The Goatman of Maryland

 

Deep in the heart of Maryland, USA, lurks one of the most fearsome beasts in all of folklore – the Goatman.

Those who have encountered this monster, describe him as being half-man from the waist up and half-goat from the waist down. Some claim that the beast even has goat horns on his head. If this was not bad enough, the Goatman is also said to have a huge double-blade axe which he uses to hack the victims he encounters in the darkened lanes. He is nearly always described as being between six and seven feet tall.

What is striking is that the creature sounds similar to folklore concerning the devil, the Greek god, Pan, or the Greek creature known as a satyr.

Most Urban Legends tend to ‘move’ about, with various towns and villages laying claim to the monster. In this case however, the Goatman is firmly entrenched in the legends and folklore of Maryland.

Stories of the Goatman first appeared from around 1957 when a couple were spending a passionate moment in their car under the moonlit sky. Their lovemaking was suddenly interrupted by a banging on their car hood. Looking up, they were shocked to see a goat-like creature staring at them, with a large double-bladed axe in its hand. The creature glared at the couple before running off into the woods.

Sightings of the strange creature continued coming from Upper Marlboro and Forestville in Prince George’s County. From there, sightings spread to other states; with reports of the Goatman being made as far south as Texas in the 1960s, Washington and California during the 1980s, and as far north as Ontario, Canada and Cannelton, Indiana during the 1990s.

In another report from 1971, a woman was awakened in the dead of night by the barking of her dog. Curious to see why the dog was barking so loudly, she peered through the window. Suddenly from the darkness of the night, she saw a strange creature moving about near to where the dog was tied. Scared, she retreated back to her bedroom and lay awake terrified all night. The following morning she plucked up courage to investigate. She discovered her dog was dead – beheaded.

Prince George’s County, where the majority of sightings occur is a heavily wooded area of Maryland and could easily be home to an unknown creature. One place has become synonymous with the Goatman – “Crybaby Bridge” (Governor’s Bridge Road). It is said that if you go to “Crybaby Bridge” in the middle of the night, you will hear the braying of the Goatman as he hunts for victims.

Perhaps the strangest events connected to the Goatman is the number of missing and mutilated pets, particularly dogs. In 1971 The Washington Post published an article which provided firm links between the creature and the pets. However some journalists have pointed out that many of the corpses were found alongside a well-used railway track, which could provide a more down-to-earth explanation. It must also be pointed out that despite the legends, there has never been a real human victim ripped apart or decapitated.

Locals often say that the creature is not a natural born animal, but rather an unholy experiment by the federal government and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. The creature escaped and has since wreaked havoc in the area. It is unlikely that it was possible to do such experiments in the 1950’s as the technology wasn’t yet available.

Similarly, the old Glenn Dale Hospital which was an old tuberculosis sanitarium, is said to have had some hand in the creation of the monster. A patient being treated there was supposedly experimented on. The experiments, however went wrong, leaving the patient mutilated and deformed. He managed to escape his tormentors and lived out his life in the woods where he plotted vengeance against humankind.

Others say that the Goatman is a type of Bigfoot or Skunk Ape. Cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman has also drawn similarities between the Goatman and the Bunnyman sightings of Fairfax County, Virginia.

One intriguing theory comes from the lore of the Piscataway native tribes. In 1666 a Jesuit priest wrote about the tribes belief in the ability of a magical creature to turn itself into animals. Along with his account, he included a picture of a Bigfoot-like creature. Could this creature be one of these magical creatures of old?

Prince George’s County has another supernatural claim to fame. It is also the home of the demon-possessed boy that the Exorcist was based on. Some locals say that this occurred because the devil has a special affinity for the area. Could the sightings of the Goatman actually have some Satanic roots?

One thing is certain. When traveling at night in the woods of Maryland, it is wise for you not to stop your car or walk outside alone, as you never know when the Goatman could appear to add yet one more victim to his tally!