Batsquatch

Like Mothman’s, the origin of Batsquatch is directly linked to the aftermath of a tragic event. In Mothman’s case, it was the collapse of Silver Bridge, and this case it was the eruption of Mount St. Helen in 1980. After the cataclysmic eruption of that volcano, which claimed the lives of 57 people, the terror and trauma stuck to the area. The horror of living near the obliterated area of the eruption, begun to take a toll on Skamania county inhabitants, and it wasn’t long before the eruption was linked with a more diabolical nature.

Tall tales of a large, winged creature stalking the skies near the disaster area started being spread about. Those who dare investigate the area would meet with bizarre sightings or encounters. Some would feel a presence watching them, others would hear loud screeching noises come from above, with the sound of huge flapping wings, and others testified to having seen a human fly across the night sky directly above them.

While the locals could never agree on what exactly was the cause of these sightings, they believed that whatever the thing was, it came from Mount St. Helen the moment it had exploded and was now added dread linked to the tragedy.

It wasn’t until 1994 that the creature would get its official name and detailed description. Brian Canfield was driving around the area one night when his vehicle suddenly failed him. The engine shut off and the headlights went out, and Brian found himself alone in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by impenetrable darkness. His only companion was the foreboding sound of a large creature stomping the ground and flapping its wings a few yards in front of him. In a last desperate fickle, the car’s headlights came on for a second, revealing a 9 feet tall humanoid beast covered in blue fur, with extremely big white wings, and the head of a bat. The creature let out one last piercing screech before the lights went out again, and Brian ran away as fast as he could. Once he found other people, Brian told his story to most people’s disbelief. The one proof he had of his encounter was the torn back of his shirt, which, presumably, the creature had tried to grab him by.

Today the Batsquatch has been almost forgotten. When the residents of Washington state felt it was time to move on from the tragedy left by the volcanic eruption, they also agreed that entertaining rumors of the creature would only allow pain to prevail, and slowly it was mentioned less and less.