Friday, April 29, 2011

Creature Feature: The Jersey Devil




One of the most popular cryptids in the US is a creature known as The Jersey Devil. It’s thought to have a horses head, hoofs, red eyes, and a large set of wings. It walks upright and hangs out in the Pine Barrens in New Jersey.

The legend surrounding The Jersey Devils started in 1735, when a woman supposedly gave birth to a cursed child. The child was so ugly that it was thrown out into the wild, where it grew into a monster. People mostly forgot about the legend until a rash of sightings occurred in 1909. Hundreds of people claimed to see the monster and search parties were formed to hunt down the creature. Several people claimed to have ‘caught’ The Jersey Devil but turned out to be simple hoaxers. Eventually the scare died down and people went on with their lives. Many people believe it was actually an elaborate real estate hoax intended to drive down the price of property.

Occasionally, someone in the Pine Barrens claims to see something resembling this creature. While few people live in fear of the Jersey Devil today, it does make a pretty good campfire story.




Coleman, Loren and Jerome Clark. “Cryptozoology A to Z The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature.” Simon & Schuster. 1999

6 comments:

  1. I thought the Jersey Devil was SnOOki or Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino.

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  2. I have heard of this. Maybe the child was just born different and they needed some way to explain it and it grew into the story of long ago.

    Some people have seen it more recently but it is always too distant that I have to discount it, for now.

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  3. There probably was a child born with a deformity that started the story. It's amazing how something little can grow into a huge legend over time.

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  4. Once again... Supernatural came to mind.

    "I think you pissed off my sandwich"
    and,
    "If I wasn't so chill right now, I'd puke"

    It really amazes me how much into detail that show goes with all the different legends and myths they show.

    And the 1-liners are just fabulous. ha :)

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  5. Ha, they really do a lot of research on that show. And there are some great one-liners. :)

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