The Dover Demon, a New Illustration From a First Hand Account

Were it not for the alliteration of the words, it is doubtful the cryptid known as The Dover Demon would ever have been called The Dover Demon at all. Another case of a short-lived, or hit and run cryptid, like The Enfield Horror, on April 21, 1977, the sightings of something otherworldly forever changed a small suburb of Boston, Mass. Four teens witnessed a creature — labeled the Dover Demon by locals — at different times within a 25-hour period. Their descriptions and accounts seemed to confirm there was a new resident in Dover.

Witnesses described this alienlike creature as having a watermelon-shaped head and a body like a lanky monkey. The demon also had very large eye sockets with glowing eyes, but no other perceptible facial features were reported. The demon appeared to stand no more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall with a hairless body and a bright orange skin tone. What exactly could this creature with such strange features be?

The Dover Demon 1977

The Dover Demon, most probably one of the most misnamed cryptids in history. What the witnesses from Dover witnessed that night was clearly an alien creature. But he who names it claims it. I know of no variety of demonic creature that vaguely resembles this rendering of what was seen near Boston on April 21, 1977.

One's first intuition might be to assume the witnesses had just returned from a matinee of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but that movie didn't open until November of 1977, I therefore conclude this must be confirmed as a legitimate sighting of a real space alien.

The Dover Demon was first sighted outside near a bar by three seventeen-year-old boys who were driving through the Massachusetts area when the car's headlights illuminated it. Bill Bartlett, the driver, reported that he saw what he thought at first was a dog or a cat, but upon closer inspection realized that it was a bizarre, unearthly-looking creature crawling along a stone wall on Farm Street.

Bartlett continued to watch the creature, and he reported it to have a disproportionately large, watermelon-shaped head and illuminated orange eyes, like glass marbles. It had long, thin arms and legs with slender fingers, which it used to grasp onto the pavement. It was hairless and had rough, flesh-toned skin, described as tan and sandpaper-like. The creature's appearance was very plain, with no nose or ears, and no mouth was seen. The witness drawings portray its head as having a skull shape, forming the contour of a circle on top with a more elliptical ending projecting down to include where the nose and mouth would be.

Other witnesses have claimed the creature had green eyes and seemingly smooth, chalky gray toned skin, three feet tall, and made a bloodcurdling noise, similar to a hawk's screech combined with a snake's hiss. But all witnesses say it had no ears, mouth, nose, or known sex.

The creature was sighted again an hour later, by John Baxter, 15, and Pete Mitchell, 13, as they were walking home. He said it was bipedal and ended up running into a gully and standing next to a tree. The next day, Abby Brabham, 15, and Will Traintor, 18, driving down Springdale Avenue, claimed to have seen a similar-looking creature from Traintor's car, on the side of the road. 

Here's a rendering of The Dover Demon that might be considered more "demonic," but it's not what the witnesses actually described.

Brabham's description matched Bartlett's and Baxter's descriptions, except this time the cryptid had illuminated green eyes. She approximated its height as "about the size of a goat". Investigators attempted to shake up Ms. Brabham by noting she said it had green eyes reflected by car headlights, while Bartlett mentioned orange eyes were reflected back to him by his automobile's lights. Ms. Brabham was steadfast in her description.

Bartlett, Baxter, Brabham, and Traintor all drew sketches of the monstrous sight shortly after their sightings. On the piece of paper that includes Bartlett's sketch, he wrote "I, Bill Bartlett, swear on a stack of Bibles that I saw this creature."

Illustration of a first-hand account of the Dover Demon by artist Jenny Mathews

Exclusive. I sent a Zombie Logic Press reporter over to Dover last week, and he reported back that the 1977 sighting turned out to be a guy named Artie who had been drinking at the same bar, the El Dorado on Sixth, for 33 years before those kids saw him come stumbling out. Sure, he was a little orange, Joe Pozlanski, the owner/operator of the El Dorado stated, but so is Mike Ditka, and that's what 33 years of sitting on the same bar stool drinking Cutty Sark and rooting for the Bruins will do to you. Case closed. (Artist rendition of the actual Dover Demon, Artie Schneider, by Tiny Drawing artist Jenny Mathews).

More cryptids by Fortean scholar Thomas L. Vaultonburg

More Tiny Drawings by Jenny Mathews

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The Enfield Horror

The state of Illinois has never been a hotbed of cryptid sightings. Probably the most enduring myth is that of the Thunderbird sightings near Alton, Illinois, but probably the strangest and most frenzied monster sighting occurred in 1973 in Enfield, Illinois. Although mostly forgotten today, for a short time the terrifying monster known as The Enfield Horror had this small community in a state of high horror.
　
The bizarre string of events began on the chilly night of April 25, 1973, when a young boy named Greg Garrett claimed to have been attacked by a truly bizarre beast while playing in his backyard.
　
The child described the being as having no less than three legs, a grayish, slimy epidermis, short claws and reddish eyes. The creature apparently "stamped" on the boys feet with its own three — apparently clawed — foot-like appendages, tearing his tennis shoes to shreds. Greg, crying hysterically, wasted no time scurrying away from the fiend and back into the relative safety of his parent's house.

The Enfield Horror. Later that night the beast returned, scratching at the door of a neighbor to be let in. The man there opened the door, and came face to face with...

The Enfield Horror. Police reports show that the man fired four rounds from a .22, claiming to hit the monster all four times at point blank range, but instead of falling, the beast bounded away into the night, covering 100 yards in five leaps. State Troopers arriving on the scene discovered the scratches the monster had branded into the side of the house. The hysteria was afoot. That summer The Enfield Horror was reported numerous times in Enfield. Despite warnings from The White County Sheriff, posses took to the woods and brush that summer in search of The Enfield Horror, which was spotted only one more time. 

By this kid, in 1977. I made that part up, this picture is actually from a reported Poltergeist activity in the UK in 1977, but if the poster of David Soul on the wall could talk I'm sure it would say "Don't give up on us, baby. We can still come through." 

More Cryptids

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Hodag

The Hodag is a monster native to and exclusively sighted in Northern Wisconsin, specifically in the city of Rhinelander, where they have the most financial investment in perpetuating the folklore of the strange, fearsome beast. The first Hodag was not only spotted, but actually captured by a local posse spurred on by notorious flim flam man Eugene Shepard. The monster was photographed that day in 1893.

But as any hoaxster who has created a religion out of whole cloth can tell you, sometimes people take you seriously even when you're selling them a shit sandwich, which the local media did, running this story as if it was a legitimate cryptozoological find. Not to let a good lie go uncapitalized upon, Shepard claimed in 1896 to have captured another Hodag, this time a living specimen, and was of course all too willing to display it on the carnival circuit. The exhibit was a good success, until The Smithsonian Institute dispatched a team of scientists to verify the claim, at which time Shepard admitted the hoax. But Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, and Scientologists can tell you none of that matters, because once a lie starts turning a profit no amount of truth can extinguish it.

Now, the black Hodag is the most nasty of the Hodag variations

This specimen is about six feet long and three feet at the shoulder. Its primary attack is a gore or a spike with its tail, but some Hodags have been known to resort to using tasers and some have been rumored to possess a noxious breath weapon (save at -2 or be dumbfounded for three rounds). 

This is the extremely rare Stuffed Animal Cave Hodag. Its primary means of attack is to siphon about twenty dollars out of your pocket, maybe more if you hit the gift shop.

Not much more is known about this downright nasty cryptid. On occasion you'll see one outside of a lodge after a few Leinenkugel Fake-Ass Mythical Beast brews sort of feigning a benevolent grin, but I can assure you it's all a clever ruse designed to get you to buy a T shirt.

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