Eh, stop thinking about your own corners of the US as the whole of the area you can talk about! It's a massive country with an ocean liner's worth of myth and legend! :)

What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

ozoneocean
What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

Yeah. What about Hotel California?

ozoneocean
area 51,

oh yeah, Area 51 is real. They used it during the cold war to develop secret flying machines and cool shit, not aliens though ):. I read it in this article where these two dudes were allowed to talk about what the ydid back in the '50s. They said one of the reasons for all the UFO sightings in Nevada or whatever is because the plane they were testing was shaped like a disc or somethin.

If you google “Area 51”, google maps has it pin-pointed. Google doesn't lie.

I'm pretty sure it's not really called that though.

ozoneocean
Eh, stop thinking about your own corners of the US as the whole of the area you can talk about! It's a massive country with an ocean liner's worth of myth and legend! :)

What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

That is true, the subject of the thread did say “Legendary Monsters That Reside at Your Place” which I took to mean “region that you inhabit.”
And yeah, the US is a big place with a lot of folklore that's unique to individual regions within the US. I think it's totally fair for me to bring up Sasquatch and let someone from Nevada or Southern California talk about Jackalopes.

A Jackelope? Is that the guy who climbs the beanstalk and grows antlers? And then is finally shot down by the Giant who straps him to the front of his jeep and mounts him like a trophy?

There was another local legend here called “The White Lady”. No idea why she inhabits and old spanish bridge around here though. Then there's those little people who like to go around playing pranks on people. But I'm pretty sure these legends are Spanish imports.

I'm originally from West Virginia, so… Moth Man I guess.

I don't know of any Virginia monsters. Around here, you get a TON of Civil War ghost stories, though. The surgeon who amputated Stonewall Jackson's arm apparently has been spotted in Richmond carrying the arm in an attempt to return it. There are hundreds of other ghost stories. There's a couple “haunted” hotels in my county, and one room in the plantation house owned by the park where I work is said to be haunted by a female spirit (Civil War era) attached to a wardrobe.

Not far from where I was living in Colorado before I moved again (still in Colorado, just back in the front range area)there was supposed to be a Sasquatch. Never saw one. Plenty of Moose, though.

Plenty of alleged haunted places, though.

the douchebag. big muscles, shitty tattoos, bad haircut, tight shirt, sunglasses at night.

The Wheedle on the Needle. D:

He lives on top of the Space Needle. Used to make it rain ‘cause the people here whistled too much… buuuuut, he’s kinda calmer now that he's got his earmuffs. :3

…seriously, I thought he was real ‘til I was a teenager. |D;

In other words… legendary monsters from children’s books live in Seattle. :)

I live in Louisiana, so I guess the most famous place would be the Myrtle's Plantation in St. Francisville (supposedly haunted by numerous ghosts).

I've been there more than once, and all I can say is that there's definitely some weird things going on there, ghosts or not.

About those little people that like to trick people (especially children around here), now I remember why I don't see them so much anymore… well… other than the fact that I'm not a child anymore (nor do I go into the jungle alone)…



If you've got sprites, brownies, or other faeriefolk, don't ever let them vacation here. X_X

Just go to the Weird NJ website and you'll find all our beasties and ghosts. Besides the Jersey Devil, NJ also has Moth man, Bigfoot sightings and black panthers (the cat not the terrorists) and the lost towns of South Jersey, the Bomark nuclear missile site, Marlboro mental hospital (which is mostly abandoned now and spooky)

As for Area 51, yes, that is the name. The nickname was “Dreamland” also known as Groom Lake. It was all so secret pilots were often just given the coordinates and contacted the tower at Dreamland and landed. The U-2, SR-71, F-117, B-2 were all tried out there. Since most people have no clue as to idenifying aircraft a boomerrang shape without lights will be the mothership when it's just an F-117. Just like the whole Belgian triangle UFO flap in the late 1980s. Operational testing of the F-117.

Utah has lots of odd things in the sky; the Thunderbird for example. (not the USAF demostration team) A giant bird. Giant flying reptiles like peteradons. Like any western State it also has ghost towns and lost mines.

Oklahoma is full of great legends. A lot are borrowed from the high concentration of Native American cultures that are here and others are wholly original. My favorite is the Oklahoma Octopus. I'm not kidding. the Oklahoma Octopus is said to be a horse sized fresh-water octopus that inhabits several Oklahoma lakes (chiefly Lakes Oolagah, Thunderbird, Draper, and Tenkiller). Little physical evidence has been found except for a higher than average drowning rate by pull under deaths, some sightings, and the occasional boat of fishermen or swimmer that goes missing. The most credible claim comes from a civil engineer who found an unexplained 5 foot long tentacle in the lake Thunderbird water treatment center's filters. Officials dismissed it as a joke though the tentacle did not match any known species of salt- or fresh-water cephalopod.

We have plenty of bigfoot sightings too, and so many ghost stories you couldn't shake a stick at them. ;-) Another favorite is the nuna-pay. Originally a Comanche belief they are similar to leprechauns in some ways. They normally hide from people and if you see them you are blessed with great luck and will live to a very old age. I've yet to see them.

We also believe in gremlins. These little devils can turn invisible and love to conduct mischief. So many machines and electronics have mysteriously developed and suddenly lost problems here that its not funny. When a device starts to act up its usually appropriate to stamp on the ground or swat at the air next to you to make the gremlins go away.

This isn't really a "legendary monster. When I was stationed in Ft Lewis, WA, the lake was supposed to be haunted. A swimmer, late at night, would call out for help and splash around, drowning anyone who would swim out to help.

Know the really odd thing? I experienced it to the extent of hearing and seeing someone/something splashing in the water, but when spotlighted, it disappeared. One of my battle buddies radioed in that he was going to assist a trespassing swimmer, so I hauled ass up there. He was getting his boots off and I told him to wait because I had heard the legend. Sure enough, we could hear shouting and splashing, could even see a black form in the water. However, when light was put in the area, it disappeared and so did the shouting.


Another time we were asked to assist state patrol to control traffic because of an accident caused by a bigfoot when it was raining really bad. Not only was it reported on the news, but several, and I mean SEVERAL people were describing the same creature. The story has been told on MonsterQuest as well.

You're not shitting me with that splashing swimmer are you? Cause that is heaps freaky.

Nope. It wasn't LOUD or anything, but you could definitely hear it. Almost like it was out quite a ways but the figure could be seen closer than the sound it was making was.

There's not a lot in Denmark, but back in the middle ages there tons of trolls/giants who apparently had nothing better to do than wander around and throw rocks at churches.

And of course all the norse mythology stuff.

I live in San Antonio texas over here we have the Chupacabra. I believe it came from the hispanic culture. Chupacabra's are goat suckers….lol. Crazy. I have yet to see one though. : )

Canada has Sasquatch, but in my hometown we also have the ghost of Poopchuck who killed a busload of kids (the guy, not the ghost).

i live at Mex/Usa Borderland (yes, right in the middle) we have many ufo sightings, monsters, not that many, lets see; the chupacabras was pretty popular here in the 90's, we also heard a lot about creel's monitos, some people said these humanoid creatures emerged from caves to scare children that used to go nearby of course that's a legend from southern chihuahua (the state, not the dogs).

since many people from southern Mexico have come here recently,we have gotten to know their legends, they talk mainly about two monsters/legends; the “chaneques” and the “Nahuales”.
chaneques are mischievous goblin-like beings that play pranks on people, they often turn on and off lights, open and close doors, can work out as guides for you if you get lost, they also seem to like swinging baby's cradles.
the nahual on the other hand is almost always depicted as an evil creature, much like the chupacabras, they mutilate cattle and have been reported to attack people, an interesting fact is that they predate the chupacabras in time for more than 200 years.

Here in Puerto Rico we “have” the Chupacabra (goat sucker), the older generation might remember “el vampiro de Moca” (the vampire of Moca) Moca being a central town in the island. That creature was a bit similar to the chupacabra but with the difference that it resemble a giant bat.

There's also the Garadiabolos amphibian alien creatures that many people believe were sent here by aliens to populate earth (lol)

Anyway here in the island there's lots of UFO related stories that are well documented and there's always UFO “investigators” from around the world in the island.

Weird.

ozoneocean
Eh, stop thinking about your own corners of the US as the whole of the area you can talk about! It's a massive country with an ocean liner's worth of myth and legend! :)

What about Wendingos? And Jackalopes? And the ghost of Black Beard? And all the other ghost ships, ghost buffalo in the sky, Mothman, area 51, and whatever else? I'm sure you guys are aware of a lot more ^__^

Sorry, but our country is big enough and diverse enough that a lot of us have learned the local ones and we don't even remember that the national ones aren't international too.

But nationally, we have legends like Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in the Northwoods ( basically around the great lakes and the areas of the northern continental states. ) and Hiawatha who was a Native American legend said to be born to the Western Winds if I recall properly. He was known for his odd behavior and tricks and was almost a god having married into the family of the Sun and Moon, catching the king of fishes and once killing a serpent prince. Throughout his life he would constantly take different forms and be reborn. Some of the old Native legends also held that the earth existed on the back of a turtle, and that the world was also destroyed by a massive flood at one point.

As for ancient creatures, the great lakes are said to be inhabited by various sorts of ancient monsters, most of them resembling dinosaurs. There's also the Great Bears, another native legend of a mother bear who was swimming across lake Michigan ( I'll have to make sure of the lake, it's been years since I heard this legend so I might not even have the legend totally straight. ) with her two cubs. Depending on the story, the cubs either drowned or got tired out in the lake becoming a couple of small islands visible from the dunes on the lake shore. What became of their mother? She's the dunes you would be standing on to look at her cubs. She lay down to either rest or mourn and never moved, just turning into the lake dunes.

They're not really a legendary creature per se, but there's rumored to be a group of counter-insurgent commando's in the city of Detroit, planning and carrying out strikes against the gangs, particularly the Black Panthers. Kind of something like the counter-terror commandos known as The Black Shadow in Texas and Mexico that is supposedly targeting MS-13, but even less is known about these guys if they even exist.

We have Bigfoot here :p. And a friend of mine from childhood swears on his life that he's seen it xD.

lba
Sorry, but our country is big enough and diverse enough that a lot of us have learned the local ones and we don't even remember that the national ones aren't international too.

Everywhere is big and diverse. I think the real reason is that most Americans are rather parochial. ;)

I do like the bigger more majestic myths you mentioned though, makes a nice change from the smaller scale miscellaneous stuff for the US. :)
The small stuff is interesting and have a place but it's not really on the same level as the stuff that Lonne started the thread with.

Min-mins
Glowing balls of light that appear intelligent. There's no real debate as to whether they exist or not, just what causes it.

Never heard of Min-mins.

Usually stories about glowing light are twisted tales about strange stuff like cold plasma floating around after a lightning strike, glowing bugs, mirages, or reflections.

—————–
OK, wiki'd em. Interesting. Heh, my alt explanations for the things were prolly right too it turns out :)

I have pookas in my house. They borrow things and torment the cat! Locally there's not much in the way of monster stories - although there is a local legend involving a witch, and huntsman and a wild boar. The nearby hills have legends of giants, and Harry Canab - the devil's hunstmans. And allregedly, there was a whale burried under the crossroads near where I live!

ozoneocean

lba
Sorry, but our country is big enough and diverse enough that a lot of us have learned the local ones and we don't even remember that the national ones aren't international too.

Everywhere is big and diverse. I think the real reason is that most Americans are rather parochial. ;)

Pretty much. Americans are a very regional people. It's probably got something to do with how we tend to travel more in the country that out of it compared to other nations or something like that.

I'll go back and look for my books on the Native American legends. There's some interesting stuff in them like the Manitowac tales and the stuff on northern Michigan's Bear Walk.

Min-mins
Glowing balls of light that appear intelligent. There's no real debate as to whether they exist or not, just what causes it.

Sounds like Foo Fighters that the bomber crews used to see over Germany in world war 2.

I recently moved to Hawaii, so far I don’t know about any “monsters” here, for the most part it's the spirits you're supposed to watch out for.

One such are the Night Marchers that protect the trails. Supposedly, if you are there and hear the chanting, you should get of the trail and lie on your face. If you look at them you die.

Of course you have to look out for the goddess Pele. She goes around in the form of an old lady, testing people's good will.