Ready for more spooky tales based in Texas?
In 2022, the Caller-Times put an article together about urban legends found in the Lone Star State. This year, it's all about cryptids.
What is a cryptid? Well, it's a creature that has been claimed to exist but never been proved to exist.
The Caller-Times found six monsters that are said to have haunted Texas ― and may still do so.
Bear King of Marble Falls
In the area of Marble Falls, a tribe of Kickapoo people had a local legend known as the "Bear King." The creature ruled over all the bears in the region.
According to newspapers in 1901, allegedly including the San Francisco Chronicle, a local woman named Ramie Arland was abducted by the Bear King and described the creature as a "bear man" that ran on all fours.
The next day, a local hunter found the woman wandering the woods saying she escaped from the creature. Armed with weapons, a group of men tracked the creature to the cave Arland said it was in.
When they found the Bear King, it began to growl like a panther and beat its chest. Hesitant to kill it as it resembled a human, the men eventually shot it after the creature charged. The story doesn't explain what happened to the body, but a local brewery is named after the cryptid to keep its spirit alive.
Beast of Bear Creek
About 150 miles west of Austin is the ghost town Cleo. In the Texas Hill Country, there was a creature known as the Beast of Bear Creek.
The early settlers of Kimble County believed that an old Native American shaman, one of the last survivors of his tribe, could change into a large wolf. It was believed he would seek revenge on the settlers who had decimated his tribe and kill everything that came in his pathway.
Not much else is known about the creature, but you should think twice before pulling over in Cleo, Texas ― you might run into the Beast of Bear Creek.
Chupacabra
The mythical creature is known to have be found in Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America and the Southern United States.
The lore of the Chupacabra is that it drains the blood of farm animals and appears as a reptilian dog-like cryptid with a row of spines on its back.
In 2007, a woman gained global attention when she discovered a supposed carcass of a chupacabrain Cuero two hours north of Corpus Christi.
Texas State University conducted a DNA test of the animal and discovered the creature to be a hairless Texas coyote, according to the university's website.
Horizon City Monster
In the early 2000s, Cecelia Montañez claimed she saw a creature that was more than 7-feet tall, with faded dark brown fur, standing in the desert of Horizon City.
"I saw a big gorilla-like thing walking toward the desert," Montañez said to the El Paso Times in 2003.
Montañez said she and other residents witnessed a large, Bigfoot-type creature lurking in the desert, usually near Eastlake, and near Lake El Paso. She said she has seen the creature on two occasions, the last sighting taking place near her home.
Montañez described the creature, which was rumored to suck the blood out of small animals and eat their organs, as having red glowing eyes,
Houston Batman
On June 18, 1953, Hilda Walker, Judy Meyers and Howard Phillips claimed they saw a man with wings like a bat sitting in the branches of a nearby tree, watching them.
After a few moments, a light came on and the "Houston Batman" was gone.
Walker, a 23-year-old housewife, described the creature as a man-like monster that was about six-and-a-half feet tall with a yellow glow around its body.
Ottine Swamp Thing
Inside the Palmetto State Park lies a swamp, home to the Ottine Swamp Thing.
Named after a small town on the outskirts of the town, the creature is known to look like an ape-like cryptid.
Those who have claimed to see the monster said it is anywhere from 4- to 8-feet tall and covered in fur. It walks upright on two legs like a human, but makes calls that are anything but human.
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John Oliva covers entertainment and community news in South Texas. Contact him at john.oliva@caller.comor Twitter@johnpoliva.
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