Four Books Describing Iowa Weird: Ghosts, Cryptids & Other Strange Stuff

 

So you wanna talk about Iowa ghosts, monsters, cryptids, and other mysterious creatures.

Don’t laugh. They’re out there. Sometimes closer than you think 

Sasquatches. Banshees. Black Angels. Truck eating bridges. Bridges that move cars. Maybe even a few UFOs.

Iowa’s got them all. Most of the stories are out there, easy to find. But some of them are hidden. You’ve got to do a little digging to find the real dirt. 

Or—you can read these books, written by guys who’ve spent their lives digging through ancient archives, sifting cemetery dirt, or maybe sitting under the Black Angel at midnight. Waiting. Wondering—if their time was up.

I know. Reading a book isn’t near as satisfying as chasing a banshee down Brady Street at 3 a.m. Or tracking a Sasquatch through the brush at Bulger’s Hollow by moonlight, but— You know you’re going to wake up in your own bed the next morning. That’s a big plus, isn’t it?

One Kiss Under These Wings And You're Done

 

The Black Angel rises out of Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City—ten feet tall, solid bronze, dark as a storm rolling in. Her wings are raised, her head tipped downward, like she’s watching something you can’t see. Or waiting for it.

People will tell you all kinds of things about her. She moves. Cries at midnight. If you kiss under her wings, you’ll be dead within a year.

It might be nonsense. Maybe not. Either way, nobody walks up to her like she’s just another statue.

People don’t understand that she didn’t start out that way.

When the statue went up in 1913, it was bright bronze. It was commissioned by Teresa Feldevert after the deaths of her son and husband. She wanted something permanent that would hold their memory in place.

Something Is Watching in Okoboji Lake… and People Won’t Talk About It

Lake Okoboji Serpent

If you’ve ever dipped your toes in West Okoboji Lake, you’ve probably felt that little jolt when something brushes against your ankle. A strand of seaweed, maybe a fish, or… something else.

 

Something long. And scaly. And watching.

 

The locals will tell you it’s probably just the Okoboji Serpent. Then they’ll smile, like they’re kidding, but maybe not.

 

Ever since white settlers arrived in the Iowa Great Lakes region, there’ve been whispers about something big—very big—lurking beneath the blue-green waves of Okoboji. Something that leaves waves when there’s no boat, casts shadows longer than any muskie, and with a head like a horse, a neck like a garden hose, and a tail that goes on forever.

The Strangest Creatures Ever Seen in Iowa (Real Sightings, Real Places)

The Van Meter Visitor

It usually happens fast.

 

A shape crossing a road. Something moving where nothing should be. A second too long to be a mistake.

 

Then it’s gone.

 

Most people don’t report it. They tell a friend. Maybe a neighbor. Then they stop talking about it.

 

But the story doesn’t go away.