I was clicking around Wikipedia somewhat at random when I ran across this article about the Karakoncolos, which I had never heard of before.  By the physical description (tall and hairy) I was all set to put the Karakoncolos firmly in the "cryptid ape" category.  

However, the Karakoncolos likes to stand on street corners at night and collar passing strangers with odd questions.  If you know what's good for you, you'll answer the Karakoncolos - and use the word "black" in your answer, too.  If you refuse to answer, the Karakoncolos will strike you dead.

In addition to his Sphinx-like duties, the Karakoncolos will sometimes lure people outside by calling to them in the voice of their loved ones.  Like a siren, or many of the more malevolent species of Faerie kind.

All of this happens in conjunction with the "first ten days of Zemheri, the dreadful cold."  I looked it up and found that Zemheri is the Turkish version of "the heart of winter," the most bitterly cold part of the year, from December 22nd to January 21st.  This is a folk custom, part of the ancient peasant calendar.  "According to late Ottoman Turkish myths" the Karakoncolos would be appearing on a street corner near you from December 22nd to January 2nd.  (So he's a New Year's monster!)

Karakoncolos also stalks Bulgaria, where the tradition of Kukeri has sprung up specifically to keep him at bay.  According to this tradition, people dress up in body costumes and bells, and frolic through the streets at night to scare away evil spirits (such as the Karakoncolos).  

This is an ancient tradition, with its roots in the Thracians, a loose collection of tribes who lived in Eastern and Southern Europe before the rise of Rome.  Most towns in Eastern and Southern Europe have their own specific Kukeri traditions, which have evolved individually and may include goat masks, herbs like basil and ivy, traditionally embroidered cloths, and other handiwork.

It seems like every part of the world has its own "cryptid ape" tradition, from the Yeti of the Himalayas to the Skunk Ape of the American South.  But so far as I know, this fellow is the only example of a bigfoot prankster, much less one that goes out of its way to interact with humans.  

The classic cryptid ape is extremely shy, and lives in an inaccessible area (like the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, or the deep swamps of the South.  There is also usually a smell attached to the legend (that's after all where the Skunk Ape gets his name).  And yet I can't find any mention of Karakoncolos being a stinky fellow.

This seems to belong more in the category of "misc demons."  Think of old folk legends of Satan, with his hairy pelt and his goat legs.  In fact, when I did some searching, I found that a lot of sources seem to conflate Karakoncolos with the devil.  (As far as I could tell, given Google's spotty ability to translate Turkish into understandable English.)

Creative Commons-licensed image courtesy of Flickr user Moche