History
In the summer of 2008, a mysterious glob of mammal flesh washed ashore upon the northern coast of Long Island. Dubbed “Montauk Monster” or "Mounty " by Nicky Papers, one of the eyewitnesses on site and blogger of montauk-monster.com, it soon attracted attention from the media as well as speculators and cryptozoologists. Some were guessing it was a dead raccoon, dog or pig. The creature was even guessed to be a genetic experiment gone awry such as on Unsealed: Conspiracy Files or a decaying turtle carcass.
After much media hype, the Montauk Monster was soon revealed to be a prop from the upcoming film
Artist's Rendering
Splinterheads starring Lea Thompson. The pictures and mystery had been deliberately leaked to build up hype about the film. See montauk-monster.com for more details.
While general interest and theories on the subject gradually subsided over the last year, it quickly regained momentum this year, after another “Montauk Monster” was found on the beach last month. The new photographs look fairly different than the original. It’s not clear whether this is a copy-cat incident, or a continuation of the viral marketing. Analysis revealed it to be raccoon that decomposed underwater.
In popular media
Hunter Shea released a horror novel under the title "The Montauk Monster ", published by Pinnacle Fiction in 2014. He also released another novel named after another cryptid, called "Swamp Monster Massacre".