28 replies to this topic

[MaryKelly]

Now here's an interesting little tale considered by some to be merely an urban legend and by other's to be a freakish lab accident gone very wrong. Read below and decide for yourself.......

There exists a creature in Maryland known as the Goatman. Whether it is Maryland “legend” or Maryland “reality” is a question that remains unanswered but there are enough witnesses and circumstantial evidence to keep the Goatman’s name alive.

When one first hears of the elusive monster they may be overwhelmed by laughter at such an odd sounding menace, or baffled at how such a thing came to be thought up. No matter what the initial reaction a person has, it soon gives way to curiosity: what the heck is a Goatman? While the facts may be disputed the details in every story remain the same; an angered humanoid emerges from the forest and returns to its abode without a trace. The invariable description is that of an upright creature but beyond that the appearance varies. Some have claimed that the Goatman has a human body with a goat’s head, similar to the perception of Satan, while others insist that the Goatman has a goat’s lower body with the torso of a human, much like the satyr of Greek mythology. There is another school of observers/speculators whose description is not as definitive and say simply that he is an exceptionally hairy humanoid creature roughly six feet in height. Regardless of the physiognomy the Goatman legends do share one common theme and that is Maryland or, more precisely, Prince George’s County.

Since the late 1950’s the territory of the Goatman has consisted of several localities in P.G. County with an acute focus on the Bowie area. The area is largely forest with a number of main highways running through it to other, more populous parts of the state. At the heart of the matter is the bridge known as “Crybaby Bridge” because, so it is said, if motorists stop on that bridge late at night the shrill braying of the Goatman can be heard. It should be noted that the crying could be that of an infant ghost, as the bridge reportedly got that name because of a young mother drowning her baby under it. The bridge is located on Governor’s Bridge Road.

The two other prominent roads that the the Goatman frequents are Lottsford Road and Fletchertown Road. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Glendale State Asylum is situated between these two roads. The locale around Lottsford-Vista Road and Admore-Ardwick Road has been reported as a Goatman hot spot. Maryland is not alone in Goatman sightings. In the eastern Texas town of Marshall, a “goatman” was reported by hunters during 1972, as the story goes. Another goatman has been reported in Alabama and is said to be roughly seven feet tall, hooved, with claws and a lumpy bald head. Stories have also poured in from Oregon, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and in California there is the tale of the “Chevo Man,” Chevo being Spanish for goat. There has even been a report from New Zealand.


As for the sightings, they come from persons of varying reliability. Some have claimed that the Goatman was bold enough to break into their homes while they were out, leading to the witnesses returning and startling the belligerent creature. And while struggles ensue there remains no physical evidence. The assault of pets has been the most persistent accusation against the Goatman as there have been several rashes of mutilated or missing animals in the vicinity. The Washington Post reported such an incident in 1971 and while the author of the article treated the matter with levity they did provide a paper trail for those seeking more information on the spectral occurrences. When animals kept in the yard overnight or in pens become agitated or vanish, residents are heard to curse the Goatman.


Another crime that the Goatman shoulders the blame for is the attack of cars left near the woods, often using an ax to damage the vehicles. This is one of the most frequent settings for witnessing the beast. This facet of the Goatman mythology has for many decades been blended with the urban legend of ‘the Hook”--two teens park on lover’s lane, the boyfriend gets out of the car, two hours later the girlfriend hears his blood dripping onto the car. It is a familiar tale by now, only in this region, the Goatman is the culprit. There does not appear to be any factual event in Maryland to spawn these stories. The crimes are said to be the offspring of the Goatman’s overwhelming hatred for humans and animals alike, a condition rooted in his origins.

More often than not the Goatman’s origins are attributed to mankind’s greedy quest for knowledge. At the center of this moral crisis lies the United States Agricultural Research Center of Beltsville, Maryland. Two common variations involve a scientist working with goats at the facility. In one story the scientist simply went mad, for reasons often improvised by the storyteller, and ran off into the woods screaming. Ever since that accursed day the madman has stalked the woods of the area with an ax. The second and more fantastic version claims that the scientist’s experiments with goats went horribly wrong and he ended up becoming mutated and goat-like in appearance. After this occurred he went the way of his mad scientist counterpart, fleeing to the relative peace of the woods with an ax and a chip on his shoulder.

Beltsville is situated at the outskirts of Washington D.C.’s suburbs and has an abundance of wooded land that could provide shelter or an escape route for the Goatman. There is a third assertion about man’s scientific wrongdoing involving a botched attempt at creating a cure for cancer. As the story goes this occurred back in the 1960’s in a Pittsburgh lab using techniques that are known to modern medical researchers to be redundant with no hope of facilitating any breakthroughs in the battle against cancer. However, this was unknown to the unfortunates involved in the experimentation and, through methods as yet unrevealed, the cancer cells were caused to grow into none other than the Goatman. The abominable beast then broke loose and has ravaged the countryside ever since. Furthermore, this legend claims that the Chubacabra phenomenon is in actuality the mistaken progeny of the Goatman creature the was created in the lab. No explanation as to how he multiplied has been ventured at the time of this writing.

A fourth theory involves the mental health facility housed within the confines of the Goatman’s known territory. Some locals have grumbled about rumored experimentation on inmates while others have speculated about “regular” insane persons escaping in the night to commit the crimes that the Goatman has been blamed for. And finally there is the assertion that the Goatman is the embodiment of none other than the arch fiend himself, summoned to this earth from time to time by the rituals of satanists. The connection between this origin and the attacks on cars and dogs would seem tenuous at best. Other sources site parental license in the use of a deranged old hermit loose in the woods wielding his ax against children, generally residing in whichever area the parents wanted their children to stay away from. Examples are: near busy highways, under bridges, around certain electrical towers, and any other dangerous places.

As recently as the August of 2000 a group of construction workers sighted a sasquatch-like creature that, in their estimate, was twelve feet in stature traversing an area of Washington’s suburbs. Whatever is happening in the region, whether imagined or bizarrely real, the story of the Goatman will not only persist but thrive. Publicity has come from many different sources in the past few years including feature articles in the press in tandem with the inclusion on cable specials where the Goatman was featured with the monster elite, Nessie and the Yeti. Cryptozoologists, those who study the so-called extinct or nonexistent animals, have been drawn to the story in droves. Until the myths can be sufficiently proven or disproven the Goatman will continue to be the object of both ridicule and fear for residents outside of Washington, D.C.


Next time you hear that inexplainable screech coming from the woods....it indeed might be....The Goatman.... mwahahahaah

[Vampchick21]

Oh man! I read about this somewhere! <hops> I can't remember where though....shoot, gonna have to root through my library.....

[freyjasdottir]

Ok so next time I'm camping in PG county I'll have to skip a day of sightseeing in DC to look for a goat.

[Vampchick21]

Bring a camera!

And why am I thinking that Saturday Night Live did a spoof on the Goatman? (still not sure where I read the info on this particular creature prior to MaryKelly sharing it with us, but it is very interesting.)

[lulaboo]

Pretty interesting MaryKelly

Vampchick21, on Feb 17 2006, 09:32 AM, said:

Bring a camera!

And why am I thinking that Saturday Night Live did a spoof on the Goatman? (still not sure where I read the info on this particular creature prior to MaryKelly sharing it with us, but it is very interesting.)

Jim Bruer (sp) was the actor who protrayed the role of Goatboy in a few skits on Saturday Night Live. They were some of the funniest!!

[Aireygrey]

I loved those skits, made me cry from laughter!! <laughing again, thinking of goatboy>

Edited by bonedaddy15, 20 February 2006 - 04:37 PM.

[Redneck Racer]

In northern Prince Georges County, Maryland, Goatman is described as looking like a creature that is half-man and half-goat with the legs and hooves of a goat, the upper body of a human being, and the horns of a goat. Add a beard you get something much like the ancient Greek and Roman god of nature Pan, or of those wild natured spirits called satyrs. It also sounds very much like one of the common descriptions of The Devil.
This story has some urban legends qualities though...The normal goatman story goes like this, A couple drives out to the nearest "lovers lane" get all snug with the lights low. When suddenly out of nowhere the G-man himself rushes out of the foliage and starts pounding on the hood of the car with his double head axe(did I mention he carried an axe?).

Opinions vary on where the Goatman came from. Some local scholars believe it is just the area's repressed subconsious feelings about the devil and religion that are manifesting themselves in these sitings. Other believe they really are seeing the anicent spirits of the satyrs and Pan. While the last theory seems to have the most interesting qualities. A scientist who worked at the National Agricultural Research Center, which just happens to be located in Prince Georges County, 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 now know. Goatman retreated into the woods where he hides most of the time. The Goatman also devolped an intense hatred of man and other animals.

Although no people have ever been killed by the Goatman, several dead dogs in the County are attributed to the Goatman. Its sort of a passing joke(or fear) that whenever a dog dies from unknown circumstances its common to say "Goatman did it".


Goatman on the Rampage:
On November 10, 1971 edition of the Prince George's County News carried a front-page banner declaring "Residents Fear Goatman Lives: Dog Found Decapitated in Old Bowie" with a photo of the remains of the mutilated pet. The canine victim, named Ginger, belonged to April Edwards and had disappeared after Miss Edwards and friends had reported hearing strange noises in their yard on the night of November 3, 1971 and then saw a large creature moving in the dark. The article also reiterated that reports of an "animal-like creature that walks on its hind legs" have proliferated along Fletchertown Road.
Because of articles like these and corresponding reports, the legend of the Goatman soared to mammoth proportions. The creature's main hunting grounds, the Fletchertown Road in Bowie, emerged as the County's most popular tourist attraction, quickly becoming a mecca for local high school students who made nightly pilgrimages to this murky hotspot to catch a glimpse of the strange animal.

Because of the burst of interest in the phenomenon and also possibly because of the potentially dangerous crowd situations which were developing, the Prince George's County News coverage of the Goatman climaxed with one last front-page story on November 24, 1971. Focusing on Mrs. Evelyn Johnson, who lives on Fletchertown Road, the article mentions the trouble and harassment she and other neighbors received from Goatman hunters, including an incident where the road was blocked off by two cars and one truckload of people who claimed they had the creature trapped. Mrs. Johnson had to call the police in order to reach her property.

Reports like the ones above have made the Goatman one of my favorite mysteries. Some parts of the story seem unbelieveable while others make you listen for every bumb as you take out the garbage. Don't let skeptism make you overlook all the facts though.

[ericm]

Here is a good web site about the goat man

http://users.dsdial....mp1930_1999.htm


I was also looking at the crybaby bridge


http://rking.vinu.edu/cry4.htm



I live in New Jersey but I travel alot in MD and DE for work. So I spend a lot of time driving around looking for places like this in my down time.


PM me if you ever want to hit some of these places.

Great story thanks

Eric Myers
NJGHS
www.njghs.net

[Redneck Racer]

Deffinitly dude, Only Problem is Im in the Middle of a Move to West Virginia, MD is to expensive, But I have been to Cry Baby bridge before and its creepy but Heard Nothing. Saw a wierd dog though

[Justa]

Here is a link to a previous thread about the goatman.

http://www.ghostvill...showtopic=12465

[Redneck Racer]

Shoot I tried searching for him but didnt find anything, sorry Justa

[Redneck Racer]

My mom grew up in BladensBerg Right where goat man is, I can tell an Exact location of where the Rumor is, as I used to Build for Ryan homes over off of Lotsford Rd, exactly where they say Goatman was originated.

[Justa]

No need to apologize. We get so much traffic on here that it's hard to find some things. I just remembered that there was something posted a while ago.

[Vampchick21]

Funny this....lol....I just watched an episode of Creepy Canada the other day that chronicled this legend. They had some investigators in the field, who brought a goat as a type of lure, found a dog skeleton, and as they were searching, they heard the goat screaming, along with another weird sound, came back to where they'd tied up the goat and found just the rope and blood on the ground.

That being said, I've no idea if it was a set up for the show or what (although my gut feeling is that it was a set up for the show). I can't recall the group's name, so I can't search them up on the net to see if they're legit or just a made up group for the show. I'll do that anytime I see that episode again.

[Redneck Racer]

Darn we have alot of Canadians on this board, I didnt know that. But yeah, I kinda remember somthing like that I have seen a long time ago. VampChic