Jon Solo Sebastian 09/14/2024:

This week’s creature feature comes from a Midwestern folktale. I’ve decided to tackle the Ozark Howler; not physically tackle it—I’m not that crazy! Would you approach a black shaggy haired beast with red eyes that pierces your ear drums with a horrific howl? Would you chase after a fox-sized cat or canine with deer-like horns growing out of its head while it’s hunting a squirrel? Even if it had red eyes? Would you run toward a horned mountain lion in the remote forests of the Ozark Mountains? Each of these represents a report of an Ozark Howler.

What is the Ozark Howler?

The only real consistency in the stories of the Ozark Howler is the physical characteristics when it’s being described; mostly consistent, at least. Whether it’s spotted in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, or Texas, it will look mostly the same aside from one bear-like version that sounds awesome; I’ll get to that in a moment. Photographs of the alleged monster are laughable due to either being blurry shots of a mountain lion, or some likely photoshopped images.

What people claim to see: a large cat with horns on its head and glowing eyes. Some have described it as being similar to the Chupacabra but a cat version of it. Most descriptions are shrugged off as it being a mountain lion.

Here’s the fun one—it’s a bear-sized creature with thick and shaggy black hair, short legs, glowing red eyes, horns on its head, and its howl sounds like a blend of a wolf howling and a hyena laughing, which is so loud it makes your ears ring. This sounds like a monster—and a terrifying one at that. What people see is much different. For example, take a look at the image below.

I don’t think this is the Ozark Howler, but it is certainly an adorable little creature. Don’t you think?

This blurry photo looks like someone put reindeer antlers from a pet costume on their puppy and let it run around in the woods for a while. I admit, the name of this creature got me pumped up for some wild folktales about a fantastic beast that once roamed the lands terrorizing small villages, and still shows it’s monstrous face around these areas today. What I found was something that’s probably a hoax, or an old ghost story folks told their kids on camping trips for a quick scare before bed. Not every cryptid will be a banger, but this was still a fun one to learn about. My verdict is that it is likely people are seeing a bobcat or mountain lion in the dark of the night and their imaginations run wild on them. If there is an actual monster howling and terrorizing the Ozarks, and you’ve seen it, please send photos or your stories because I’m not shutting the door on this case yet.