Halloween Special: ”’Monsters” Documentaries

We find ourselves again in this time of year when nights grow longer and scare stories are popular. For the occasion, here are three documentaries about ”monsters”. The most common human reaction to encounters with non-human humanoids is fear of the unknown, but cryptid doesn’t mean creepy, it means hidden, unknown.

Yet, an honest research leads us to admit that there is much more fear than harm and that the vast majority of encounters are peaceful. A deeper study reveals that in most cases of alleged attacks, the humanoid or cryptid showed no sign of aggressiveness but their mere presence caused a reaction of unjustified fear and even uncontrolled panic.

In the handful of cases of altercations among thousands of peaceful encounters, often the most popularized stories like that of the Ape Canyon, Ruby Creek or Boggy Creek incidents, it usually turns out that the Hairy Humanoids were attacked first and shot at. They simply reacted out of fear or anger and for self-defense against human aggression.

These questions regarding alleged Sasquatch threats and attacks and some related popular scare stories are detailed with numerous documented cases in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ALL THINGS SASQUATCH and in this ARTICLE.

However, we all like a good scary story sometimes, explaining why the horror genre is so popular within the so-called Bigfoot and UFO worlds. Hundreds of movies, books and festivals have exploited the theme in a growing and lucrative competitive market.

SCENIC does not endorse that excessive dramatization and sensationalism so abusively making use of words such as horror, terror, abominable and ”monster”. Thus, the three documentaries below, despite a tendency to push fear the unknown, follow a certain methodological approach considering documented facts, so they do not fall into extremely fantasist sensationalism. Following the trail of evidence, researchers are rather led to admit that in the great majority of cases, there is indeed more fear than harm. Nonetheless, inter-species relations are not given to all, nor for the faint of heart.

Note: SCENIC does not agree or support all the views expressed in those videos.

Boggy Creek Monster (2019), Lyle Blackburn, Terror Films. Revisiting the story from the 1970’s of the Boggy Creek or Fouke Monster, made famous though popular movies. What most studies on the subject fail to mention is that out of nearly 300 reported sightings in the region over a century and a half, just a couple of incidents in the early 1970’s involved altercations after the ”Monster” had been shot at and hunted down. All the other encounters were peaceful, but they are very rarely heard of compared to the short dramatic episode so often retold, which gave the town of Fouke its own Bigfoot folklore, convention and lucrative tourism, with its famous Monster Mart.

Invasion on Chesnut Ridge, Terror Films. A survey of the mysterious phenomena observed along Chesnut Ridge between PA and WV, including UFO, Sasquatch, Dogmen, other humanoids, cryptids, orbs, ghosts, etc… Again, mysterious, eerie, spooky, scary even maybe, but more fear than harm. Just bamboozled witnesses. Along that belt of paranormal activity, small towns have also prospered from the phenomena.

Cultured Bigfoot. First film of the Bilco Productions trilogy by Bill and Amy Lancaster. This documentary rather explores the influences of Sasquatch in human cultures, from ancestral Native tribal societies to ancient literature and unto the modern-day Bigfoot pop culture, movie genre and popular movements with conventions and festivals. Includes interviews with some of the most famous names in the Bigfoot milieu.

Note: SCENIC does not agree or support all the views expressed in those videos.