The Grafton Monster

## A Brief Summary

West Virginia is known for many things, but it is most known in the Cryptid community as being a hub for the paranormal as well as the habitat of most Cryptids, and this Cryptid is no exception. The Grafton Monster is a cryptid that was first spotted in the 1960s, in an old railroad boomtown called Grafton, West Virginia. It is described as a large creature, standing between 7 and 9 feet tall, with a white seal-like skin and either having it's head tucked into its chest or having no discernible head at all. Most eyewitness accounts describe it the same, the only difference being the head dilemma. Some eyewitnesses also reported ufo phenomena around the same time and even during sightings of the monster. The Grafton Monster has some modern depictions including on an episode of *Mountain Monsters*, a book aptly named *The Grafton Monster* by George Dudding, and in the video game *Fallout 76.*

## A Brief History

The Grafton Monster's first reported sighting was on June 16th, 1964, by Robert Cockrell, who happened to be a reporter for the Grafton Sentinel. He first spotted the creature late at night driving down Riverside Dr. on his way home. He then grabbed a couple of his friends and went searching for the creature, unable to find any footprints or other traces of it. After being unable to find anything, he posted his story about it in the newspaper thinking he'd just be ridiculed or people would think nothing of it. He was wrong, as his article sent the town and the surrounding areas into a Cryptid hunting frenzy. Mostly groups of young men, but also people of all ages came to the town of Grafton searching for the mystery monster, with several of them reporting seeing the Cryptid and some even having shot at it. No physical evidence was ever found in regards to the creature, and the police eventually wrote it off as a "man carrying a bunch of wooden crates on a cart" and the vivid imaginations of teenagers.

## Tales and Legends

Besides his own sighting of the Monster, Cockrell managed to get witness testimonies from other people who had seen, some even earlier than he had. Down below are two of those testimonies:

"*I have seen the creature called 'The Grafton Monster' several times when I was a young man and it is very real. My first encounter I was with my Father cutting wood. We had finished and we’re loading the truck, when our two dogs started barking. We stood there and listened, something was walking, getting closer. My Dad told me to get the gun from the cab (He carried a double barrel 10 gauge with 00 buckshot). Whatever it was had picked up its pace and continued toward us. All we knew for sure was, it was big and wasn’t scared of us, the dogs or the chainsaws. It stopped about 50-55 yards from us in the tree’s and went quiet. My Dad pulled both hammers back and stood in front of me, told me to be ready. The next thing that happened I’ll never forget. It stepped out, looked at us, took 3 strides in our direction, turned and walked back into the tree line. That was my first sighting of the beast and I’ll never forget it. My 2nd encounter was about 2 months later at night, fishing alone. I spotted him on the opposite bank and I got the hell out of the area."*

"*I saw the monster near the river early in the morning. It saw me and instantly froze. It did not move. I was fishing at the time and left all my gear there and started to run away. As I ran, and turned I saw that it, too, turned away and started running off. As I got near my truck and began opening the door I heard a whooshing sound and a bright light appear above the tree line. I drove off and got my gear two days later."*

## Adaptations

The Grafton Monster is a lesser known Cryptid, and its adaptations reflect that

### Books

*The Grafton Monster* by George Dudding

* George Dudding is an accomplished book writer who is very active in both the cryptid and paranormal scenes. He has written about a multitude of Cryptids, with The Grafton Monster being one of them. Unfortunately his book about it suffers from having weak sources and unnamed witnesses, as many of the sightings date back to the 60's

### Video Games

*Fallout 76* by Bethesda Games

* The Fallout Series is a video game series that takes place in a dystopian future where America was nuked by China and the world has been ravaged and mutated by nuclear radiation. Fallout 76 takes place in the Appalachia region, where many Cryptids such as Mothman, The Flatwoods Monster, and The Grafton Monster.

### Television

*Mountain Monsters*

* Mountain Monsters is a reality tv show centered around Cryptid Hunting in the Appalachian mountains. In Season 1 Episode 8, the hunters chased after The Grafton Monster, but were unsuccessful in their pursuit.

## Analysis

None of these adaptations have enough substance to just choose one, so I will talk about all 3 of them. *The Grafton Monster* details the original events of The Grafton Monster, as well as eyewitness accounts and the authors own exploration of the area. *Fallout 76* creates its own original story while featuring The Grafton Monster as an enemy. It also provides its own original lore where the Grafton Monster was a genetically created and mutated creature by a company before the nukes dropped that managed to escaped in the ensuing chaos. *Mountain Monsters* tells the story of cryptid hunters searching for cryptids across the Appalachian Mountains. In Season 1 Episode 8, they go hunting for the Grafton Monster. The episode consists of them lightly going over the lore before attempting to track and catch the monster by setting up traps and cameras. They are ultimately unsuccessful, but marks of damage were left behind on the wooden cage trap.

## Sources

* https://wvexplorer.com/2022/01/13/five-west-virginia-monsters-0005/

* https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2020/12/the-bizarre-case-of-the-grafton-monster/

* https://www.theclio.com/entry/85659

* https://www.monstersandcritics.com/tv/reality-tv/mountain-monsters-what-is-the-grafton-monster-that-aims-is-tracking/

* http://gdparanormal.com/?i=1