recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Jorōgumo

Modern illustration

## Reference

**Jorōgumo** are a Japanese cryptid that can transform between woman and spider-centaur. They first appear in Magic for Nothing.

## Appendix Entry

**Jorōgumo** (*Nephilia sapiens*). Originally native to Japan, these therianthropes belong to the larger family of cryptids classified as "yōkai." Jorōgumo appear to be attractive women of Japanese descent until they transform, at which point they become massive spider-centaurs whose neurotoxic venom can kill in seconds. No males of the species have ever been seen. It is possible that the species possesses a degree of sexual dimorphism so great that male Jorōgumo are simply not recognized for what they are.

## About

Jorōgumo appear as beautiful Japanese women until they transform into what can only be called a spider-centaur, retaining their human head. They age more slowly than humans.

## In Popular Culture

* Jorōgumo are a creature in Japanese folklore,
* The  *Trichonephila clavata* (formerly *nephila clavata*) is also called the Jorō spider.
* The anime Monster Musume has a monster called the Arachne that closely resemble the human torso/arachnid hindquarters of the Jorogumo. The species are said to be spiders that can change their appearances into that of beautiful women due to gaining magical powers after turning 400 years old. There is also a subspecies of Arachne called Jorogumo that appear humanoid with arachnid legs coming out of their back.

## References

1. ↑ Magic for Nothing audiobook
2. ↑ Appendix Field Guide: Books 6-9
3. ↑ Magic for Nothing Ch. ?
Hitchhiker

**Hitchhikers,** also called **hitchhiking ghosts** or **hitchers,** are a type of ghost that appear in both the Ghost Roads and InCryptid series.

## Price Family Field Guide

Often referred to as "hitchers," these commonly sighted road ghosts are generally the spirits of those who died in particularly isolated automobile accidents. They are capable of taking on flesh for a night by borrowing a coat, sweater, or other piece of outerwear from a living person. Temperament varies from hitcher to hitcher; they cannot be regarded as universally safe.

## About

### Appearance

When under stress or duress, hitchhikers appear as they did when they died. Otherwise, they are able to manipulate their appearance: They can change their outfits, the length and color of their hair, and other superficial aspects. It is unknown how extreme they can make the changes.

### Abilities

Hitchhikers only become corporeal when freely given a coat. Until that time, anything they eat--even in the twilight--is tasteless and odorless. The power of the coat lasts until the ghost removes it or until the next dawn.

Many hitchhikers are also psychopomps, guiding the recent dead to the afterlife or twilight.

If they go too long without hitching a ride, they start to fade away.

### Habitat

Hitchhikers may prefer to live in the twilight, but they are inexorably drawn to the daylight and the need to hitchhike.

### Culture

Most hitchhikers are, by necessity, outgoing and charismatic people. They are able to convince drivers to pick up a stranger on the road, or to buy them a meal at a diner along the highway.

## In Popular Culture

* The trio of "Hitchhiking Ghosts" are among the best-known characters from Disney's Haunted Mansion ride. They appear in a crypt with their thumbs out in the classic hitchhiking gesture. One of the three will then show up reflected in a set of mirrors the doom buggies pass, showing them sitting in with the guests in their car.
* Hitchhiking ghosts that either prevent or create accidents on the road are common in urban legend around the world, and even the Bible itself. The ritual of loaning a jacket is also common.

## References

1. ↑ https://hauntedmansion.fandom.com/wiki/Hitchhiking\_Ghosts
2. ↑ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts
Charles Healy

**Charles Healy** is a character in the InCryptid Series by Seanan McGuire. He is the estranged son of Alexander and Enid Healy, left behind with the Covenant in England when they emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. He has a sister, Ada, and a brother, Jonathan, but it is unknown if he knows Jonathan exists.

He is the grandfather of Margaret Healy.

## About

### Personality

By the time he was six, Charles had already absorbed most of the Covenant's teachings about cryptids, leading him to denounce his own parents when they decided to leave.

## References

1. ↑ Magic for Nothing Ch. 24
2. ↑ Oh Pretty Bird
Lloyd

**Lloyd** is the primary antagonist in Half-Off Ragnarok. He is a gorgon hybrid who passes for human. He works as a security guard at the West Columbus Zoo.

## About

### Appearance

Lloyd was an older man, tan and thin as a sun-dried lizard, with a battered slouched hat that pulled firmly down over his presumably bald pate. He is never seen without his hat, or without the thick-lensed glasses that give his gaze a fishbowl quality. He looks to be somewhere between sixty and eighty years old.

With hat and glasses removed, Lloyd is revealed as a gorgon hybrid. His snake-hair appears stubbly and malformed.

### Personality

In general, Lloyd is friendly and meticulous to detail. He always greets zoo staff by name and chats with those who take the time for it. He always follows protocol, checking ID badges even when it is clear he knows the identity of the staff member.

However, this genial personality is only cover for Lloyd's deeper, uglier self. Lloyd greatly resents his role as a hybrid gorgon, ostracized by humans and gorgons alike. He feels entitled to recompense for his suffering and kidnaps Shelby with the expectation that she will fall in love with him just as she did with Alex.

### Abilities

Direct contact with his gaze will stun his victims. His snake's bites are venomous.

### Professional Life

Lloyd has been a security guard at the West Columbus Zoo for decades. When the zoo pushes him to retire, he becomes furious.

## Biography

Lloyd was born to Hannah and an unnamed gorgon. Her influence in the community protected him when he would have been pushed out or killed as an abberation.

## In the Series

### Half-Off Ragnarok

Alex encounters Lloyd numerous times as he comes in and out of the zoo. It takes some time for Alex to realize Lloyd is behind the petrifaction attacks, having taken a cockatrice from the fringe gorgon community and used it as a weapon. Lloyd's attacks culminate in kidnapping Shelby to claim as his own mate. Hannah nominally tries to protect Lloyd but knows that he is too far gone to save, and allows Alex to finish Lloyd off.
Laura Moorhead

**Laura Moorhead** is a character in the Ghost Roads series by Seanan McGuire. She is the premier expert on Rose Marshall, the Phantom Prom Date, and a professor of folklore at the University of Colorado.

## About

### Appearance

In the 2010s, Laura is in her early forties, trim and fit with dark blond hair. She wears glasses.

### Abilities

Despite having no innate magical ability, Laura is able to use magical items like a Seal of Solomon or a spirit jar, and can teach others to use them.

### Professional Life

Laura is a tenured professor of folklore at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She has published at least one book, *On the Trail of the Phantom Prom Date*.

## In the Series

### Sparrow Hill Road

In 1992, Rose tries to convince Laura's boyfriend Tommy not to race his car for money, sensing that it will lead to his death. Tommy, desperate to get out of Jackson, Maine, races anyway. When he is killed, Rose is there to lead him into the twilight where he plans to wait for Laura.

Twenty years later, Laura has grown up and become a professor of folklore. She has devoted her entire career to tracking down the Phantom Prom Date: Rose, who she'd seen with Tommy the night he died. Laura summons Rose to a falsely-made diner and traps her in a Seal of Solomon, then tortures Rose as payback for supposedly killing Tommy. Tommy himself arrives to rescue Rose and assures Laura that Rose is his friend in all this.

### The Girl in the Green Silk Gown

When Rose is forcibly incarnated and cut off from the twilight, Laura is the only person she can think to call for help (the Price-Healy Family don't have listed numbers, so she has no way to reach them). In a panic, she calls Laura from a truck stop in Nebraska, and begs her to come get her before Bobby Cross can find her.

## Relationships

### Tommy

Tommy was Laura's boyfriend, but died tragically young in 1992. She never got over his death, blaming Rose and dedicating her entire life and career to learning everything she could about ghosts, in order to punish her. Tommy remained a Phantom Rider for decades, never able to stop for fear of moving on before being reunited with her.

### Rose Marshall

Despite their initial antagonistic relationship, Laura agreed to help Rose when she had nowhere else to turn, and helped her adjust to the modern world, buying her clothes and a fake ID. She traveled with Rose to the Ocean Lady to find out how to send her back to the twilight.
Homecomer

**Homecoming ghosts**, also called **Homecomers,** appear in the Ghost Roads series. They are a type of road ghost that is desperate to return home by any means necessary.

## Price Family Field Guide

Called "homecomers," these close relatives of the hitchhiking ghosts want one thing only: to go home. They are typically peaceful for the first few years following their deaths, when their homes are still recognizable. The trouble begins once those homes begin to change. Homecomers whose homes are gone will become violent, and in their rage, they have been known to kill people who offer to drive them home.

## About

### Appearance

Homecomers seem to appear as they did in life, and may have some limited appearance-changing abilities.

### Habitat

Homecomers are bound to the roads. They must continuously travel, always trying to find their way home. They can presumably shift between twilight and daylight much like hitchhikers, but must always return to the daylight.

## Characters

* Mackenzie is a teenager killed in a bus accident. Rose can sense that she is going to become a homecomer if left to her own devices, and would likely kill any good Samaritan who attempted to give her a ride away from the crash. Rose convinces her to come into the twilight, and likely on to the afterlife, instead.

## References

1. ↑ Sparrow Hill Road, "Hitchers and Homecomers"
Deanna Rodriguez

**Deanna Lynn Taylor de Rodriguez**, usually called **Dee**, is a recurring character in the InCryptid series. She is a Pliny's gorgon and Alex Price's assistant at the West Columbus Zoo.

## About

### Appearance

As with most gorgons, Dee has snakes for hair. She usually covers them with an auburn wig. She is around five feet, seven inches tall.

### Personality

Dee is very organized. Although she does not have a zoology background, she acts as the administrative assistant in the Columbus Zoo's reptile house. She organizes all the records in a way that disguises Alex's extracurricular cryptozoology projects.

### Abilities

Pliny's gorgons can cause temporary paralysis with their gaze, long enough to get near someone and bite them with their snakes, which can cause petrification. Dee wears special glasses to counteract this.

### Professional Life

Dee works as Alex Price's assistant at the West Columbus Zoo. It is unknown if she was working there before he came to the zoo.

## Relationships

### Frank Rodriguez

Dee is married to Frank Rodriguez. They have a daughter, Megan.

### Walter

Dee's brother Walter is the leader of the fringe community of gorgons, who put down permanent roots in Ohio, rather than living in trailers. They have a somewhat strained relationship.

## Trivia

* "Dee is a Pliny's gorgon, which puts her in the middle range of "potentially deadly cryptids with snakes in place of hair." She lives with her extended family somewhere outside of Dublin, Ohio. I don't ask her where, and she doesn't offer to tell me. Being a Price might make me a cryptid ally, but at the end of the day, I was still a human." -Alex Price
* Deanna Taylor Rodriguez is a real person, presumably a friend or acquaintance of Seanan's, who is credited as one of the "Wicked Girls and Lost Boys" on her album *Wicked Girls*.
Dave Smith

**Dave Smith** is an antagonist in Discount Armageddon and narrator of What Was I Meant to Do? He is the former owner of a strip club called Dave's Fish and Strips, where Verity Price works as a waitress.

## About

### Appearance

As a bogeyman, Dave has grey skin and overly long limbs.

### Personality

He is super sleazy, regularly pressuring Verity to switch from waitressing to stripping and trying to get her to give him a private dance.

### Abilities

Given the opportunity, he keeps his office pitch-black in order to take advantage of his bogeyman abilities, though the details of those abilities are never made clear.

## In the Series

### Discount Armageddon

He secretly works with the snake cult that is trying to awaken the dragon underneath Manhattan, enabling them to kidnap female cryptids to use as "virgin" sacrifices. When his duplicity is discovered, Verity and Istas run him out of town.

### What Was I Meant to Do?

After betraying Verity, Dave knows he can't stay in New York, and goes on the run before she and Istas wake up and escape. He makes his way across Pennsylvania, avoids Ohio since he knows there are Prices there, and eventually ends up in New Mexico. He finds work as a bartender at his cousin Marjory's place, Bottoms Up, and is content to live out the rest of his days there. One day, Drew Baker arrives and confronts him in the dark, letting him live with the knowledge that they know exactly where he is.

## Relationships

### Kitty

Kitty is Dave's niece. She doesn't seem particularly bothered by his disappearance, and rebrands his club into a much better place to work.

## References

1. ↑ In What Was I Meant to Do?, set in either 2012 or 2013, Dave says he is 46.
Bloodworm

Official artwork

## Reference

**Bloodworm** are a non-sapient cryptid species. There are eleven known subspecies in North America, and more worldwide. They are similar biologically to a leech, but far larger.

## About

Bloodworms have a lifespan of three to five years. They are hermaphrodites, and lay hundreds of eggs every year after reaching sexual maturity at an age of approximately six months.

Bloodworms are attracted to the scent of fresh blood, and their own blood attracts other large creatures. Mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects are all attracted by the spoor of the bloodworm.

Their bite is comparable to being stung by a wasp. They are not particularly intelligent, and will bite even allies or caregivers. Their diet is mostly liquid.

### Appearance

Large, jawed leeches with a lamprey-like mouth. They do not have visible eyes, ears, or noses. They average one to two feet in length.

### Habitat

Generally found in swampy environments, and hides buried in the mud until forced to reveal itself. They can be found anywhere except for Antarctica.

## In the Series

* Bloodworms are repeatedly mentioned as inhabitants of the forest in Buckley Township, Michigan.

## Trivia

### In Popular Culture

Likely inspired by the non-cryptid bloodworm. Bloodworms have a creamy pink color, as their pale skin allows their red body fluids that contain hemoglobin to show through. This is the origin of the name "bloodworm". At the 'head', bloodworms have four small antennae and small fleshy projections called parapodia running down their bodies. Bloodworms can grow up to 35 centimetres (14 in) in length. They are carnivorous and their bite is painful even to a human.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bloodworm
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycera\_(annelid)
Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea

This is a stand-alone short that is not officially set in the InCryptid universe, but uses the same worldbuilding rules as InCryptid's finfolk. It appears in the anthology CarniePunk published by Gallery Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) in July 2013. It is the story of Ada Miller, carnie kid and daughter of a real-life mermaid.

## Synopsis

The Miller Family Carnival, home of the Alabama Mermaid, returns to Huntsville for the first time in twenty years. Young Ada Miller, daughter of Marti Miller, the Alabama Mermaid, has never been here before and she soon finds out why.

## Characters

* Ada Miller
* Uncle Chester
* Marti Miller
* Duncan Miller
* Martha Miller

## Field Guide

* Finfolk (called mermaids in this text)

## Locations

* Huntsville, AL
Hidebehind

Traditional depiction of a hidebehind.

## Reference

**Hidebehind** are mentioned but not seen in the InCryptid series.

## Appendix Entry

**Hidebehind** (*Aphanes apokryphos*). We don't really know much about the hidebehinds: no one's ever seen them. They're excellent illusionists, and we think they're bipeds, which means they're probably mammals. Probably.

## About

* Hidebehinds are "all about illusions."
* They have a different way of seeing the world than other beings.
* They are able to cross dimensions
* They're usually harmless.
* They are likely Celtic in nature.
* They are inherently fair.

## In Popular Culture

The **hidebehind** is a tall tale creature of the American Southwest, also known as a "fearsome critter," that preys upon humans who wander in the woods. The creature subsists chiefly upon the intestines of its victim and has a severe aversion to alcohol, which is therefore considered a sufficient repellent.

## References

1. ↑ Dictionary.com
2. ↑ Appendix Field Guide: Books 5-11
3. ↑ Survival Horror
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidebehind
Columbus, Ohio

## Points of Interest

### Baker Family Home

The Baker family home is located in the suburb of Bexley. It is the only three-story building on the block, and includes a widow's walk and a lightning rod that the Bakers use to periodically reanimate Martin. It is ringed by a eight-foot spiked fence.

### West Columbus Zoo

Alex Price, Shelby Tanner, Deanna Rodriguez, and Lloyd all work at the zoo.

### Gorgon Community

A community of Pliny's gorgons have set up a trailer park on the outskirts of town, though some in the "fringe" have built permanent houses and farms, signaling their resistance to being forced to flee. Alex Price and Shelby Tanner have helped the community on several occasions.

### Shelby Tanner's Apartment

Shelby's apartment building is destroyed by arsonists trying to kill Shelby and/or Alex. She moves in with Alex and the Bakers after the fire and never goes back.

### Sarpa Home

The Sarpas live in the affluent suburb of Bexley. Their home includes a walled-in backyard that is not viewable from the outside, which they have decorated with a pond among other landscaping.

## Residents

* Angela Baker
* Martin Baker
* Sarah Zellaby
* Alex Price
* Shelby Tanner
* Chandi Sarpa
* Kumari Sarpa
* Daksha Sarpa
* Lloyd

### Former residents

* Evelyn Price
* Drew Baker
* Megan Rodriguez (moves back to gorgon community after *Tricks for Free*)

### Gorgon Community

* Deanna Rodriguez
* Frank Rodriguez
* Walter
* Hannah
Megan Rodriguez

**Megan Rodriguez** is a character in the InCryptid Series by Seanan McGuire. She is Antimony and Fern's roommate and ally in Lowryland, Florida, but does not travel with them to New Gravesend, Maine.

## About

### Appearance

Megan is a Pliny's gorgon, and as such has the snake hair characteristic of her species.

### Abilities

Like all Pliny's gorgons, her snakes have a venomous bite, which causes petrifaction if left untreated. She can also paralyze people with her gaze, and as such usually wears special glasses to block this.

### Professional Life

Megan is studying at the Lowryland Medical School to become a doctor. Although their medical program is for human medicine, it's worth learning even for a cryptid doctor.

## In the Series

### Tricks for Free

Megan is living in an apartment with Antimony and Fern. She helps them, Cylia, and Sam take down the Lowryland Cabal, but stays in Florida to finish her medical training.

### The Measure of a Monster

Megan has returned to Ohio, and offhandedly mentions to Alex Price that Antimony had been in Florida.

## Relationships

### Antimony Price

Megan is Antimony's housemate when she's in hiding in Lowryland, Florida. She does not know Annie is a Price.[*citation needed*]

### Fern Conway

Fern is Antimony and Megan's other housemate in Lowryland.
Emma

**Emma** is a character in the Ghost Roads by Seanan McGuire. She is a Beán Sidhe and a close friend of Rose Marshall. She runs the Last Dance Diner.

## About

### Appearance

Emma has green eyes and red hair. She has straight white teeth with a slight overbite.

## Biography

Emma was the beán sidhe of the O'Malley family for fifteen generations, until Amy O'Malley died, releasing her from her duty. Afterwards, she became the host and owner of the Last Dance Diner.

## In the Series

### Last Call at the Last Chance

After the events of *Sparrow Hill Road*, Emma is surprised and unsettled to find Bobby Cross coming to the Last Chance Diner.

## Relationships

#### Rose Marshall

She is close enough to Rose that when Bobby Cross kidnapped her, Rose bet her own soul and Gary's in a race to get her back.
Djinn

## About

While referenced multiple times Jinn have not appeared in the Incryptid series. They, more specifically afrits, may be fire manipulators or something else entirely.

## In Popular Culture

The Jinn are a class of being in near-eastern mythology and can be thought of between mankind and angels and take a wide variety of forms. The presentation in the anglophone world as smokey beings who can be bound in lamps can be traced back the 18th century English writers translating various tales.

## References

“Pardon me if I sound ignorant, but . . . these people are attempting to summon snakes,” said Dominic. “Not **djinn** or creator gods. Snakes. How can a snake give you anything apart from venom and a quick death?” - Dominic DeLuca, Chaos Choreography (p. 173).

But what happens if the sun comes up while I’m trapped in a Seal of Solomon that’s somehow doing what only a coat’s supposed to do to me? Do I go free? Or do I get sucked into a bottle like some fairy-tale **djinn**, Barbara Eden with a bad attitude and better fashion sense? - Rose Marshall, Sparrow Hill Road (Ghost Roads) (p. 93).

“Is this about how you set things on fire when you’re asleep? Because I know about that. I think it’s sort of cute. Are you sure you’re not part **djinn**? Because that would explain the fire. Except I don’t think they’re cross-fertile with humans, and I know you’re mostly human. Um. Except for the fire thing.” - Fern Conway, Tricks for Free (pp. 119-120).

Mara are believed to be close relatives of the Lilu, although they do not demonstrate the sexually dimorphic tendencies of their cousins: all mara, male and female, are equally dangerous. It should be noted that we're largely guessing about the "close relatives" part, based on behavior, habitat, and feeding patterns. It could easily be discovered that the mara are more closely related to jinks, **djinn**, or something we have yet to discover. Cryptozoology is not always as exact a science as we would like. - The Price Family Field Guide: Mara

1. ↑ Dictionary.com
2. ↑ Discount Armageddon, Ch. 23
Finfolk

## Reference

**Finfolk** are a type of cryptid that appear in the We Both Go Down Together.

Compare to Sirens, another cryptid classed as the ancient predatory amphibian Labrynthodontia.

## About

The finfolk are mermaid-like, amphibian-like cryptids. Unlike most therianthropes, finfolk metamorphosize involuntarily as they age in a manner similar to caterpillarsand butterflies. They are born nearly indistinguishable to humans, metamorphosize into fairly typical, if monstrous, “mermaids,” and then end life as a massive grouper-like fish.

In their first stage, they are almost fully mammalian and can cross-breed with humans and a number of humanoid cryptids. They begin their first metamorphosis in their teens. As they evolve into mature, mermaid-like finfolk, they lose their memories and higher brain function. As they shift to their final form, they become more violent and irrational. The final form is not able to reproduce.

There is anecdotal evidence that second stage finfolk will eat those in their third stage.

### Habitat

The finfolk originated in the waters around Scotland, and were first recorded appearing in the Orkney Islands. They still live there today, although their population has declined in recent generations. A significant population lives in and around the town of Gentling, Maine. In 1938, approximately one-third of the population of Gentling had finfolk ancestry.

## In the Series

* Jonathan Healy and Frances Healy encounter the finfolk when they visit Gentling, Maine.

## In Popular Culture

* In folklore, a **mermaid** is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.
* Although not officially part of the InCryptid series, creatures similar to the finfolk appear in Seanan McGuire's short story, Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.

## References

1. ↑ Dictionary.com
2. ↑ Mermaid
Eleanor Smith

**Eleanor Smith** is a character in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire.

## Biography

Eleanor, unusually for a dragon princess, lives alone with her daughter Betty in the small town of Boggsville, Colorado. She runs a boarding house and pays Heloise Tapper to teach Betty music.

When Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown arrive to investigate unusual Apraxis Wasp behavior, they rent a room from her, pretending to be married as she does not approve of unmarried men and women sharing a room. Jonathan reveals to her that he knows what she is, and his and Fran's true purpose for coming to Boggsville. Her confusion about how long Heloise had been there tips them off that something is amiss with her, and they go to investigate at Heloise's house.

After the sheriff arrests them for burning down an apparently unoccupied house (since nobody else remembered Heloise, Eleanor posts their bail and asks them to leave.
Hodag

Modern depiction of the hodag

## Reference

The **Hodag** is a cryptid species that appears in the InCryptid series. They are squat, quadrupedal synapsids with spikes along their backs.

## About

### Biology

Hodag are synapsids, and are therefore immune to rabies. They hibernate in the winter.

### Appearance

Hodag are squat and low to the ground, and are described as "frog-faced". They have olive-green scales and chocolate-brown fur, and spikes along their back. Their tail resembles that of an alligator. As adults, they can reach twenty feet in length.

## In the Series

* When she is attending college at the University of Michigan, Alice Healy adopts an orphaned hodag and names it Wilbur.

## Popular Culture

The hodag is a Fearsome Critter of North American lumberjack folklore, and a hoax specimen was created in the 1890s and exhibited at the Oneida County Fair in Wisconsin. It has become a symbol of the town of Rhinelander, Wisconsin and is the mascot of Rhinelander High School.

In 2021, the Wisconsin state governor declared May 21 as Hodag Day.

## References

1. ↑ School Belles
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Long Way From Home
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodag
4. ↑ Ocker, J.W. (2022). *The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters.* Philadelphia: Quirk Books. ISBN 978-1683693222
Lee Moyer

**Lee Moyer** is the secondary cover artist for the InCryptid series. He has worked on series covers when Aly Fell was not available.

## InCryptid Books

* Tricks for Free
* Imaginary Numbers
* Backpacking Through Bedlam
* Aftermarket Afterlife

## Biography

**Lee Moyer** is an American painter, illustrator, graphic designer, and web designer. Notable works include posters for musicians Tori Amos and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as Laurel and Hardy paintings for the covers of their DVD box set collections, and the cover for the documentary *Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown*.

## Online Presence

* LeeMoyer.com
* Instagram
Jack Tanner

**Jack Tanner** is a character mentioned in Half-Off Ragnarok and Pocket Apocalypse. He was Shelby Tanner's elder brother. He was killed several years ago when a group of cuckoo infiltrated Australia.

Jack has progressive ideas about the relationship between cryptoozologists and the cryptids they protected.

Jack, and all the Tanner siblings, were friendly with Basil the yowie.

## Quotes

* **Shelby:** "Jack was going to change everything after he was in charge. He was going to remake the Thirty-Six Society for the modern world, and no one was going to be able to stop him." (Pocket Apocalypse Ch. 15)
Mara

Official artwork

## Reference

**Mara** are a type of cryptid that first appear in the Magic for Nothing. They are psychic vampires that steal the energy of their victims.

Compare to Lilu, another member of the genus *Lilyth.*

## About

.The mara are indistinguishable from Caucasian humans. They tend to be pale with light eyes, and their hair is always black, white, or a combination of the two. Mara are mammals, but are not cross-fertile with humans. They have roughly human lifespans and are vulnerable to human illnesses.

Like jinks, they possess an extra organ, similar to the ampullae of Lorenzini found in sharks, that seems to be the source of their energy manipulation.

Despite often being compared to luck manipulators, their “psychic vampire” behavior more closely resembles the Lilu. Mara are able to induce "dream states" in the people around them, and to then feed on the life energy of their victims, leaving them exhausted and lethargic. They rarely kill their victims intentionally, for the sake of secrecy if nothing else.

They tend to give birth to twins, almost always a male and a female child. A mara parent siphons life energy from the community and “feeds” it to the children. If there is not enough energy, one child will be abandoned to ensure the survival of the other.

They have been nearly exterminated by the Covenant of St. George.

## Characters

* Adrienne is a former member of Antimony Price's roller derby league. Annie got her booted from the league after discovering Adrienne was stealing the energy of her opponents.

## In Popular Culture

* A **mare** (Old English: *mære*, Old Dutch: *mare*, Proto-Slavic \**mara*; *mara* in Old High German, Old Norse, and Swedish) is a malicious entity in Germanic and Slavic folklore that rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on nightmares.
* A **psychic vampire** (or **energy vampire**) is a creature in folklore said to feed off the "life force" of other living creatures. The term can also be used to describe a person who gets increased energy around other people, but leaves those other people exhausted or "drained" of energy. Psychic vampires are represented in the occult beliefs of various cultures and in fiction.
* In Hindu mytholgy, **Māra** is the god of death, sometimes seen as one aspect of a god whose other aspect is Kama, or erotic desire.
* In Buddhist mythology, **Māra** is another name for Satan, who tried to seduce the Buddha at the time of his Enlightenment.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mara
2. ↑ Bad Dream Girl
3. ↑ Magic for Nothing Ch. 20
4. ↑ Mare (folklore)
5. ↑ Psychic vampire
Drew Baker

**Andrew "Drew" Baker** is a minor character in the InCryptid series. He is a bogeyman adopted by Angela and Martin Baker, and the adoptive sibling of Evelyn Baker and Sarah Zellaby.

Drew was orphaned by a gas leak in the bogeyman community where his parents lived. He was adopted by Angela and Martin, who could not have biological children of their own.

Drew was grown and out of the house by the time Sarah was adopted. As of 2017, he lives somewhere in California.

## Appearance

Drew is tall and slim, and has the long limbs and gray skin typical of bogeymen, though he has a slight tan from the time he spends in the human world. His hair is dark and tousled, and his face is nondescript, not standing out in a crowd.

## In the Series

### What Was I Meant to Do?

Drew tracks down another bogeyman, Verity's old boss Dave Smith, who sold her out to the snake cult in New York. He lets Dave live, but warns him that the Price family knows exactly where he is, and it's only because Verity survived that he's still breathing.

### Calculated Risks

Drew appears with the rest of the Price-Healy family in St. Giles' Hospital.

## Quotes

* “My own kind allowed me to be stolen and sold to a human family as a pet. They didn’t come to find me when I was taken by a known predator.”
[...]
“‘My own kind’? The Prices are my own kind, because they’re the ones who didn’t try to murder me while I was still an infant.” (What Was I Meant to Do?)

## References

1. ↑ In What Was I Meant to Do?, he refers to Alice as his grandma.
2. ↑ Chaos Choreography Ch. 2
3. ↑ Imaginary Numbers Ch. 2
4. ↑ What Was I Meant to Do?
Daniel Healy

**Daniel Healy** is a character in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. He is born and dies young in the Jonathan and Frances shorts.

 **Spoiler warning!**
Ahead are significant plot details from the Patreon stories. Read at your own peril!

## Biography

Daniel was the firstborn child of Jonathan and Frances Healy, born mere months after their wedding. His live-in grandparents Alexander and Enid would babysit him while Jonathan and Fran were away on their trips.

When Daniel was three years old, a bogeyman broke into their home and murdered Daniel horrifically. Later, the family learned that the murder itself had not been the goal, but sending them a message to stay away from Heloise Tapper, whom Alexander Healy had nearly tracked down in Connecticut a month before.

Daniel's murder impacts the Healys heavily. Alexander believes his decision to track Heloise down drew her attention to his family. After Fran dies several years later in a hunting accident, Jonathan becomes obsessed with protecting Daniel's younger sister Alice, as he believes the cryptid world has cost him his wife and firstborn child. The trauma of Daniel's death also carries over into the next generation: around the time that Kevin Price is born, his father Thomas has to ask the head priests of the Aeslin to stop recitations of Daniel's catechisms, as they are upsetting Alice.

## References

1. ↑ Sweet Poison Wine
2. ↑ The First Fall
3. ↑ Sweet Poison Wine
4. ↑ Oh Pretty Bird
5. ↑ Oh Pretty Bird
6. ↑ Spelunking Through Hell, prologue
Kawauso

Typical depiction of kawauso

## Reference

**Kawauso** are a Japanese cryptid mentioned in Magic for Nothing.

## About

Kawauso are otter-human shapeshifters. Their young may have difficulty holding human form.

## In the Series

* Antimony Price recalls a family of kawauso she met growing up at the carnival.

## In Popular Culture

In Japanese, otters are called "kawauso." In Japanese folklore, they fool humans in the same way as foxes (kitsune) and tanuki.

1. ↑ Magic for Nothing p. 213
Bury Me in Satin

**Bury Me in Satin** is an InCryptid short story. It is eleventh in the Jonathan and Frances Shorts.

## Synopsis

Things are starting to hit an easy sort of groove at the Healy house. Alice is growing up, a little spitfire of a girl who adores her father and idolizes her mother. Johnny and Fran have mostly put their ghosts behind them, and are focusing on the future, which has never seemed brighter, or more guaranteed.

Sadly, for some people, the future has already ended.

Mary Dunlavy has been Alice's babysitter almost since the girl was born. When her father stops showing up for work, it falls to Fran to go by the Dunlavy house and see what's going on. What she finds changes everything.

There is no right and there is no wrong in some situations: there's only the way things should have been, and the way things are.

Not everyone gets out alive.

## Characters

* Mary Dunlavy
* Benjamin Dunlavy (deceased)
* Alexander Healy
* Enid Healy
* Frances Healy
* Jonathan Healy
* Alice Healy

**Mentioned**

* Christine Dunlavy
* Arturo Gucciard
* Heloise Tapper
* Daniel Healy

## Field Guide

* Fricken
* Crossroads Ghost

**Mentioned**

* Jackalope
* Gorgon
* Aeslin Mice
* Six-armed bear

## Locations

* Buckley Township, Michigan
	+ Healy house
	+ Mary's house
	+ Old Parrish Place
	+ Old Logger's Road

**Mentioned**

* Chicago, Illinois
* Buckley High School (mentioned)

## Organizations

**Mentioned**

* Campbell Family Circus
* Covenant of St. George
Kitty Smith

**Katherine "Kitty" Smith** is a recurring character in the InCryptid series. She takes over ownership of her uncle Dave Smith's stripper club after he flees town, and she renames it to "The Freakshow."

## About

### Appearance

A bogeyman, Kitty is grey-skinned with overly long limbs. She normally dresses to pass for human, but when threatened she switches to more traditional bogeyman attire of grey dress and leggings, for camouflage.

### Personality / Professional Life

Kitty is a fan of Sesame Street and owns both Elmo slippers and Grover pajamas.

She is a romantic, following her boyfriend's band around the country for several months. However, she drops her wandering life to take the reins at her uncle's club when Dave disappears. She is a canny businesswoman, capitalizing on the oddities of her cryptid staff to make the Freakshow a welcoming place to not-so-normal clientele.

She is also fiercely protective of "her" people and works hard to keep them safe when the Covenant comes to Manhattan.

### Abilities

Like her uncle, Kitty uses "dark" bulbs to make her office pitch-black, implying that she is more powerful in darkness.

## In the Series

### Midnight Blue-Light Special

Kitty has taken over management of Dave's Fish and Strips, renaming it the Freakshow and shifting it from a skeezy strip club to a semi-legit burlesque joint. When Verity reports that the Covenant is coming to town, Kitty immediately offers shelter to her cryptid staff and warns Verity that her priorities are with the cryptids of the city.

## Trivia

* Based on her reaction to Verity's capture by the Covenant, Kitty has experienced some form of torture for information in her life.

## Quotes

* **Verity, to Kitty:** "You sound like you're running a bordello, not a perfectly respectable titty bar."

## References

1. ↑ What Was I Meant to Do?
2. ↑ What Was I Meant to Do?
3. ↑ Midnight Blue-Light Special Ch. 16
4. ↑ Midnight Blue-Light Special Ch. 14
Laura Campbell

**Laura Campbell** is a character in the InCryptid Series by Seanan McGuire. She appears in the Alice and Thomas shorts as Alice's best childhood friend. At sixteen, she is beginning to develop the powers of a roadwitch.

## In the Series

### Winter Sunshine

Alice and Laura are bosom buddies while the Healys vacation with the circus in Florida. Together they go on adventures and get into trouble, including when an Oceanid holds Laura hostage to make Alice rescue her brother from the carnival.

### School Belles

When Alice arrives at the University of Michigan, Laura reveals that she bribed her way into being Alice's roommate. Juniper wants her daughter to stay in one place for a while, since umbramancers become more connected to the ghost world as they grow in power from traveling. Laura is majoring in English, and is a popular, outgoing girl.

## Trivia

* Laura has been missing since before Verity was born. One of her last predictions related to Antimony.

“Annie . . .” He paused. “Is it still okay to call you that?”

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s ‘Antimony,’ remember? My **Great-Aunt Laura** was an ambulomancer. She made a prediction that could have applied to either me or my cousin Elsie, about needing to disappear under a name that was ours but wasn’t at the same time. My parents named me ‘Antimony Timpani,’ and Elsie’s parents named her ‘Elsinore Norelle,’ to make sure we’d be able to do what we had to, when the time came.” I laughed bitterly. “When we were kids, we used to bet each other on who it would be. I never thought I’d win.” - Magic For Nothing (p. 315)
Corletta

> *Not to be confused with Carlotta.*
>
>

**Corletta** is a recurring character in the Ghost Roads series. She is a young homesteader who is lonely for companionship.

When Rose Marshall meets her in *The Girl in the Green Silk Gown*, she promises to send some Ever-lasters to play with her. She meets Corletta again in *Angel of the Overpass*, and finds her to be much happier now that she has friends.
Martin Baker

**Martin Baker** is a minor character in the InCryptid series. He is Sarah Zellaby's adoptive father.

## About

Martin was made out of parts from 4 to 6 human corpses (he's not sure how many).

## Quotes

### Epigraphs

**Main article: Epigraphs**

**Half-Off Ragnarok**

* "The trouble with the word 'monster' is that it's very much in the eye of the beholder. Show me a monster, and I'll show you a man who didn't know how to explain himself to you." (Ch. 4)
* "The natural world has a place for everything . It's just that some of those things make me think that Nature isn't very fond of people." (Ch. 8)
* "Try to let go of the idea that humanity is the pinnacle of evolution. There are creatures in this world that can kill you with a look, people with wings, and mountains that walk. Humanity is amazing, but have a little perspective." (Ch. 14)
* "Being smart isn't good enough. You need to be educated, and you need to be open-minded, and you need to remember that what you don't know can most definitely hurt you." (Ch. 20)

**Pocket Apocalypse**

* "It's easy to say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few when no one's holding a gun to your head." (Ch. 6)
* "There is evil in the world. Things might be easier if there wasn't, if good and evil were just concepts men invited to justify themselves; we could ignore them, then. Sadly, good and evil are both very real, and very inconvenient." (Ch. 13)

**Imaginary Numbers**

* "People feel smart when they tell you 'Frankenstein' was the doctor, not the monster. They're wrong. Frankenstein--Dr. Frankenstein--was always the monster. That's the whole point. Sometimes evil is so damn beautiful it hurts." (Ch. 16)
* "Human morality is only absolute because the humans won the war to see who would be the dominant species of this planet. We live by the moral and ethical standards of a species whose dominion is built on bones." (Ch. 23)
Frank Rodriguez

**Franklin "Frank" Javier Lusczando de Rodriguez** is a minor character in Half-Off Ragnarok. He is the husband of Dee de Rodriguez and the father of Megan Rodriguez.
Like all male Pliny's gorgons, Frank is much taller than the female members of his species, between seven and eight feet tall. He is the doctor of the Columbus gorgon community and is currently training an apprentice.
Bela da meia-noite

**Bela de meia-noite** is a type of ghost mentioned in the Ghost Roads series.

## Price Family Field Guide

The bela de meia-noite, or "midnight beauty," is an exclusively female type of ghost, capable of appearing only between sunset and midnight. They enjoy trendy clubs and one-night stands. They're generally harmless, and some have proven very helpful in exorcising hostile spirits, since they'd prefer that no one get hurt.

## In Popular Culture

The name originates from Portuguese and can be found throughout South American folklore. Variants include:

* A beautiful woman who approached men on the empty streets or streets of the cities.
* A teenage girl who started to haunt and seduce boys who are alone in school bathrooms or terrify girls who dress up too much in front of school bathroom mirrors.
* La Llorona, the crying woman, of Mexico

## References

1. ↑ Price Family Field Guide to the Twilight
2. ↑ https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela\_da\_meia-noite&prev=search&pto=aue
Huldra

Traditional depiction of a huldra; note the tail giving her away.

## Reference

**Huldra** (*Hulder sapiens*) are a cryptid species (or group of species) in the InCryptid series. Originating in Finland and Norway, the huldrafolk have since immigrated to other parts of the world. They are a sapient, humanoid species identified by the gaping hole in their back where their organs should be, as well as their bovine tails. The most well known subspecies is *Hulder sapiens skogsfrun*, the tree huldra.

When huldra grow old, some species transform into a copse of trees. Others turn to stone, or ripples in water, and sometimes leave ghosts.

## Appendix Entry

Huldra *(hulder sapiens).* While the Huldrafolk are technically divided into three distinct subspecies, the most known about is *Hulder sapiens skogsfrun*, the Huldra of the trees. These hollow-backed hematophages can pass for human when they have to, but prefer to avoid humanity, living in secluded villages throughout Scandanavia. Individual Huldra can live for hundreds of years when left to their own devices. They aren't innately friendly, but aren't hostile unless threatened.

## About

### Appearance

Huldra appear human, but when seen from behind their backs are hollow. Their spines are bent in a sharp C-bend shortly beneath the ribs, leaving a large hollow where a human's organs would be.

### Abilities

Huldra are obligate sanguivores, collecting blood in their hollow backs like a pitcher plant. Most of the space humans use for organs is used for their roots and specialized digestive organs, allowing them to efficiently absorb their food. They are able to eat human food such as cake and waffles.

They can live for hundreds of years when left to their own devices. Cynthia has been living in Buckley since at least 1905.

Sjörå have some ability to manipulate water, and may be the ones who turn to ripples when they die.

### Habitat

Tree Huldra can exist anywhere a forest exists needing the pollen provided to from multiple different trees to create their children with every piece contributing.

### Culture

According to Cynthia, humans have lumped five or six different species under the name "Huldrafolk": trolls, sjörå, and bergsrå are three of them. Locals call them skogsrå when referring to them in specific.

## Characters

* Cynthia
* Minna, Cynthia's wife
* Cynthia's mother

## Popular Culture

A hulder (or huldra) is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. She looks like a normal human woman except for her tail, which will give her away. The word hulder is only used of a female; a "male hulder" is called a *huldrekall* and also appears in Norwegian folklore.

The book East by Edith Pattou calls the race of goblin antagonists the huldre.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Appendix Field Guide: Book 11
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Halfway Through the Wood Ch. 10
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Halfway Through the Wood Ch. 13
4. ↑ Follow the Lady
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulder