All summer, io9 is offering a bounty to anyone who can find a genuine cryptid, or mystery animal. But to keep you amused in the meantime, we're doing a contest for who can create the best fake cryptid.
We've gotten some pretty funny entries so far, some of which might even be convincing. Would any of these make you cry cryptid?
Here's a batch of submissions that amused us — and in one case, kind of creeped us out.
Gator Boy (pictured above)
Creator William says:
The Gator-Boy was made predominantly with latex and cotton...
Points for: Sheer goofiness and fun. Plus, we always love practical effects.
Sharkaphant
Creator Collin writes:
The Sharkaphant was made using a mixture of googled images, Photoshop CS3, and time my employer wasn't quite aware of.
Points for: Old-timey look. Plus, sharks are always mating with elephants - everybody knows that.
The Slender Man
Creator Dan says this image was made with Photoshop CS5.
Points for: Loving old memes and recreating the fuzzy look in so many famous cryptid photos. Plus, there is something genuinely creepy about this image.
Dragonlizard
Creator Dennis says:
Made by some tinkering with the grand old Photoshop. Combining a picture of a lizard and a dragonfly, then adding the red.
Points for: Making it look pretty, and playing on people's natural tendency to think all insects are cryptids.
Sasquatch
Creator Lew says:
Re-proportioned a photo of a gorilla in photoshop and put it in a new background.
Points for: Sticking to the classics.
Got a great fake cryptid picture lying around? You have a few more days to enter our contest and win enduring internet fame!
HOW TO ENTER:
Send an email to cryptidsummer@io9.com, with the subject line FAKE CRYPTID. If you don't have that in the subject line, we will ignore your submission!
Attach your photo(s) or video to the email, and include the following information:
1. Your full name
2. What the picture is of
3. How you made it
4. A good way to contact you online so we can let you know if you've won
Again, without this information, we will ignore your submission. So please include it!
Deadline is July 31, at midnight Pacific Time.
And don't forget our real cryptid bounty . . .
io9 Offers $2000 Bounty For Authentic Photos Of Cryptids
This summer, io9 is going cryptozoological. We're offering a $2000 bounty to the person who sends us the best authentic photo or video of a "cryptid," or mystery animal. And that's just the beginning of Cryptid Summer. More »