What is it that everyone concerned with cryptids, no matter their opinions, is after? Proof! And not just any proof, but solid, physical evidence. Unlike with most cryptids, we have that holy grail in this case, but it hasn’t gotten us any further ahead in knowing more about this mysterious animal. Hesitation to conduct a DNA test on the mount has left us high and dry in the knowledge department, but DNA isn’t the only way to learn about a strange animal.

Death is often seen as something that sneaks up on us, or something that might be lurking just around a corner waiting to pounce. But in Appalachia, we rarely see death as something that arrives unannounced.

This obscure cryptid began as a black-and-white photo of a missing taxidermy mount found in a few cryptozoology books. The subject of this photo is a strange-looking canine resembling something of a cross between a wolf and a hyena that Montana rancher Israel Hutchins shot in the winter of 1886 – ’87, the hardest winter the Madison Valley had ever seen, preceded by a dry and fiery summer.

Frost sparkles on barbed wire fence; a lone whippoorwill’s chirps echo off snow covered hills around you. The first sharp November winds blow, rustling through the mass of skeleton trees ahead of you, when suddenly, everything stops.

The White Things go by many names. You might also know them as White Devils, The Morgan Ridge Monster, The Kanawha County Creature, or their more modern moniker: the Sheepsquatch. They are an unusual and elusive creature, and only a few encounters with them have been officially documented. They are said to be the size of a large bear, and mostly quadrupedal but with the ability to stand and walk upright. They have shaggy, wooly-like, dirty white fur.

Many traditions and lore we associate with Halloween today such as werewolves, witches, spirits, jack-o-lanterns, and even trick or treating once belonged to the revelry of Christmas.