u/MisterSamShearon

Prehistoric winged reptile... 'pterosaur'... or 'dragon'...?
'Bat-like humanoid'... or 'alien visitor'...?

As featured on the cover of David Weatherly's book 'Monsters of the Hawkeye State: Cryptids and Legends of Iowa'. (Available on AMAZON).
The Van Meter Visitor is now available as an 12" x 18" print, signed in silver.

In October of 1903, the small town of Van Meter in Iowa was witness to the visitation of a strange unknown creature...

A number of respected community members spoke of a strange bat-winged creature that haunted the town, over a number of nights over the course of a week. The beast was described to have huge bat-like wings, it was also said to give off an awful mind-fogging stench, wiping the memories of some folk... But the strangest part of the tale speaks of a beam of light that was projected from a blunt horn on it's forehead!

It is said that several of the local townsfolk fired upon the creature with their large guns, though this did not appear to cause any harm to the beast.
Tired of the torment from this creatures nightly visits, a few of the townsfolk got together one night and followed the creature to an abandoned coal mine. There they were confronted by not one, but two of these strange creatures. Both of these strange 'animals' turned and disappeared down into the darkness of the mine as the men opened fire... the 'visitors' were never seen again.

Modern reports as recently as the 2000's have reported similar creatures in the area being sighted by several different people. These reports might suggest, that the Van Meter Visitors have never truly left!

What do you suppose this creature actually was...?

The Van Meter Visitor signed print.

Here's my rendition of the infamous 'Nightcrawler' though to be clear, these did anything but crawl... In fact, the video that these are based on was actually shot in Yosemite... and so I've chosen to re-name these as the 'Yosemite Nightstriders' or 'Californian Nightstriders' perhaps.

There's of course the conclusion that both videos, Fresno and Yosemite were in fact hoaxes, this doesn't discount the fact that people claim to have actually see these things prior and since! One witness even claims to have seen one crossing a road... a black one!

Call them what you will... Haunted pants, phantom pantaloons or phantaloons... sentient pajamas... or alien visitors from another world!

Several videos and witness accounts of these mysterious 'puppet-like' creatures have been seen over the last decade or so... Making them one of the more recent additions to the world of weird 'cryptids', (if they are to be considered that at all!)...
Most say 'hoax'... Others tend to agree there's more to it...

Perhaps there are clues in ancient legend... Or are they just another modern urban myth? You decide!

What do you suppose they are!?

ARTWORK DISCLAIMER: This is a human-made illustration. 'AI' was NOT used in any way in the creation of this piece. This was digitally painted, using a mouse with the program Photoshop. Octopi, Cuttlefish and Squid were used as references for the skin textures and patterns.

If anyone's interested this design of mine is available in my store on various merchandise items too.

https://shop.mistersamshearon.com/collections/nightcrawler

Here's my rendition of the infamous 'Nightcrawler' though to be clear, these did anything but crawl... In fact, the video that these are based on was actually shot in Yosemite... and so I've chosen to re-name these as the 'Yosemite Nightstriders' or 'Californian Nightstriders' perhaps.

There's of course the conclusion that both videos, Fresno and Yosemite were in fact hoaxes, this doesn't discount the fact that people claim to have actually see these things prior and since!

What do you suppose they are!?

(Side note, this image is human-made. That means that A.I. was NOT used in it's creation.)

Just put together a gift guide for Poe fans — gothic apparel, prints and accessories. Would love to hear what the community thinks and if there's anything you'd add...?

https://shop.mistersamshearon.com/blogs/news/the-best-edgar-allan-poe-gifts-for-dark-art-collectors

Here's my rendition of a bigfoot / sasquatch striding across a road at night.... cars coming in either direction... What would you do if you drove up on a creature like this?

If you braked and it continued to wander off into the woods... would you get out and see if you could get another look... or just drive on...?
What if it stopped walking and began to approach your car...!?

What would YOU do....!?