Everyone, no matter how close their interest in the unexplained is, has heard of the lost Roanoke colony. In 1585, the first settlement in the Americas failed after bad weather and ill relations between the English and the Natives. Two years later, another colony came from England, guided by John White.
Seeing as their supplies wouldn’t last long, White headed back to England in 1587 for help, but due to the war with Spain, he didn’t return until 1590, and it was only to find the entire Roanoke colony vanished, with only the word CROATOAN carved into a tree.
For many years, it was widely accepted that the colonists were massacred by local tribes, but no bodies were ever discovered. Others suggest that the colonists were taken in and absorbed by the natives. Some artifacts were discovered in 1998 on Hatteras Island where the Croatan tribe was based, but researchers could not definitively say these were from the Roanoke colonists.
So what happened to the colonists? No-one knows, although theories abound. The most logical would be that they were killed, they were helped by the Croatoan, or that they tried to sail back to England themselves when they saw that John White wasn’t returning.
That in itself wouldn’t warrant a spot on my blog, but the (most) interesting stuff comes after. The word “croatoan” has popped up several times in history after the lost colony.
dgar Allen Poe disappeared for a short time and when he was seen again, he was babbling incoherently in the streets.Allegedly one of the things that Poe mentioned while he was on his death bed while still in a state of delirium was the word “Croatoan.” The illness that Poe had and the cause of his death is still unknown. All medical records and his death certificate were allegedly lost.
Croatoan was also found written in the journal of Amelia Earhart after her disappearance in 1937.
“Croatoan” was also written on the last page of the logbook of the ghost ship Carrroll A. Deering back in 1921, when it ran aground on Cape Hatteras, right by what was once known as Croatoan Island.
And of course, the evet-popular aliens or supernatural theories…
And recently, we’ve seen “croatoan” pop up in films and series like Supernatural and American Horror Story. So what do you think?
This little bit of strangeness comes from 12th century England. The story goes that sometime in the reign of King Stephen, two children were found near one of the wolf traps near the village of Woolpit.
Two writers, Ralph of Coggeshall (died c. 1226) and William of Newburgh (c. 1136–1198) say that the children had green skin, spoke an unknown language and only ate raw green beans.
According to the children, they came from a land called St Martin’s Land,
where the sun never shone and the light was like twilight. William of Newburgh says the children called their home St Martin’s Land; Ralph of Coggeshall adds that everything there was green
The children soon lost their green skin, learnt English and were baptised, but the brother died soon after.
According to Ralph of Coggeshall, the sister - named Agnes - was employed in the service of
Richard de Calne, where she was considered to be “very wanton and impudent”. William of Newburgh says that she eventually married a man from King’s Lynn, about 40 miles from Woolpit.
So who were these two mysterious children? Faeries? Aliens? Or as some scholars would say, two lost children suffering from anemia (which would destroy the red blood cells)…?
Black-eyed children have been around for a very long time, and their origins are just as debatable as their existance. For some it’s just creepypasta, and for others these children are the proof of aliens, vampires, ghosts or demons. Others also believe in a gigantic hoax.
The first documented sighting of one of these children comes from 1996 (although they have apparently been around since the 1950s) when a writer in Texas claimed to have witnessed a couple of them trying to get into his car. Since then, the phenomena has gained momentum, with reports coming from all over the world. A report from the Birmingham Mail, speaks of a girl with pitch-black eyes sighted in the 1980s, and this sighting has apparently been going on for a while in the Staffordshire area.
BEK (or Black-eyed Children) appear to have the same characteristics in every report since the Texas one : they travel in pairs, usually around 5-6 years old to 15 or 16, their eyes are completely back and they’re very polite. They seem to only be able to come into homes or cars if they’re specifically invited to, leading to the theory that they’re of vampiric stock.
With the rise in documented sightings, the infamous Men in Black have been said to appear after each sighting, this time feeding the alien theory.
This seems to be a mostly American sighting though; I haven’t been able to find information about BEKs in other countries. Perhaps some spirit is taking a form that seems harmless, like a small child asking for help? Perhaps it’s all an urban legend.
What do you think?
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A small little post this time. I’ll make it up to you, promise.
Wildlife adventurer and biologist Forrest Galante and his crew set up camera traps on the new Animal Planet show Extinct or Alive to try and find a Zanzibar Leopard. Incredibly, it is quite possible that they did! The Zanzibar Leopard was thought to have been hunted to extinction 25 years ago. Galante and his crew broke into excited screams and cheers. He later stated, “That’s what my show’s about. It’s about hope, and the hope the things we human beings have wiped off the face of the Earth may be hanging on by a thread.”
A creature that is now being referred to as the Block Ness Monster was discovered off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island in a fisherman’s net. It was caught in 1996 and measured out to be about 14 feet long. However, the skeletal remains have been stolen and not been recovered. While some think it to be a sturgeon and others believe it is a shark, because its body is gone, it cannot be tested.
Here is a post (as requested) on various cryptid sightings in and around the city of London:
Spring-Heeled Jack
Spring-Heeled Jack is a Victorian folkloric figure, who was first reported in London in 1837. Despite Jack acquiring an almost mythological shroud of mystery, it was widely reported in newspapers at the time. Jack seemed to enjoy terrorising people, especially young women, who he was reported to kiss, molest and tear at their clothing. His interesting name came from his apparent ability to vault up to twenty feet in the air with no apparent effort, and was often seeing jumping over high walls, over roofs and sailing through the air over the tops of carriages. Jack’s physical description was generally similar in each eye-witness report. He was reported to have eyes ‘like balls of flame’, metallic-like claws on his hands, pointed features and was said to wear a helmet, a tight garment that resembled oilskin and a cloak. On one occasion he was said to have dressed like a policeman, presumably to gain entrance to the victim’s home. He was also reported to breathe out ‘blue flame’ into victim’s faces, which sometimes caused them to lose their sight and fall unconscious. This substance was interpreted to be a gas of some sort, as the victims never showed any visible burns. He was also heard to have a high-pitched shrieking cackle which was heard by many of the eye-witnesses as he bounded away.
Sightings of Jack continued throughout the nineteenth century, and it appeared that after a while he had left London, as reports of him steadily moved up the country. He was spotted at some barracks in Aldershot, also in Sheffield, Liverpool and Lincolnshire. Who or what Jack was is still unknown. Some has suggested he was simply a Victorian prankster, pointing the finger at the Marquess of Waterford, a known joker and brawler. It should be noted, however, that the Marquess died in 1859 in a riding accident, and sightings of Jack continued well into the 1870s, and some say even further. Others say the reports were simply a case of mass hysteria, and some that he was a ghost, demon or phantom. Others propose that he was some form of extra-terrestrial being, which may explain his eyes, (which rather than literally glowing may have been retro-reflective, like a cat’s), his odd ability to breathe blue flames, and if he came from a world with more gravity than ours, this may explain his incredibly jumping abilities. Reports of his bizarre behaviour and insane cackling laughter could also be attributed to being in an otherworldly environment not suited to his body, it is possible that our atmosphere had a different makeup to his own, and caused him to behave strangely.
Whatever the reality, Spring-Heeled Jack is an enduring and fascinating figure of London folklore, and will likely continue to fascinate us.
The Nameless Thing was a bizarre and unclassified being which was said to haunt Number 50 Berkeley Square, London, in the 18th and 19th Centuries. In 1840, a student named Warboys heard rumours about the terrifying building and decided to investigate as a sceptic. He was given a room on the second floor by the guard of the property, and began his vigil, armed with a pistol and a candle. Around forty-five minutes later, the guard heard noises coming from the upstairs floor and the sound of the pistol rang out. He ran up to see what the commotion was, and found Warboys dead in the corner of the room, with nothing else in the room apparently changed. The expression on the dead man’s face convinced the guard that he had died of sheer terror. According to reports at least one other person, a sailor, died in the same manner while staying in number 50, and a survivor of a similar attack claimed he had shot the creature, and that it resembled some form of octopus, with slimy tentacles.
Such a bizarre tale is unusual in a suburban townhouse in London, and it has a distinctly Lovecraftian feel. Some have speculated that the creature was some form of ghost or demon, others that it was simply a made-up story to grab the headlines.
The height of the Highgate Vampire mystery was in the 1970s, when a mass vampire hunt was organised in an effort to rid Highgate Cemetery, London, of its terrifying occupant. Reports of a vampire or ghost in the cemetery had been present for a long time, and among others, reports of a tall grey figure, a gaunt face staring through the railings of the cemetery, voices calling out, and a spectral grey form abounded. Two years previous to the vampire hunt, the cemetery was desecrated and a body was found to have been disturbed in its coffin and staked through the heart, though the assailants were never identified. There were also reports of satanic rituals in the cemetery, with foxes found dead, their throats cut and drained of blood. It is these goings-on that prompted vampire hunters to believe that Satanists had roused a vampire from its slumber. Despite huge media coverage, the vampire hunt seemed to find nothing of consequence, although the ring leaders of the hunt claimed to have returned to the cemetery at a later date and disposed of the vampire’s corpse.
The River Thames Monster is a serpent like creature, compared to the Loch Ness Monster, which was sighted in the River Thames near the O2 Arena in 2016. A video of the footage appeared on YouTube, and seemed to show, from a cable car, a double-humped creature slowly rising out of the water before disappearing once more into the murky depths. Some have speculated that the creature was a whale, dolphin or seal which had mistakenly swum up the estuarine Thames from the sea, others are adamant that the appearance of the creature is not consistent with any known animal and it therefore must be something paranormal or as yet undiscovered.
In October 1996, a man was on his way to meet a friend in South East London, and decided to cut through the Old Camberwell Cemetery to make his journey quicker. He had no torch or any means of lighting, so he was only able to see a few feet in front of him. As he walked, movement caught his eye, and he saw what he initially believed to be a large dog, and it was then that he was apparently grabbed by the creature and pulled to the ground. The animal then leaned over him, growing and drooling onto his face. The man lay there, waiting for the creature to bite, but to his surprise it let him go and ran away into the darkness, and the eyewitness swears that he saw the creature run off on its hind legs. Although it was very dark, the close proximity of the creature allowed the eyewitness to describe some features of the beast. It was described as being muscular, with a face similar to a German Sheppard but the body more akin to a Great Dane, interestingly, he noted that he couldn’t see the eyes very well, and there was no eye-shine or glow usually associated with animals. Its breath reportedly had a smell of sweet, rotting fish. The eyewitness reported that when it grabbed him, he could clearly feel the fingers of a huge hand with long claw-like nails, it was not the paw of a dog. The eyewitness is said to have been extremely traumatised by the event, and now has a fear of woodlands and the dark, and has never dared to set foot in the cemetery since the event.
This reports begins in November of 1963 when four teenage friends were walking home from a party when they noticed a silent, glowing orb-like apparition descending from the sky. The object reportedly hovered above a field before it apparently moved towards some woodland and vanished into the trees of Sandling Park. Moments after the extraordinary UFO had apparently landed in the woodland, the youths then noticed a disturbance in the underbrush, and became aware of a bizarre creature shambling towards them. It was described by the eyewitnesses as a five-foot tall, headless bat like creature, with webbed feet and large wings protruding from its back. Its gait was apparently shambling, erratic and waddling. The group of friends, understandably terrified by their encounter, sprinted to the local police station, where they recounted their bizarre ordeal to sceptical police officers. A week or so later, another eyewitness came forward to corroborate the teen’s story, saying that he too, had seen an odd glowing craft hovering above the area on the same evening. Another eyewitness who went into the woodland after the event apparently came across some very strange footprints in the area, 24 inches long and 9 inches across.
While some have jumped to the conclusion that the creature must have been some kind of extra-terrestrial being, others have suggested the teens merely saw an oversized bird or a scarecrow, or had simply imagined it or made it up for attention.
Perhaps this one is less of a mystery, there is no reason why a kangaroo which had escaped from a zoo or been let go by a private collector, could not survive in the UK. However, for the purposes of this collection, it can be classed as a cryptid, as locals had no idea how it got there, or why. In 2007, numerous reports of a large kangaroo in Lewisham, London, were made, including on a golf course and in people’s gardens. It was spotted by dog-walkers, park workers and golfers. It was even blamed for an attack on someone’s dog.
In the spring of 1922 reports were made of a horrifying apparition in West Drayton Cemetery, London. It was seen by eyewitnesses fleeing from a policeman, whereupon it took off into the air with a hideous screech. It was considered to be a form of vampire by the locals, and in 1938 on Thornton Heath in Surrey a woman was allegedly attacked by a similar winged phantom, which reportedly drew blood from her on three separate occasions.
Sorry for the long silence, with a bit of luck we might be able to get back to a semi-regular posting pattern *ironic cough* So today, and because I really find this creature fascinating, I’m going to talk about the wendigo.
I wasn’t sure about which image to use as illustration because there are variants in different tribal cultures, but this one has the overall theme :
The wendigo (alternatively windigo, wendego or wiindigoo, amid others) is a spirit from Native American Algonquin culture. Though some features change from tribe to tribe, the heart of the story is that it’s a malevolant, greedy and supernatural being, associated with winter, famine and hardship.
From the Ojibwe teacher Basil Johnston : “The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody…“
The wendigo is a cannibal, someone whose greed made it devour another person and therefore it is a cursed creature, never able to quench its hunger, always ravenous and in search of its next meal.
A warning in tribal culture, it’s also seen in a lot of popular culture such as episodes of Supernatural and Grimm, although not always true to the heart of the cryptid.
My personnal two favourite representations of this creature would be in Hannibal :
and Robert Carlyle’s wonderful portrayal in Ravenous, which is probably my favourite wendigo-related piece of media ever
The Black Dogs of England are said to be violent predictors of death and doom, but that is not always the case. The Gurt Dog (“Great Dog”) is said to wander around Quantock Hills in Somerset, England, and it is different compared to its fellows. The Gurt Dog is said to be a kind and gentle protector of those that wander the moors. It is specifically a protector to small children and legend says that the Gurt Dog watches over children that play alone and will even help guide lonely travelers.
Gevaudan is an indie first person horror game that is based on La Bête du Gévaudan. It was made by a company called GenomGames and was released on Steam on June 8th, 2017 (the anniversary of the slaying of
La Bête was on June 19th, so close). Many YouTube Let’s Players have featured this game, including Markiplier.
From Steam:
The Beast of Gévaudan… The monster that bathed Gévaudan in terror in the 18th century, slaughtering the inhabitants. One hundred people are thought to have died in this part of France, victims of this deadly scourge.
What lay behind the legend of the monster of Gévaudan? A wild animal, divine punishment or a serial killer… Many are the hypotheses.
Whatever its true nature, you may well learn what it means to be a victim of “The Beast”.
For you have entered the monster’s hunting grounds. You must keep your senses sharp and your wits about you if you are to withstand the scourge of GEVAUDAN. Can you make it out alive?
This picture was taken by Photographer Oren Jeffries while he was exploring some un-mapped area of the Grand Caverns(Virginia). Jeffries liked to use long exposure technique to catch anything without any light what so ever. While he was setting up for his snaps, he heard something in the distance which spooked him. He set off one of his Blitzlicht flashes he used for taking traditional photos underground and ran. In a later interview he gave to a local newspaper, he said that he saw “humanoid” figures looking back at him. A few days after that he went back with a few friends to retreive his box camera which had this picture recorded inside of it.
This also reminds me of The Descent. If youre creeped out by humanoid figures in dark caves, then you’ll love this movie
