Fresno Nightcrawler creeping into malls, homes. How to catch the cuddly creature

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Key Takeaways
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• Build-A-Bear launched a Fresno Nightcrawler plush based on the local cryptid.
• The $30 Nightcrawler plush is sold online, not at Fresno or Visalia stores.
• The Nightcrawler went viral in 2007 after video showed it on a Fresno lawn.

Of all the things Fresno has to be proud of – its agricultural prowess, its diversity, Audra McDonald – it’s the creepy, crawly cryptid that gets a national chain’s attention?

Yep. We’re talking about the Fresno Nightcrawler and mall retailer Build-A-Bear Workshop – the strangest of bedfellows.

The store known for creating kitty cats that wear dresses where little kids participate in the process of stuffing them has zeroed in on a local legend and created a fluffy, cuddly version of it.

The Fresno Nightcrawler, often defined as a pale, ghostly pair of pants, went viral in 2007 after being caught on video walking across a Fresno lawn.

Build-A-Bear’s version is a lot plumper and cuter than the one caught on camera right here. Its legs are also posable.

The plush stuffie is only available online, despite Build-A-Bear having stores in Fresno at Fashion Fair mall and at the Visalia Mall.

The $30 Nightcrawler can be ordered fully stuffed or unstuffed. If you get it unstuffed, you can take it into the store and do the full Build-A-Bear experience.

That includes picking out accessories for your Nightcrawler for an extra charge, such as a voice box with sound, like a werewolf howl. You can also get put a heart inside it and watch it get stuffed.

And you can add clothes — say, a rainbow tutu? Or maybe a pair of leopard-print jeans? A San Francisco Giants hat?

So far, people seem to be interested in the curious creature. On Tuesday, the website said the product had been viewed 14,759 times in the past 24 hours.

When the stuffed animal was introduced on Instagram, one commenter said: “NO WAY THIS IS A WIN FOR THE FRESNO PEOPLE.”

Another said: “PLEASE TELL ME I CAN PUT PANTS ON IT.”

You can.

The creature is part of Build-A-Bear’s Living Legends line, which also includes the Lochness Monster and Mothman, said Madeline Jones, external communications and PR manager for Build-A-Bear.

“We’ve learned that audiences gravitate toward concepts that are unexpected, distinctive, and conversation-starting,” she said. “The Fresno Nightcrawler checked all of those boxes.”

Where else to buy a Fresno Nightcrawler?

Nobody knows if the Fresno Nightcrawler is real or faked, though it has been the subject of multiple TV shows, including the History Channel series “The Proof Is Out There” and the YouTube series ”Monsters Dissected”

A former FBI agent tried to recreate the footage, but determined it to be “unexplainable.”

Of course, Build-A-Bear isn’t the first entrepreneur to pair a cryptid with capitalism.

Local stores have been making stickers, badges, posters, earrings and more in the shape of the ghostly armless biped for years.

They include Crazy Squirrel, Sour Milk, Let Me Take a Look, SheraChic. The online platform Etsy is full of creative Fresno Nightcrawler products too, including shirts, cookie cutters and its own plush dolls.

This story was originally published August 19, 2026 at 10:30 AM.