Meet the monsters in our midst, from bigfoot to Mothman and beyond! Welcome to the United States of Cryptids, where mysterious monsters lurk in the dark forests, deep lakes, and sticky swamps of all fifty states. From the infamous Jersey Devil to the obscure Snallygaster, travel writer and chronicler of the strange J. W. Ocker uncovers the bizarre stories of these creatures and investigates the ways in which communities embrace and celebrate their local cryptids. Readers will learn about:   • Batsquatch of Washington , a winged bigfoot that is said to have emerged from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens • Nain Rouge of Michigan , a fierce red goblin that has been spotted before every major city disaster in Detroit • Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia , a robotic extraterrestrial that crash-landed in rural Appalachia • Lizard Man of South Carolina , a reptilian mutant that attacked a teenager in the summer of 1988 • Glocester Ghoul of Rhode Island , a fire-breathing dragon that guards a hoard of pirate treasure • And many more!   Whether you believe in bigfoot or not, this fully illustrated compendium is a fun, frightening, fascinating tour through American folklore and history, exploring the stories we tell about monsters and what those stories say about us. “A deliciously nerdy chronicle that celebrates thinking about life beyond.”— Vice “Thoughtful and well-researched...a worthy addition to any cryptid enthusiast’s library.”— AIPT Comics “[Ocker's] breezy storytelling talents make for enjoyable reading.” —Booklist “Essential reading for anyone with an interest in unexplained mysteries, folklore, mythology, and the supernatural. An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, truly exceptional, and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Cryptid collections.” —Midwest Book Review “I love folklore, so naturally, I also love cryptids, since they're basically the scary story versions of modern folklore. Which is precisely what I enjoyed about The United States of Cryptids.”—BoingBoing “Essential reading for anyone with an interest in unexplained mysteries, folklore, mythology, and the supernatural. An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, truly exceptional, and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Cryptid collections.”— Midwest Book Review “For believers and non-believers alike, this book is an interesting look at the legendary creatures that run, crawl and fly throughout the 50 states.”—James Madison University’s The Breeze J. W. (Jason) Ocker is an Edgar Award-winning travel writer, novelist, and blogger. His previous books include Poe-Land , A Season with the Witch , and Cursed Objects . He is also the creator of the blog and podcast OTIS: Odd Things I’ve Seen (oddthingsiveseen.com), where he chronicles his visits to oddities around the world. Guaranteed to See a Cryptid or Your Money Back Bigfoot exists: definitely, demonstrably, unequivocally. So do lake dinosaurs, monster cats, jet-sized birds, lizard-people, fish-people, wolf-people, moth-people, frog-people, and goat-people. All cryptids exist. Let me prove it to you. Wait, no—let me show them to you. But first: What the heck’s a cryptid?      A cryptid is a creature or species whose existence is scientifically unproven. Maybe it’s been witnessed or rumored to exist, maybe it’s even been caught on video, but there is no definitive physical evidence to examine: no body to dissect, no remains to analyze. Scientists place those creatures in the category of fantasy instead of zoology. Cryptozoologists, though, who study and pursue cryptids, place them in the entirely separate category of cryptozoology. While the fantastical Mothman and the Jersey Devil may be the first cryptids you think of, a cryptid can be as comparatively mundane as a New England panther or an American lion; animals that once existed but are now believed by the scientific establishment to be extinct. Sometimes these animals are even discovered: the coelacanth, a fish thought to have gone extinct in the age of the dinosaurs, was discovered alive in 1938. A cryptid can even be an ordinary animal that is supposedly thriving where it couldn’t be, like a population of alligators in the Manhattan sewers, or freshwater octopuses.      At least, that’s the traditional definition of a cryptid. Since cryptozoology was established in its modern form in the fifties, the definition has widened to encompass even more fantastical creatures as more people grow interested in the topic. This includes extraterrestrial entities, creatures from folklore such as mermaids and gnomes, sentient non-humans like the Menehune of Hawaii, and even (possibly) robots. This expanding definition of cryptid isn’t just because cryptozoology fans are a welcoming lot. It’s because cryptid has become synonymous with monster, of any kind. Cryptid fans love monsters, and pop culture cryptozoology is basically Pok.mon: we