Swamp Creatures and water monsters
Exploring the folklore about the creatures that live in swamps.
If you have been a fan of my work for a while, it is no secret I love cryptids monsters and mythical creatures. But my favorite by far is the swamp creature. If you’ve watched any of the horror movies featuring the swamp creature such as Swamp Thing or Creature from the Black Lagoon, the theories about this creature vary from it being half man, half alligator or plant in an experiment gone wrong to a prehistoric creature lost in time. There are about 35 other movies with swamp creatures of various origins and horror levels but my favorite is the Creature from the Black Lagoon. You can’t beat the campy quality of a man in a swamp creature suit in black and white swimming around capturing pretty ladies. There are also the Stan Lee comic series about a human that mutated into a swamp monster and lived in the Florida Everglades.
There are many sightings of various forms of this cryptid as well in folklore. Beyond Hollywood, there are legends of different creatures living in swampy waters such as the Honey Island Swamp Monster in Louisiana. This creature is humanoid and similar to Bigfoot but lives in the swamps. There is also the skunk ape which is a large hairy creature similar to the Honey Island Swamp monster that lives in the southeastern United States. Sightings of lizard men in South Carolina and the Loveland Frogman in Ohio, also tell stories about creatures living in the waters and swamps of the area that are part human with animal characteristics
Around the world there have always been creatures that inspire fear around the water, such as the Kappa in Japan which are green creatures with webbed feet and turtle shells that can drown you if you anger them so placating them with cucumbers(their favorite meal) can keep your family safe. Another creature called the Bunyip from aboriginal mythology lurks in swamps and waterholes. It is amphibious and inspires dread and seen as a terrible creature you wouldn’t want to meet.
These stories make a lot of sense if you live next to swamps and water that do have dangerous creatures in them. I believe a lot of stories were told to children to keep them away from the water so they wouldn’t get hurt by an alligator or fall into the water and drown. There are also a lot of unknown creatures living in hard to get to places that we still haven’t discovered so its possible that some of these creatures are real but are well hidden.
With all of these scary and terrible reports of swamp creatures I decided to give swamp creatures a new story. When I first started writing about Sylvette, the swamp creature, I imagined her as a friendly creature who was a lot like myself. I wanted to imagine that she wanted to set the record straight and tell her side of the story since swamp creatures have always had such negative tales about them. So Sylvette the swamp creature was born and as I continue to write stories about her and draw different versions of this swamp creature, I feel like I am capturing some of the magic of these folktales. I am drawn to swamp creatures because of the mystery and lore around them. Like speaking in hushed tones to tell a secret. My swamp creatures are peaceful but want to be left alone and stay hidden because they don’t like all the attention. They are helpful and like to take care of the creatures and the forest around them. They aren’t scary unless you make them angry or feel cornered. At least to me, that’s how I like to imagine them.
Do you have a favorite cryptid? Why are you drawn to it?