Episode available for free on all platforms, find yours here: https://linktr.ee/cryptidsdecrypted This week on Cryptids Decrypted, we talked about two of my favorite spectral myths, La Llorona and La Madremonte. Both of these myths serve as cautionary tales in their own right but inhabit different regions of Central/South America. Below, you can find some supplemental … Continue reading Cryptids Decrypted – Vengeful Spirits
This is a story I wrote in 2016, but I've gone through and re-written it to match my current style better and fix several gratuitous grammatical errors. It takes place before A Man of the Mountain, Whiteout and Downpour (a book series) and serves as a good introduction to Nick Ventner, my favorite drunken monster … Continue reading The Lake
We get it, Bigfoot really likes to rip off people's heads... The beginning of Devolution felt like a return to form for Max Brooks, evoking the same feelings as his critically acclaimed World War Z. For my readthrough, I listened to the full cast audiobook which leant a sense of realism to the interludes of … Continue reading Devolution – A Review in Brief
Look, we’re all struggling through a strange holiday season, so why not make it a little bit stranger? This Friday at 7:00PM PST on Twitch.tv/mac_ashton, I will be live streaming a readthrough of my holiday story, Home for the Holidays.
This week on Cryptids Decrypted, we're covering the dark history of the wendigo myth. Originally used as a cautionary tale by the native populations in Northern Canada, wendigos were described as pale, emaciated creatures, hungry for human flesh. It was said that humans were possessed by evil spirits in moments of physical weakness and greed. … Continue reading Cannibalism, Starvation, and the History of the Wendigo
This week on Cryptids Decrypted, we’re taking a look at one of the more famous mythical creatures of the modern day, El Chupacabra. Hailing from Puerto Rico, the chupacabra was first sighted in the mid-nineties, right around the time UFO fever was hitting a new high. The creature takes its name from chupar (to suck) … Continue reading El Chupacabra – A History of the Mystery
Mokole Mbembe – The One Who Stops the Flow of Rivers "The Congo River at sunset, Democratic Republic of the Congo" by water.alternatives is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 This week on Cryptids Decrypted, John and I are talking about a fascinating myth from the Congo River Basin, Mokole Mbembe (pronounced M’Kay-lay Bem-bay, we think). … Continue reading Mokole-Mbembe – A History of the Mystery
Well, if that googly-eyed, odd, pipe of a fish isn't enough to convince you that monsters exist in the deep, maybe my second interview with David George Gordon will! David is an expert in all things cryptid and nature. He's written several field guides on more traditional flora and fauna, but is especially renowned for … Continue reading Inter-Dimensional Lake Monsters Among Us?!
This 'real' video is legit some of the best evidence for the myth... On this episode of the critically acclaimed (by about 5 people) episode of Cryptids Decrypted, Ashton Macaulay, Tyler Mitchell, and John Ceccareli break down the Jersey Devil Myth. Now, you might ask, what gives us the right to deface such a legend? … Continue reading A History of the Mystery – The Jersey Devil
A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Brian Regal, a professor in the Science of History at Kean University in New Jersey.
Ashton Macaulay 