Monsters Among Us: S19 Ep30 - African Cryptids, Skinless Creatures, and Body Parts on the Roadway

Host: Derek Hayes
Release Date: July 24, 2025
Platform: Audioboom Studios

Introduction

In this spine-chilling episode of Monsters Among Us, host Derek Hayes delves deep into the world of African cryptids, skinless creatures, and unsettling road incidents involving dismembered body parts. As always, Derek curates true paranormal stories directly from the voices of those who have experienced the unexplainable. This episode is a rollercoaster of eerie encounters, ranging from ghostly apparitions to mysterious phenomena connected to wildlife and folklore.

1. Julie's Encounter with the Man with Changing Faces

Timestamp: [04:33]

Julie, a 53-year-old from Alabama, recounts her haunting experience near her cabin in the woods. Growing up in an environment steeped in Southern Baptist traditions and close to real witches, Julie's interest in the occult and paranormal was involuntarily sparked by relentless supernatural encounters.

• Key Experience:
  Julie describes seeing a spirit she calls "the Man with Changing Faces," whose visage alternated between a skeletal face and a normal human face. This entity's unpredictable appearances led to intense fear and sleepless nights.

• Notable Quote:
  "I saw the silhouette of him. And I just rolled back over and said, nope, not doing this tonight. I am not doing this tonight." ([04:33])

• Impact:
  The presence of this malevolent spirit coincided with tragic events, including her fiancé's untimely death from natural causes. Julie believes her abilities as a seer were both a blessing and a curse, helping her navigate through profound personal loss.

2. Thomas's Story of Nellie, the Guiding Dog

Timestamp: [11:57]

Thomas from Cedar City, Utah, shares a heartwarming yet mysterious tale about his family's beloved Cane Corso dog, Nellie.

• Key Experience:
  After Nellie's sudden death, her owner’s father became lost while mountain biking. Remarkably, he followed a set of paw prints that seemed to appear out of nowhere, leading him back to their car.

• Notable Quote:
  "Nellie was the one that brought him back to the car so that he could say his goodbyes." ([13:10])

• Impact:
  This experience suggests a comforting afterlife presence, where Nellie acted as a guardian spirit ensuring her owner's safe return.

3. Grace's Mysterious Appearance of Sage

Timestamp: [25:07]

Grace from Chicago, Illinois, narrates an inexplicable event involving her decision to discontinue using sage in her spiritual practices due to cultural appropriation concerns.

• Key Experience:
  The very night Grace decided to stop using sage, a bundle of sage mysteriously appeared in her front yard, captured on her Ring doorbell camera with no one in sight.

• Notable Quote:
  "I'll find out an appropriate way to respect the sage I do have without using it or burning it. So a bundle of sage appeared in our front yard." ([25:07])

• Impact:
  Grace interprets this manifestation as a possible message from the universe, leaving her uncertain about the intended meaning but reaffirming her decision to cease using sage.

4. Katie's Haunted Role in a Horror Maze

Timestamp: [30:53]

Katie from Connecticut describes a peculiar and unnerving experience while working as an actor in a haunted maze built within an old steamer ship.

• Key Experience:
  During her shift, Katie felt an invisible presence when she reached the exit of a specific room. She physically felt a hand grab hers through the freezer flaps, yet no one was present upon looking around.

• Notable Quote:
  "As if that wasn't weird enough, I then walked back to my own position... My friend was there, and she said, 'Oh, my God, you scared me. What are you doing here?'" ([30:53])

• Impact:
  This encounter left both Katie and her coworker bewildered, questioning the boundaries between the haunted setting and actual paranormal activity.

5. Rachel's Tokolosi Encounter in Botswana

Timestamp: [36:49]

Rachel shares a harrowing story from her family's time in the Kalahari Desert, Botswana, involving a local creature known as the Tokolosi.

• Key Experience:
  Rachel's brother experienced a painful bite-like attack from an entity called the Tokolosi, which left blisters in the shape of teeth marks on his forearm. The creature, a spirit or demon visible only to its target, was eventually repelled through spiritual intervention and repentance.

• Notable Quote:
  "My father had to actually consult one of our friends in the village to figure out what to do about this, because my dad, being a Christian spiritual person, tried to pray for it to leave and it would not." ([36:49])

• Impact:
  This incident underscores the deep-rooted folklore and belief systems surrounding local cryptids and their influence on personal and familial behavior.

• Additional Insights:
  Derek Hayes references the Tokolosi’s depiction in media, likening it to South Africa's Tokoloshe, and mentions historical accounts dating back to 1644, tying the creature to various unexplained phenomena and criminal cases across centuries.

6. Carver's Mysterious Meteor Lights in Utah

Timestamp: [44:27]

Carver Morris from Riverton, Utah, reports witnessing strange lights during a meteor shower.

• Key Experience:
  While observing meteors, Carver and his roommate saw oblong, glowing masses moving silently across the reservoir. These lights exhibited unusual behavior, like changing shapes and moving at high speeds, leaving Carver puzzled about their origin.

• Notable Quote:
  "There's like a super crooked back... it's just not there one minute and then it's laying on the sidewalk the next." ([44:27])

• Impact:
  Derek posits the possibility of these being USOs (Unidentified Submerged Objects) or experimental high-altitude aircraft, connecting Carver's experience to a series of similar sightings in Connecticut's reservoirs.

7. William's Gore-Ridden Highway Encounter in Idaho

Timestamp: [47:09]

William from Boise, Idaho, shares a disturbing incident involving dismembered pigs on Highway 1 in California.

• Key Experience:
  While driving late at night, William witnessed police sirens behind him. A seemingly abandoned Crown Victoria sped past him into the woods. Later, he discovered a horrifying scene of severed pigs and blood on the road, leading him to flee the area in terror.

• Notable Quote:
  "It was like a dark red. And I pulled over, I got out of my car and I started walking up and I couldn't figure out what it was. It was hairy. And it ended up being a bunch of pigs, like big gray pigs chopped in half, just a pile of them." ([47:09])

• Impact:
  Derek suggests a plausible explanation involving California's invasive feral hog population, proposing that a mass incident involving these animals could account for the gruesome scene William encountered.

8. Mike's Terrifying Encounter in New Mexico

Timestamp: [60:36]

Mike from rural New Mexico recounts a night hike gone wrong with his friends, leading to a confrontation with a grotesque creature.

• Key Experience:
  During a late-night hike, Mike and his group heard unsettling noises and spotted a creature with exposed bones and missing teeth. As the entity seemed to become aggressive, Mike captured the event on video, leaving him and his friends deeply shaken.

• Notable Quote:
  "It was so scary... I've heard things about Windigos. It seems kind of similar." ([60:36])

• Impact:
  This encounter evokes comparisons to legendary creatures like the Windigo, highlighting the thin veil between folklore and real-life horror.

9. Sabrina's Shadow Person Experience in Northern California

Timestamp: [64:55]

Sabrina from northern California shares her personal brush with a shadowy apparition while staying alone in her husband's house.

• Key Experience:
  In the dead of night, Sabrina sensed a female figure at the edge of her bed, cloaked in a mysterious, moonlit garment. The presence exuded calmness and peace, yet left her feeling an inexplicable unease.

• Notable Quote:
  "I went back and walked through the hallway, but there's something at my right side that I can't explain." ([64:55])

• Impact:
  Sabrina’s experience emphasizes the unsettling nature of shadow people encounters, blending serenity with underlying tension.

Conclusion

Derek Hayes masterfully weaves together a tapestry of paranormal narratives, each unique yet interconnected through the universal thread of the unexplained. From spectral apparitions and guardian spirits to cryptids rooted in African folklore and horrifying wildlife encounters, this episode of Monsters Among Us offers listeners a comprehensive exploration of the mysterious and the macabre. By providing real accounts intertwined with thoughtful analysis and historical context, Derek ensures that both skeptics and believers find the content engaging and thought-provoking.

Notable Takeaways:

• Cultural Cryptids: The Tokolosi serves as a fascinating example of how local folklore shapes our understanding of supernatural entities.
• Animal Afterlives: Thomas's story of Nellie illustrates the heartwarming possibility of pets acting as spiritual guides.
• Unexplained Phenomena: From mysterious lights over lakes to gruesome highway scenes, the episode underscores the myriad ways the paranormal intersects with our daily lives.

Final Thoughts: For those intrigued by the paranormal or merely seeking a good scare, Monsters Among Us delivers with authenticity and depth, ensuring that each story resonates long after the episode ends.

Listen to Monsters Among Us every Saturday at 10 PM Eastern on the Annex Digital Network. For more stories and exclusive content, visit monstersamonguspodcast.com and join the community on Discord, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform.