Field Guide: Complete Reference

The Albatwitch has been stealing apples and making a nuisance of itself around Chickies Rock since before anyone thought to keep records, and it hasn't shown any sign of stopping.

Lean, patchy-furred livestock killer working the fence lines. Leaves puncture wounds and no blood. Clears six-foot fences like they're not there.

An impossibly large owl, anywhere from the height of a large dog up to the size of a man in a feather coat, with a wingspan compared to a small airplane. Favors ambush-style observation and silent nocturnal hunting.

A huge black dog, larger than any known breed, that patrols a fixed section of mountain pass at sunset. Impervious to gunfire and physical attacks, it appears to be a guardian spirit watching over its master's grave.

The Boojum has been haunting the hollers around Haywood County for as long as anybody's kept track, and what it wants hasn't changed: pretty stones and female company. Not necessarily in that order.

The Devil Monkey got its name on a back road outside Saltville in 1959, and the name stuck because nothing better came along. The Boyd family was driving through the mountains after dark when something came out of the trees and hit their car. Not a glancing blow, not a deer strike—a deliberate impact, hard enough to rock the vehicle. They didn't stop. When they got home and looked, there were scratches down the door panel. Deep. Parallel. The kind that don't come from branches.

Seven-foot bipedal canid that paces vehicles and watches from tree lines. Doesn't flee when spotted. Evaluates, then decides whether to stay or go.

Ten feet tall with a spade-shaped head and glowing eyes. Appeared on a West Virginia hillside in 1952, hissed at witnesses, then became a seventy-year mystery.

Seven to ten feet of hair, muscle, and poor decisions. Lives in Boggy Creek, raids chicken coops, reaches through windows. Loud, territorial, and smells terrible.

Eight feet of pale, headless confusion. Eyes and mouth set in the torso. Moves quieter than anything that size should. Forty-one sightings, zero attacks.

Oversized black dogs with glowing eyes that don't bark, don't chase, just watch. Show up before accidents and deaths. Then they're gone.

A tall, apelike figure roughly 6 to 8 feet in height, covered in dark brown to black hair. Cleveland County's wildman mascot, known for bothering dogs, moving through yards, and watching homes from the woods.

Large serpentine subject in North Carolina's biggest man-made lake. Sightings since the 1970s. Surfaces briefly, submerges fast. The lake was created by flooding a town.

Seven feet of green scales and bad intentions. Jumped on Christopher Davis's car in 1988 and left claw marks in the sheet metal. Still active around Scape Ore Swamp.

A giant lizard in the 12- to 15-foot range, low-slung and long-tailed like an oversized monitor, with a body striped in black and white bands dotted by quarter-sized speckles. Known for its huge, bulging frog-like eyes and foot-long forked tongue.

A half-man, half-fish entity surfacing from the brown water in brief, unnerving bursts. The upper body appears roughly human while the lower half flows into a powerful, scaled tail built for pushing against strong current.

Large humanoid creature with massive wings and glowing red eyes. Often appears before disasters. Witnesses report a chilling screech and an overwhelming sense of dread.

Goat-man hybrid on a 90-foot railroad trestle. Uses voice mimicry to lure victims onto active tracks. High danger rating because the legend has a body count.

Cherokee witch-class entity that removes hearts from the dying without leaving marks. Adds stolen years to its own life. Appears as withered humans or fiery shapes in flight.

Sheepsquatch is typically described as a stocky, white-furred creature about the size of a small bear, with goat- or ram-like horns, long forelimbs, and an awkward, lumbering gait.

Florida's answer to Bigfoot. Bipedal ape-like creature covered in reddish-brown hair. Named for its powerful, sulfurous odor that announces its presence from hundreds of feet away.

Large, black wolf-like shapes with glowing red eyes that seem to swim in and out of the dark rather than simply run through it. At a distance they resemble oversized timber wolves; up close they blur at the edges, as if fur and smoke are having an argument.

Beaked, winged cryptid from Mid-Atlantic and Appalachian lore, described as part dragon, part bird.

U'tlun'ta. The one with the sharp finger. An old woman made of stone who walks the mountain passes and knows your name before you give it. She's kind. She's friendly. She offers to carry your burden or walk with your child. And then someone doesn't come back, and the body—if there is one—is missing something it needed.

Small, cat-like creature with yellow eyes and a distinctive long tail. Legend tells of its relentless pursuit to reclaim its severed tail. Known for its haunting cry: 'Tailypo, tailypo.'

A 7-foot-tall entity built out of plant matter rather than flesh—green stalks, vines, and fibrous tissue. Known for telepathic communication and using thorned suction cups to draw blood. A one-time visitor who never returned.

Six-legged feline creature of Cherokee legend. Known for supernatural speed and yellowish-green eyes that glow in darkness. Extremely territorial and aggressive when threatened.

Wanderlight appears as one or more floating lights, usually white, pale blue, or yellow, moving without an obvious source.

Ghostly white creature that produces bloodcurdling screams echoing through mountain valleys. Rarely seen, more often heard. Witnesses describe a deer-like form shrouded in mist.

A large, hair-covered humanoid standing around 7 to 8 feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick through the chest. This is Appalachia's classic wildman, known for raiding coolers and standing at the treeline watching campers.