Uncanny Hallowe’en Guests. Phantom horses and shrieking men and women are heard outside a Cincinnati house. Then uncanny Hallowe’en guests arrive to wreak havoc.
An engaging feature of the papers of the past is the “what-is-it.” This is a monster, sometimes of plausible animal appearance and behavior; sometimes an alien creature seemingly hybridized from a variety of species. Today we look at a few of these colorful “what is its.”
“It was rather dark, for the lower half of the windows were boarded up; but in one corner, on the floor, was plainly distinguishable what looked like a heap of clothes flung together in disorder. It appeared to be in motion, however, and the mistress of the house once more turning to her follower had just time to utter the mysterious words—”Don’t be frightened. If she likes you, she’ll hoot; if she doesn’t, she’ll scream…”
Does the Sea Serpent Really Look Like an Art Nouveau Oar-fish? With Labor Day upon us, we are almost at the end of the Silly Season when sea serpent stories were standard newspaper fare. Here’s a selection of vintage–and most imaginative–depictions of sea serpents.
Mystery Reptiles: Mysterious Beasts, Part 5 As we come to the end of the Mysteries Beasts series, we look at mystery reptiles, a field rife with hoaxes and thrilling tales.
