Throughout the ages mankind has been fascinated by the unknown and the supernatural. Some of our earliest stories involve myths of strange magical beasts and beings, many with any number of phenomenal powers. The Cryptid Chronicle serves as a sort of online bestiary, attempting to catalog and inform visitors about the various kinds of “cryptids” (mythological creatures) that may or may not be out there.
The Krampus is a demon of Central European lore which came out to punish bad children during the holiday season on the designated eve of Krampusnacht. Christian tradition had deprived this belief of popularity in recent centuries, but over the past couple of decades we have seen a significant resurgence of the tradition not only in the area of the Krampus’ origin, but all over the world. Costumed performers (traditionally and typically young men) race down the streets with whips in hand, seeking out the bad children (not to actually beat them), the cheeky young women (this has alot to do with the runners) and engaging in small miracle plays or making house visits.
Dragons are one of those interesting cryptids that appear in mythology from various parts of the world that at the time would not have been culturally connected (for instance, in ancient China and medieval Western Europe before the trade routes were established).
Most dragons are depicted as large lizardlike creatures, although there are some cultures and artists who have been known to include fur and feathers into a dragon’s appearance. Most of them are believed to breathe fire (the mechanics of this particular ability have been explained by a wide variety of theories conjured by various authors and cryptozoologists) and to have long leathery wings which enable them to fly (typically the non-winged version of a dragon is known as a Wyvern).
A growing social trend in the so-called “millenial” generation has taken advantage of many people’s fascination with cryptids in popular culture. More and more we see events centering around dressing up in costume of a particular mythological creature to gather in a fun-loving crowd which take part in various events, such as “zombie crawls,” in which participants shuffle between a number of bars on a given route dressed as members of the Undead in a new take on the traditional pub crawl. Others include events like “mermaid meet ups” which can range from small social gatherings to large-scale conventions for people who have their own swimmable mermaid tails.
