Announcements, Cryptid, Mystery, Paranormal

Ep 14 : Our First Cryptid- SC’s Own Lizard Man

In the first Cryptid episode on Haunted Hospitality, Zoey covers the Lizard Man that belongs to a town just a few hours away from our home base in Columbia, SC. This episode was on our list to cover, but it was also thanks to Glenn’s recommendation that we decided to cover it earlier! Thank you Glenn!

Before we get into the content, however, Robin shares her new deck of Tarot cards, talking about how she got them in Asheville and what exactly drew them to her. Zoey then talks about a very normal dream that became creepy very quickly and how her cat, Toes, saved her from a potential possession.

Then, for today’s Something Southern, Robin shares a book recommendation. She gives a brief synopsis of Grady Hendrix’s novel, “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires”. The book centers on two Southern women who are in a book club together, when things suddenly go south (haha) as they discover a vampire in their midst.

The Lizard Man is a topic Zoey has been very eager to cover, so in this fun episode, she tries to convince Robin that the Lizard Man does indeed exist. Zoey covers first hand reports, shows clips of video interviews, and goes into a wild conspiracy of her own. Listen to the episode to see if Zoey is able to convince Robin to the validity of her tails (hahaha). Do you believe in the Lizard Man?

CW: death of a dog; mention of blood

I mention this in the episode, but this research was done all in one night while I was fairly exhausted. I had previously done research on another story in preparation for a fun event (that I will keep a secret for now) and while Robin and I were at the Biltmore Estate the day before we recorded this episode, we found out we needed to postpone those plans. We debated a while on what we would do – should I cover the same episode that I had already done research on? Or should I research something else?

I didn’t get home until around 9 pm that day, and Robin wasn’t convinced that I would be able to do the research in time. However, I knew I had this episode in my back pocket. As a lover of all things fun and lizard-y, I knew that I would have enough hyperfocus in me to be able to pull this off. Sure enough, as I laughed my way through my research, I found more than enough for a full episode.

This quickly became my favorite, even before we had recorded. As you can see in the image to the left, I have a tattoo of a cartoon leaf-tailed gecko wearing a British crown and blepping out his tongue.

When I started the research, I didn’t believe in the Lizard Man, I thought it was just a funny concept. But the more and more I read of primary sources, the more I believed the Lizard Man exists. Do I believe that the photo that always pops up whenever you Google “South Carolina Lizard Man” is the Lizard Man? Absolutely not.

Do I believe it is possible that the town has made him up to get tourist funds? Possibly. But I’d like to think that this small town wouldn’t have a large portion of people willing to kill their livestock and destroy their own cars just for some tourist money they wouldn’t see directly anyway.

Plus, the blood that is covered. That single fact is enough to make me believe. Even if the cars are faked, even if the sightings are lies. That blood test that could not be defined as any known creature is enough for me to say, “I believe”.

So, if there are any listeners in Sumter or Lee county, keep an eye out for a purple-haired woman in your forests. I’m going hunting for a Lizard Man.

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