Cryptozoology

Museums for Bigfoot, Mothman, and the Skunk Ape. Where to go, what you'll see, hours and admission—plus the legends behind America's favorite cryptids.

The Albatwitch will steal your fruit, then scurry back into the trees.

Legends of Tahoe Tessie go back centuries.

Hide your dog; hide your children.

The humanoid anteater slurps its victim’s gray matter as if devouring termites in a mound.

The Yara ma tha who is more terrifying than any vampire.

Turns out some monsters are real—and pretty cute.

Some say the true death worm has already been found—slithering beneath the sands of the Gobi.

Do not follow the woman in white.

The 18-foot-long, dog-headed beast-fish didn't seem so unbelievable to Africa's early white colonizers.

From Champ to Bessie to lake sturgeon, these cryptids represent what lies beneath the surface of the familiar.

Our archives offer a tour of the country's most elusive, mysterious characters.