with JoAnne Myers
We are delighted to welcome back author JoAnne Myers to Omnimystery News.
Earlier this month we featured an excerpt from JoAnne's collection of folk and urban myths, Loves, Myths and Monsters (Melange Books trade paperback and ebook formats), and today we're pleased that she has offered to tell us more about one of creatures featured in the book, the chupacabra.
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Photo provided courtesy of
JoAnne Myers
The chupacabra, meaning "goat-sucker", is a legendary cryptic rumored to inhabit the Caribbean (chiefly Puerto Rico), Central and South America, North America (chiefly Mexico and southern United States). The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats, while leaving strange puncture marks in the animals neck.
How the chupacabra come about is also made of countless myths and legends. In my fantasy anthology, Loves, Myths and Monsters, one tale entitled "Welcome to Anna," describes the creature originating from South America thousands of years ago. There was a jungle god, who killed a female coyote when she attacked him. Afterward, the jungle god realized she had a puppy. Since he had no wife, he cast a spell over the puppy transforming it into a human mate.
Over time the wife gave the jungle god three sons, but when they became men they also wanted wives, because their mother was the only woman at that time. The jungle god said to the three brothers, "The one of you who designs the perfect woman will be made Chief and given a wife. He will become the producer of mankind."
So the oldest brother, named Lujuree, molded a woman from clay, but when it began to rain and the clay washed away. Then the middle brother, called Kujuli, molded a woman from wax, but she melted in the jungle sun. Then the youngest brother, Mopo, made a woman from wood and his father loved it so much, he made the youngest brother the Chief. That enraged Lujuree and Kujuli, so they killed Mopo.
For their punishment, their father cursed them for eternity. He turned the first brother into a coyote, an animal scavenging for rats and snakes, so all the people would hate it, then he sealed the second brother's soul inside the same animal so the two souls would struggle continuously for dominance. During the full moon, the second brother becomes very strong, using the moon's mystical powers, and the coyote turns into a hideous, blood-thirsty creature, roaming the night and sucking the blood from its victims. So the brothers are now either a chupacabra or a coyote, and they are feared and hunted no matter what shape they take. But it's just a legend?
Physical descriptions of the creature are as colorful as a rainbow. It is reportedly a heavy creature, anywhere from the size of a small bear, to nine feet tall, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail. Some individuals claiming to have witness livestock attacks, described the creature as having large ears, whiskers, a long tail, and about the size of a house cat. Others described the creature as a "four-legged Dracula and a scrawny, scraggly thing."
In "Welcome to Anna," the chupacabra is enormous. Long gray/brown fur covers its entire body. Its teeth are large razor sharp and fanged. Its claws are long and curved, with eyes almost human, as it walks upright.
Most authorities report these animals as being coyotes, fox/coyotes, or wild dogs suffering from Sarcoptes scabiei, a severe case of mange. That symptom would explain most of the features of the reported Chupacabras: they would be left with little or strange looking fur, thickened skin, and rank odour.
The reason this creature is said to kill goats and other small livestock is due to the fact that carnivores infected with mange are greatly weakened, making it difficult for these sickly animals to hunt. So they may be forced into attacking livestock because it's easier than running down a rabbit or a deer.
Countless legends abound along with movies, books, and documentaries concerning the chupacabra. I once saw video footage capturing this bizarre creature believed to be a chupacabra, on episodes of the Syfy television series Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files. The video was at times so grainy, that creature running around on camera, could have been a child in an animal costume.
My heroine from "Welcome to Anna" is Zoe. She lost her grandparents/guardians to a strange looking dog/coyote, while leaving her with minor injuries. Zoe must then return to the states to live with her estranged mother, Teresa. Little does Zoe realize, but the Chupacabra who attacked her and her grandparents followed her.
If you enjoy reading about monsters, danger, suspense, with romance thrown in, you will love Loves, Myths and Monsters.
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JoAnne Myers has been a long-time resident of southeastern Ohio, and worked in the blue-collar industry most of her life. She is a mother of three and grandmother of eight. Besides having several novels under her belt, she canvas paints.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at BooksAndPaintingsByJoanne.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Loves, Myths and Monsters
JoAnne Myers
A Collection of Folk and Urban Myths
A collection of mystical tales starring The Mothman, the Chupracabra, reincarnation, ghosts, an Egyptian love curse and more entwined within the human world.
