The Slinking Thing From Sinking Spring

"Others emerged from the light, shadow, and sound of a lonely wood. Others are straight-out lies, cousins to the tall tale, spun by frontiersmen, woodsmen, cowboys, and carnival sharps to prank the tenderfoot and pass the time. All are part of an unnatural natural history that reaches back to our earliest mythology." 

- Alvin Schwartz on his book 'Kickle Snifters and Other Fearsome Critters'