List of swamp monsters

A swamp monster (also variously called a swamp creature, swamp man, or muck monster)[1] is a fictional or mythological creature imagined to lurk in a swamp.

Description

Some swamp monsters resemble aquatic creatures, while other swamp monsters resemble aquatic plants and moss. They are generally depicted as fierce and destructive; a confrontation with one presents a lethal hazard. Below is a list of the known swamp monsters in folklore and different media appearances.

Swamp monsters in folklore, legends, and mythology

Examples in comics

The Heap in mortal combat with the "Man of the Moonlight" on the cover of Airboy Comics, vol. 9 #5 (June 1952). Artwork by Ernest Schroeder.

From the 1940s to the present many swamp monsters have been used in comics, an early example being Hillman Publications' the Heap.

Afterwards, both DC Comics and Marvel created similar characters:

The debuts of the two characters were so close that it is impossible to say which came first.[11] Alan Moore, who worked on Swamp Thing for a period, later described the character's original incarnation as "a regurgitation of Hillman Comics' The Heap", adding that "When I took over that character at Len Wein's suggestion, I did my best to make it an original character that didn't owe a huge debt to previously existing swamp monsters."[12]

Other swamp monsters in comics include:

Examples in other media

  • The title creature in Theodore Sturgeon's 1940 short story "It!" is the earliest example of a plant-based swamp monster.
  • The Gill-man from the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon appears as a fish-like humanoid.[14]
  • An episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker entitled "The Spanish Moss Murders" (December 6, 1974) features a young man, subject of a study in sleep research, whose nightmares of a Spanish moss-covered swamp-dwelling monster called Pèremalfait from stories heard in his youth in the Louisiana Bayou come to life. (The creature in this case was played by Richard Kiel.)
  • The DC comics character "Swamp Thing" mentioned above was the subject of a 1982 film and a 1990 live-action television series.
  • In the 1986 novel It by Stephen King, It takes the form of a swamp monster to kill Eddie Corcoran.
  • The 1996 Goosebumps book "How to Kill a Monster" featured a Swamp Monster. It was depicted as a green-furred monster with the head of an alligator and a gorilla-like body with claws on its fingers.
    • The Swamp Monster makes an appearance in the 2015 Goosebumps movie performed by Nate Andrade (who was credited as "Monster #1"). He is one of Slappy the Dummy's monster and villain henchmen and is referred to as the "Bog Monster" during the 2014 Comic Con appearance. Its appearance is different where it looks like a large creature made of moss.
  • The TV series Family Guy featured some swamp monsters. In the episode "I Never Met the Dead Man" (April 11, 1999), the Griffin family catches a creature strongly resembling a "Swamp Monster" while fishing. In the episode "Business Guy" (December 13, 2009), Carter Pewterschmidt and Lois Griffin trick Peter Griffin into surrendering Pewterschmidt Industries by scaring him into believing a local swamp monster will eat him if he does not. A seemingly real swamp monster scares Peter out of the office and then chases Lois and a disguised Carter before being trapped and unmasked to be Gregory House.
  • David Winning's 2008 film Swamp Devil stars Bruce Dern as a retired sheriff trying to prove the existence of a swamp monster.
  • In Animal Planet's Lost Tapes, the episode "Swamp Creature" (January 26, 2009) is about the Louisiana Swamp Monster, which is said to be an abandoned Native American child who was raised by alligators.[6]
  • While criticizing a movie featuring a swamp monster, one of the hosts of the 2010 series This Movie Sucks! (Ron Sparks) tells the legend of Lake Erie Pete about a man who becomes a crime-fighting swamp monster after his parents are killed by one.
  • In the video game Infamous 2, the Swamp Monsters are the least mutated type of the Corrupted that have scythes instead of forearms and are the more common of the Corrupted.
  • In season two of Scream Queens, the Green Meanie is described to be a swamp monster that lives in a toxic swamp near the C.U.R.E. Institute Hospital.[15]

See also

References

  1. Jon B. Cooke and George Khoury, Swampmen: Muck-Monsters and their Makers (2015), p. 6, ISBN 1605490571.
  2. Observations on Popular Antiquities: Including the Whole of Mr. Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares (1777).
  3. "Expedia produces map of the world's mythical creatures and, yes, drop bears made the cut". pickle.nine.com.au.
  4. Giants, Monsters & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth By Carol Rose
  5. H. David Brumble, Classical Myths and Legends in the Middle Ages and Renaissance: A Dictionary of Allegorical Meanings (1998), p. 156.
  6. "Swamp Creature". 13 August 2012.
  7. Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore (2016), p. 211.
  8. "BBC News - Americas - The abominable swampman". news.bbc.co.uk.
  9. The Washington Post (1988-08-14) "'Lizard Man' Claims a Casualty", The Washington Post
  10. "The Prime Hook Swamp Creature". Paranormal Catalog. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  11. Cotter, Robert Michael "Bobb" (2008). The Great Monster Magazines: A Critical Study of the Black and White Publications of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-7864-3389-6.
  12. "Interview with Alan Moore Page 5 of 8". Seraphemera. February 19, 2013.
  13. One Piece Vol. 61 Chapter 603
  14. "Take a Look Inside UVA Employee Matthew Gatto's 'Parlor of Horrors'". 24 October 2017.
  15. Walsh, Megan. "These 'Scream Queens' Killer Theories Prove The Green Meanie Could Be Anyone".
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