Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Letters from all over sent after sighting Southern Illinoisan Shortly after the Big Muddy Monster made its supposed appearance in Murphysboro, newspapers and other media started covering the strange sightings. News reports appeared in papers like the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Omaha World-Herald and more; which prompted a flood [...]
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Renowned cryptozoologist got his start at SIUC By Marleen Shepherd Southern Illinoisan Loren Coleman has the Abominable Snowman to thank for his SIUC degree and successful career. In 1960, the Decatur youth caught a campy movie featuring the legendary Himalayan hominid and came back to school the next day with a [...]
Thursday, October 30, 2003 A Monster of an Idea to Boost Tourism By Jeff Smyth Southern Illinoisan If Southern Illinois is to become the tourism hot spot many desire, it needs a gimmick. We need something out of the ordinary. Something so unique that it will make people want to drive here from hundreds of [...]
Thursday, November 6, 2003 Time for the Big Muddy Monster to come home By Jeff Smyth Southern Illinoisan Mongo phone home. Better yet, come home. Southern Illinois needs you. Mongo, a.k.a. the Big Muddy Monster or Murphysboro Mud Monster, hasn’t been seen in these parts since the 1970s when sightings of the 7- to 10-foot [...]
Saturday, October 30, 2004 Haunted Southern Illinois: Region full of the scary, bizarre, and freaky phenomena By Marleen Shepherd Southern Illinoisan SOUTHERN ILLINOIS – The ghost stories of a region are the remnants of an oral tradition, a chronicle of persons and events that are chillingly recounted for generations. Our history books only tell part [...]
Monday, July 2, 1973 Bear wasn’t there, neither was monster A large white bear reportedly killed over the weekend and identified as “Murphysboro’s Big Muddy River monster apparently exists only in imagination. “That’s the first I have heard of it,” replied Police Chief Toby Berger this morning, when asked if the report was official. Berger [...]
Monday, June 21, 1976 Muddy monster reported Murphysboro’s Big Muddy Monster was back in the news today, right on schedule for regular appearances close to the Fourth of July Holiday. Murphysboro Police said three youths in the Westwood Hills Subdivision area at the west city limits called police about 10 p.m. Saturday to report “something [...]
Big Muddy Monster A Favorite Local Legend By Amanda Schmid Volunteer News Staff In the small town of Murphysboro, Illinois, several sightings of an unusual creature have been reported. This creature is rumored to use the Big Muddy River as its means of travel. Nicknamed the “Big Muddy Monster”, the legend says that it is [...]
Sunday, November 20, 2004 The Big Muddy Monster – Tracks, screams, smells and sightings since 1973 The Southern Illinoisan Many people think the Big Muddy Monster and the people who claim to see it are the stuff tabloid stories are made of. Sporadic sightings of the creature, described as seven or eight feet tall, chunky, [...]
Thursday, July 5, 2007 Murphysboro’s Big Muddy Monster By John Gojkovich Executive Editor Murphysboro American Murphysboro is home to the tale of the “Big Muddy Monster.” This tale conjures up images of scenes from a late night horror picture show, like the creature of the Black Lagoon dragging itself out of the swamp, dripping and [...]