Below are descriptions of three grotesque monsters. Two of them are merely the fictional creations of popular artists; one is a creature that has actually been reported. Can you Find the Fiend?

• Supposedly freed from an underground chamber following an historic mine collapse, this winged prehistoric beast is said to fly at supersonic speeds.

• Those who have encountered this flying, horned monster report that it has a single hideous eye and emits strange, melodic sounds.

• This giant, purple bat-winged ape has been known to terrorize groups of hikers in the forests of Washington State.
 
Answer AFTER THE JUMP

The correct answer is c.

The legend of Batsquatch evolved from a single sighting of the creature reported by hiker Butch Whittaker, who claimed he saw the monster flying above the tree line near the base of Mt. St. Helens. He also claims to have taken a series of photographs, which are not currently available on the Internet (a fact that has resulted in rampant hoax accusations). Whittaker’s description of the animal as a red-eyed simian with wings like those of a pterodactyl has led Batsquatch acolytes to theorize that the creature is a lost evolutionary link between primates and bats. Though few subsequent sightings have been reported, local animal deaths and disappearances are often attributed to the voracious airborne monster that terrorizes the skies of rural Washington with its bat-like stealth and ape-like enthusiasm.

Statement a. described Rodan, a fictional pteranodon that appeared in its own 1956 Toho Studios film before going on to become a staple of the Godzilla series. The Japanese name for the creature is actually “Radon,” but to avoid confusion with the carcinogenic gas, the US version swapped the vowels. As a result, fine art aficionados mistakenly believing the film to be a probing biography of sculptor Auguste Rodin hailed the movie as the first true Dadaist biopic.

Statement c. described the Purple People Eater as chronicled in Sheb Wooley’s 1958 novelty hit about a flying, musically inclined alien desperate for rock stardom. Though the song explicitly states that the monster itself isn’t purple, but, in fact, eats purple people, decades’ worth of PPE fan art still portray the creature as a purple monstrosity horking down Caucasians. The 1988 Disney film adaptation, titled “Purple People Eater,” was hailed as the most probing Rodin biopic yet.

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