A drawing of the Beast of Bladenboro by Gary Longordo ~ Click on the image to enlarge it.

“MonsterQuest” on Wednesday, June 4, 2008, dealt with the cryptid most often known as the “Beast of Bladenboro,” in its “Vampire Beast” episode. It updated the story with the reports from the fall of 2007, when residents of Bolivia, North Carolina, started losing pets and farm animals to an unknown creature.

Upcoming repeats of the program will occur on History (nee, the History Channel), to wit:
“Vampire Beast” – Sunday June 15 05:00 PM Eastern
“Vampire Beast” – Wednesday June 18 08:00 PM Eastern
“Vampire Beast” – Thursday June 19 12:00 AM Eastern

Recent and past sightings of the “Beast of Bladenboro,” usually described it as a Mystery Cat, Phantom Panther, Black Panther, or Cryptid Felid, have been discussed in past postings at Cryptomundo, here, here, and here. Two items on the closely related “Beast of Bolivia” are to be found here and here.

The Beast of Bolivia track compared to a human hand.

Okay, “MonsterQuest” has brought recognition to the local creatures. Now what will the North Carolina towns do with it?

With all the excitement of the “MonsterQuest” shoot and the planned History broadcast, the town of Bladenboro staged a festival in 2007. The 2nd Annual Beastfest `08 will occur on October 25, 2008, in Bladenboro, North Carolina.

Here is the local development group’s explanation for their cryptid’s local festival:

BeastFestBy Hiram Hester

The legend goes back to 1954 when a series of vampire-like killings of pets and livestock set the town on edge. The dead animals were found with their jaws broken, their heads crushed, and their bodies drained of blood.

The mystery threw the town in a panic and drew attention from across the nation. Many theories about what the beast was, (or wasn’t), added to the anxiety of these unexplainable occurrences. And on top of it all, hunters came from near and far in an effort to kill the dreaded beast.

As the days passed many became weary over the growing hysteria and both Mayor and Police Chief sought to squash the madness before someone was shot by an anxious “beast hunter”.

The entire episode lasted about two weeks but before the terror subsided, the story became legend, and the legend continues today.

From time to time, a story will appear in a newspaper about the beast, complete with interviews of locals who recalled the dread.

The beast now enjoys global celebrity status thanks to the World Wide Web. That’s right-if you do a web search you’ll find an abundance of information about the Beast of Bladenboro.

The caption to this photograph reads, “We had to do something and we had to call it something.”

This is a photograph of a recent meeting of the ‘BoroBoosters, who seem to be trying to come up with ideas on how to stimulate more interest in the town via their local Beast.

Perhaps the time is ripe for the townspeople to get a bit more energized about their cryptid and their BeastFest!

How about some speakers? Cryptofiction author D. L. Tanner is NC local and probably available for a cryptozoo talk, or perhaps get some out-of-state presenters.

Perhaps a BeastFest parade? Take some lessons from Point Pleasant.

How about offering a million dollars for “a verifiable photograph” of the Beast of Bladenboro? It worked for Bushnell.

Right now, the only message from the ‘BoroBoosters: Vendors have until October 15th to apply for tables at the BeastFest.

Come on, people. Cryptozoology is exciting, arousing, and stimulating.