Why Cryptids Still Capture the Imagination

written by Elizabeth Belanger

Believing in things that are difficult to understand or outside our everyday realm of knowledge is a universal experience. Whether you once struggled with your belief in Santa Claus or the existence (and identity) of God, belief has likely transformed some part of you and your life over time.

From Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster, cryptids have fascinated people for generations. But in an age of science and satellites, why do some of us still believe in them?

Why Do Some People Still Believe in Cryptids Like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster?

The common types of responses to this question range anywhere from “because they’re dumb” to “because monsters do exist”. The latter is definitely the more interesting answer, but it doesn’t address the question. What is it about the mysterious Sasquatch or terrifying Jersey Devil that causes some people to shake their heads dismissively, but others to raise their eyebrows with interest?

I think it comes down to a deceptively simple answer: If cryptids capture your imagination, it simply means you’re still curious.

Our day-to-day lives can become heavy with a lack of nuance, a lack of excitement, and an absence of novelty or adventure. Believing in making the next month’s mortgage payment or the Christmas work party that’s happening in four months isn’t always enough to buoy us forward joyfully.

That’s where curiosity comes in.

While you’re lying in bed, quietly accounting or processing the day’s events, you hear a sudden noise outside that startles you. After a few tense moments of holding your breath and staying still, you realize it’s probably just a raccoon knocking over the outside bins, looking for scraps. But a small voice in your mind might whisper, “What if it’s not a raccoon?”

If you rise from your bed to peek out from behind the curtains and look, you’re courageous. And if you see a chonky raccoon hobbling away, pizza crust in paw, you’ll be able to go back to bed without too much fuss. But what if you see a dark, non-humanoid shape strangely moving into the darkness of the neighbor’s hedges? What if you see something you can’t explain?

This idea can do a lot of things. It can scare you, excite you, maybe even annoy you. But if it doesn’t make you curious — if it doesn’t make your brain launch into simulations of the strange kinds of creatures this world might be quietly hiding — then perhaps cryptids won’t capture your imagination.

But, if you’re curious, you’ll find that there’s more to learn about cryptids than first meets the eye.

One of the most interesting aspects of learning about cryptids from around the world is that you’ll often end up learning more about people than monsters while studying cryptozoology. Every region has its own host of local ‘monsters’, each with tales that tend to stretch back into the generations. And like Victor Frankenstein’s monster, these creatures often reflect the anxieties and fears of the people who’ve claimed to see them.

Curiosity Wins

Cryptids will always capture the imaginations of the curious. After all, those who seek answers will always follow questions — even if those questions take the shape of odd footprints in the mud.