Variations of these outlandish octopus-like critters have been seen across the globe and seem to represent an heretofore unknown evolutionary offshoot of the mollusk that have somehow managed to crawl out of the ocean‘s depths to become a land lurking air-breathers.
One of the most fascinating sub-categories of cryptid that we here at American Monsters have stumbled across during our research are the utterly bizarre cephalopodan entities, which we’ve dubbed “Terra Octopoda” or, less pretentiously, the “Land Octopus.”
These creatures come in various forms and sizes and seem to hail from as far flung places as the mountains of Spain, to the river bottoms of Kentucky and Ohio, to the uncharted depths of space itself.
Sometimes described as being small and hairy, other examples of these unique creatures are said to be quadrupedal sprinters and still others are reported as being hulking gray masses of lopsided flesh covered in tentacles. In fact there seem to be as many variations as there are encounters.
Not to be confused with FRESH WATER OCTOPI, which live out their lives in the water or even terrifying LAKE MONSTERS such as the colossal OKLAHOMA OCTOPUS or the DEVIL’S LAKE MONSTER, these landlubbers are often seen far from bodies of water.
Some of the most notable examples of this undeniably “alien species” that we’ve come across include; Spain’s scruffy OCTO-SQUATCH, the evidently extraterrestrial ALIEN OCTOPOIDS and the United States’ own lumbering, misshapen (and ostensibly amphibious) varmint, which we here at American Monsters have christened the INDESCRIBABLE OCTO-MAN.
Wherever these tentacled terrors come from — be it rivers, mountains or another world altogether — the one thing we know for sure is that these unique cryptids are quite unlike anything that is supposed to dwell on good old terra firma.
Rob Morphy is an artist / journalist / filmmaker / designer / crypto chronicler / pod host / cult movie lover and co-founder of American Monsters.