"THE BLOOD-SUCKING CREATURE FROM HELL" > Page 1, 2
Gargoyles and Griffins
Most of us are familiar with gargoyles only as silent and still (if scary) stone carvings perched high on cathedrals and ancient castles. And griffins are the mythological creatures having the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Stuff and nonsense, according to any skeptic. But, believe it or not, there have been eyewitness accounts of bizarre creatures that were likened to gargoyles and griffins. And it's hard to dismiss the comparisons to chupacabras. In fact, one witness described chupacabras as being a "gargoylesque creature."
Apart from mythology, the legend of real griffins dates back to at least the 11th century when Britain's King Charles II allegedly gave a griffin as a gift to his mistress. Another griffin was said to be captured by a scientist who traveled with the great explorer Captain Cook in the 18th century.
These accounts are not considered to be true, yet there is a more modern report that may be worth noting. In 1985, an Englishman named Kevin Chippendale spotted an unknown creature flying near the rooftop of an apartment building. He described it as looking like "a dog with wings" and "having a long muzzle and four legs with what looked like paws." Being of the British culture, he likened it to a griffin - in fact, the creature has become known as the Brentford Griffin. But we have to wonder if the very same sighting had taken place in Puerto Rico or Chile what the witnesses would call it.
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| Hanging out on a summer night around the park's gothic mausoleum, the four teenagers were awestruck by an incredible creature sitting atop the mausoleum's stone wall. | |
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And gargoyles might not be just stone carvings or lovable Disney characters. In an article for Unknown magazine entitled "We Saw a Gargoyle," Ron Bogacki recounts how he and several other young adults met face to face with a gargoylesque creature. The encounter took place in 1981 in an Elmhurst, Illinois park. Hanging out on a summer night around the park's gothic mausoleum, the four teenagers were awestruck by an incredible creature sitting atop the mausoleum's stone wall. They described is as being large - perhaps 9 feet tall, if standing - with dark gray leathery skin, a muscular body with strong arms, golden horns on its head, huge wings and a long curling tail. They were close enough to have smelled its breath, which they described as "full of the stench of decay and sulfur." It soon flapped its wings, flew straight upward and disappeared.
The description given isn't much like the usual chupacabras, but it's difficult to disregard the depictions of the chupa as also being gargoyle-like. If what these teens saw in the park was a "goatsucker," it was the mother of all chupacabras.
The Monkey Man
Throughout May, 2001, the paranormal news was all abuzz with the sightings and antics of a bizarre creature that was terrorizing villagers in India. It was no laughing matter; a few deaths were attributed to the panic surrounding these sightings. The first attacks took place in East Delhi and soon spread to other cities and villages. The entity was quickly dubbed "Monkey Man" because of its size and simian-like agility.
On one night alone, on May 14, 50 attacks were reported in East Delhi. The following morning, a pregnant woman fell down a flight of stairs to her death after hearing cries by neighbors that the monkey was coming. Physicians confirmed that those who were attacked were bitten by some kind of animal. And researchers have pointed out that the creature most probably was not a monkey since the Indians were quite familiar with monkeys, which are commonplace there and frequently come into the villages.
The creature was described as:
- about four feet tall
- quite agile, like a monkey (at least one report of a chupacabras said that the face was "simian")
- sharp, metal-like claws
- glowing or flaming red eyes
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There are many unanswered questions about all of these monsters, the primary one being: Are any of them real at all? Or are they the product of mass hysteria - myths fueled by panicked imagination? And if they are real, are they merely misidentified animals known to science?
If we are to take these eyewitness accounts at face value - or at least consider that they might be at least partially true - then we have a far more perplexing and unsettling mystery to solve. If the stories are to be believed, what are these creatures? Where do they come from and where do they live? The similarities raise the possibility that they might be the same or related creature. Their sporadic appearance, bizarre description, fierce attacks and elusive behavior have elicited many theories as to their origin, including genetic mutants, aliens, living dinosaurs, demons and interdimensional beings. Like so many things in the paranormal realm, about all we can do is speculate and wonder. What do you think? 
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