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August 28, 2025 46 mins

Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale.  This week, your Curator Zach is doing a part 2 of the lessor cryptids!

Hidden beneath America's seemingly ordinary landscapes lurk creatures most cryptid hunters never discuss. While Bigfoot and Mothman steal the spotlight, these lesser-known monsters deserve their moment in the moonlight.

Join curators Kara and Zach as they venture into the fetid swamps of Florida to track the Skunk Ape – a bipedal, ape-like creature whose overwhelming stench of rotting meat and methane makes witnesses physically ill. 

Descend into the mines of Colorado where Tommyknockers – small humanoid creatures with wrinkled faces – play mischievous pranks on miners. 

Your skin will crawl hearing about the Qalupalik, the Arctic's answer to sirens. This horrifying Inuit legend lures children with hypnotic humming before snatching them into an underwater lair.

Finally, meet Sinkhole Sam – a 15-foot snake-like creature whose legend is quietly fading in Kansas. Once drawing crowds of curious onlookers to the "Big Sinkhole," Sam is now barely remembered as drought has claimed his habitat. His touching story reminds us how cryptid legends are born, evolve, and sometimes die with changing landscapes.

Which of these forgotten monsters would you most want to encounter?

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I want to dance with the mothman at the IA shop,
bathed in the moonlight at theIA shop.
Creep through the graveyard tothe IA shop.
The door's always open at theIA shop.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Welcome back to the Oddity Shop Podcast, the podcast
where we tell you creepy, odd,weird, strange, bizarre stories
from around the flat earth thatwe live on.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
I'm your curator, Kara, and I'm here with our
other curator.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Slash flat earther Zach.
I've decided, I think the earthis flat for no reason
whatsoever.
But you know we're we'rerocking with it.
Now that's my belief.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
I hope people start coming for you.
Your shirt's very cute.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
It is.
I wonder who bought it for me,since you bought a good chunk of
my wardrobe.
Yeah, I don't know.
You know this is one that youbought me and then I didn't wear
for a long time because Iwasn't sure how to style it.
But now I've kind of figuredout a couple outfits yeah, and I
, I do like it.
I love it.
It took me a second.
Um, okay, what's new?
I finally got my new patio allset up out back with the
umbrella and the new littlechairs and oh my God, it's such
a cute.

(01:31):
It is such a fun little oasisI've been editing out there and
like, oh, love that, yeah,that's fun.
Also had a fun little surprisethis week.
So I love your neighborhood.
I have met.
I have hung out with Kara'sneighbors more than I have ever
hung out with any of myneighbors in any of the places

(01:53):
I've lived.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Let me just interrupt for just a brief second.
I think I might have said thison the podcast before, but I
absolutely love when I take afriend from way over here and a
friend from way over here, and Idon't mean like far away, I
just mean like two people thatshould never know each other,
and then I bring them togetherand then they go hang out
without me.
I know some people get FOMO andget jealous, but I love when

(02:17):
friends can like just be friendswithout me and then I hear
about it.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, there's like different circles.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
I get.
I get it now.
Kara has these neighbors thatI've heard so much about lovely
things bob and joan and they'revery big supporters yes, thank
you guys for listening when youdo listen.
But bob calls me.
He's like zach, like because wehad we had been on.
I was facetiming kara and Iheard she was with her neighbors
, we were talking and we hadmade plans he was coming out to

(02:44):
grand rapids for work.
So he's's like I'm in town.
Are we still going to go get abeer?

Speaker 1 (02:48):
And every time I see Bob, he is always like when am I
going to get to meet Zach?
Like I, we like when?
When is he coming to town?
And I'm like I don't know, bob.
And every time Zach's in townit's usually for a brief thing,
and like we can't get together.
I'm like I don't know, I'm sosorry, like I'll let you know
next time.
And I keep saying that everytime.
So when I was at the house,like the weekend prior, I was

(03:11):
like I don't know he's like whyam I going to Grand Rapids?
And so I FaceTime.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Zachary and I said you have plans?
Yeah, so I went out with yourneighbor.
It was so fun.
We sat there for like almostthree hours.
We talked about everything from.
I got selfies psychics, togolden retrievers, to politics,
and the weirdest part is iswe're like talking about where
we're from and I'm like, oh, youknow, I lived on that side of
the state that I moved up northto this area and literally the

(03:36):
same neighborhood he had spenthis summers growing up, where my
parents live like down toliterally.
We were talking about the streetnames and like landmarks.
They're so, so weird, so weirdbut I just love that you guys
had such a good time oh my god,it was great I was like so giddy
, I wasn't even there and I waslike of course we were giving

(03:58):
you crap too, and he was showingme pictures on his ring
doorbell of kara showing up tohis house with a stroller with
her dog in it.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Okay.
But here's the thing when Ipulled up, they were all like oh
, the princess has arrived.
They know Delilah and they knowthat she won't walk.
She will not even walk aroundthe block.
They live down the street fromme.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
I love it too, because I started to be like but
you know, that is her child,everybody knows that's her child
.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, good Everyone knows how crazy you are.
They know.
Yeah, it's fine, so that wasreally cute.
I loved every moment of that.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
That was really fun.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Now, every time he comes to town, you got to go out
.
There we go.
Oh my God, you got to go todifferent places.
You absolutely would.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
I know is like he's been here a few times too, so he
also was like suggesting theplace and takes the pressure off
.
You know, god, it was a goodweek.
I hung out with him, I hung outwith my cousins when they
visited.
It was just like I didn't get awhole lot done this week, but
shit, that's okay.
What's new with?

Speaker 1 (04:53):
you.
Well, I have a couple things,so I won't.
I've kind of decided that I'mnot going to talk too much about
the books.
I know I said that I want toread.
I think I already said that Iwant to read like a book a month
on here, oh yeah you've beentalking about your books for a
while now but I'm not gonna know, not for a while now.
So I'm not.
I've just said I'm not gonnatalk too much about it on here,

(05:14):
maybe like if guys updates.
But I want you guys to come toPatreon and I will post all my
book reviews and book relatedstuff.
You do not have to be a paidPatreon, like you can just
subscribe and it'll be like freecontent.
But I kind of want to do like alittle I think I said it but
like a book club, but not toolike intense, like where we

(05:35):
don't have to shop book club.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Like we don't have to like all read the same book and
like be finished at the samedate, because that's crazy and
that gives me anxiety.
But I finished another book.
I won't say which it is, but Ifinished a book in eight days.
I finished my first book, andthen I started a second book and
finished it in eight days Dang,and so I already put up a

(05:57):
Patreon video about some, likeyou know, wanting to start like
books or whatever.
And so Megan was likecommenting Shout out, girl, of
course.
She is such a reader she waslike oh my God, the book that
you should read next, cause inthat video I had thought well,
okay, patreon glitched.
So if you saw some weirdglitches sorry, zach fixed, I
think, most of them I had put avideo up on Patreon and it never

(06:21):
went, so I had to repost itlast night.
So it's kind of behind and itwas basically about starting,
maybe, a book club.
So Megan had posted today andshe was like oh my God, the book
that you should pick next issuch and such.
And that's the book that I hadactually already picked and read
in eight days and I was likegirl spoiler, I already finished
it and I'm obsessed.
Then she was like I'm readingthis book right now and I'm like

(06:44):
I just started that bookyesterday, so we're on the same
page.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Synchronicities that you need to start the book club.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, so by the time this episode comes out, this has
been weeks ago and me and Meganare going to be done with that
book, but I want everyone tocome and read books with us and
we can all share books.
And then I downloaded the books.
Ask tell me.
If julia has that, you'll haveto ask her.
It's an app where you can logthe books that you've read and
then you could put books thatyou want to read and you kind of
read.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
I think she does have that, but I'll ask her, I could
be okay, she might not use itanymore because she does her own
elaborate right of books, but Ithought that'd be kind of fun,
so I shared my goodreads linkand then we can all be book
friends.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Okay, that was very long, perfect.
Tomorrow I am going to aconcert.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
I'm still so jealous.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Here's the thing.
It's the Offspring NewfoundGlory, and Jimmy Eat World.
Jimmy Eat World, holy shit.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
So I've been meaning to tell you this.
The other day I put on a 2000splaylist, my favorite, my
Friends Over you and Pain playedright next to each other.
I'm like that's so weird.
And then we got Pretty Fly forWhite Guy all in a row.
I'm like this is my sign.
I should be at that concert.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
So here's the thing.
I could be wrong, but I'malmost positive.
I asked you.
We ordered these tickets Ithink like six months ago.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
I know.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
I might not have.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
You didn these tickets like, I think like six
months ago, I know I might nothave.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
I don't.
You didn't ask me on this one.
You asked me on the kesha one.
If I didn't and I'm not even wemiss kesha but if I didn't ask
you, it's because in my brain Ithought I asked him to go to all
these concerts and he alwayssays I can't.
It's on a week, it's on asunday.
I can't go home, I can't takeoff work.
So I think in my head I waslike I I'm just not even going
to ask you, so you don't feelbad.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
And then you keep bringing it up.
It's fine, whatever, okay.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
I have one last thing , and this is a bummer.
Oh, last episode we weretalking about going to movie
solo and I've been so excitedbecause Freakier Friday is
coming out.
Yeah, and Chad, michael Murray,lindsay Lohan, jamie Lee Curtis
.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Oh, my good.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
It comes out while we're in Kentucky, so I can't go
on opening day by myself, butI'm going to go see it.
I'm very excited Very veryexcited.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Too bad, you have to take me.
No, I don't want to go see it.
Oh my God, you shit ball.
I've never seen the first one.
Well, we should watch the firstone.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Are there crickets?

Speaker 2 (08:59):
There are.
Hold on.
I was hearing them too, but Ijust tune them out.
This could be a blooper.
Crickets I'm so used to hearingcrickets in my office because
of the reptiles, so sorry aboutthat.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
You guys got some nice little ambience okay,
that's all I have for you, allright are you ready to open the
shop?

Speaker 2 (09:15):
do you want a question?
You're so aggressive, do youwant to?

Speaker 1 (09:17):
are you gonna open the shop?
You want to question?

Speaker 2 (09:19):
I'm ready to talk at you for the next hour.
No, I don't want't want aquestion actually, okay.
Well, here's your questionanyway.
If you are going to encounter amonster in the wild, which of
these locations would you mostrather encounter one?
A swamp, okay?
An Arctic shoreline?
Deep underground in a mine ornear a sinkhole?

Speaker 1 (09:41):
What type of monster Like what it?
Okay, that's it.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Give me.
There's literally a caveat here.
You cannot ask me what kind ofmonster, because you're going to
think too much into it.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Give me the first one again.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Either a swamp swamp Arctic shoreline, arctic
shoreline a mine a mine or neara sinkhole.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
OK, I don't want to be near a sinkhole unless I
could push it into the sinkhole.
But also, is it attacking me?
Am I just afraid of it?
Like it could be my friend, Idon't know.
I don't want to be by theArctic because I don't want to
be cold.
I don't want to be in a minebecause I've done mine tours and
they're very cool.
But the thought of a monsterbeing in a mine is very

(10:22):
terrifying to me.
I think I would pick the swamp.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
I agree with you, okay.
Do you want to know my reason?
Yes I feel like I will alreadybe so on edge in a swamp for all
the creepy, crawly, monsterythings that I would already be
on high alert and like be readyyeah, that's kind of what I was
thinking because, like, what isit?

Speaker 1 (10:40):
what is swamp?
What is it swamp monster?

Speaker 2 (10:43):
are you thinking the bog?
Yeah, yeah the boggy creek no,what's the?

Speaker 1 (10:48):
isn't there a movie like an old creature from the uh
black maybe I was thinking theback, yeah okay.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
But um, I feel like swamp monster is just kind of
like a derogatory term, like, oh, I totally feel like a swamp
monster today okay, but I'mpicking swamp perfect.
Also, creature from the blacklagoon does come back up in this
.
So do you remember my episodeon the Lesser Cryptids, where we
covered a bunch of cryptids inan hour?

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yes, it was so fun.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
This is part two.
Okay, so we got.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
We have a whole new batch, part two of Lesser
Cryptids.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yes, okay.
So obviously we're going to theArctic shoreline of Alaska, the
swamps of Florida, mines inColorado and a sinkhole in
Kansas.
Are you ready?
I'm ready, baby.
We're starting with the swamp.
Okay, this is mostly in theswamps, but also in the forests
and sometimes nature preservesand the surrounding states of

(11:41):
Florida.
So it's not just been seen inFlorida, okay, it also kind of
comes into like ruralneighborhoods at times, oh, but
it's mostly been seen in theeverglades national park and big
cypress national preserve.
The monster, the florida skunkape, the skunk ape, the skunk

(12:03):
ape, or the mayaka ape, or theflorida bigfoot.
It's got a lot of names, as manyof them do I love it so rumors
of the skunk ape have existedfor centuries that it's always
described pretty similarly.
So it's a bipedal monster,walks on two legs, kind of a mix
between an orangutan and agorilla, covered in shaggy hair
that ranges from brownish, redto gray or black.

(12:25):
Both male and females have beenseen and apparently they look
very different.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
I was just going to ask how do we know?

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Because the builds so like really big and bulky and
really kind of like thin andscrawny.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
The females are also only five to seven feet, where
the males can get as big as 10feet.
I know you're absolute favoriteNow, right now, it sounds
totally just like bigfoot, butwhat sets him apart, and
probably pretty obviously, isthe foul stench that surrounds
this creature it's always astench yeah, this one, though

(12:59):
it's like so.
People who have gotten kind ofnear ish to it say that it
smells like a mix betweenrotting food, decaying meat,
rotten eggs and methane, andit's so strong that it makes
people physically nauseous.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yes, but you hear that about Bigfoot.
Just in general, the stench.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, it was more like not just like a stinky
beast, this was like a verydistinct like.
You smell it and you know thisis the skunk ape.
Oh so cryptozoologists havebeen studying our smelly boy um
and they found stories of itactually existing back into
native american culture of theseminal tribe.

(13:40):
They called it the, so sorry inadvance s Esti Kepkaki, which
just translates to furry tallman.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
I love it, furry tall man.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
A lot of your typical Bigfoot-esque sightings.
You know grainy photos oh, Isaw it for a quick second from
like people spending time inthose areas, boy Scouts, hunters
, campers, that sort of deal.
But he kind of had like amoment of resurgence not
resurgence but like justpopularity in the 70s.
So much so, and I love this,that in 1977 florida state

(14:11):
representative hugh paulknuckles, a uh republican from
fort myers, introduces housebill 1664 nicknamed the Skunk
Ape Act.
His last name was Paul Knuckles, hugh Paul Knuckles.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh, you said Paul Knuckles.
His last name was Paul Knuckles.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
It's his middle name.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
Okay, okay.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
All right.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
So we got an act.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
Oh yeah.
Well, it never got passed,unfortunately, but it was trying
to establish criminal penaltiesfor anybody committing an act
of taking, possessing, harmingor molesting any anthropoid or
humanoid animal uh, I hate thatwe had to add that, but I also

(14:59):
love that he thought of that atthe same time side note here
that says I can only imaginewhat was happening in Florida
that they needed to include thatclause.
Yes, sorry, Florida listeners,we still love you, but some of
the encounters and they're allpretty short and sweet, but I
love these.
So in 1929, an alleged sightingoccurs at the famous Perky Bat

(15:23):
Tower in the Florida Keys.
Oh, that sounds fun.
Witnesses reported an unknownape-like creature was drawn to
the construction site and, afterhe inspected the bat tower,
found that it was full of bats.
He shook the tower, driving offall of the bats before running
into the woods.
I love it.

(15:43):
In 1942, a man in suwaneecounty reported a similar
creature rushing out of, likethe bush line tree line while he
was driving down an isolatedroad.
Then it came up and grabbedonto his vehicle, started
beating on the running board andthe door for half of a mile
before departing and.

(16:04):
And yeah, the guy driving waslike the entire car was just
filled with the stench, ugh.
So 71 to 75, I told you he kindof had a moment.
There was a ton of sightings inBroward County, eyewitnesses
reporting and there were alwayslike nighttime encounters with
this like ape-like creature darkred to blackish fur.

(16:25):
All of these encounters wereheavily covered in newspapers
and this is when the term skunkape really kind of started to
come around.
But he had been not onlyinvading yards but people's
homes, was stalking.
People killed a bunch oflivestock, including a horse and
a bull, and the local policedepartment were like getting

(16:48):
involved in investigating afterthey at first were like no, this
can't be real.
Until a police officer hit onewith his car.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
I have heard of the police officer hitting with his
car, but do we really think hewas stalking people or do you
think he was just trying toobserve and fit in?

Speaker 2 (17:04):
I'm wondering if this one, like I wonder if its
natural habitat was kind ofdestroyed or whatever and it was
built up and he's just likethese people got a lot of food.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Or how are they living?
Looks great.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
Right, I think, like people got a lot of food like,
or or how are they living?
Looks great, right, I think,like and this is one of the
things I think really sets itapart from the bigfoot because
it's not afraid to like, get upclose and personal into people.
It was almost like mothman askin the way it was like, so
interactive um, this is a sidenote, really quick.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
so the way that you just said ask like Mothman, ask
right.
Yeah, bro, I got I shouldn'tsay torn apart, but every time I
post a TikTok people have to.
I think she just said blah,blah, blah and somebody was like
I think she just said S insteadof ask and I'm like I know what

(17:54):
I said.
Uh, and one of the videos, Ican't even remember what I said,
but somebody's like uh, do youmean whatever instead of
whatever?
and I was like think throughyour opinion I'm sorry if I
don't enunciate every word, butI said esk, just like you did
welcome to the internet, baby.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
I know I love it I love.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
It all right, okay, continue on okay.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
So yeah, that was his whole like 70s run, uh, his or
her or both them they them stillbeen seen.
All of them.
All of them still been seen abunch since.
Uh, but he did have anothermoment in 2000.
So the um sarasota countySheriff's Office receives two

(18:37):
anonymous Anonymous.
Oh my God, You're welcome.
I'm having a Carrie moment.
Anonymous photos depicting alarge, hairy ape-like creature.
The author, who obviously wedon't know, claimed to be an
elderly woman who reported thatthe creature had been stealing
apples from her back porch nearI-75, and then, upon surprising

(18:58):
it with a camera, it took off,but she reported it never having
heard of the skunk ape.
She thought it was an escapedorangutan that might harm her
family.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
She should have just like baked it an apple pie.
How cute would that have beenif she like baked it an apple
pie and put it on the board.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Dinky boy's just looking for a friend.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
That's kind of cute, though, that she thought it was
an escape to her anxiety, right.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
I love it, but you know he's gotten some popularity
over the years.
He's gotten some apples, sohe's been on shows like Monster
Quest, Finding Bigfoot andExpedition X.
Well, at least he's beenfeatured, not himself.
He's not a big fan, but yougotta stop saying he Okay, well,
himself he's not, but you gottastop saying he okay.
Well, the skunk ape, stinky,stinky.

(19:42):
There's also the now skunk aperesearch headquarters in ochopee
.
That still does research, and Idon't know if I said ochopee,
right, o-c-h-o-p-e-e?
Um, they sell merch, of course.
They have an animal exhibit anda campground.
We should go.
So, anyway, say what you wantabout the stinky beast.
Whether you think he exists ornot, he's at least still fueling
tourism to this day.

(20:03):
Okay, are you ready then forthe next stop?
Yes, all right, we're going tothe mines of colorado, but
sometimes also pennsylvania,okay, uh, we got some pesky
little dudes pulling pranks downbelow.
Okay, do you know what they are?
I?

Speaker 1 (20:19):
think so.
Do you want to guess?

Speaker 2 (20:21):
No, it's the Tommyknockers.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Bro, I have a whole book on the Tommyknockers.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
Like a book about them or the Stephen King book.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
No, okay, so when I was young me and my brother were
young I think we might'vetalked about this, but I don't
know when Kyle and I were young,we would set up our tent.
We had a four person tent andwe would just put it in the
backyard, right.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Oh yeah, I love backyard camping as a kid.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
This is a weird rich.
You know rich.
His brother was my godfatherand he lived next door to me.
Okay, Okay, that was mygodfather and he would always
like mess with us.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Oh, you have to we mess with us.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
So he was obviously right next door.
He would know that we wereoutside sleeping in the tent and
he would just like come in,like scratch the tent and just
like mess with us.
But he always told us storiesabout the Tommy knockers and how
they were like all these, likeelaborate stories to the point
where mostly he would tell mybrother terrified the living
shit out of my brother.
He was, my brother wasterrified.

(21:24):
Actually, maybe I don't have aTommyknocker book, maybe Kyle
does.
He's going to send it to me,but anyway he was terrified of
it, right.
And Uncle Ed was like had afire and he was like telling us
all about the Tommyknockers,like blah, blah.
And then he knew we were goingto sleep in the tent later and
so he purposely came to the tentand was like scratching on his
stuff.
I think my brother peed hispants and then screamed and ran

(21:45):
inside and it's never been thesame.

Speaker 2 (21:48):
I love that my foster sister would do like a hook man
one.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
To try to creep us out.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
You gotta.
But then later my brother'slike everything he told us about
the Tommyknockers isn't evenanything that's like legit.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
Perfect.
Well, now you're going to learntheir real story.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah, it's still so wonderful because we still talk
about it to this day, you know.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
So you'll have to make him listen to this one so
he can hear all about them.
Are you ready, ready?
All right, so the Tommyknockers.
They're part paranormal sort ofcryptid all kinds of legendary,
though, so their stories havebeen passed down for centuries,
so they're really popular inColorado.
However, their origins areactually Cornish or Welsh

(22:29):
mythology.
Okay, they are said to becreatures that live deep
underground, haunting mines andtunnels, making knocking sounds,
often heard far off in thedistance.
Some think their noises arejust pranks, while others think
they are warnings or omens,which is already unsettling
hearing noises underground well,knocking is already unsettling

(22:54):
like yeah I understand that,like how else?

Speaker 1 (22:56):
like if we didn't have doorbells and things like,
how else were we supposed toalert somebody that were at
their door?
But I don't know what it isabout somebody knocking on your
door, that just gives youanxiety.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
So this isn't like knocking at a door, this is like
knocking like at rocks.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
I know, but I'm just saying like knocking in general.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Well, that's just because we're millennials.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
I don't know.
I think knocking has alwaysbeen like oh my god, somebody's
at the door, like who is it?
Like I'm not expecting somebody.
Like oh, I just it's unsettlingin general.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
Fair.
Okay.
So they're described as likesmall humanoid creatures,
usually two to three feet tall,wrinkled skin and older looking
faces.
But they're typically likehuman faces, okay, they're often
wearing like typical minordress, so the hard hat, the belt
, tools, everything, yep.
Some people say they look likejust little smaller versions of

(23:45):
humans.
Others say they look more likekind of like goblins or dwarfs
from sci-fi novels or, like youknow, just sci-fi in general.
Or others say too that they'relike ghost or spirit, like,
leaving some to believe thatthey're the ghosts of miners who
passed in the tunnels.
So I love that there's so manydifferent descriptions.
Even others are like no,they're just completely

(24:05):
invisible.
Okay, I have thoughts on thislater, so we'll come back to
that point okay, but they maketheir little knocking sounds.
But they also play tricks onpeople who come into the mines,
like extinguishing candles andlanterns, moving tools, taking
workers lunches, which is justmean um and just they tend to
just scare the living shit outof people who don't expect to
come across them okay what?

Speaker 1 (24:28):
oh my god, what were they called?
I covered them.
They were little.
Oh my god, I love them so much.
They're little cryptids, thisis, and they like shoot rocks at
you this kind of reminds me ofa puck wedgie in a way.
Yeah, just like the prankingwedgie vibes.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah, yeah okay, definitely puck wedgie vibes
again.
When we talk about at the endabout what I think they are,
you'll probably come back to thepuck wedgies, okay, but so they
came over from.
Immigrant miners is where wekind of got the lore from them
and a lot of people think thatsome of the spirits were maybe
attached to them when they cameover, which I I kind of dig.
Okay.
But I found some writing fromluke perkins from history

(25:06):
colorado and he says as timewent on, people thought less of
them being more creature andgoblin, like in nature, and more
likely the ghost of miners.
He found all these accountsthat tommy knockers were
actually giving minersinformation about when they were
about to hit a lucrative vein.
So sometimes they're likehelpful or they're the guardians

(25:31):
of the mind.
So when, when it says theywould give like, they're like an
omen that their knocking soundsmight be warnings to like get
out of that area before dangercomes.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
Oh, so I kind of like that.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
They're like sometimes a little nuisance, but
sometimes they're helpful, likeit's just like what's my mood?
Today?
Yes, because they would helpthe miners, though it wasn't
uncommon, according to perkins,for miners to leave the last
bite of their lunches as anoffering for the tommy knocker.
That's sweet you need to do thatnow, like I said, so that he's

(26:03):
arguing more that they're pasthumans, right, but there's a lot
who say and this is where thepakwaji, I think, comes in that
they're elemental in nature, andI kind of think it's a mix of
everything okay so when we talkabout elemental.
Elemental is energy, yeah Right.
And I wonder if all that overall the time, all these stories,
people giving the differentdescriptions, that they start to

(26:26):
manifest in the way that peopleexpect to see them.
So if you expect that the timeknocker looks like a ghost, it's
going to look.
It's going to appear that wayto you because that's the energy
you're feeding it.
If it's going to appear thatway to you because that's the
energy you're feeding it, if youthink it's a goblin, it might
take on that because it's juston, so it's kind of like a tulpa
.
Yeah, absolutely I think so.
Yeah, that makes sense, butanyway.

(26:47):
So another really just kind ofshort story on them.
I love it.
We talked about it.
They were in the Stephen King.
You know he had a novel looselybased on them, the novel
loosely based on them.
And if you're too afraid to godown into the mines, next time
you're in colorado you can go tothe tommy knocker brewery where
people go to share their talesoh shit, let's go yes, after we

(27:08):
go there, we have to go toalaska.
I don't wanna, you're?
You're definitely not gonnawanna.
This is maybe one of the mostterrifying cryptids I've come
across.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Oh my god, then I really don't want to, so I have
to be cold dark and scared.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
I didn't say dark, alaska's dark.
Oh yeah, it is for most of thetime.
So this is a creature of Inuitlegend from Alaska and parts of
Canada.
It's sort of like the siren ofthe north, but instead of being
a mermaid in tropical waters,we're dealing with a frigid
bitch.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
No Well.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Okay, so this would be the Kalupalik Kalupalik.
When describing them, thebiggest difference between them
and the typical siren is thatthey are horrifyingly ugly,
greenish, slimy, bumpy skin withsomewhat of a human, like
shaped body okay, fins comingout of their heads, their backs,

(28:10):
webbed hands and feet, but fivefingers and toes like a human
would have, except at the end islong claws, perfect for hunting
.
Putrid smell again.
This is like the smelly, smellycryptid episode, uh, but this
would be like a sulfur smell, oh.
And when they smile, you seetheir sharpened teeth that peers

(28:34):
out from behind their long,black, wet, matted hair,
literally.
Okay, I'm gonna, I'm to makeyou have the perfect mental
image.
Are you ready?
We're coming back to it fromthe beginning.
Take the creature from theBlack Lagoon, okay, and Samara
from the ring.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, I was thinking Samara as soon as you said, but
then also.
I was thinking like me with aface mask.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
That's a terrifying sight too.
Honestly, I'm just putting itout there.
All of this isn't even the mosthorrible part.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
I can be a frigid bitch.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yes, yes, you can.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Maybe you are related to the Caloopalus Maybe this is
me.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
I don't think so for the next part, though, because
one of the scariest parts iswhat they wear.
I also don't smell.
Eh up for debate Um, which iscalled an amautic A-M-A-U-T-I-K.
These were commonly worn byInuit women to secure their
babies to their backs.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
I'm sure you can see where this is going.
The creature has a favoritepastime of snatching up small
children.
Yeah, that's not me.
Nope, I knew you'd change yourmind.
Okay, so how do they do this?
And this is where theirlikeness to the siren come in.
So for generations people havewarned if you're near the Arctic
shoreline and start to hearhumming, you may be near a

(29:55):
little baby snatcher.
No, they hide beneath the icenear the shoreline.
And when they start to realizethe children are interested in
the humming, they start to tapon the ice.
Right, kids start to take thebait.
They may start to wander closerand that's when the singing
begins.
Now what kid is not gonna gofor the singing?

(30:16):
And as soon as the child'swithin striking distance, they
snatch it with their claws, putit in their backpack or that
backpack and pull them down intothe icy depths.
Now don't Stop it.
Don't get nervous because theydon't kill their prey.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
I don't care this is terrifying.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, it's actually much worse than dying.
They take them to an underwatercave and keep them alive under
a sleeping spell.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
Then they feed off their childhood energy, because
that's what gives them theenergy to stay immortal.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
But they don't get youthful or less smelly.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
No, no, no.
They just get to live foreveruntil they have their young, and
then they feed the child totheir babies what the fuck are
these things called?
Kalupalik yeah, that's dreadfulit is honestly one of the like
the creepiest things I've everheard.
Now, this one it's, it's allbase, it's a lot in legend that

(31:16):
lives in alaska.
I'm gonna ask you should askher about it.
I want to know.
Uh have her write it in, or him, him or her, I don't know I
don't know if she would do that.
Okay, I'll be honest, but Imight ask her I will say I don't
know if this one truly exists.
I wonder if it was.
Maybe like a inuit tale theywould tell to like keep the
children well behaved and keepthem from running off.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
That's what I'm thinking to get them to not run
to the edges of the ice and fallin and die.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
But we all know, all those legends come from
somewhere there was some thinghappened at some point.
I also thought it kind of gaveme a little bit of Krampus vibes
.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
That's funny or no.
You know what I was thinking of.
Oh God, what's her name?
She's a witch.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
She takes all the children Baba.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yaga no Hill, oh she comes from.
She has all the kids.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
The ones that you love, potlicker.
And then she takes naughtychildren but she doesn't feed.
Well, I think she might, if shewants to, hilt la grila, grila.
I was thinking of hilda grilakind of gives me grila vibes in
a way I could see it.
It's like a mix.
But she's collecting naughtychildren.

(32:33):
But you know what's crazy?
she does have the yule ads, butdoesn't she collect the rest of
the naughty children and sheeats them I think so yeah yeah,
so it is very grila um, okay,yeah, so so far we got stinky
boy number one I want to begrila for halloween, so how many
people can I get to be my yulelads?

Speaker 2 (32:53):
I want to be sausage swiper, becauseiper, because I
could make this a really fun pun.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
But like who else could be, I want Carlos to be
Potlicker.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
There you go.
We could get Dan.
What could he be?
Isn't there one who just likeknocks on the doors or something
?

Speaker 1 (33:12):
I feel like he would, whichever one makes noise.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Okay, we got to get back on topic.
We have one last noise.
Okay, we gotta get back ontopic.
We have one last.
Okay, I think this is myfavorite one in this episode.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
Okay, where are we going Going?

Speaker 2 (33:26):
to Kansas, specifically one sinkhole, okay,
oh, a sinkhole Near the town ofInman, kansas, which is just a
tiny 500 farmers, tradespeople,people, shop owners, not a huge
place.
There's a string of what umused to be a bunch of freshwater
lakes that were super popularfor fishing, but eventually the

(33:49):
lakes kind of dried up or weredrained, leaving these like
pockets of water and basicallybig old sinkholes now.
Okay, so the biggest of thesesinkholes has two names very
insanely creative, one being theinman sinkhole or its other
name, the big sinkhole.
We spent a lot of time on that,but in the big sinkhole is

(34:13):
supposedly a link to undergroundcaverns and tunnels that kind
of like connect to all these oldlakes and they were filled with
all the waters that drain downand they come with its own
monster.
Okay, his name is sinkhole sam.
Oh, I've heard of sinkhole sam,sinkhole sam, it's so cute.

(34:33):
So he's the only permanentresident of the sinkhole.
He is a 15 foot long snake orworm, like little bugger.
I love it about as big aroundas a tire.
I just get like, uh, alaskanbull, worm, vibes like your name
is sinkhole sam, I know it's socute.

(34:54):
Uh, so he has like a fluked tail, so like a kind of flattened
tail and then a non-snake likegrin with these big old teeth in
it.
All I can see is like the, thesandworms from the Beetlejuice.
You know how they're like.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Or you probably never watched how to Train your
Dragon, but Toothless the dragonhas like the cutest little
thing.
Yeah, I could see that.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, but toothless.
So dragon has like the cutestlittle.
Yeah, yeah, I could see that.
Yeah, so sinkhole sam, thoughhe comes to popularity.
In 1952 ish, when fishermen whoare still trying to pull what
they could have out of theselakes turned sinkholes, started
to see this massive creatureswimming around, and some are
like so disturbed by its sizethat they just never fish there
again what is the size?

Speaker 1 (35:37):
did we say?

Speaker 2 (35:38):
15 feet and as round as a tire.
Okay, so I mean pretty sizable.
Yeah, if you don't like snakes,you're gonna freak out if you
see this thing.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
You know what I mean I think, even if you like snakes
, you might freak.
Oh yeah, I mean, I woulddefinitely, you know um.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
So a veteran kansas newspaper columnist named Ernest
Alva Dewey, alva, dewey, alva,it's a three name.
One again, ernest Alva Dewey.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Ernest Alva Dewey.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Yeah, he travels to Inman.
He's going to get it all sortedout and he was like he wrote a
bunch of like UFO articles andstuff, but he's always like kind
of circusy about it.
Uh, probably because he beganas a publicist for a traveling
circuit that makes sense he kindof like poked fun so he once

(36:26):
wrote an article for all theseufo sightings in airborne kansas
okay and he said that it wasn'tufos at all, that it was a sky
dragon called the ball-tailedsnickle hoopis.
So he is just, he's just had funwith it.
So he publishes the articlethough snick hoopis, snickle
hoopis, yes, snickle hoopis.

(36:48):
So he publishes an articleabout single sam and that he
claimed that he went to researchit and he brought along his
scientific sidekick named drerasmus p quaddle bomb.
Don't bother looking up hiscredentials, I did.
Uh, not, not a real guy give mehis whole name yeah, erasmus p

(37:08):
quaddle, quaddle bomb erasmus pquaddle bomb so, anyways, they
labeled the single inhabitant asnothing more than a
foopengurkle.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
Quattlebomb.
I'm sorry, I need a new animal.
I need to name it Quattlebomb.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
They named sinkhole Sam a foopengurkle, a creature
known to inhabit subterraneanKansas caverns.
So anyway, though, this is kindof where sink sam's popularity
comes from.
Um, and thank you.
Yeah, they said that nobody hadto worry about them, though, uh

(37:45):
, about single sam or the foopand gherkle, because quadal bomb
knows that they are terriblydumb and mostly vegetarian okay,
how do you know?
Yeah, I, these guys are justmaking it up.
I love studies well though youcan imagine, after this article
comes out, people start goingover to the sinkhole, in droves

(38:06):
and in 1953, don't disturb samtwo mennonite boys got a little
up close and personal.
One of the two, albert newfield.
Uh, he decides that he is goingto try to no, oh yeah.
So he fires two shots from hishunting rifle in a vain attempt

(38:27):
to bag sinkhole sam.
But shooting him didn't botherhim at all.
Uh, he wasn't affected and hejust swam back down to the
depths.
Good for him, and he was soscared after swimming back down
to the depths.
Good for him, and he was soscared after swimming back down
to the depths after being shotat that he's hardly been seen
since.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
That's so sad.
He was just swimming aroundliving his life.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
I know, and so it's been about 75 years since he
became popular and people wentlooking for him and over those
75 years they go less and less.
He's not really talked about inthe town too much.
Yeah, probably he very wellcould have.
I found an article, though,that I think wraps up sam's
legend better than I could, soI'm gonna read it to you.
These days, single sam is onlyremembered by people who have a

(39:10):
fascination for cryptids it'sthe kansas cryptid, but even
among cryptozoologists it's anobscure tale.
In his hometown of Inman he'spractically forgotten, a legend
buried by time.
Similarly, the big sinkholeitself has also been forgotten.
Both times that I've visited,there's been little sign of
human activity no trash, nosnagged or lost fishing gear,

(39:33):
nothing of the sort, just anoccasional bootprint in the mud.
On my most recent visit, Ifound the sinkhole almost
entirely dried up.
Being able to walk along thebottom of the sinkhole helps
shed some light on this tale.
While there are still speciesof fresh water, fresh water
mollusks, there are no fishalive or dead.
The hole is only about four tofive feet in depth, maybe less,

(39:55):
and it really doesn't live up tothe title that it once had of
being the big sinkhole.
Seeing it dried up these days,it's hard to imagine a monster
living there.
Interestingly enough, many ofthe articles mentions that there
had been a drought around thetime that people were gathering
in the hopes of seeing thecreature.
Whatever sinkhole sam may havebeen, it's hard, hard to imagine
that he still remains after allthese years.

(40:18):
That's sad.
Unfortunately Sinkhole Sam isgone, but I think for our little
forgotten worm snake boy thatwe can at least help his legend
live on a little bit.
We can.
Long live the legend of SinkholeSam.
And those are the lessercryptids I have for you today.

(40:39):
But I have a question, okay, sowe started with you having no
idea of the monster.
So yes, which one would youwant to encounter the most and
least?

Speaker 1 (40:53):
well, sinkhole sam is just so wholesome I think I
would want to be with him.
Skunk Cave, I don't mind, butyou're just smelly.
The Tommyknockers, I don't know, they could be so fun to have
on your side, I definitely don'twant the Gryla thing.

(41:14):
Yeah, yeah, that least Wasthere another one.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
No, there was just four this time around, so which
one are you encountering, though?
What's the top, damn sam, arethey my friend?
You think all cryptids are yourfriends, so no matter how I
answer this, you're just gonnatell me I'm wrong anyway, so I
think it would.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
I'm so torn between tommy knockers and sinkhole sam,
because I think it would be sofun to have little tommy
knockers on yourhole, sam,because I think it would be so
fun to have a little tommyknockers on your side, but also
I just think it would be so funand wholesome to just like go to
the sinkhole and just like hangout with sinkhole sam I
personally, I pick sinkhole samjust because of the fact that
you know he is kind of gone now.

Speaker 2 (41:54):
No, I don't think I'm too worried about the kaloop
leak, though I think I'm too oldfor her.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
We don't have babies yeah just like that's the last
thing I want to experience.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
It sounds awful, see I think the one I'd want to
experience the least would bethe skunk ape, just for the fact
that, like I don't like strongsmelling things and I don't
really want to get nauseous ifI'm like out trying to have a
good time but here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
I think that you could just befriend it and then
be like hey, there's things likeshowers, let me help you what
if it's like a gland, though?
No, they're just picking apples.
They're just like trying tolive their life.
They just want to know how weexperience life.
It might be really fun to likehave a skunk ape, to like show
the world.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
You can't have ever crypted as a pet.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
I can, but this whole well, since we went to Kansas,
I just want to say Toto, I havea feeling we're not in Kansas
anymore.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
Oh, you just scored brownie points with my mother.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
Denise, that's not a good.
That was not a good, DorothyOoh.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
Dorothy, they had a and I.
I have to do the episode onthis, but they suggested an
episode about all the weirdnessaround the filming of the wizard
of oz, me and your mom talkedabout this years ago and it's
been on my list um, because Itold her this whole arm was
supposed to be the wizard of oz.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
Oh, yeah, yeah I forgot it was supposed to be the
whole yellow brick road andthen all the characters around
it, and I just never got aroundto it and I never will, so don't
no but dorothy oh my god, okay,before kara just goes down a
rabbit hole of wizard of ozquote denise loves it we need to
start wrapping this up.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
Let us know about your favorite cryptid, either
from this list or any other.
Honestly, just talk to us aboutyour cryptids.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
About your cryptids, the ones that you have at home.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Yeah, talk about your cryptids and tell Kara how to
get one as a pet Befriend.
Exactly For this one, let's gowith a snake emoji, and Isn't
there a monster?
I don't know.
I think we should go with asnake and a hole.
Isn't there like a hole?
Yep, perfect.
First thing, cole Sam.
We gotta help this legend liveon.

(44:07):
Uh, what else do these peopleneed to do before we close up
the shop for the day and headhome?

Speaker 1 (44:13):
they need to follow us on Patreon.
If you would like, you need tofollow us on Patreon if you
would like.
You need to follow us on allthe other things.
Subscribe to all of our things,because it really helps us.
Please Share us with your lovedones or the people that you
hate, if they like this kind ofstuff.
I don't really care who youshare us with, but the most
important thing that you can dofor us is to crew-ber-rill you

(44:34):
little ad balls.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
Goodbye, bye, crew barilla, little oddballs,
goodbye At the Irish Shop.

(44:57):
Hooked in the shadows At theIrish Shop and home with the
oddballs At the Irish Shop.
The door's always open At theIrish Shop.
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