What does it say about your job when several people email you links to a map showing which monsters live in which states? That you have a pretty fun job, if you ask me.

When I first heard of the map, I took a quick look to see which "monster," or mythical creature, was chosen as Alabama's representative creeper. I was surprised when I saw it: Alabama had no monster!

The map, called "Monsters in America: A Cryptozoological Map of the United States," was published by Hog Island Press of Philadelphia and sells for $25, ready to frame. It is described as "possibly the first of its kind - a snapshot of American cryptozoology that brings together the Jersey Devil, Bigfoot, Mothman, Chupacabra, Shunka Warakin, Caddy, the Honey Island Swamp Monster and many more cryptids on one hand-drawn, hand-screened map."

But it definitely needs a critter from Alabama.

A detail of the map called "Monsters in America: A Cryptozoological Map of the United States," published by Hog Island Press of Philadelphia. It sells for $25, ready to frame. Visit http://www.hogislandpress.com.

Some people think Alabama is known for the Choccolocco Monster but that was a 1960s' hoax perpetuated in Calhoun County. Read more about it here.

Here is a list I published for Halloween 2013 called "5 mythical creatures that reportedly roam Alabama's back roads" with some suggestions for Alabama's "monster."

The Wolf Woman of Mobile

The half-wolf, half woman creature so frightened the citizenry of Mobile that people began calling The Press-Register to report the sightings. On April 8, 1971, the newspaper reported the phenomenon, complete with a drawing of the creature conceived by a newspaper illustrator: "Listening to as many as 50 phone calls the Press Register has received, day and night, in approximately a week, you wonder if perhaps there isn't something out there."

Witnesses described the creature as "pretty and hairy," and "the top half was a woman and the bottom was a wolf." An unnamed teenager is quoted as saying: "My daddy saw it down in a marsh and it chased him home. Now, my mommy keeps all the doors and windows locked." One witness had heard the creature had escaped from a circus sideshow.

The reporter said the fear of witnesses seemed real, although the initial reports would have begun on April Fool's Day. The police were getting calls, too, and although officers would not make an official comment, they did investigate to determine what, exactly, Mobile's citizens were seeing. Sightings of half-wolf, half human creatures have been reported throughout history, with the werewolf being the most common incarnation. The legends of anthropomorphic creatures stem from American Indian folklore and capture the imagination. Within days, sightings of the Wolf Woman of Mobile stopped and have not been reported since.

Bigfoot

Reports of sightings of Bigfoot in Alabama are nothing new. In fact, the sightings were plentiful enough for Jim Smith to start the Alabama Bigfoot Society.

Smith reports sightings on the group's website, including the latest one in Daviston in September. He also describes ways people can tell a Sasquatch has been in the area, bent or snapped trees, or trees arranged in a "tee pee" shape.

Smith writes: "I became interested in this elusive creature in 1971 while in

high school in east central Alabama. I was 15 at the time. It seems that year we people in this area had one or more of these creatures roaming the woods in a fairly large area. There were multiple sightings over several months and I saw this giant, hairy, 'non-existent' creature for myself, more than once.

Smith says that, at age 56, he remains as interested in Sasquatch as he was at age 15. "Since my first sighting, I have spent numerous hours in the field investigating sighting reports," he said. "I have listened to countless witnesses relive their own encounter, or encounters."

The Alabama "White Thang"

The legend of the Alabama White Thing has been prevalent since the 1940s in the triangle between Morgan, Etowah and Jefferson counties, where people reported seeing a creature more than 7 feet tall and covered in white hair. It has been sighted in Happy Hollow, Walnut Grove, Moody's Chapel and Wheeler Wildlife Refuge.

The creature is known for its ability to move extremely quickly, despite its size, and for its eerie screech that sounds like a woman's scream. Some have described the scream as sounding like that of a panther.

Many have speculated that the White Thing is an albino Bigfoot, or perhaps a large albino bear. Peter J. Gossett writes on his website of Winston County history, freestateofwinston.org, that his aunt, Feneda Martin Smith knew people who reported the "white thang."

Smith told Gossett: "Old man George Norris...seen it over there in Enon graveyard, and he said it looked like a lion...you know, bushy, betwixt a dog and a lion. It was white and slick with long hair. It had a slick tail, down on the end of the tail a big ol' bush of hair. He lent up against a tree and fell asleep. When he woke up the sun was just rising, and the 'white thang' was laying right beside him, and it was looking at him. He said it didn't offer to hurt him or nothing."

In Huntsville, the phrase "Alabama White Thing" is used to describe a humanoid, possibly alien figure spotted in caves or drainage ditches in Jones Valley, along Governor's Drive and on Monte Sano Mountain. The creature is described as having no eyes or ears and being completely white. A team of researchers of the White Thing started a Facebook page called Alabama White Thang.

Huggin' Molly

For mothers wanting their children to hurry home at dark, the legend of the witch-like Huggin' Molly was a helper. For children, she was downright frightening. The Abbeville legend of Huggin' Molly began decades ago.

Legend claims a phantom woman would appear to children, but only at night. She would squeeze them tightly, then scream in their ears. She never harmed them, other than perhaps causing some ringing in their ears. The figure was as much as 7 feet tall, wearing dark clothing and a wide-brimmed hat.

One version of the story claims Molly was the ghost of a woman who had lost an infant who dealt with the tragedy by hugging local children. Another states that Molly was a professor at the former Southeast Alabama Agriculture School who was trying to keep students safe by keeping them off the streets at night.

Today, Abbeville remembers Huggin' Molly by venturing downtown and stopping in a cafe named for the phantom. Huggin' Molly's is set in an old pharmacy, complete with a soda fountain, and offers such treats as "sandwitches" and "Molly fingers." Huggin' Molly's is located at 129 Kirkland Street in Abbeville.

The Downey Booger

A series of sightings of the Downey Booger, a half-human, half-animal, were reported in the late 1800s. According to Joyce Farris, whose husband is a descendant of the Downeys of Winston County, the tale is part of family lore.

Another descendant, Vera Whitehead recorded the history, which Farris published on a website of Winston County history, freestateofwinston.org. Whitehead wrote: "In the later part of the 1800s, Winston County, Ala., was known ... for the Downey Booger." Cousins John and Joe Downey were returning home from a community dance one night when they saw the creature.

"John and Joe were jostling along on their thoroughbreds gaily recounting the events of the evening, when suddenly a strange looking creature, bearing both the resemblance of a human and an animal, leaped out in front of them ... They turned around and again started toward home. As they approached the sand bed where this weird creature had appeared, the horses came to an abrupt stop. They gouged them in the side, beat them with the bridles but they would not budge an inch. Finally they turned around and rode back to the Tittle house remembering a longer route they could take."

Others also saw the creature nicknamed the Downey booger and one sighting would lead to its demise, according to Whitehead.

"On a moonlit night in early fall, Jim Jackson loaded his two horse wagon with his barrels of homemade moonshine and headed for the commissary in Galloway, a mining town a few miles from his home ...Glancing over his right shoulder his eyes fell upon a peculiar looking creature waltzing on two feet behind his wagon. He froze; his first impulse was to try to outrun it. He remembered his gun on the wagon seat beside him. He took the revolver, aimed, and fired twice. It screamed like a woman in distress and went limping away on three feet. The news spread quickly. Jim Jackson had shot the Downey Booger. A posse was formed. They combed the forest, only finding traces of blood leading from the sand bed to a distant cliff. Until this day, this incident is repeated among the residents of Winston County. What the Downey Booger was will forever be a mystery."

Join al.com reporter Kelly Kazek on her weekly journey through Alabama to record the region's quirky history, strange roadside attractions and tales of colorful characters. Find her on Facebook or follow her Odd Travels and Real Alabama boards on Pinterest. Some of the tales above come from her book, "Forgotten Tales of Alabama."