We have talked a lot about cryptids in East Tennessee, and many of them are extremely well-known, but today we’re going to be diving into one that isn’t as infamous but just as terrifying as the rest.
Take a second and imagine that you’re staying in a cabin in the Appalachian mountains. It was a beautiful day you spent outside, enjoying the scenery. Once dusk hits, and you are in for the night, getting ready to go to bed, you hear a noise outside. It’s in the distance, so you don’t think about it too much. It’s just a light tapping; for all you know, it’s a woodpecker having a snack.
A few minutes later, it seems to get closer. You acknowledge it, but don’t do anything about it. It stops once again, and you think it’s over until all of a sudden it’s closer. There’s a tap on the wall across the room from you.
By now, you’re getting too scared to take a look. It feels like forever while you sit in silence, seeing if it’ll happen again, and it does. On the closest window to you, another rhythmic tapping rings out. You are absolutely terrified, so you run and lock yourself in a different room, praying that it will go away, but it doesn’t. All night, the tapping follows you wherever you go. It just gets closer and closer.
While this is just a story that you and I get to enjoy, it has been the reality for many people in the Appalachian Mountains. There is a Cryptid that lives in the woods that is known to tap on trees, windows, doors, and walls with the only intention to drive you mad all night. In the morning, once the sun starts to rise, it stops.
There have been a few people who have supposedly seen the creature in charge of this tapping, and it’s just as terrifying as you would imagine. Multiple witnesses referred to the creature, Old Talon, as being larger than any human could ever be. It is described as a bear-bat mix in appearance. It is reported to be extremely hairy, but with ears like a bat and hands that are almost human, besides the long talons that stick out from its fingers.
Despite its size, it can hide extremely easily, and its bat-like ears are perfectly designed for hearing you in the dark, even when you think you’re being quiet. Old Talon is known for driving people insane with his rhythmic taps throughout the night. It’s even been associated with some disappearances, specifically of children.
Now, whether or not you believe that Old Talon is what people say it is, I think we can all agree that experiencing it firsthand isn’t on the to-do list.
