Monsters of the Tar Heel State: Cryptids & Legends of North Carolina

Cryptids & Legends of America

by David Weatherly, Joshua P Warren (Foreword)

North Carolina, one of the original thirteen colonies, has a rich history, and an abundance of monsters.Large, hairy bipeds have long roamed the state, from legends of giants, and early reports of wild men, to western Carolina’s Knobby.Black panthers seem to lurk everywhere, and the small town of Bladenboro was once terrorized by a vampire beast. Does it still survive?There are strange things in the water, the swamps, and even the sewers!So, settle in and explore the monsters of the Tar Heel state.

291 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2021

Reviews

[Luke Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have become a dedicated collector of David Weatherly’s “cryptid state” books - for both the stunning cover art by Sam Shearon and the plethora of historic and modern day encounters with cryptids found within. As well as eye-witness reports, each volume delves deeply into the history, myths and legends of each state too.

Cryptids of the Tar Heel State (North Carolina) is no different, and we are introduced to local oddities such as the Gallinipper, and the infamous Beast of Bladenborough.

Weatherly’s research is methodical and all encompassing, and his diligence shows throughout.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great entry in Weatherly's Monsters of America series. These books are well written with minimal grammar and editing issues, which can be rare in this sort of book and so is always a great addition.

Weatherly includes plenty of Bigfoot; you can't have an American cryptid book without him. But as usual for this series, Weatherly includes plenty of other things, which is the strength of this series. For this one, he covered plenty of odd big cats and cat-like beings, water monsters, and an assortment of other odd balls.

For this book, my favorites were the Bladenboro Beast, black panthers, and oddities like the Whang Doodle and Sewer Blob.

[Davide Pappalardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

This is a fun book, engaging and the well written. The first half deals with mysterious varmints, gothic hellhounds, vampire felines and wild men/Bigfoot sighting, the second one is a little bit all over the place and mixes sea monsters, lake creatures, folklore, and real, albeit exotic, animals and plants. While being a very skeptical person, I find cryptids a very fascinating topic, akin to mythology, and I had a good time reading this book.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was rather disappointing. While it was well researched, the writing fell flat and was dry. I appreciated the depth that was given to each cryptid, but felt like there was a lot of repetition.