FOXSYLVANIA

MonsterQuest at times as in the present episode appears conflicted as to whether it wants to be a Monster show, or a Spooky show. As a result, we sometimes are served up a “Monster Mash” of sorts, a mixture of cryptozoology and paranormal recounts. Perhaps though, you like Igor in the novelty song may exclaim, “Mash good!” It’s just that some of these stories you might want to send to Ghostbusters…

Submitted then for your approval is the terrifying tale of two teens in Michigan City in 1997 at kind of an outdoor party by railroad tracks who saw a 7′ shadow person following the passing of a train. They had the sense of something creeping up on them. Leaving, it appeared that something had left with them, with one teen dreaming of the shadow figure. Returning later to the scene of their encounter, one felt that the atmosphere there changed after another train passed, and perceived something pitch black behind him. He challenged the entity to show itself, and later could feel its presence in his dreams, unable to shake its presence. Again challenging the shadow (big mistake!), he felt it jump on his chest, and felt himself levitated before being thrown down. He called out to God at that point, felt a warmth, and heard the shadow entity scream and then depart. His sleep and mental health improved thereafter…

Now in Harrisville, Rhode Island in the early 1970’s, we have a recounting of a story that inspired The Conjuring. A family in 1971 moved into a 200-year-old farmhouse unaware of its dark history. The woman felt a pain in her leg, finding a small wound. Objects were seen to fly across the room, and snarling was heard in the shadows. Well, the Warrens were hired, a paranormal investigation team that held a seance at the house in October of 1973. The woman fell into a deep trance at that seance, and spoke in a foreign language. Paranormal activity spiked after that seance, with the woman feeling her throat squeezed by an invisible hand at one point. By 1980 the family had had enough, and put the farmhouse up for sale. The decision to hold a seance was felt to have intensified spiritual activity…

Now we leave Spooky Town, and go to the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming where in the summer of 1972 , a large hairy primate was seen by 25 people. A wildlife biologist had the misfortune of sleeping in a tent whose previous occupant had spilled bacon grease upon the tent fabric. At 11:30 one night, the biologist heard something outside of the tent which proceeded to lick the bacon grease from outside of the tent! Thinking that the bacon had lured a bear, the plucky biologist bopped the presumed bear on what he thought was its nose from within the tent! This happened twice, but the ‘bear” didn’t retreat far, stood on two legs, and was seen to be taller than the tent. The creature was then determined not to be a bear as it put its hand on the top of the tent, through which an opposable thumb was seen! The top of the tent collapsed under the weight, and the now-presumed Bigfoot creature fell through, apparently on top of the biologist with only tent fabric separating them! Fortunately the Bigfoot was disturbed enough by this experience to simply retreat back to a wooded area…

No physical evidence of the Bigfoot’s presence was found at that time, but upon returning to his supervisor the biologist learned that numerous people had reported a large, hairy primate running around in the area. The biologist did a study, and found a number of hair samples which were sent for analysis. They were found to be primate hair, but of an unknown species…

Then in Silver Springs, Florida in the summer of 1976, a mother and daughter were camped out near a swamp area. The daughter went out to practice animal calls, imitating the call of a baby alligator. Later inside their camper, an unbearable smell heralded the appearance of a small hand with black hair at the window. The hand scratched at the window, and then the camper was shoved; the camper doorknob of the camper door was turned. A second adult creature then appeared and screamed, slapping the juvenile animal who cried, and departing with him. Blood and hair were found on the camper’s license plate, and researchers reported other sightings of the Swamp Ape…

The last story concerned teens who celebrated a birthday party in October of 2007 with a ouija board which reportedly moved over a period of 1-1/2 hours. Three months later, they went to deliver a gift in an isolated section of mountains, experiencing feelings of dread and seeing something 8-1/2′ tall with red eyes and long fingers clawing up the side of a mountain. Standing up, it pursued them, but they were able to escape in a parent’s vehicle. Posting of their experience many years later on social media, other people reported having seen such a creature, which they felt was summoned by the spirit board, or at least made aware of their presence by it…

As the episode warned in closing, when we reach into the darkness, we can’t ever control what reaches back… and who ‘ya gonna call?