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Lou Carcolh

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  The carcolh is possible the strangest ‘dragon’ in Europe. It’s described as either a giant snail, or a serpentine dragon with a snail’s shell. In addition to this it has several slimy and hairy tentacles on its face. I imagine the hair helps keep copious amounts of slime on the tentacles. The carcolh lives in a network of caverns under the city of Hastingues, in south France. No one knows how it got there or how long it’s lived. During the Spanish invasion of the region in 1635 the treasures of Hastingues were taken down into the caves to be guarded by the carcolh. However the carcolh was loyal to no particular country and would attack humans indiscriminately, so no one has ever been able to retrieve the treasure. After many attempts were made the caves were walled off. Unlike many other European dragons the carcolh has never been defeated. While belief in the existence of the carcolh has all but disappeared, legend has it that it still lurks in the walled off caves. ...
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Pixiu

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  Tianlu Pixiu The pixiu is a mythical beast from China. It first appeared in the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) and are still popular today, although both their appearance and role have changed greatly over the centuries. Today the pixiu are bringers of wealth and associated with the practice of feng shui. Bixie Pixiu There are two types of pixiu. The bixie, or female pixiu, has two horns or antlers. It was responsible for guarding its masters and protecting them from harm. The tianlu was the male and only had one horn or antler. The male was responsible for guarding and attracting wealth. Today the bixie pixiu has largely been forgotten about and pixius are almost always depicted with one horn. Likewise the pixiu has become more associated with wealth than protection. The pixiu comes in several colors. It is often gold, to represent its association with wealth. It can also be black to represent its protective aspects. The pixiu is often depicted as white or red as well. O...
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Kamikiri

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  Kamikiri is a yokai from the Edo period of Japan. It sits on the edge between legendary creature and cryptid, with newspaper articles about encounters with the creature coming out at the time, yet being treated as folklore now. Although the line between yokai and cryptid isn’t always clear. The kamikiri is a yokai who’s all about cutting off people’s hair. In previous eras in Japan long hair was a symbol of age and status. Both men and women had long hair, men wearing their hair in top knots and women in various styles. There was a much greater need to conform in Japan’s past, people wore hairstyles based on status and role in society, rather than for fashion. So having your hair cut off was far worse for the person that it would be in modern times. The kamikiri would lurk around its victim in secret and wait for a time they were alone to attack. They would then quickly and silently cut off the victim’s hair. Often the kamikiri would never be seen and the victim would would o...
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Horned Dogmen

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This entry is going to indulge in some original research. Something I’ve noticed among dogman encounters is the occasional mention of horned dogmen. The cryptid community is usually pretty thorough in classifying subtypes of cryptids. For instance there’s standard, hyena and rottweiler types of dogmen, based on their head and muzzle shape. Yet I haven’t seen anyone else in the cryptid community discuss horned dogmen as a category, just scattered unrelated stories. It’s possible that’s because these creatures aren’t always considered dogmen, but demons, or goatment who happen to have a canine head, although I would think that quality is important enough to change what sort of cryptid they’re classified as. So I’ve gathered here all the horned dogmen stories I could find.  Caldwell’s beasts This first encounter happened to Roger Caldwell in October of 2005. He was on a hiking trip along the Appalachian Trail through North Carolina at the time. Mr Caldwell was an experienced hiker who...
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Grand Lake Hoedag

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  The Grand Lake hoedag is a fearsome critter from St Mary’s Ohio, not to be confused with the more famous Wisconsin hodag. It was said to be a lake monster, albeit one that was completely different from the typical plesiosaur / Nessie type. The hoedag was said to be a one of a kind, female creature, not a species. It appeared in news articles from 1912 to the 1960’s, and was never meant to be taken seriously. The hoedag was the size and shape of a giraffe. She had fur on her body and a combination of feathers and porcupine quills on her neck. Her body was covered in a cow spot pattern and had a camel like hump on her back. Her front legs were long like a chicken’s and her back legs were short like a pigs. Both sets of legs ended in plate shaped feet, which were capable of moving over mud and water plants without sinking in. On her head she had a singular green eye, partly covered by cow licked bangs. Her tail stuck up in the air like a flagpole and at the end of it was a red eye. ...
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Bai ze and Hakutaku

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  Bai Ze is a monster from Chinese mythology. It’s also found in Japan, where it’s known as hakutaku. It is a good and pure creature responsible for warding off evil spirits. The bai ze was a wise and intelligent creature. It was one of the nine spiritual beasts which resided in heaven. Bai ze descended to Earth where it taught the Yellow Emperor about the various harmful ghosts in the world and how to expel them. These lessons resulted in the Bai Ze Diagram, a scroll depicting various harmful spirits and how to ward them off. The Bai Ze is mentioned many times throughout Chinese literature. Over time the bai ze became a protective charm. Images of the beast were hung in homes or carried with people to ward off ghosts and disease. The bai ze has many varying appearances in Chinese mythology. In the History of Yuan, written in 1370, the bai ze was described as having the head of a tiger, the body of a dragon, a single horn and a red mane. In the Sancai Tuhui, written in 1609, the ba...
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Cathach and Sisters

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I’ve seen articles written about Cathach the dragon a few times. Each time her sisters were mentioned by name, but descriptions were never given for them. So I was determined to find out what her two draconic sisters also looked like.  The story starts with three Tuatha-De-Danann brothers, Crohan, Sal and Daltheen fighting a campaign against the boars of Ireland and successfully wipe them out but one. The last one, the All Devouring Sow, mates with the gatekeeper of hell and birthed three dragons in revenge, the sisters Cathach, Dabran and Farbagh. They were subsequently nursed by the red demon of Western Ireland. Farbagh was the oldest of the sisters. She was a cat like dragon with a crescent moon on her forehead and a deadly nail on her tail. The three brothers slayed Farbagh by waiting for her to pounce from a height on them and skewering her on their spears as she landed. When the three brothers returned home they were told a prophecy that their sister Aonbhean would marry Diar...
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