Creatures of the Mountains
and the American South
The Appalachian Cryptid Field Guide documents cryptids, monsters, unexplained mysteries and lore from the hollers of West Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and the greater American South.
Each entry is documented, cross-referenced, and filed.
Bureau Active Case Files — 36 Entries
The Case Drawers
Cryptid Case Files
Drawer contains 36 files · Viewing first 6

Orange Eyes
A large hairy bipedal creature, 7–8 feet tall, with piercing orange eyes that glow from within mist near water. Sightings cluster around Charles Mill Lake and Ohio's marshy lowlands, always after dark.

Booger Bear
The Booger Bear is a massive, bear-like predator reported across central Appalachia that doesn't match any cataloged species in the region. Witnesses describe an animal with bearish bulk but a shortened, flat face more like a cat or bulldog, elongated forelimbs, and a preference for traveling on hind legs. It raids livestock with a regularity that distinguishes it from opportunistic black bear predation. A specimen was shot and recovered in Kentucky in 1967. The Bureau considers the file active.

Not Deer
The Not Deer is exactly what the name says it isn't. A creature wearing a deer's shape the way a coat fits wrong; close enough at fifty yards, deeply incorrect at twenty. Reports describe front-facing eyes, joints bending backward, and a stillness that has nothing to do with prey behavior. The Bureau has cataloged encounters across every Appalachian state, and the pattern holds: witnesses know something is wrong before they can say what.

Knobby
A tall, apelike figure roughly 6 to 8 feet in height, covered in dark brown to black hair. Cleveland County's wildman mascot, known for bothering dogs, moving through yards, and watching homes from the woods.

Veggie Man
A 7-foot-tall entity built out of plant matter rather than flesh—green stalks, vines, and fibrous tissue. Known for telepathic communication and using thorned suction cups to draw blood. A one-time visitor who never returned.

Ole Slewfoot
A hulking, outsized black bear with a twisted or missing hind leg. Leaves distinctive uneven tracks and is notorious for outwitting hunters, raiding hog pens, and surviving against all odds.
30 files remaining
Bureau Sighting Grid — Field Survey 2026
Reported Across the Region
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