The Chupacabra and Slenderman

Chupacabra and Slenderman

This entry involves two very recent additions to the cryptid phenomenon, and, in turn, will mean that the evidence that we can present will be of much more recent vintage, and much better documented than in some of our other stories.  The difference between the two creatures is that Slenderman belongs exclusively to the realm of fiction, a group of internet stories known as “creepypasta” while the reality of the Chupacabra has been debated ever since it first appeared in 1995 in its definitive form.  Both are phenomenon of the digital age, with Chupacabra having appeared while the medium was less developed than when Slenderman arose, they are instructive on how we can evaluate cases of cryptids, and how the evidence allows us to evaluate whether a story is real or not.

While some have tried to link earlier observances to the Chupacabra than 1995, its first definitive arrival in its modern form is described in Puerto Rico.  The monster sprung up with a great deal of mystery around it, very little backstory, and just the accounts of a few witnesses, much like the phantom Airship sightings of the late 1800s.  Over time, descriptions of the creature have varied, but, ultimately settled on a small hairy creature with a demonic looking face, and with amazing agility.

Its first real calling card is evidenced in its name – Chupacabra – the Goat Sucker.  It was identified because goats appeared with lesions on them with blood having been drained.  The only creatures that do this would be the infamous vampire bat, however, they are not known to attack large prey unless they are sleeping.        They also secrete a substance that makes their victims unaware of their nocturnal feasting, and also take only a small amount of blood, as compared to the chupacabra which is reputed to delight in slaughtering its victims.  Chupacabra also  appear to be far less picky in their choice of target, being willing to go after anything from a goat to a human being, and apparently possess the strength to overpower those same animals.

The tales spread through the early newsgroups, and eventually, reached the attention of Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM, where he sensationalized them.  This was partially done because the show caters to a specific demographic, and a new and undiscovered cryptid would be of great interest to his target audience.  But, between the developing internet, and the exposure it was getting on radio, the Chupacabra became a fleshed out myth in a quick period, and became the cryptid that we know today.

Slenderman, however, was developed specifically as a fictional creature.  In 2009, he made his first appearance on the world wide web, and has since been incorporated into a whole mythology.  From additional tales of his stalking, to doctored photos, to video games, the Slenderman mythology is fairly straightforward.  A tall creature that stalks its victims, is virtually impossible to escape, and can cause insanity in those that it looks at.  In some ways, it resembles a monster from a role playing game, or a Lovecraft novel.

No matter what the truth is, Slenderman’s popularity is that despite the well  known boundaries of the creature, he has proven to be very versatile.  WIth a shapeless face that reflects no emotion, to his tall slim stature, and his almost anonymous persona, and mysterious intent, he rests in the shadows of the internet, leaving no marks, but, also having no way to leave a trail in the physical world.

Slenderman is completely fictional.  But, the Chupacabra has any number of people who believe in its reality.  Sadly, for those believers, they will find that there is a substantial amount of hype, and very little substance for their claims.

It is certain that there exist anomalous creatures in the various regions of the world, but, the Chupacabra is not among them.  Certainly, ranchers have been puzzled by mysterious markings on their herds for a long time, from the cattle mutilations in the southwest, to the Chupacabra itself, but, one doesn’t need to invoke a malicious unkown creature with an apparently astonishing range to explain them away.  While law enforcement and science has not yet been able to provide an explanation for either mystery, the fact also is that very little evidence exists to prove that there is a mystery.  Lack of evidence unfortunately means that either we are looking in the wrong direction, or that the phenomenon doesn’t exist.

As stated, Slenderman leaves no traces in the real world because he does not exist.  Chupacabra’s leave no traces, aside from the strange marks, because they also are not real.  While they might make for entertaining fireside stories whiling away the nights watching over herds, or good tabloid fare to keep the locals interested, the fact is whatever is going on does not fit into the characteristics we know for a creature attack.

Certainly, for centuries, people have reported being attacked by mysterious entities, even to the point of leaving lesions, and far worse on their bodies, but the vast majority of these have a conventional explanation.  We don’t need ghosts and ghouls to explain every single mysterious disappearance or injury.  As noted before on this blog, millions go missing every year, seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth.  Far more wake up with unexplained injuries, and attribute it either to a state of inebriation or a bad dream.  This is a strange world, and life itself is strange.

Were a Slenderman real, he would probably be a lot more present in our literature, with movies and books dedicated to him.  The Chupacabra does have books and videos about its existence, but, all leave the reader with nothing more than a  string of unsolved cases with mysterious features about them.  Unfortunately, every crime scene does not wrap up as nicely and neatly as a Sherlock Holmes mystery.  Frequently detectives are presented situations and evidence for which they cannot explain everything that happened, but, only a great deal.  Our modern methods are aided by powerful tools, but, those tools are still only limited by the human intelligence that guides them.

The mysterious glides through our world, and approaches us in many ways.  But, it does not inhabit a strange aggressive creature attacking exclusively in one geographical area, nor does it manifest itself from the internet into our daily lives.  Further study is warranted in both of these cases, in the case of Slenderman, to document how a phenomenon got widespread so quickly, and in the case of the Chupacabra, to explain how farmers decided it could only be a mysterious creature that was responsible for the deaths of their cattle.

Either way, we need more tools and more research before we can begin to call the circle of mankind’s knowledge and experience complete.  Both of these cases can be filed under the tag of “fantasy” – but, subject to further verification.  Jung and Campbell both made staggering contributions to their field by studying the literature of their day, and our modern world would be impoverished if we did not pay attention to these cases.

Most importantly, there are things that do exist that we know nothing about, those things that go bump in the night, and only by discovering what they are and cataloguing them can we be certain.  It may be in the form of bigfoot teams scouring the country, mediums and paranormal teams searching the basements of jailyards for clues, or someone determined to find out the cause of UFO sightings, but, there are many examples of things that need further study, to the best that we have, given our range of tools, to discover the further truth.  Along the way, we are welcome to make up myths, and invent strange creatures.  its only human nature to try and explain what we do not understand.

But, trying to understand is the point.  We need to research our horizons, and not limit ourselves to just what we think we know about the world.  Every day more discoveries pile up, and perhaps in the basement of some museum, in a box, sitting like the lost Ark from the Indiana Jones series is a foot bone that will shed light on the whole case.  Until then though, we must strive to find the answers, and we are welcome to enjoy the fiction that has arisen around them.

 

From lost keys to alternate worlds

Over the years, there has been much research into altered states of consciousness. While some may associate this with a drug trip, or a paranormal vision, the fact is almost everyone on the planet experiences an altered state of consciousness every single day. Sleep is the most familiar altered state of consciousness, familiar throughout the human and animal world.
The key word in the phrase is “consciousness” – the mind retains its awareness of the situation, even though it perceives elements differently. Thus, a dreamless sleep might be deemed as an unconscious sleep, while a vivid dream clearly demonstrates that the person is aware of their surroundings and what is going on, as evidenced by their memories when they are growing up.
The dream experience can vary, from wish fulfilment, to abject nightmares. Night terrors, as they are called, are still not fully understood, but, are definitely a case where an altered state of consciousness can alter our perception of reality, even when we shift back to our mundane existence. The poor sufferers are driven nearly mad by their nocturnal experiences. So, what happens in one state of mind can affect the other.
Perhaps the best known state after dreaming would be drunkenness. After a few glasses of alcohol, the brain’s chemical receptors are altered, and a person who normally is shy and reclusive might become loud and boisterous. The stories of people who have consumed a bit too much drink resound, but, as is evident, people do not react as they would normally under the state of inebriation.
This effect varies from person to person, and we all know those who are more adversely affected by substance abuse than others. The transformation is even more dramatic when we take into effect the various drugs that are employed on the planet, from inhalants to marijuana to krokodil. People do actively seek out altered states, to one degree or another, for various reasons. But, leaving aside the horrible afflictions of addiction, they at least believe they enjoy the altered state of reality, and are driven to prolong and extend the sensation.
Another altered state of consciousness that a wide percentage of the population experiences is would be when they sit down to watch TV. As a general rule, people are immersed in the show that is on TV, and some go so far as to exhibit symptoms of addiction, craving thier latest program, and unable to bear the thought of missing their “fix”. This extends to movies as well, and has spawned an entire sub-culture of “Spoilers” who are generally reviled, because their revelations kind of constitute a buzz kill that derives them of the joy of experiencing their chosen state of consciousness.
Television and movies are somewhat unique as compared to drugs, because people are all subjected to the same stimulus, so their reactions can be monitored and compared meaningfully, while those in a dream state or a drug altered state can be under any number of influences, and comapring them is an incredibly inexact science. So, by using Television and media, and indeed, audio/visual input of all sorts, we can meaningfully compare altered states of consciousness.
When people are entranced with their entertainment, they sometimes become so riveted into the experience that the outside world stops for them. Indeed, it is difficult to turn your eyes away from the TV, which explains partially why commercial advertisements are seen as such a disruption. People have always claimed that commercials are louder than the program, even when the show on display is full of explosions and shouting. The reason the commercials are perceived as louder is because they are again interrupting the persons “buzz” – or the reason that they are sitting down in the first place, to get their altered state of consciousness. Advertisements remind them of reality, the very reality that they are trying to escape in the confines of their entertainment. Thus, even though televisions depend on advertisements, unless they are carefully scripted to give the person a secondary altered state of consciousness, they are perceived as intrusions, and reacted to negatively.
Altered states of consciousness do happen spontaneously. We have all walked into a room, and forgotten the reason why we came in, knowing that it was important, but, being unable to remember why. Everyone has put an object down, to go and pick it up, only to find it missing. Even more curious are the cases where the person searches, and does not find the object, for example, their keys, but, later looks in the original spot, and finds them.
This is the perfect example of the brain slipping into an altered state of consciousness. As evidenced by alcohol and drugs, in an intoxicated state, the mind perceives reality differently than a person in a normal state would. This is what the poor person who is struggling to remember where they put their keys down is going through, an altered state of consciousness where their keys, or whatever their lost object, is no longer where their memory dictates it would be. Somehow they are unable to perceive what just moments before was visible to all of their senses. It is a phenomenon that has long mystified philosophers and scientists, and even more so, the people who experience it.
Yet, for some reason, people who might never have tried anything more than a cup of coffee are still subject to these spontaneous outbreaks of altered consciousness. Some simply put it down to old age, while others attribute it to a mental breakdown. Either way, the brain has temporarily slipped into a state different than its normal existence.
Perhaps the most famous and curious example of this is “missing time” – defined as any period of time where the consciousness retains no memory of its existence. From driving to work and forgetting what happened along the route, to more fantastic accounts of alien abductions and memories being erased, worldwide there are millions if not billions of examples where people puzzle over the events that happened to them.
Again, alcohol and drugs can produce a similar effect, as is attested through so many personal anecdotes, but, again, this happens to people who are completely sober. Its almost as if the brain craves these altered states of consciousness, and desires to slip into them, either by inspiring the body to injest substances that encourage them, or by self-inducing whenever possible.
There are several explanations for this. The one considered here is that the brain enters a “zombie” mode – or perhaps what more accurately might be mentioned as a “screen saver” – it is still performing tasks as usually, but, part of it has gone into a shut down. Be it the memory retention part, in the case of missing time, or the sense perception part, in the case of inanimate objects found in their same location. Somehow the brain, as a whole, or in part, is managing to manipulate itself to influence its own behaviour.
This is evidence for the fact that the brain, and the mind in particular, is an incredibly capable machine. Not only is it capable of learning and reacting to the environment around it, but, it is also capable of changing its perception of that environment, spontaneously, through substances, or through audio-visual stimulation. To use a modern analogy, this would be like a computer purposely filtering or altering data that it received from a drive, for reasons that the actual programmer hadn’t anticipated. The mechanism is poorly understood, and the motivation for it is even less certain.
Practitioners of meditation and more esoteric studies claim they can do this at will, and again, there has been literature published that highlights these claims in great detail. The fact is, we have discovered a new tool, one that has very broad applications, from designing a regimen that would change the perspective of depressed people to a more positive state right up to mass mind control from sources that may not have our best interests in mind.
For now though, let us focus on the experience in our own lives. It cannot be denied that everyone goes through altered states of consciousness regularly and repeatedly. Indeed, from their physical reactions in these environments, one might argue that they are experiencing altered states of reality, because reality is ultimately fed to us through our senses. If our minds are telling us something isn’t there, it really isn’t there. Consider again the example of the person who has lost their keys, only to be surprised when someone else looks down and finds them instantly. The keys exist in the finders reality, but, do not in the owners reality. But, when the right stimulus is applied (the return of the keys to the owner) suddenly, the two minds synchronize, and their realities become one.
Perhaps this altered reality state might explain why some couples work so well together, while others don’t. Couples here is used in a general sense, referring both to romantic partners as well as pairs that spend a lot of time together. No matter which way we define a couple, the fact is that not only are our brains capable of influencing their own perspective of reality, we are also capable of influencing another’s perspective through our interaction. When two minds synchronize, there is apparently no limit to what powers might be unleashed.
Again, this phenomenon appears outside of the human condition. There are countless stories of animals that passed away at the exact same moment their owners died. There is the mysterious bond where animals know when their owners are coming home, even at distances too far to be perceived through normal senses. So, again, the human mind appears at the forefront of a curious phenomenon, where we can influence the reality of ourselves, one another, and indeed, any conscious creature in our sphere of influence.
This means we can control reality, to a limited degree. Through our thoughts, words, and ability to communicate, we can influence other conscious creatures, and in turn, we can also withdraw into a reality completely of our own creation. Both have their advantages as survival mechanisms, but, it is high time that we learned to develop this as a species. We know altered states of consciousness are real, and through them, we can experience altered states of reality. Perhaps the mind is powerful enough to reshape time and space, as indicated by missing time and missing objects that are recovered. It is perhaps the true final frontier. After deep space comes time and reality itself. That would be a noble and worthy aspiration for creation, to advance to the point where it can understand the very fabric of the universe intuitively and interact with it so.
In conclusion, don’t ignore those strange sensations of deja vu, or pass off those strange moments as a “senior’s moment” – instead, realize that you have just been through a mystical experience that others are actively seeking to inculcate within themselves. Time and training can bring those gifts to the fore, but, we are still in the infancy of developing the faculties of the mind. We have only just learned to detect gravity waves, perhaps in the future we will learn to interpret the field that weaves all beings together, and develop more fully as a species.

 

Don’t forget to purchase the Secrets of Solomon, and be ready for April 11th, when my next book comes out (Title pending)