I ran across this story on Foxnews.com: Beast of Brooklyn. I know, I know...you are asking what's a nice Polk County boy like me doing reading that incendiary Web site.
I read it every day, and I won't apologize for it. I get a kick out of reading what they consider to be "news."
However, this story caught my eye because I'm a big fan of local monsters (always have been), and I believe that what this world needs is more monsters. I mean the crypto-zoology kind, not the mass murderer or Tea Party kind.
In our world today, thanks to all manner of technological advancements, we can zoom into pretty close detail on any spot on the planet, thanks to GPS systems. The result of this is that there are fewer and fewer places where the monsters of our childhood imaginations can hide.
When I was little I was fascinated with the Boggy Creek Monster. Those old enough to remember the cheesy 1970's movie will be familiar with this one. Tucked away into a (then) remote corner of southwest Arkansas it was a mysterious and creepy place, even though on my family's frequent trips to see my grandparents in Arkansas we traveled right through Boggy Creek country, which was not too far from Interstate 30.
This Bigfoot-type creature still shows up every once in awhile, with someone finding a footprint, or hearing an unidentified scream in the night, or reporting seeing "something" while out and about in the woods.
About that same time I learned about the Lake Worth Monster. This was in Fort Worth, TX, which was much closer to my home. This monster was truly local in scale, though, never having the benefit of big screen promotion.
Since then, here in Texas, we have seen reports of Chupacabre, which is a type of blood sucking monster. I'm waiting, and hoping, that I'll get to see that one. I'm a little leery of Chupacabre, though. From what I can determine this seems to be a late entry into the monster world, only showing up a few decades ago. He also seems to change description as he migrates around. On the other hand, though, I don't guess that monsters are required to keep a consistent shape or form. Since they are largely legendary creations I suppose they should be allowed some leeway as to what shape they take.
One positive aspect of Chupacabre is that he, so far at least, doesn't seem to target humans. He's mostly a menace to livestock. I think that people will be a little more forgiving of a monster that focuses on regular animals and that doesn't try to eat them.
