The Squonk

About

The Squonk is a cryptid purported to live in northern Pennsylvania's hemlock forests that is said to be constantly unhappy and crying due to its misfitting skin, leaving a trail of tears wherever it goes and dissolving into tears when startled. The Squonk was described as early as 1910 in the book Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods. In Pennsylvania, there is an annual festival, "Squankapalooza," to celebrate the creature. The Squonk became increasingly well-known online throughout the late 2010s and the 2020s, inspiring memes about its ugly appearance and mannerisms, including memes where people ironically relate to the creature.

Origin

In 1910, William Thomas Cox published the fantasy field guide Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, in which he describes several fictional cryptids.^[1] On page 31, he describes the Squonk, a creature which is described as "always unhappy" due to its "misfitting skin." He writes that the Squonk is the "most morbid of beasts" and that hunters of the creature can track it by following its trail of tears, as it "weeps constantly." He also describes how, when the creature is cornered, afraid or startled, it may dissolve into a puddle of tears. A drawing of a Squonk is also provided (shown below).

"The squonk is of a very retiring disposition, generally traveling about at twilight and dusk. Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy…Hunters who are good at tracking are able to follow a squonk by its tear-stained trail, for the animal weeps constantly. When cornered and escape seems impossible, or when surprised and frightened, it may even dissolve itself in tears."

Spread

In Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the Squonk has inspired the annual "all-ages festival celebrating the Squonk and other creatures of Appalachian and Americana folklore and cryptozoology," Squankapalooza.^[2] The cryptid spread online throughout the late 2010s through memes and posts sharing its lore. One of the earliest examples is a January 10th, 2017 post to the Alice Cooper Facebook^[3] page sharing an image macro describing the creature, using artwork of the creature drawn by Ashley Gerst,^[4] garnering over 1,800 shares and 4,200 reactions in seven years (shown below).

On May 17th, 2017, now-inactive Tumblr^[5] user swyrs made a post telling the story of the Squonk and calling it "the most relatable thing i’ve ever heard," garnering over 102,000 notes in seven years (shown below, left). On July 26th, 2019, u/Ryan_The_Rhino14 shared an image macro using the same image to /r/memes,^[6] garnering over 20,000 upvotes in five years (shown below, right).

On August 2nd, 2020, u/mantedachado shared an Of Course I Know Him meme about the Squonk to /r/memes,^[7] garnering over 22,000 upvotes in four years (shown below). On June 6th, 2021, a now-deleted Redditor shared another meme about the Squonk to /r/memes,^[8] garnering over 12,000 upvotes in three years.

On June 21st, 2023, Instagram^[9] user hoenest.memes reposted the viral Tumblr post by swyrs, garnering over 45,000 likes in seven months. On October 16th, Instagram^[10] user lvwithlove shared a post about the Squonk, garnering over 60,000 likes in three months. On December 29th, Instagram^[11] user factsweird posted an image macro about the Squonk that gained over 16,000 likes in a week.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References