Drainage Monsters & Scare Stories
With halloween around the corner, many of us like to indulge in all things scary and macabre, whether that’s watching classic horror films or putting on fancy dress for a themed party.
While we’re happy to frighten ourselves in the name of halloween festivities, none of us want fiction to become a reality. However, there have been one or two incidents where drains and sewers have played host to a real life horror scenario, revealing to the world drain monsters that would make the blood run cold.
Creatures from the Deep
Dark, echoey and generally empty of human life, sewers have long been the ideal horror film setting, with various scary creatures depicted rising from their depths over the years. It’s not just cinema that these stories emanate from, however, with plenty of real life news reports describing strange encounters with sewer monsters across the globe.
The alligators of New York’s sewers are legendary, but not altogether fictional. Just a few years ago, a two foot long beast was discovered near a sewer opening in the Queens area, while some estimates suggest that around three alligators are rescued by authorities every year in the city.
The Black Pigs of London
Closer to home, a popular legend from the 1800s spoke of a pregnant black pig that had somehow found its way into the sewers below Hampstead, surviving on food scraps before giving birth to its litter.
The story goes that the pigs bred and multiplied dramatically in number, and were famed for their confident and aggressive demeanour. While their existence was never substantiated by evidence, there were many reported sightings of the sewer swine over the 19th century.
Monster Rats
Common in sewer systems throughout the world (particularly in major urban environments), there have been numerous stories of huge rats prowling the drains networks beneath our feet, sometimes growing to the size of domestic cats. New York and London have both had their share of monster rat stories, but another specific example comes from Tehran in Iran.
According to reports, rodents weighing up to 5kg were encountered in sewer systems throughout the capital, with many experts puzzled as to how this increase in size was possible over such a short period – something that should take millions of years of evolution.
With all sorts of horror-film theories surrounding the cause – from genetic mutation to radioactive exposure – the monster rats of Tehran have nevertheless worried residents enough to warrant attention from the armed forces, with snipers hunting them down by night!
London’s Sewer Fat
While not strictly speaking a creature or ghastly being, many will still be horrified by the grotesque ‘fatbergs’ that grow within the sewers of inner city London.
One of the more famous (if that’s the right word!) growths of this kind was the huge, bus-sized mass of food waste and wet wipes that had to be removed from a London sewer a couple of years ago. The monstrosity was attacked with high pressured water jets, with additional chemical help.
Drainage Issues
You might not expect there to be such drain monsters or nightmarish things in your drains, but if you suspect an issue, whether a blockage or other damage, contact a professional drain inspection company immediately to have the problem looked at.
Express Drainage Surveys specialise in detecting all drainage issues using high quality CCTV equipment, locating the source of the problem whatever it may be!
Get in touch with our expert team today to book your CCTV drain survey. We will provide you with a full report and DVD of our findings, along with a competitive quote for any remedial work required.