Swamp Monsters

Molunkus Monster

Bangor Daily Whig and Courier Bangor, Maine January 19, 1887 WHAT WAS IT? A Strange Animal Seen Near Molunkus Mr. A. J. Darling, the well known keeper of the Exchange Hotel at Enfield, writes the Whig as follows: A lumberman by the name of Fowler started from South Molunkus, December 19th.[,] to go into his camp, five miles away. After going part of the distance he was stopped by a strange animal in the road which disputed the right of way with him. Having no weapon with which to enforce his own rights Mr. Fowler returned to Molunkus and passed [...]

See The Jersey Devil Here!

Come on in! See the Jersey Devil. Step right up. Get your tickets here. Look inside and see the actual Jersey Devil. Actually visible below, for real… In circus, sideshow, and carnival jargon, the gaff is the gimmicked item, the taxidermy fake, the rigged prop often used by the illusionists, the sideshow artists, the showmen to turn the tip, that is, get the audience, to enter the sideshow, tent, attraction, freakshow, exhibition. The Jersey Devil and the gaff go hand-in-hand. Take what happened…a hundred years ago. In 1906 huckster Norman Jefferies, publicity manager for C.A. Brandenburgh’s Arch Street Museum in [...]

Jersey Devil and Ivan T. Sanderson

One January night in 1909, E. P. Weeden of the Trenton, New Jersey City Council bolted upright in bed when he heard someone trying to break down his door. It was a most unusual “someone,” apparently, because Weeden also heard distinctly the sound of flapping wings. Councilman Weeden rushed to his second-floor window and looked outside. He did not see the intruder, but the sight that greeted his eyes chilled him far more than the icy temperature ever could: In the snow on the roof of his house something had left a line of tracks. And whatever that “something” was, [...]