There are a number of reality shows where groups of scientists and those who are simply interested in this subject search for evidence of well-known cryptids such as Bigfoot and the Yeti. Shows like Expedition Bigfoot and Paranormal Caught on Camera from the Travel Channel show videos where people have caught Bigfoot, the Yeti, the Rake, and other relatively well-known cryptids on camera. But did you know there are dozens of unknown cryptids out there?

See Also: Top 10 Cryptids That Turned Out to be Real

10 The Big Muddy Monster

The first documented sighting of the Big Muddy Monster was on June 25, 1973, in Murphysboro, Illinois. A couple parked in a car by the Riverside Park boat dock next to the woods got a big surprise when they heard a loud scream. A creature came out of the woods towards the driver’s side of the car. They described it as an off-white color, and its fur appeared to be matted with river mud. It was about 7 feet tall and was walking upright on two legs. They were unable to see its face. They took off and went directly to the police station to file a report. Even the fact that the couple was each married to someone else did not stop them from making the report.

There were multiple other sightings in 1973, including one by Mrs. Nedra Green, who claimed she could hear the creature screaming at night in the woods outside her farm. Another sighting was by a four-year-old boy named Christian Baril, who was trying to catch fireflies in his backyard when he came running inside to tell his father there was a big ghost outside. The local police chief took the reports so seriously that he brought in tracking dogs to investigate.^[1]

9 The Goatman

There are many stories about how the Goatman from Prince George’s County, MD, came to be. One of the most popular ones is that he is a goat herder that lost his mind when teenagers murdered his goats. Another story is that he is similar to Bigfoot, but he just looks like a goat. Another story, and one that is the most fantastical if you think about it, is that the Goatman is a genetic mistake made by a scientist from the U.S. Department of Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, MD. The story goes that the scientist was trying to cross the DNA of a goat with his lab assistant William Lottsford. It is said that William is now a mutant and out to get revenge.

The Goatman has been known to chase people, decapitate dogs, and terrify lovers who make the mistake of parking on Fletchtown Road, his home turf. Teens who make the mistake of going to Fletchtown Road looking for the Goatman and have the misfortune to see him do not go back.^[2]

8 The Fresno Nightcrawlers

The first time anyone caught the Fresno Nightcrawlers on video was in 2007. A resident of Fresno, CA, hence the name, found footage on his home surveillance camera of a Nightcrawler walking boldly as you please across his front yard. The Nightcrawler on the video appears humanoid with two long legs, no arms, a small head, and two eyes. The Nightcrawlers have also been observed on security tapes in Yosemite National Park.

There is evidence among Native legends and in wooden carvings made by the local Native Americans that indicate the Fresno Nightcrawlers are very real. Local Native legends from the Fresno area indicate that these beings have always been here, even before humans existed. They have long legs because they live in a swamp world, and the long legs help them move through boggy and swampy areas. Another Native story about the Fresno Night Crawlers is that they are showing up now because they want to help humans reconnect with nature.^[3]

7 The Pope Lick Monster

The Pope Lick Monster makes its home under the trestle bridge on the Norfolk Southern Railway, which crosses over Pope Lick Creek in Kentucky. Those who have claimed to see the creature have reported that it has the body of a man with the lower torso of a goat or sheep. Some people even claim the monster has short horns protruding from its forehead. According to differing reports, the goat-man either uses hypnosis or some sort of siren voice to lure people onto the train tracks, where passing locomotives then run them down. Others have claimed that the goat-man drops down onto passing cars from within the trestles.

So, is this just another legend told to keep people, especially children, away from the potential dangers of the trestle bridge? Possibly, but there have been several deaths on or under the bridge after people scaled the 8-foot high fence to look for this cryptid. Some of these people were involved in “legend-tripping,” a pastime where amateur folklorists and monster hunters go in seek of their legends. Trains still use the bridge even with its advanced age, and unaware cryptid seekers have been struck by trains or have fallen off the trestles while climbing to the tracks. So, even if the PopeLick Monster is not real, the deaths associated with this area are still tragedies.^[4]

6 The Slide-Rock Bolter

The mountains of Colorado have a strange cryptid called the Slide-Rock Bolter. This creature is the size of a blue whale and has a mouth full of very sharp teeth. Its eyes are small, and it uses its back fin, which has a type of hook to hold onto the mountain. It is said that it secretes a type of lubrication from its mouth that allows it to slide down the mountain and scoop up prey, including humans, in its mouth. The momentum it receives from hanging on steep slopes and its lubrication pushes it up another mountain to grab on until the next prey shows up. It is believed that the Slide-Rock Bolter can only live on mountains that have a 45-degree angle; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to make the slide that gets them their food.

Lumberjacks first saw this cryptid in the nineteenth century. While there have been witnesses to huge swaths of flattened vegetation and destroyed trees indicating its possible existence in the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, it is unknown if anyone in the twenty-first century has actually seen one. This may be because the creature is so large that the chances of a human getting away from it in time may be why no one has seen one in modern times.^[5]

5 Altamaha-ha

Altamaha-ha has been seen in the Altamaha River near Darien, GA, since before the coming of white settlers. The Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe was the first to tell stories about the Altamaha-ha. The cryptid is said to have a body similar to a sturgeon with a bony ridge on top. It has front flippers but does not have any back flippers. Its snout resembles a crocodile with large teeth and eyes. Eyewitnesses claim the creature is 20-30 ft long though smaller versions have been sighted. The first sighting by someone who was not indigenous was on April 18, 1830. A reporter for the Savannah, Georgia newspaper claimed multiple sightings of a sea monster made by several men on a schooner called Eagle. The main sighting was by Captain Delano, but several other men on the schooner also witnessed the creature.

More recently, a carcass washed up on Georgia’s southern coast at Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge in early 2018, resembling a smaller version of Altamaha-ha. Jeff Warren’s son discovered the carcass while he and his father were visiting. Mr. Warren took a video of it, and the video has been called a hoax or a misidentification of a frilled shark or another type of deep-sea shark. While several scientists claimed it was a deepwater shark, and others claimed it was a hoax, it’s interesting that the creature so resembles accounts of the Altamaha-ha.^[6]

4 The Frogman

Loveland, Ohio has one of the more interesting cryptids in my opinion. The first stories of the Frogman or Frogmen began in the 1950s when a businessman claimed to have seen multiple large bipedal frogs along the Little Miami River. The first official sighting of the Frogman took place in 1972 and was witnessed by two policemen on two separate occasions. Officer Ray Shockey first saw the creature on March 3, 1972, at 1:00 am. Officer Shockey was driving to Loveland, OH, when he saw what he thought was a dog in a field next to the road; however, when it stood up, its eyes were illuminated by his car lights, and he could see that it appeared to be a giant bipedal frog.

The cryptid jumped over a guard rail and slid down the hill into the Little Miami River. The officer got such a good look at the creature he could describe it well enough that his sister could draw it. Officer Shockey went back to the station and brought another officer Mark Matthews to the scene that same night. The only evidence they found was the skid marks on the embankment where the creature slid down into the river. A few weeks later, on March 17, 1972, Officer Matthews had his own experience with the Frogman. He was driving and saw what he thought was an animal in the middle of the road, he stopped his car, got out, and the creature got up, crouched in the middle of the road, and then stood up, climbed over the guard rail while keeping its eyes on Office Matthews the entire time. For some reason, Officer Matthews decided to draw his gun and shoot at the cryptid, but he missed.

The most recent eyewitness account occurred in 2016 by a man named Sam Jacobs. It was mid-August, and he was playing Pokemon Go when he saw a very large frog near Lake Isabella. He claimed it stood up and walked away on its hind legs. He estimated the creature was about 4 feet tall.^[7]

3 The Pukwudgies

Pukwudgies have been a part of Native American lore of the American East for centuries before the coming of the Europeans. Some Native Americans believe that they used to get along well with humans but that something happened that turned them against humans. One of the stories from the Wampanoag tribe claims they called on Maushop the Giant to remove the Pukwudgies from their lands because they were annoying. The Pukwudgies have held a grudge against humans ever since. Most Native American tribes say it is best to give a wide berth to the Pukwudgies if you encounter one. Their name means “person of the wilderness.” It is said that Pukwudgies have humanoid features with pale gray skin tones, but their fingers, noses, and ears are larger than a human’s. According to some sources, Pukwudgies are the oldest cryptid in North America.

Different tribes had different lore regarding the Pukwudgies. The Ojibwe and other tribes around the Great Lakes area considered them merely mischievous, and while they might play tricks on people, they were not considered harmful. However, the Abenaki and other Northeastern Native American tribes considered the Pukwudgies dangerous to people if they disrespected them. But for the Wampanoag and other tribes in Southern New England, Pukwudgies can go either way, they can be helpful to a human neighbor, or they can steal human children and do acts that cause great harm, such as pushing a human off a cliff. They are considered to be quite capricious.^[8]

2 Lizard Man

The first official account of someone seeing the Lizard man was in Lee County, SC by seventeen-year-old Christopher Davis in 1988. Christopher got a flat tire near Scape Ore Swamp at night and got out to change it. Suddenly a 7-foot tall green lizard man with three fingers on each hand and red glowing eyes steps out from the swamp. Christopher, terrified, got in his car and attempted to drive away, but the creature jumped on his car and viciously attacked it. Later it came out that there was an earlier sighting. In 1987, a cyclist stopped next to a guard rail near the swamp to get a drink and a smoke and said he saw a large humanoid creature across the street from where he was. This was a year before Christopher had his experience.

There have also been sightings of the Lizard man as late as 2015. Jim Wilson, who was driving toward Camden, saw a creature run out of the woods and across the Scape Ore bridge. Mr. Wilson got out of his car and began shooting photos of the creature. He said it was tall and had scales and a tale. He said it looked similar to an alligator, had long legs, and its face had a short nose. The creature saw him and turned towards him before going into the water and crossing the swamp.

Lizard man is very popular in Lee County, and Robert Howell, a local artist, has become famous for his drawings of the Lizard man. His drawings have even made it into a local historical Lizard man exhibit at the South Carolina Cotton Museum. In 2018, they had the first Lizard Man Festival and Comic-Con, where high profile cryptozoologists rubbed elbows with artists like Robert Howell and even the likes of ghost hunters.^[9]

1 Ozark Howler

Stories have been told in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri about the Ozark Howler for generations. Some believe that the Ozark Howler combines myths about saber-toothed cats from the local Native Americans and the Cu-Sith from the Celtic myths of the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English settlers who settled the surrounding areas in the early 1800s. The Cu-Sith is a large creature the size of a bull with shaggy hair that looks somewhat like a wolf. Its fur can be dark green or white. Current descriptions of the Ozark Howler vary; some say it’s a large cat-like creature with horns and red glowing eyes. Others say it is as large as a bear with long shaggy hair, horns, a beard like a goat, and glowing red eyes.

There is also some confusion as to whether its tail is long or short. The Ozark Howler’s howl is said to be very frightening, possibly a cross between an elk’s bugle and a wolf’s howl. However, other descriptions say the howl is more deep and guttural, or more like a high-pitched howl.

While there have been accounts of the Ozark Howler, both auditory and visual, since the 1950s, there are stories from families in the region that go back several generations beyond that, even as far back as the early 1800s. In addition, some photos are not conclusive as to whether or not it is actually the howler since they look as if they were created in Photoshop. The most recent sightings have occurred between 2005-2010, where locals have seen what appears to be an overly large cat. However, there are no large cats in this region any longer, according to local wildlife experts. It is believed that the cat or cats being seen might be exotic pets that have been released into the wild.^[10]

Many of us have heard of cryptids; seen the internet posts and forums proclaiming their existence or simply joking about them, there have been highly produced television series and even a few scientific projects to explain the countless, ever-growing amount of sightings of these unproven and often strange myths of creatures, searching for an answer and an explanation that may have been there all along.

Many of these sightings of alleged beings that range from incredibly widespread to shockingly obscure have very real animals and stories behind them, ones inflated by exaggerations or simply outside circumstances that made them look more mythical than they actually are, scarier in the dark or simply coloured by the human imagination.

10 Real-Life Explanations For Famous Myths And Cryptids

10 Bigfoot – Bears

Bigfoot, sasquatch, yeti, many different names for one very similar being; a large, hairy primate with, yes, big feet and an allegedly elusive and intelligent nature, certainly one of the most famous – or infamous, depending on who you’re asking – cryptids ever, with possibly the most prominence in pop-culture or simply American culture itself, other than UFO-s.

Many sightings occur every single year, with many proven hoaxes and cases of misidentification but still a sense of true mystery when it comes to this proclaimed relative of ours. So, you may ask, what could be behind it? The answer, a lot of the time, is extremely simple; bears. Or, alternatively, bears with mange.

Mange, alongside other medical conditions that vastly alter an animal’s appearance are often the culprit of cryptid sightings and with a lot of bigfoot evidence turning out to be ones left by bears and multiple cases of sightings in which the caught “bigfoot” was actually a bear that lost parts of its fur and acted strangely due to mange, there hasn’t really been anything in the way of “real” evidence that suggests anything different.

Some people, however, still believe that bigfoot is out there, or, more specifically, that bigfoot-like sightings can be explained by remaining populations of Gigantopithecus, a large ape thought to be extinct that may still remain in select groups in certain parts of the world.^[1]

9 Chupacabra – Dog with mange

Another notorious cryptid, the Chupacabra, has been part of mainly Puerto Rican, Mexican, and general Mesoamerican folklore and legends, with a name that means “goat sucker” in Spanish, it’s gained more than a little attention and controversy over its many years of popularity.

The solution with this one, however, is even simpler and more provable than the one with bigfoot, yet it’s largely the same; mange. Yep, mange, dogs with mange, to be specific.

While there have been many stories of farmers losing goats to this creature, most sightings turn out to just be dogs or coyotes with a condition that causes them to look quite a bit like monsters – patchy, partially removed fur, strange appearance, increased activity at night due to skin sensitivity, and weight loss from decreased functionality arising from the condition make these poor animals seem a lot like monsters when you encounter one in the dark.^[2]

8 Jackalope – Rabbits, Shope papilloma virus

While not treated as seriously as some other beings of folklore, the jackalope has been around longer than most. A simple concept; a rabbit-like being with antlers is certainly a fairly simple concept to grasp, and one people out in fields may have seen plenty of times.

And really, they may have; as, again, an appearance-altering disease is the culprit.

Known as the Shope papilloma virus, or SPV, it sadly causes leporids, as in, rabbits and hares to grow keratinous, cancerous tumours on their outer body, sometimes resembling horns, small antlers, or even other strange, paranormal-seeming looks.

With the infection generally being more prominent in areas around the head, it’s no surprise that certain people have caught sight of rabbits with this condition and, not understanding the cause of it, attributed it to a different species or perhaps entirely different being entirely, however, the answer is a disappointing no, and jackalopes are sadly another sick animal.^[3]

7 Kraken – Giant Squid

Another extraordinarily old legend, the Kraken and other, similar beings, that is, massive squid- or octopus-like creatures that destroy ships and lurk in the depths have been subjects of tales almost as long as sailing has been around, and turns out, while the tales were coloured more than a bit, they were based on something entirely real and almost as incredible.

The Colossal squid is a lot like what the legends describe, a massive sea creature that, while doesn’t typically destroy ships, looks like it might as well be able to, and there have still been accounts of it doing just that, though they’re typically unverified.

These massive animals are estimated to be able to grow as large as 14 metres and weigh 700 kilograms, that’s 46 feet and 1,500 pounds, which makes the attributed tales quite unsurprising in hindsight.^[4]

6 Giant Spider – Both real and impossible

This one is a bit strange, admittedly, as the explanations of this one depend entirely on our definition of “giant”, as, in a sense, we already have giant spiders; the Goliath birdeater tarantulas and certain species of Huntsman spider may grow as large as 30 cm-s or 1 foot in legspan! Some would already say that’s absolutely massive!

If we want to go that beyond that, however, things aren’t looking too good – or, to any readers with arachnophobia, things actually look quite lovely, as it’s a simple scientific fact that spiders are limited in size, and our Goliath birdeaters and massive Huntsman spiders may be the largest spiders we ever see.

Spiders lack proper lungs and thus their size is tied largely to the oxygen content in the air, even the largest arachnids in prehistoric times that we’ve found haven’t grown to over a metre in length, and until they develop lungs or the oxygen in the air increases significantly, things are staying that way, so no, giant spiders, other than the very real ones we have on Earth, are not real.^[5]

10 Cryptids That Could Be Real

5 Mongolian death worm – Tartar sand boa

The Mongolian death worm has also had its fair share of controversy in recent history. A legendary creature that’s been part of Mongolian folklore for a long time, called “olgoi-khorkhoi”, meaning “large intestine worm” by the locals, it’s described as a gigantic red worm that inhabits the Gobi desert, travels underground, has a fearsome jaw, and the ability to spit venom or even create a powerful electric discharge, and, that upon touching it, you die instantly.

There have been multiple investigations to find this scary creature, with the successful findings of.. A snake! When presented to the locals who have seen the creature, they claimed it was the same one they’re seeing just now, when, in reality, it was nothing but a snake called the Tartar sand boa, Eryx miliaris, a large snake that certainly looks wormlike but is, in fact, just a snake that’s not red and possesses no supernatural abilities.^[6]

4 Mothman – Owl

Another American cultural icon, at least to some, the Mothman is perhaps even more ridiculous than the jackalope, yet it has a very strong culture behind it.

Considered by many to not even be a cryptid but rather an alien or supernatural being, as the name implies, it’s typically portrayed as the hybrid of a moth and a man, a large, winged, incest-like humanoid that’s described as an omen that either warns us of bad things to come or causes them himself, with alleged sightings at many horrible events, such as the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant.

The reality, however, is that, aside from the ridiculous concept, some sightings have been very real, though also incredibly easy to explain. Barn owls are reasonably large, winged birds with mysterious appearances and eyes that could explain what people describe as the Mothman’s frightening, glowing eyes in the dark.

These birds love abandoned areas and while the sighting of a barn owl behind tragedies might be an omen by itself, the human mind certainly has a way of attributing neutral things to bad events in search of a reason behind tragedy.^[7]

3 Jersey Devil – Sandhill Crane

The Jersey Devil, as its name clearly suggests, is a devilish legendary creature said to inhabit New Jersey, the Pine Barrens of South Jersey specifically. Traditionally described as a bipedal creature with wings and a mammal-like head such as a horse’s or goat’s, often depicted with hooves, a tail, and tales of a horrible scream, the legend has seen many variations since its inception ranging all the way back to the early days of America as we know it today.

While the image is strange and frightening, the explanation again seems to be quite simple, as the Jersey Devil seems to be a tale made up by English settlers and, while the legend has persisted for over 250 years, there hasn’t been a single confirmed sighting and, even aside from the silly concept being a telling sign, we can pretty safely say that this is a hoax and many believe that the creature is based on the Sandhill crane, a large, tall, heavy-bodied bird with no supernatural aspects, though certainly amazing in its own right, with a breeding range that extends into New Jersey.^[8]

2 Mermaid – Manatee and Dugong

Mermaids are frequently thought of as beautiful, majestic creatures, half-fish, half-human beings, frequently though not always depicted as women, it’s no wonder they’ve been a popular figure in fantasy and pop-culture in recent decades, also gaining a decent amount of real-life traction due to an Animal Planet documentary that claimed to deal with the concept of real mermaids, but was promptly proven to be completely fake.

While extremely interesting, and certainly beautiful, majestic creatures in many folktales, though often terrifying in the case of sirens, evil creatures that lured sailors out, only to kill them, the reality is neither this dignified nor this terrifying, in fact, it’s rather close to being the opposite of both.

The reality of mermaid sightings is often chalked up to two animals, one more than the other; manatees and dugongs, large-bodied marine mammals, majestic in their own right but not anything close to the prospect of beautiful and perhaps evil fish-tailed women resting on rocks out at sea, these animals are vividly more real and perhaps comparatively disappointing.^[9]

1 Nessie – Eels, Greenland shark, and many more

Finishing the list with Nessie, also known as the Loch Ness Monster, potentially the most famous cryptid and mythical creature of all time, it’s easy to imagine that Nessie hasn’t managed to avoid plenty of potential and reasonable animal misidentifications, and yes, it really hasn’t.

Stated to be a long-necked marine animal, generally depicted as being extremely close to an extinct Plesiosaur in appearance, the creature is said to inhabit Loch Ness in Scotland, a large, deep loch that has sparked many people’s fantasies of an ancient creature that was only presumed to be extinct still lurking there, the reality, however, is again attributed to a simple animal; eels. Many experts think that sightings of Nessie may be explained simply by sightings of large eels, and with the way its famous pictures look and many sightings are described, they fit the description of a slender eel very well.

The Loch Ness Monster and its many sightings have also been seemingly correctly attributed time and time again to bird and boat wakes,, and even the idea of a slightly cryptid-like animal, the Greenland shark making its way to the lake. With many hoaxes and simple animal misidentification, Nessie, however amazing, is not looking very real after all.^[10]

Top 10 Cryptids You’ve Never Heard Of

Among other magical abilities, witches in history have long been thought to consort with the dead. Be it with a Ouija Board at the height of the spiritualism movement or via the old, alleged maleficium, it’s easy to put witches and ghosts in a similar, mystical camp. However, every now and then, supposed witches do a tad bit more than speak to spirits; they sometimes become spirits themselves, or so some people claim.

The following is a list of the ten most famous witches to become ghosts or cryptids, not only being figures of folklore like the Baba Yaga or Jenny Greenteeth but who also, as some claim, have been sighted to this day.

Related: 10 Unusual Male Witch Trials From Europe

10 Mother Shipton and the Petrifying Well

The tale of Ursula Sontheil, also known as Mother Shipton, begins in 1488 in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. Born to a fifteen-year-old mother, Agatha Sontheil, out of wedlock, Ursula was raised by her mother alone. The two lived in a cave for two years before Agatha was taken to a nunnery, leaving Ursula to be raised by the local Abbot of Beverly.

Ursula, however, was born to look exactly like one would imagine a stereotypical witch to look: warts, nose, and all. So she made very few friends and would end up spending most of her time in the woods and around the cave, studying plants and old cunning women’s traditions. She would develop a reputation as a successful folk healer prophetess and live to be 73.

Mother Shipton’s cave has also garnered a haunting reputation. A nearby well, known as the Petrifying Well, has an odd tendency to turn most objects left there over three or so months into stone. Despite science tackling that mystery, chalking it up to a high mineral content, many claim to see a shadowy, witch-like figure prowling around the mouth of the cave, often disappearing as soon as it appears.^[1]

9 Barbara Zdunk

Barbara Zdunk holds the intriguing title of “The Last Witch to Be Burned at the Stake in Europe.” However, this would not be her only alleged crime. The city of Reszel in Poland was under attack by a serial arsonist at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1806, the entire town was burned to the ground. Barbara Zdunk, a maid at the time, was charged with the crime, though most suspect that she was a victim of a slander campaign. Though she was also pinned with practicing magic, witchcraft was not a crime in what was then Prussia, but it was used as evidence nonetheless. Zdunk was executed on August 21 at Szubienica Hill, outside of Reszel.

As such, it is within the Reszel Castle that many claim to see the spirit of Barbara Zdunk. It is in this castle’s dungeons that the alleged witch was first imprisoned and tortured over the course of four years. She was even sexually assaulted and gave birth twice during her imprisonment, though no one knows what became of her children. Some claim to see her wandering spirit haunt the castle’s dungeons and often report blood-curdling screams when no one (alive) is there to make them. Ghost Hunters International even visited Reszel Castle and was subject to a smattering of poltergeist moments.^[2]

8 Marie Laveau

Though not necessarily a witch, Marie Laveau is often referred to as “The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans” for her reputation as a wise priestess in the Voodoo religion and as a pillar of the New Orleans black community. Voodoo stems from west African beliefs that developed prominence in the Caribbean and other areas, including New Orleans. Marie Laveau, born around the turn of the 19th century, had a deep ancestry involving many prominent Voodoo priestesses and learned much about the religion under the tutelage of a Dr. John (Bayou John) from Senegal.

Marie Laveau would live a long, influential life, passing away from old age on June 15, 1881. Laveau is buried at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and still receives gifts and spiritual adornments to this day. The cemetery, however, is not the haunted location where Marie Laveau’s spirit is sometimes spotted. Instead, her home, on St. Anne Street, boasts that title, even though the building was torn down and rebuilt in 1903.

Many report seeing the spirit of the Voodoo Queen walking peacefully down St. Anne Street, wearing a white dress and her tingon headdress. She is also said to haunt rooms within the new building, which is used nowadays for a vacation rental. People also claim to hear mysterious chanting and drumming coming from a completely empty street.^[3]

7 The Soucouyant

The Soucouyant treads a thin line between “vampire” and “witch,” but this Caribbean spirit is described as an old hag often enough to qualify her for this list. The Soucouyant is a legend prominent in southern Caribbean nations, namely Trinidad and Tobago, and is actually a name for a witch-like entity, as opposed to a singular witch. According to legend, she is able to strip off her skin at night and transform into a giant fireball, which often visits people’s homes while they’re asleep to suck their blood, supposedly leaving blue-black marks.

The Soucouyant can be stopped, however. By sprinkling salt or pepper on her discarded skin, it would burn her to death when she returned. One can also place a bowl of rice on their front doorstep, forcing her to count each grain before she can enter.

Despite the Soucouyant appearing to be more of a legend than a cryptid, she has been allegedly sighted recently. However, it is considered quite taboo to talk about them, making reports a tad bit scarce. Nevertheless, people report seeing balls of fire flying like paranormal orbs of light, sometimes with a visible face inside.^[4]

6 Hauntings at Proctor’s Ledge

Perhaps the initial incident that took place is far more famous than any hauntings that have lingered into the modern era, but Salem definitely has its fair share of hauntings.

Though it’s hard to actually claim that any victims of the infamous Salem Witch Trials were bonafide, practicing witches, it is safe to say that many institutions have reports of ghosts. And a lot of the alleged spirits seem to be people from around 1692 when the trials started—if the descriptions are anything to go by.

In 1921, historian Sidney Perley discovered the location of “Gallows Hill,” where the executions took place, and found said location to be at the foot of Proctor’s Ledge, a hill in Salem. According to Massachusetts law, it was illegal to bury the executed “witch” in consecrated ground, so most of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials were “buried” near the execution site in a mass grave. Although, some family members may have removed their accused family member under the cover of darkness for burial elsewhere.

To this day, a mysterious Lady in White is often seen wandering Proctor’s Ledge and other Salem locations. However, no one has yet identified her as a specific victim of the famed trials. In addition, faint wailing and moaning are often reported at the location, as well as the ever-common cold spots and floating orbs that accompany ghostly locations.^[5]

5 Agnes Sampson

Agnes Sampson, also known as the Wyse Wyff of Keyth, was a prolific cunning woman from Scotland who tragically suffered her demise at the North Beswick Witch Trial in 1591. The historic Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh was where Sampson was tried and executed, and according to legend, it still serves as her place of residence to this day.

In life, Agnes Sampson was a widow with two children, who made a living helping the people of Scotland with the folk remedies she had learned. Unfortunately, though, a maidservant named Geillis Duncan was convicted of witchcraft and started confessing about other witches she knew, similar to how the Salem Witch Trials panned out. Sampson was regrettably a victim of Duncan’s admission. As a result, Sampson was imprisoned and tortured for a few months before she was garroted and burned on January 28.

To this day, a phantom matching Agnes Sampson’s description has been seen wandering Holyroodhouse Palace, often apparating with her torture wounds fully visible. She is often witnessed either slowly wandering the halls or acting out the final scenes of her life.^[6]

4 Janet Douglas

Janet Douglas was another victim of the various witch trials that plagued Scotland, though Douglas would meet her fate more than fifty years before Agnes Sampson, being burned at the stake on July 17, 1537. Also known as Lady Glamis, Douglas is said to be spotted at Glamis Castle to this day, prowling its halls as an ethereal phantasm.

However, in contrast to Sampson, Douglas’s accusations came not from her reputation as a folk witch but from her relation to Sir James Douglas, a lieutenant to Robert the Bruce and an enemy of King James V of Scotland. Out of contempt for the whole Douglas family, Janet Douglas was convicted of treason, poisoning her husband, and witchcraft. It took no time at all for the Lady Glamis and her sixteen-year-old son to be imprisoned and tortured, and it is alleged that her son was forced to watch his mother burn to death.

Though she was executed at Edinburgh Castle, Douglas allegedly manifests at her original home of Glamis Castle, where she is also known as the Grey Lady. She is often spotted in garb sporting the color of her new namesake, and she is most commonly sighted at the castle’s chapel.^[7]

3 The Aswang

This next legend comes from the Philippines and also blurs the line between witch and vampire, much like the Soucouyant. Although it typically takes the form of a woman by day, the Aswang is a figure in Philippine folklore who has the ability to shapeshift into large dogs, cats, birds, and sometimes werewolves, all so that they can hunt humans at night. The only way to discern if someone is an Aswang is if their eyes reflect their beholders upside-down or if a special painting crafted by an albularyo, a Filipino folk healer, starts to boil whenever the Aswang draws near.

In order to consume its victims, an Aswang is said to perch on the roof of people’s homes and move its long, prehensile tongue toward small openings in a victim’s home to probe the scene before breaking in, eating them, and replacing the corpse with a mannequin made of wood and plants. To this day, many in the Philippines report seeing an odd cryptid preying on people’s roofs.^[8]

2 La Lechuza

This next entry on the list is less canine and a tad bit more avian. La Lechuza’s folkloric roots can be traced back to Mexico, and her name can even be directly translated as “the owl,” for she is often spotted as a giant owl with a woman’s face.

La Lechuza’s origins stem from a nameless woman being convicted of practicing black magic by those in her village, who immediately murdered her. This supposed bruja, or variation on the witch in Mexico, came back as the aforementioned terrifying, seven-foot-tall bird lady, allegedly lingering to this day, appearing as an older hag by day and transforming into her bird form at night.

People report witnessing La Lechuza perching in high trees at night, either emulating a baby’s cry to attract potential victims or simply screeching like an owl should anyone approach. She’s also known to swoop after cars, attempting to run them off the road.^[9]

1 The Bell Witch

The Bell Witch is by far the most famous and enduring spirit attached to witchcraft, and according to legend, is one of the very few ghosts who—according to the myth—ever managed to kill someone. Her tale begins in rural Tennessee, from 1817 to 1821. Her haunting started when a man named John Bell shot at a mysterious creature in his cornfield, which appeared to have the head of a rabbit on the body of a dog.

As time went on, the whole Bell family became host to poltergeist activity, such as odd knocking and sheets being pulled off in the middle of the night. Betsy Bell was a particular victim to the Witch and often woke up being slapped and beaten by an invisible entity. Former U.S. President Andrew Jackson even visited the family, and he and his entourage were beaten and cursed at by the same invisible force.

The haunting of the Bell Witch, however, culminated in John Bell turning significantly ill, and the family discovered an odd vial with a mysterious liquid hidden in the home. When they tested the liquid on the family cat, it died immediately, and to this day, it is suspected that it was the Bell Witch who poisoned John.^[10]