Mark Hall I remade his "Guide to North American Monsters" map from his Wonders newsletter.

Three separate people have reported a strange "variant" of the Loch Ness Monster. It is capable of going on land, and has the shape of a camel with a long neck and shaggy fur. It was famously seen by Lieutenant McP Fordyce, though a William MacGruber and his sister also saw it

I talk a lot about the father of cryptozoology, but I'd like to shoutout the mother of cryptozoology too. Monique Watteau was married to Bernard Heuvelmans and, despite their divorce, she collaborated with him and drew a lot of fantastic artwork of cryptids for him

NEW VIDEO Lake monsters are frequently reported around the world, but sometimes people also see these creatures moving from the water onto land. Here are the stories of these rare and scary encounters with bizarre cryptids. youtu.be/L34iJKeN7XQ

When Lake Monsters Go on Land

YouTube video by Truth is Scarier than Fiction

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In honor of May the 4th, here's the infamous "Chewbacca Saquatch" photo taken on Mt. Rainier. You can see what may be the wookie's iconic bandolier in the photo, leading to it being hotly debated.

"For the first time in more than 100 years, evidence of cougars reproducing in Minnesota was documented in video captured by the University of MN's Voyageurs Wolf Project (youtu.be/7EL1FRB11DU). The videos, shared with the MN DNR by the project researchers, show a female cougar with 3 large kittens"

First footage ever of a cougar with kittens in Minnesota

YouTube video by Voyageurs Wolf Project

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William Beebe and Otis Barton encounter a giant fish in the Bathysphere- 1934.

NEW VIDEO The UK and Ireland have centuries of cryptid history, but today only a couple are well known. I uncovered dozens of obscure reports of strange cryptids on the isles, from graveyard dwelling mammals, to blue horses, to mysterious bloodsucking serpents. youtu.be/Gi3OwjiyObY

Get your tickets for Strange Central 2026 on 18 April 2026 @conwayhall.bsky.social Our day of ghosts, monsters, UFOs, and more. 12 am: @tetzoo.bsky.social speaking on Sea Monsters Past and Present Tickets and details: forteanlondon.blogspot.com/2026/02/stra... 4/8

A new government leak just uncovered what is THE BEST bigfoot video to date, showing what seems to be a bigfoot family somewhere in Washington State. This has been kept classified and hidden from us for over 50 years until this recent leak

British citizen Sally Dyke displays wound she received from a big cat. Her and her husband had been looking for one after reports spread through England in the 1990s. They ended up finding one in a cemetery, and the startled feline knocked over her husband and slashed at her

NEW VIDEO After almost 60 years, the Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot film has been exposed as a hoax. The son of the man who took the footage has come forward after a new video showing a "test run" of the suit has been found. youtu.be/bOmQbkTid14?...

The Patterson Gimlin Film Was Exposed as a Hoax

YouTube video by Truth is Scarier than Fiction

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A lone almasty cries in despair as an airplane flies overhead. Unknown artist ~2006

An alleged photograph of the "Fiordland moose". Not native to New Zealand, moose were released there over a century ago for hunters. While reports of them gradually tapered off, occasional sightings have led people to believe that moose may have established a colony there

There are dozens of cases of cryptid lost media, photos, videos and audio recordings of animals that may or may not exist. I investigated over forty of these cases to analyze if this evidence might be found one day, or if the whole thing was a hoax. youtu.be/GLKXmVjZ9O8

In 1887, an Iowan man named Lee Corder was accosted by a giant serpentine flying creature. The animal's scales were said to glisten in the sunlight. It landed with a thud nearby, but Corder was too scared to follow it. A local newspaper said that he was a man who could be trusted