Learn about a handful of the most famous West Virginia cryptids in this new book.
The forest is a restorative place, and spending weekend downtime in the woods is a pastime popular with many Morgantownies—unless it’s dark, close to the spookiest time of the year, and potentially full of things that might prefer to eat you for a snack.
Have you heard of the Snallygaster, a “monstrous bloodsucking dragon-like beast” spotted in Pendleton County? Or perhaps you’ve heard about the Ogua down in Marion County, “a snapping turtle with two heads,” a 15-foot-long tail, and with a taste for large game and even human flesh. Then there are better-known beasts: the monsters of Flatwoods and Grafton and the Mothman of Point Pleasant, all of which have terrorized pockets of the Mountain State for decades. Their legends live on.
Les O’Dell and Mark Randall penned and illustrated these creatures and more for us in a new book called West Virginia Cryptids: A Visual Field Guide For Traversing the Mountain State. You can grab a copy on Amazon here.
“West Virginia has such a long and rich history of mysterious creatures,” Randall says. “As an artist who specializes in paranormal-related subject matter, I find the cast of cryptids extremely fascinating.”
The stories are fascinating indeed, and we challenge you to forget about all the gory details next time you find yourself in the woods, in the dark, trying to avoid being eaten by the Ogua.
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