Mythical Monsters, Critters, and Cryptids
Today, we travel all the way to Illinois, USA to learn more about a strange monster that was only seen a handful of times before never being seen again. Today, I will introduce the Enfield Horror.
Creature: An odd three-legged creature that appeared during the 1970s in Enfield, Illinois.
What is it?
It was late, 9:30 p.m., on the 25 April 1973 when Henry McDaniel and his wife came home to his frantic children, Henry Jr. and Lil. They told their parents a strange animal was trying to get into the house by scratching on the door. Thinking nothing of it, Henry put it out of his mind, until he too heard the scratching.
Assuming it was nothing more than a stray cat or dog, Henry opened the door to be met by a ghastly visage. Before him, standing 4 ½ feet tall, was a slimy, grey-skinned monster. It stood upon three legs, had two short arms coming from its chest, and had glowing pink to red eyes the size of flashlights.
He slammed the door closed and ran to get his gun and a flashlight. Hoping the creature was gone, he was shocked to find that when he opened the door once more, the creature was still there. He fired four shots, knowing that the first hit, as the creature hissed at him like a wildcat.
It quickly bound away and with three leaps had managed to cover 50 feet before quickly disappearing. Being smart, Henry called the cops instead of trying to chase after the creature.
The cops arrived and soon found scratches along the siding of the house, as well as strange footprints. There were two longer prints, measuring over four inches, with a smaller third print. The footprints looked similar to a dog’s but had six toes and not four.
This wouldn’t be the last time that the creature would be seen. Henry claimed that he saw the monster once more on May 6 at 3 a.m. He had been woken by the howling of his next-door neighbour’s dogs and went to investigate. He found the creature close to the railway tracks, close to his home, but this time he only observed it. The creature remained in the vicinity for a few minutes before bouncing off.
Later that day, due to Henry contacting the WWKI’s radio station, the news director, Rick Rainbow, and three friends went in search of the beast. They would eventually stumble on the creature and supposedly make a recording of its strange cry. It’s said that it sounded banshee-like.
This wasn’t the only sighting, as 30 minutes before Henry reported seeing the strange creature, his neighbour’s son, Greg Garrett (10), had an encounter. He said the creature had leapt at him, and its claws had destroyed his shoes. It had fled soon after that, leaving the boy terrified.
Soon, the small town of Enfield was crawling with people who wanted to see this horror, much to the headache of Sheriff Roy Poshard Jr. Even though he threatened Henry to keep his mouth shut, Henry refused and kept telling people about the creature.
Parents started keeping their children home at night. Not because of the Enfield Horror, but because the town was crawling with hunters that had too much to drink and were a little too trigger-happy with their guns, as they kept shooting at anything that moved.
The Impact
While the monster had caused a stir, it died down quickly as soon people who had come to see the beast, who then claimed they had seen the creature, admitted they had misidentified a range of creatures, such as deer, bears, wildcats, large dogs, calves, or even shadows.
A source even states that Greg had made up his encounter for attention and to make fun of others stating they had seen the creature.
Due to the three-legged description of the creature, some believed that it may have been an escaped kangaroo, with someone calling in a missing kangaroo by the name of Macey. To this day, Henry is steadfast in his belief that the creature wasn’t a kangaroo.
So, was the creature an alien, monster, or something else? With no more sightings, it’s difficult to tell. However, the impact it caused to this town was nothing short of hysteria with people coming from all over to hunt the beast. It was lucky that no one had been hurt.
Publications
Only the Carmi Times and the Mt Vernon Register-News had any publications about the creature back in 1973.
Historical significance
It’s not the first time that something similar to the Enfield Horror was spotted in the general area. During 1941 and 1942, a similar creature was spotted roaming the village of Mt Vernon. It’s believed that this leaping creature had had a hand in several animal deaths and mutilations in the vicinity. It appeared more baboon-like, but it too would leap around. It was dubbed the Mt Vernon Monster, but it and the Enfield Monster were likely the same things. As to what that thing was, no one knows, as after 1973, it was never spotted again.
Resources:
Dowell, L. (2023, February 5). Enfield monster: Illinois creature or mob mentality? FOX 2. https://fox2now.com/news/true-crime/enfield-monster-illinois-creature-or-mob-mentality/
Enfield horror. (n.d.-a). Cryptid Wiki. https://cryptozoologycryptids.fandom.com/wiki/Enfield_Horror
Enfield horror. (n.d.-b). Www.worldanvil.com. https://www.worldanvil.com/w/appalachia-pyro0088/a/enfield-horror-article
Enfield monster. (n.d.). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_Monster
Further viewing:
Regardless of what the best was, it’s forever cemented in the memories and hearts of those who lived in Enfield.
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So weird!
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Most of these creatures are weird.
Indeed... but you get like... mythical and then you get.... this mutant aberration! Lol
I was sitting last night and looking through my vast collection of monster pages and oh boy, I'm going to be busy for a while!
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