The Monsters in the swamps

Everyone enjoys a good ghost story. The idea of the dead coming back to haunt a place or an individual has been a popular idea since the dawn of humanity. But many people refuse to believe in such a strange conception. The idea of the paranormal is far stretched and often obscure, but it doesn’t just involve ghosts. In fact, the study of the supernatural has a much more realistic factor that can be proven by physical evidence: The legends of monsters.

In the United States, sightings of monsters and “cryptids” as they are called is fairly common. The most famous American cryptid would be bigfoot, and there have been thousands of reported sightings all across the country, most commonly in the west coast. So what exactly is a Cryptid? Well, in broad terms it is an animal that has been claimed to exist, but never proven such as a sasquatch, Chupacabra, the loch ness monster, or the famous Goatman! Keep in mind that not all monster legends within the United States enter this category. For example the Wendigo, even if sightings are just as common as some of the cryptids listed above.

In the state of Georgia, there is a curious detail that occurred, that being the presence of not one, but two ape cryptids! Everyone has heard of Bigfoot, and there are over 100 sightings in Georgia, most commonly near the mountains, but in the south where the swamp and bog are more common that hilltops, there is a far smellier creature that roams. “The skunk ape” or “swamp ape” is the south’s version of bigfoot, most commonly found in Florida and south Georgia near the Okefenokee swamp. There are local theories surrounding this mysterious creature, most common one being that a group of apes from a nearby research lab were released during the cold war, and have since been living in the swamps, slowly evolving to fit into their new habitat.

There are other darker creatures that hide in the swamp. Unlike their ape counterparts, these monsters can’t be spotted or proven to exist by the use of cameras. They are in all senses of the word, supernatural. Derived from Gullah legends, they are known as “The Skin-stealers.” Known to hide in the bog, they come out to take the souls of sleeping campers that decided to rest near their territory. They are tall, thin creatures who don’t walk but float. They gently float above their sleeping victims and steal their souls. They are said to be found in Ebenezer creek, where a massacre of slaves occurred.

The swamps of Georgia are deeper and darker than one may think, and if such creatures are seen only every so often, then picture what type of monster could be there that can hide better than them?