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Trippy Tales From the Backyard
The Kinderhook Blob
Welcome back, Young and Young-at-Heart explorers! Welcome back to Trippy Tales from the Backyard! The show where we explore some of the strangest, scariest, and most curious urban legends from around the world, especially the good old U.S.A.! Be they unknown cryptids, horrific hauntings, or random unexplained phenomena, the stories we tell on this show explore the mostly untapped supernatural side of the 50 states and beyond!
With Halloween only mere days away (at the time of me writing this), I'm fairly certain that we're all excited to have a nice bowl of sugary treats and become entitled to at least one good scare!
And we here at Something Niche are just about as ready as the rest of you certainly are! And as part of our continuing celebrations, tonight, we will be taking a virtual visit to the Empire State in order to take a curious peak at one of its lesser-known cryptids.
However, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that this cryptid is unfortunately located nowhere near the urban concrete jungle playground of New York City, so we won't be seeing any of the sights there for tonight. But the good news is that this place is just as interesting; not to mention probably has a lot less traffic and obnoxious locals!
No, the place in New York where we will be sharing our s'mores with tonight is the small town of Kinderhook. Located just a short drive from the state's capital of Albany, Kinderhook, whose name means "children's corner" in Dutch, is a small, picturesque village with a large Dutch ancestral background that's reflected in its classical architecture. It's also an artist's wet dream, with many shops and walking exhibits peppering its streets.
It's also notable for being the hometown of former U.S. President Martin Van Buren, with his old home becoming a National Historic Site and tourist destination.
But, you didn't come here for a history lesson, didja? No, you came here to hear about cryptids! And tonight's subject is definitely quite a peculiar sight to behold!
First sited in the 1960s, The Kinderhook Blob might be one of the most mysterious topics we've spoken about on Something Niche yet. With very few public appearances ever since, and even fewer pop cultural nods, The Kinderhook Blob is certainly a uniquely unknown creature. However, it's brief legend is still one that's worth investigating, and certainly worth telling your buddies about!
So, gather around the campfire, my friends, and make prepare to have chills roll down your spine, as we share a Trippy Tale from The Backyard!
Weirdness Has No Shape
As I said in our last meeting about the Beast of Bray Road, the United States, while arguably the most powerful nation in the world, is still a relatively recent addition to the world's history. Therefore, it should only make sense that a lot of its cryptids would only have been in the public consciousness for only a century or so at most.
But the Kinderhook Blob can actually be considered one of the "babies" of the American Cryptid world, as it's sightings only date back to the 1960s. 1962, to be precise.
That year, it was a seemingly normal day of an unspecified season, and a young boy named Bruce Hallenback was seemingly using his imagination near the woods of Kinderhook alongside his 7-year-old cousin. Suddenly, Young Bruce heard a strange whistling noise. He turned his head, and his eyes caught a glimpse of a strange, amorphous figure peeking out from behind a nearby pine tree.
"The closest I can get to a description of the thing that it looked something like Casper the Friendly Ghost of animated cartoon fame: It had a big, round "head" and there was a bluish tint to it." Hallenback described in a book he wrote about the encounter dubbed Monsters of New York. "My cousin didn't really take time to look; I told her we should get out of the woods, and we both ran down the hill at great speed. We never looked back."
As implied by the quote above, that strange incident would follow Hallenback well into his adulthood. He grew up to become a cryptozoologist and wrote several books pertaining to the mysteries of the 50 States, including the aforementioned Monsters of New York, published in 2013.
It would also seem that this creature took a particular liking to his family, as many of his family members and friends would also become witnesses to this supposed Casper-look alike. In 1978, two more of his cousins, Barry Knights and Russell Zbeirski, claimed to have come across a "white, bell-shaped thing" while camping out one night. In 1993, his now-elderly father was plowing the fields with his tractor when he noticed a similar creature flying over his head. Humorously, he also compared the creature's appearance to a cartoon character; in this case, the Schmoo, from the comic strip Lil Abner.
No Prob, Blob!
However, one of the most infamous sightings occurred when an as-of-yet-unidentified young man (theorized by some to be Jerome Miller, a friend of Bruce Hallenback's), claimed to have come across the Kinderhook Blob while hiking one day. He claimed that the creature was 6 feet in height and had the ability to float above the ground. He even noted that it actually managed to float across a 6-foot pond as it gave chase!
Sometime later, the young man broke a skeptical friend (who some theorize to be Hallenback himself) back to the area where the creature chased him. They were armed with pitchforks and shovels for protection, but that ultimately proved to be a futile effort. The supposed Kinderhook Blob reappeared, and the two young men dropped the weapons and ran away in terror.
During the last couple of decades of the 20th century and the start of the New Millenium, the Kinderhook Blob seemingly disappeared, with very little-if any-sightings being reported. That long absence came to an end in 2017, when Kinderhook residents Owen Farley and Anthony Malanowski claimed to have crossed paths with it one pitch black evening. They were taking a leisurely stroll through the woods-presumably the same wooded area where Bruce and his cousin had encountered the beast more than 50 years prior-when the temperature in the area suddenly plummeted. Shortly thereafter, a horrific shriek broke the silence of the night, and the two men came in contact with 7-foot tall blob floating towards them. Wisely, the two men made a mad dash out of the woods.
That same year, a Redditor with the screen name of Human-Still-6949 claimed to have had his own encounter with the Kinderhook Blob. He was in the process of building a shed in the area when he heard a high-pitched whistling noise; most likely one in the same with the noise Young Bruce had heard all those years ago. The sound grew louder and louder until it sounded like it was right on top of him. Eventually, he saw a grey humanoid figure circling counterclockwise above his head, and he scrambled back home as it disappeared.
Sheeted in Mystery
Of the few cryptids we have discussed so far on Trippy Tales from the Backyard, The Kinderhook Blob might already be the most mysterious, with little to no theories having been proposed about its true identity. Is it a ghost? And Alien? Or is it just a mere hallucination brought on by the moonlight?
Well, giving its rather simplistic design and comparisons to a white sheet, this creature unfortunately may be the most likely to be a mere hoax. Or perhaps a mischievous prank by a few unruly teenagers? Or giving its supposed first sighting, was it just the overactive imagination of a couple of impressionable young lads?
Nevertheless, skeptics often believe that, like most cryptids, the Kinderhook Blob may be some kind of misidentified animal, its true identify masked by forced perspective or-in rare cases-the influence of certain substances (Human-Still-6949 DID note that he had a very bad cold during his sighting and was under the influence of NyQuil!) Giving its purported design, it's also possible that it may just be a piece of clothing or bedding somebody hung up to dry and got lost in the wind. Or maybe it was a loose piece of litter or plastic bag? (I don't know. Use your Imagination!)
However, there's still plenty of paranormal fanatics who insist that the Kinderhook Blob is the real deal, with the Hallenback family lineage still keeping the image in their collective memories to this day. A few citizens of Kinderhook notably even believe that it may be connected to-or even one in the same-with another mysterious creature located nearby.
As you may notice with several of our subjects moving forward, this creature appears to be yet another distant relative of Bigfoot, taking the form of a bipedal ape-like beast, often described as having red eyes, something that has been adopted by a few of the Kinderhook Blob's rare media depictions. Some even believe he may not be the only one of his kind, with one citizen even claiming to have sighted a group of three while on a hunting trip in the nearby swamplands.
The Kinderhook Kloseup
Next comes the part of this show where we look at our subject's depictions in pop culture and media. Unfortunately, giving its relative obscurity-no doubt due to being located practically in the middle of nowhere- the Kinderhook Blob has had a rather limited exposure in the world of pop culture.
Even his arguably most high-profile guest spot has been relatively neglected by the masses, that being as a collectible creature in the Pokémon-inspired card game MetaZoo: Cryptid Nation. The image above depicts the creature's collectible card from said game.
However, in recent years, signs seem to point to things changing for our blobby friend. As implied by the images depicted above, a lot of independent artists seem to have taken a liking to it, often redesigning him as a cute mascot character befitting the likes of Sanrio. Plenty of printouts can be found online depicting our blobby buddy in this form, something that seems a given in a post Steven Universe-world!
This new, Pikachu-esque image that has been given to the Kinderhook Blob has also even led to a few amateur children's books being created about the creature, such as The Kinderhook Blob that Never Gave Up, part of a series of books about legendary creatures written by author Angelo Indica.
Perhaps with all of this newfound exposure during the digital age, maybe the Kinderhook Blob's legend won't be so obscure for much longer!
Some Things in this world you just can't explain
So, what does the future hold for the legend of the Kinderhook Blob? Will we ever be able to prove or disprove its existence? Will we ever be able to find out where it actually came from, if it is real? Is it ultimately friend or foe?
As I've said before, there may be some mysteries the world may never be able to solve. And the mystery of the Kinderhook Blob is one those. Even as the creature has established a growing presence worldwide during the age of the Internet, it's infrequent sightings and a lack of physical evidence (especially compared to many other cryptids) have left an aura of confusion amongst the general public. And its resemblance to an ordinary household blanket or other such appliances couple with actual documented confessions of being under the influence during sightings certainly point to this legend being one of the most likely to be a hoax, even if we can't say for sure at the moment.
Of course, even if it may ultimately turn out to be a hoax, that doesn't make the Kinderhook Blob any less fascinating. Its rather simplistic appearance has notably caught the attention of many rising artists during the era where its trendy to be artsy. And its relative obscurity has kept its legion of thrill-seeking fanciers growing year after year. And in an era touched by dark events such as Covid-19 where everybody seems to want to question the supposed truth, perhaps the Kinderhook Blob could be on its way to joining Nessie and Bigfoot as a top-tier creature of the supernatural.
But, what do you think? Are you fascinated with the Kinderhook Blob after reading this article? Do you happen to a native of Kinderhook who's familiar with the legend? Or are you like me and discovered it through the magic of the Internet? Share with me your thoughts in the comments section down below!
And with that, This Trippy Tale from the Backyard, has been finished, and this meeting, adjourned!
Happy Halloween from Something Niche!
Sources:
Dominy, Preston. “Cryptids of North America #1: New York.” Preston Posits, Preston Posits, 1 Oct. 2023, www.preston-posits.com/blog/cryptids-of-new-york-explained.
Foundation, National Park. “Martin Van Buren National Historic Site | National Park Foundation.” National Park Foundation, 2025, www.nationalparks.org/explore/parks/martin-van-buren-national-historic-site.
McFarland, Forrest. “Inside the History of Kinderhook Creature after Monster ‘Terrorized Families.’” The US Sun, The US Sun, 11 Jan. 2023, www.the-sun.com/news/7103221/inside-kinderhook-creature-history-bigfoot-monster/.
Phillips, Will. “The ‘Kinderhook Blob,’ One of Upstate NY’s Strangest Legends.” 96.9 WOUR, 25 Oct. 2022, wour.com/kinderhook-blob/.
Rivera, Natalie. “Kinderhook - Blog.” The Local Artisan Guide, 22 Apr. 2024, thelocalartisanguide.com/blog/tag/Kinderhook.
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