Good job fellow nerds, the word “cryptid” has officially been added to the American-English dictionary. How it took this long while “twerk” found a home there before it, I will never know. Yet, it’s still something to celebrate.

With that being said, we all know the big boys in the cryptozoological world. Sasquatch and his, let’s call them, cousins; the Yeti, the Skunk Ape, maybe even the Yowie. Then we have our aquatic dino creatures, the Loch Ness Monster or Champie and Bessie.

Yet, it doesn’t end there. Hundreds of creatures have been listed over time as cryptids and some of these wonderfully weird creatures still haven’t been made a part of the modern nomenclature. So let’s get the ball rolling and try to shed the spotlight on some of these cryptids that have been playing second fiddle for far too long.

1. The Mongolian Death Worm

First off, how metal is that name? Can’t you see some Scandinavian death metal band using that as their moniker in some font that is impossible to make out? Coming to the presence of mind in the 1920’s, the Mongolian Death Worm was first written about by explorer Roy Chapman Andrew, although it must be noted that the creature had purportedly never been seen. Yet, the belief amongst the elders was so strong that Andrew himself believed in the creature. It was reported to be anywhere between two to five feet long, which is pretty freaking huge for a worm, but that’s not where it gets the superlative.

The Mongolian Death Worm was said to travel under the sand and could kill its prey at a distance, and depending on who is telling the tale it would either use acid or electricity to take down its prey. If you believe the acid stories, you can bet that it was corrosive too, capable to even melt through metal. What, you may ask, is the prey of a Death Worm? A whole camel. Then after the worm takes the camel down, in true body horror fashion, it lays eggs in its intestines. GROSS.

Fun fact, the graboid from TREMORS is inspired by the Mongolian Death Worm!

2. The Jersey Devil

Okay, yes, the Jersey Devil is definitely going to be the most well known creature on this list. The demonic being that supposedly haunts the Pine Barrens of New Jersey has received a modicum of success in pop culture, spawning his own PS1 game and even a few minor indie horror flicks. While sightings of the Jersey Devil date back to 1909, and the Devil himself is often described as a strange goat-like creature with a forked tail and wings that walks on two legs, that’s not even close to the most bizarre bullet point of Jersey’s wyvern lite.

BECAUSE CHECK OUT THIS TRULY COMIC BOOK STYLE ORIGIN STORY.

It’s not exactly clear why this story is the one that has become the backstory of the Jersey Devil but it has. Rumor has it that Mother Leeds, based on the real life Deborah Leeds, had twelve children and upon becoming pregnant with the thirteenth, cursed the child and declared it would become the devil. When the child was born, although it was birthed a normal human creature, it quickly grew wings and horns and emitted an animalistic growl before killing the midwife and escaping through the chimney. Variations of the story exist, some claiming Leeds was a witch and the father was the devil. But peep this true weirdness: some historians believe that these rumors were started about the Leeds family because, get this, Daniel Leeds was Benjamin Franklin’s almanac rival. Now that’s some destructive gossip.

Image Credit: Ryan Hanson, Instagram @hansonillustration

3. Snallygaster

This one is fun as hell. Dragons are mostly well known for their appearances in European lore, although the Asian dragons are quite well known too. Have you, however, heard of the dragon that supposedly lives somewhere in Maryland? Frederick County of Maryland was mostly settled by German immigrants in the 1730’s. Strange early accounts in the area have reports of a half reptilian, half bird creature (sometimes even terrifyingly described as having tentacles) that would swoop from the sky and carry off townsfolk, draining their bodies of blood.

The Snallygaster was said to have a metallic beak lined with razor sharp teeth. The sightings went quiet until nearly two hundred years later, in 1909, when again county denizens started reporting being plagued by a monster with giant wings, steel claws and an eye in the center of its forehead. It was later revealed to be part of a hoax to draw readership to the newspaper which had offered a reward for the beast’s hide, but the description was taken from those original accounts two centuries prior. What’s really neat? Theodore Roosevelt himself hunted for the Snallygaster and there’s even pictures to prove it!

4. Popobawa

Although many cryptids exist in America, partially because it’s one of the newest countries that has been the least explored, they also exist all over the world. Lots of creatures and monsters are deemed “supernatural” which is definitely a different category altogether, but elusive cryptids exist all over and one of the wildest is the Popbawa of Zanzibar.

While the creature has no steady form, a shapechanger by nature, it is said to create the silhouette of a bat like creature when swooping down on its victims. Hence it’s given title of “Popbawa” which translates to “bat wing.” Now the Popabawa is a little more savage than some of its cryptid cousins. While most cryptozoological animals seems to be of the “more afraid of us than we are of them” variety, still a handful exist that seem to lash out more or are even rumored to attack people. The Popobawa is much more vile as it, well, is super into sodomy. Of the anal kind. Yep. While the people of Zanzibar feared the ever changing beast for its vicious attacks, they were most terrified of what it would to their behinds.

5. Spring Heeled Jack

I definitely saved the best for last. Spring Heeled Jack is one of the weirdest creations of folklore that has ever existed. Some things are actually plausible. We’ve explored more of the surface of the moon than our own oceans, so if a dinosaur-like creature were to still exist, I wouldn’t be shocked. Bipedal ape creatures? Sure. Maybe even a dragon. But Spring Heeled Jack?! Buckle in for this.

Sightings started in the Victorian Era in London, 1837 to be exact. Described as a wiry, tall man, Spring Heeled Jack received the moniker for his purported ability to leap over walls as high as nine feet tall. While initials sightings stated that he was essentially a high scaling massive pervert, grabbing women with claw like appendages and kissing them until leaping off, Jane Alsop made Jack even more famous when she reported that she ran into Jack, who SHOT BLUE FLAMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH AT HER. Just eight days later, Lucy Scales was also attacked by a cloaked, gentlemanly figure who ALSO SHOT BLUE FLAMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH.

The last official sightings of Spring Heeled Jack were in 1904 and while it has been a solid century since the dragon-mouthed perv has been seen, Jack has become a figure of heroic folklore in England, lending himself to popular culture, sometimes as a villain, but often as a vigilante.