About Curated Cryptid

Curated Cryptid started as an idea years ago, in 2021, as I settled in to plan a long road trip. I wanted to include places to stop along the way that were home to cryptid legends and lore. I also decided to include some supernatural and paranormal ones. However I very quickly found myself at a computer terminal in the library surrounded by stacks of books, scribbling notes down in a notebook. It felt like it took forever: finding an interesting snippet, launching an online search to locate more details and trying to nail down locations, etc. Not only was all the information fragmented, a lot of it was also incomplete or outdated and took additional steps and effort to form a complete itinerary. On top of that, each region had its own separate books or online sources that had to be combed through. I know it wasn’t intentional, but the information I sought felt heavily gatekept. After a few weeks, I managed to put together a list:

Koreshan State Park - Bonita Springs, FL - Haunted by members of the Koresh, the founding religious group that believed in a hollow Earth theory.
Myakka State Park - Myakka, FL - Skunk Ape sightings.
Bok Tower Gardens - , FL - Gnome Men sightings.
Spook Hill - Lake Wales, FL - “Ghostly” gravity that pulls backwards.
Bright Lights - Oviedo, FL - Spook lights sightings.
Spectral Horse - Celery Ave, FL - Ghost horse sightings.
Devil's Chair/ Fairy Park - Cassadaga, FL - Whole area has deep roots in the supernatural.
Sugar Mill Ruins - New Smyrna, FL - Reports of hauntings.
Sugar Mill Gardens - Dunlawton, FL - Reports of hauntings.
St. John's River - St. Johns, FL - Pinky the river monster.
Kingsley Plantation - Jacksonville, FL - Reports of hauntings and of a malicious spirit.
Altamaha River Regional Park - Darien, GA - Altamaha-ha river monster.
Johnson-Felton-Hay House - Macon, GA - Reports of hauntings.
Sloss Furnaces - Birmingham, AL - Reports of hauntings.

*I can upload details and pictures if there is an expressed interest.

By the time I had finished my trip, Curated Cryptid was already in the process of being fleshed out in my mind. However, life…uh finds a way…to be life, and the pure act of surviving took all of my time and energy. By the time it had settled down enough to think about pursuing the website, after multiple health diagnoses and family losses, it was time to uproot again and relocate. Sadly, unfortunately, this was immediately followed by more family losses and related tasks that took all the energy again. By the time things settled down again, 4 years had passed and I was almost discouraged thinking I had wasted too much time. In those 4 years, cryptid popularity had skyrocketed and many had become household names, even popular mascots. With that came many more websites and related resources. However, I still didn’t see anyone doing quite exactly what I had in mind: a compilation of information so someone, like past me, wouldn’t have to page turn and website jump ad infinitum in order to discover all the desired information. So, Curated Cryptid was resurrected and came to fruition, and hopefully will continue to grow.

Welcome! We’re so delighted to have you here and feel free to contact us!