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I'm Lauren Norton, and this is One Strange Thing,

the show where we search the nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained. Strangers Strangers, we're familiar with plenty of monster stories here on the podcast.

Some are tied to specific events that we've traced through the news, like the two dozen or so

bigfoots that ran rampant through the U.S. in the 1970s.

Others, though, they're sometimes more complex to track,

mostly because their origins are caught up in the quilt of local folklore.

And one of the best places to start tracing a monster tale

is in the legend and lore of the Ozark Mountains.

Now, we dipped our toe into the weird world of the Ozarks a few episodes back when we brought you the dark history of the Crescent Hotel.

But, of course, that's not the kind of story the region is most famous for, not by a long shot.

Rather, it's the monsters that have made the biggest impact.

The Ozarks might just be our country's richest breeding ground for cryptids, and the overlap

between folklore, belief, and events that have wriggled their way into the news, it is surprisingly

broad. Why does this region produce so many interesting creatures?

Well, according to Vox, quote,

location has a significant impact on folklore.

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