DISCLAIMER: As the reports of this cryptid were made centuries ago, this post will have certain beliefs of the time. I do not nor will I ever condone that. This blog post is for entertainment purposes only, to tell you of a creepy cryptid that allegedly roams free in the northeastern corner of West Virginia.
This one is definitely an odd one. More so than the Flatwoods Monster and Mothman, in my opinion. But I definitely wouldn’t look for this creature or any of them. It has become so ingrained in the history of this region of the country that there’s even a restaurant named after it in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. As always, the links to my research and a few others are posted down below if you want to check them out.
Location
This one is more known in Western Maryland, but it’s rumored to make the rounds in Preston and Pendleton counties, West Virginia. It was first seen in Frederick County, Maryland, in the 1730s by German immigrants who settled along the Potomac River. Since its appearance, it’s been seen over a large area covering both Maryland and West Virginia. It was reported later that the creature’s territory expanded to include Central Maryland and the Washington, DC, metro area.
There were claims that the creature had been sighted in New Jersey and Ohio. I cannot speak to the sightings in New Jersey, but multiple articles I have read stated that the sightings in Ohio were hoaxes. And that it was orchestrated by the editor of the Middletown Valley Register to gain more readers.
However, this hoax was said to have caught the attention of the 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, who claimed to have postponed his trip to Africa to hunt the creature himself. The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, is rumored to have put out a $100,000 reward for anyone who could capture it.
History
As mentioned above, the Snallygaster was first seen in the 1730s along the Potomac River by the German immigrants there. They initially called it Schneller Geist, meaning “quick ghost,” but that morphed into Snallygaster. After a while, the beast seemed to fade away… Until the 1800s, when it made a reappearance. This time, as a means to scare freed slaves. More reports of the creature were made in 1909, the same year the hoax in Ohio occurred. They described the same features that were given in earlier descriptions. The last reported sightings of the creature were in November of 1932. When it was allegedly blown up in a vat of Whiskey Mash or Moonshine.
Recently, the creature has been featured in many forms of media and other ventures… Films, television shows, and video games. The occamy creature in J.K. Rowling’s 2017 edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is based on the Snallygaster. A Snallygaster-like creature appears in the Fallout 76 video game. There is also a beer festival in Washington, DC, called Snallygaster. It’s also an alcoholic drink (drink responsibly and legally, folks) from the Dragon Distillery of Frederick, Maryland. It’s a blended whiskey… I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure those who like it love it. There is also an ice cream named the Snallygaster… I have read it all now. It was created by South Mountain Creamery. It is a dairy farm in Frederick County, Maryland. The sweet treat has peanut butter-flavored ice cream with a caramel swirl, peanut butter cups, and pretzels… That sounds delicious. Too bad they don’t sell it here.
What Does the Snallygaster Look Like? Sound like? Behave?
In some reports, the Snallygaster is described as a half-reptile, half-bird creature with a metallic beak and razor-sharp teeth. The earliest reports claimed the creature was half-bird with the mixed features of a siren and nightmarish demons and ghouls. Some descriptions even say the cryptid has octopus tentacles. Others say it has one giant eye in the middle of its forehead. James Harding, an alleged witness of the creature, claimed it looked like a cross between a tiger and a vampire. Some say it makes a shrill screeching noise. It’s rumored to swoop in with deadly silence and carry off its victims to suck their blood like a vampire. There are claims that if the bodies of the alleged victims were found, they were often said to be drained of blood and scorched.
A fun link you might be interested in: https://www.snallygasterscafe.com/
Links to the articles I used in my research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snallygaster
https://cryptozoologycryptids.fandom.com/wiki/Snallygaster
https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2018/11/its-snallygaster.html
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Yours Truly,
Coffee&Compose
Coffee&Compose 