The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was declared extinct after the last known animal died in 1936, yet sightings never stopped. Here is its real history, the searches and the evidence for survival.
Megalodon was a real giant shark that died out about 3.6 million years ago. Here is what the fossils show, why it went extinct, and where the claims that it still survives came from.
The aswang is the shape-shifting predator of Philippine folklore. Here is its history from a 1589 friar’s account to Maximo Ramos’s studies, its use in Cold War psychological warfare, and what it says about society.
The manananggal splits in two at night and flies off to hunt the unborn. Here is what the name means, how to defeat her, the 1589 Spanish record, her Southeast Asian cousins, and what the legend reveals.
The “Bermuda Beast” is a sea monster blamed online for Bermuda Triangle disappearances. Here is where the idea really comes from, why the Triangle needs no monster, and the real giants of the deep Atlantic.
The zaratan is a sea creature so vast sailors mistook it for an island. Here is Al-Jahiz’s skeptical first account, Sinbad’s voyage, how Borges turned it into a turtle, and the whales that may lie behind it.
The Yeti is a wild man of Himalayan belief and the “Abominable Snowman” of 1920s newspapers. Here is its religious background, the famous footprints and expeditions, and what DNA tests of Yeti relics revealed.
“Yamakachi” is the name cryptid websites use for the giant snake reported on Mount Tsurugi, Shikoku, in 1973. Here are the sightings, the search, the treasure legend and the likely explanations.
Werewolves appear in Greek myth, medieval romance and the witch trials of early modern Europe. Here is the real history, the famous cases, the medical theories and how Hollywood invented the full moon and silver.
The wendigo is a cannibal being of hunger, winter and greed in Algonquian traditions. Here are the traditional accounts, the disputed “windigo psychosis,” its use as a metaphor, and how horror fiction changed it.