10 Terrifying Monsters That (We Hope!) Don't Exist

1. El Chupacabra

The Mexican Goatsucker, or El Chupacabre is a diminutive creature (sometimes said to be an extraterrestrial) that is usually (but not exclusively) reported in Mexico or by Latin American communities in the United States. First reported in Puerto Rico during the mid 1990€™s, El Chupacabre is said to completely exsanguinate the bodies of goats, chickens and other farm animals. Fear of the creature was/is rampant in these communities and several organized hunts have been launched in the fruitless search for the murderous beasts. Occasionally, a €˜Chupacabre€™ body is found, but none have yet been demonstrated as being anything more exotic than a dead dog afflicted with mange or else a clever hoax. In artist€™s reconstructions, El Chupacabra appears to be similar to a Reticulan alien from modern conspiracy myths, but with an arched, spined back and strong, muscular legs implying that it is far more animalistic than it is humanoid. Unexplained lights in the sky occasionally accompany sightings of the creature, which, along with its otherworldly appearance, have led UFO enthusiasts to label it as an alien. Being a fairly rural creature and livestock-killer, El Chupacabra doesn€™t hold much fear for us city-slicking types, but for farmers, whose very livelihood depends upon the wellbeing of their livestock, the possibility of losing their animals to such a monster is genuinely terrifying. Besides, just imagine actually seeing one of these things draining all the blood from a goat. Its gotta be worth a skiddy or two... Even scarier, though, are the American stories of cattle mutilation, from which the tales of El Chupacabre can be seen as an offshoot (of sorts). At least a few of these stories appear to have been perpetrated by twisted, but nonetheless very Human, hands. Essentially, this implies that there are almost certainly people in this world that would happily kill and mutilate livestock in the hopes that other people will think aliens were responsible. Very little on this list will keep you awake tonight as effectively as that last factoid likely will... ...Alas, our tour is now at an end. However, if any of these weirdly anomalous animals do actually exist, then perhaps a collision between them and us is now inevitable. Maybe this explains why stranger and stranger creatures are being reported on an almost daily basis nowadays? Maybe the myths have no place else to go? Without a dark wood or abandoned cave to inhabit, perhaps the monsters are simply getting closer than ever before? Natural habitats are shrinking, population centres are growing and our ham-fisted stewardship of the world has changed it forever, perhaps irreversibly. To borrow a line from James Lovelock€™s 2009 book The Vanishing Face of Gaia, €œWe are trying to undo some of the harm we have done, and as climate change worsens we will try harder, even desperately, but until we see that the Earth is more than a mere ball of rock we are unlikely to succeed€. What happens, then, when this latest band of nature€™s monstrous abominations arrives on your doorstep and wants to come in for a bite to eat? By the way, if you haven€™t yet joined our earlier expeditions into the absurd and unexplained, please click HERE and HERE. Those earlier articles are by no means prerequisites, just some additional pieces we think you might enjoy... Finally, before we grab our compasses and head off in search of yet more weirdness, have YOU seen anything strange? Have you heard an odd howl or tracked an impossible figure gliding across the countryside? If so, you might let us know in the €˜comments€™ section.... - CQ