Monsters You Never Heard Of by Daniel Cohen Read Free Book Online Page B

rest of the year. But the following year, whatever it was seemed to be back again.
    Dubois' brother Frank was out hunting. In the middle of the marsh he heard something following him. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear something moving through the trees. He also just had a feeling that something large was out there. It was a feeling that something was hunting him! He fired his gun several times. But the thing wouldn't go away. He was scared half to death. Finally, he got out of the marsh and ran to his brother's house. He swore he would never go into the marsh again, for anything.
    A few days after his brother's fright, Dubois himself decided to explore the marsh once again. He had the same sort of experience. He heard and felt something following him. He even heard the terrifying "screech-growl" again. But he saw nothing. Since it was beginning to get dark he decided to get out of the marsh. He didn't want to be alone and meet whatever it was in the dark.
    Strange deaths and mutilations of animals continued at the Michigan farms and are still reported from other parts of the country.
    So there you have a thoroughly modern monster tale. What really happened? Well, the whole thing could be made up. Without names and addresses, there is no way of checking. Perhaps nothing out of the ordinary took place. Dubois and Dahl may just have become overexcited. They may have exaggerated a bit. Even people who are trying to be completely honest exaggerate, particularly if they have been frightened.
    Whatever it was, or wasn't, it does show that an awful lot of people today still believe in monsters. We really do fear that there might be something terrifying and unknown prowling around out there, just beyond the light of our campfire.

CHAPTER 12

    GOATMAN AND THE GRUNCHES

    Imagine this—a young couple drives out to some deserted road. It is a spot that people call "lovers' lane." They park the car and turn out the lights. Then suddenly, without any warning, a great hairy thing rushes out of the woods and begins beating on the windows and doors of the car. For a moment the couple are too surprised and terrified to do anything. Then the driver starts the car, and drives away as fast as he can. Over the roar of the motor the couple can hear the monster screaming in rage.
    Perhaps you think that's funny. A lot of people think the story is funny when they first hear it. But you wouldn't think it was funny if it happened to you. The fact is that many, many people have reported having that sort of an experience over the past few years.
    While the basic story remains the same, the tale of the monster of lovers' lane has been told with many different variations. And there are different local names for the monster in different parts of the country.

    Goatman is described as being half-man, half-goat—like the nature god called Pan.
    In northern Prince Georges County, Maryland, the thing is called Goatman. It is described as looking like a creature that is halfman and half-goat the legs and feet of a goat, the upper body of a human being, and the horns of a goat. Anyone familiar with the beliefs of the ancient Greeks and Romans will recognize that figure. It sounds like a description of the nature god Pan, or of those wild nature spirits called satyrs . It also sounds very much like one of the more common descriptions of the Devil.
    There are different opinions about what Goatman is. Some say that he is a supernatural spirit like the satyrs or the Devil. There are others who believe that he is real. They even say they know where the Goatman came from.
    Goatman, according to this version of the story, was a scientist who worked at the National Agricultural Research Center, which is located in Prince Georges County. The scientist was supposed to have been doing some kind of research with goats. Then something went wrong with the experiments, and the scientist slowly turned into the half-goat, half-human monster called Goatman. Goatman