Tales of Cryptids/Unexplained Creatures From The Americas

The Loveland Frogman

Author's notes:

This creature is from my home state of Ohio. The Loveland Frogman is a giant amphibian creature who was first seen in Loveland, Ohio, 1955. The creature's height is around 4 feet (1.2 m) tall. It has leathery skin and webbed feet. As for the believability of this creature. I don't believe a modern amphibian could evolve to be this big when they are so highly out competed in North America. The largest living amphibian is the Chinese Giant Salamander which is 5.9 ft (1.8 m) long. But the largest american amphibian is The Hellbender, which it's range is near Ohio, bur it is usually around 20 inches (50 centimeters) long. But the largest ones are around 29 inches (73 centimeters). It is also very suspicious this occurred during the height of Bigfoot and other cryptids popularity. Ohio is also home to the Grassmen, a "sub-species" or variant of Bigfoot. So maybe someone wanted to gain some notoriety and attention with a tale about a scary big monster. But there is no recognized progenitor of the legend. So their goal of fame was never achieved but their legend's fame is forever cemented into Loveland's folklore. This story will be based on the origin of the legend but not a copy of it. The general premise is the same but not the details.

I was going on a business trip from Columbus to Indiana. The fastest and least crowded route to my destination was through Loveland. I also had to stop there to drop a package to another branch there. So I had to go to boring old Loveland which had very little to there. But I was happy I didn't have to stay there for very long. I would just drop the package off and leave. I was driving into the town but the road I was traveling down came to a stop. I looked around and saw one construction crew member. I asked him what happened to the bridge. He said some of the supports broke. It was already around 11 p.m. and I did not want to spend the night here. So asked him if there was any short cuts. 

He told me there was another bridge a little further out from there. The only problem was that it's poorly lit and has had a lot of accidents there recently. I told him I would be fine, I have pretty decent light and haven't had any drinks. He gave me the directions and I was off. I turned the radio to channel with some of my favorite radio dramas. It was playing some horror story. It was strangely relaxing expect for the occasional screams of a woman. This along with the long drive down here, made me very sleepy. I started to nod off.

I was getting close to the road so I slapped myself a little bit. I rolled down the window to get some cool air to wake me up. I rubbed my eyes for just a second. When I opened them back up I almost hit something. I swerved the road to avoid it. I nearly wrecked into a tree but my car didn't hit anything. But I was worried about the thing in the road. So I grabbed my flashlight out of the glovebox. I got out of the car and approached near where I last saw it. 

When I got to the spot and didn't see anything. Thank god I sighed to myself because seeing a dead or dying animal was the last thing I wanted to see. For a moment I thought I saw a child. That's what it looked like but thankful if it was I didn't hit them. It was just a blob in my vision and I was curious to look around and see if I wounded it. So just incase it was a coyote or some other dangerous animal I grabbed my tire iron. I survey the area around me, it appeared empty. When I say empty I don't mean I couldn't find the animal that I found. I mean it was devoid of any life. Even the frogs and toads of spring who normally would be croaking and calling to one another, were quite. It was very uncanny and unnerving. The night critters should be cripping away but all there was only silence. 

That when I heard a huge splash from the water. It sounded like a person being thrown into the water. I went towards the water just incase it was a kid that fell into the water. Where I heard the splash was pretty far off from the road. That's when I saw a child shaped blob. I shouted out "Are you ok?" I was meet with no response to my question. The blob did move in way that made me think they was turning to look at me. 

"You're not in trouble, I just wanted to make sure you're ok." I shouted towards them. They moved their head back to their original position. I moved close and started to shine my flashlight a little closer toward them. "I can take you home if you need a ride, I'm already heading into town." I shouted. Their head snapped back quickly to look at me. "Hey can you just tell if you're hurt or not." I shouted a little more forcefully. I was starting to get a little annoyed and unnerved with this kid. 

I started to walk even faster toward them while shining my flashlight right at them. "Can you just-" I stopped myself from moving any closer to them. No that was not a person, It's eyes shinned exactly like a frog or an nocturnal animal's eye when a flashlight hits them. It's skin looked like an alligator boot or an unfinished leather belt. It's feet looked like a duck or goose' palmate. My body was frozen if I had seen this thing in a haunted house, I would've laughed. But it was moving, breathing, and staring right at me with it's hideous eyes. 

The thing was eating something. I looked a little past it and I saw a deer with it's throat torn out. It shift into a position similar to an ape crouching down. It's whole body was directed right towards me. That's when it stood up and started shuffling towards me. I started to back up but the thing started to speed up. In a last ditch effort I throw my tire iron right at it. I heard it collide against it but I could still hear it's horrid webbed feet coming towards me. I raised my hands up to defend myself and that's when I heard it stomping come to a stop. I lowered my hands and saw it just standing there. It looked like it had been entranced by something. That's when I realized that I was shining my flashlight right on it.

Frog and toads sometimes freeze up when a flashlight is shined in it's eyes. Maybe that's what stopped it's pursuit. I started to move back but I kept my flashlight on it's eyes. I eventually made it to my car which was still on. I got in and locked my door, I put the pedal to the medal. I started to cross the bridge when I saw it's giant luminous eye shining in the moonlight. To this day I don't go to Loveland or near lake or rivers.