Friday, September 18, 2009

Encounters with Werewolves

The quiet, hidden cemetery in Chariton County, Mo., sits at the end of a slice of gravel snaking into hills. A dark roof of trees turns the long stretch of rocks and dirt into a leafy tunnel.

Ryan Straub, founder of the Missouri-based ghost hunting group Tir Firnath, has often visited the cemetery and experienced strange things. However, nothing has disturbed him as much as what he and fellow Tir Firnath member Mike Haurcade saw standing on that gravel road.

“Mike and I we were leaving one day,” Straub said. “As we were leaving, we were in the middle of the hills and we saw a very large dog in the road. It stood up on its hind legs and left the road.”

Straub and Haurcade froze as the beast walked on two legs into the thick trees.

“That bothered me,” Straub said. “The only thing I could think of was it was the mythical beast the werewolf.”

Werewolves, in various forms, have existed in many cultures across the world. From the Medieval European werewolf that dominates horror movies, to American Indian skinwalkers, the image of a man changing into a beast has terrified people for centuries. But, sitting safely in a cozy house, watching television, the werewolf stalking the night is nothing but legend.

Some people think that’s dead wrong.

The glow of city lights bathed the Arizona night in gray as four teenagers walked onto the Shalimar Golf Course in Tempe. Carl Davis, now an adult, was in high school when he and his friends, bored with their weekly Bible study meeting, walked outside.

“The girl’s house we did it at lived right on (the) golf course,” Davis said.

The Shalimar Golf Course sits in a highly populated residential area of the city, so the group tried to be quiet as they kept to the edge of the golf course, walking along palm trees that lined a wall.

“We were there talking and (goofing) around,” Davis said. “My girlfriend says something like, ‘hey something just jumped out of that palm tree.’”

The trees were approximately 35 feet tall, so the other teens laughed and resumed their conversation.

“A few seconds later she lets out a blood-curdling scream, just pure shocked terror,” Davis said.

As Davis turned toward his girlfriend, he saw something he couldn’t believe.

“I look in the direction and there’s a … creature lumbering along the wall towards us,” Davis said. “It was as tall as me, six foot, hunched over, huge snout like a werewolf.”

The beast, blacker than the night surrounding it, lunged toward the teens and they ran.

“It was chasing after us,” Davis said. “It was running along the wall toward me and I just turned and ran, I didn't think to look back.”

The teens never saw the thing again, although something about the encounter still confuses Davis.

“It was in the middle of town,” he said. “That’s what always gets me about that thing. Not out in the woods or at a secluded cabin, but in Tempe, Ariz.”

But Arizona and Missouri are not alone in these encounters.

Kori Williams, her cousin Richard and two friends, were driving near Midlothian, Ill., on a late-night trip when a large, man-like beast ran into the road.

“A six- to seven-foot man beast thing ran from the Rubio Woods to the woods behind an electrical fence of some kind,” Williams said. “Richard swerved to miss the creature.”

The beast was covered in bluish-gray fur, its snout was “like a coyote or wolf, but longer,” its eyes “were like holes,” and the smell of wet dog waft throughout the car. Although the four didn’t see the creature for long, the thing that stuck with Williams was the beast’s hands.

“I call it ‘manlike,’ because of its size and hands,” Williams said. “They looked like human hands except for the fingers were really long, clawed and covered in fur. Richard thought it was a werewolf or something.”

A universe of the unknown lies just beyond human perception – maybe there is truth to the legends.

Copyright 2009 by Jason Offutt

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt, P.O. Box 501, Maryville, Mo., 64468, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason’s books on the paranormal, “Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us,” and “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” at Jason’s blog, from-the-shadows.blogspot.com.

21 comments:

Julie said...

Pretty scary especially the story of the sighting in Tempe AZ, close to where I live.
~Above the Norm~

Pharos said...

I sometimes wonder if werewolf sitings are related to bigfoot sitings. Not all of them are alike of course, but there are similarities.

Anonymous said...

Possible Devil Monkeys as outlined by Loren Coleman.

Anonymous said...

And how could I forget?

http://www.haveyouseenthiscreature.com/

The Beast of 7 Chutes in Quebec...

Sharon Day said...

Great post! Isn't there a beast of Bray Road too? I'm interested in where these things are seen and perhaps their ties to Native American sites. They've reported such encounters with "wendigos" for centuries. I wonder about such creatures-breeding populations mean they'd be seen more often, but these are seen briefly and not ever in the same place twice. I'm working on a theory about phenomenon created by the Earth and I wonder if that might be the case--some sort of short-lived spiritual creature or perhaps a portal visitor. I live in Phoenix and as a ghost hunter, I have to say the Tempe/Mesa area is very full of haunted sites and is also crosshatched with the old HoHoKam Indian canalways. I think there's a correlation. I know Midlothian has Bachelor's Grove Cemetery where strange things are seen. I wonder sometimes if a place has a richness to it that's ideal for weird encounters. I like your blog--will definitely be following it. Julie told me about it.

Anonymous said...

These encounters are unusual because of the area of the country they were reported. A very large percentage of these sightings are reported in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Thee sightings should be reported to Linda Godfrey who is the authority on sightings of these so called, "werewolf" type creatures.

Anonymous said...

NIce article. Food for thought: I've been studying these types of sightings (mythological beasts, bigfoot) all of my life. The one thing I am almost certain of is that these creatures live in another dimension, much like fairies are said to inhabit.

Our planet is likely multidimensional, and there are entirely different creatures that exist at varying vibrational frequencies. These creatures seem to enter our dimension accidentally rather than on purpose. Perhaps due to planetary alignments, etc. I guess this all sounds pretty kooky, but then again, we are talking about werewolves after all. :-)

Anonymous said...

Couple of years ago while visiting my brother in Doughtery Oklahoma, next to Davis, I had a junior version of one of these werewolf creatures run into the side of my truck just after sun went down. My brother looked at me and asked me what I saw: I told him it looked like a five foot tall German Shepherd dog, all black, bent over and in a big hurry to cross the road. "Yep" That was a man beast" he said. "Werewolf."

Anonymous said...

Werewolf, Shcmarewolf, I want my Monkey Man !!

Jimmy said...

I have been studying these creatures for years. You can tell if it is a Werewolf if the eyes glow yellow/golden in the dark. One thing for sure is that bigfoot are not dangerous to humans or I would not be alive today. Look at the thousand of reports at http://www.bfro.net/ and download the Google Earth application to read them. However, the Werewolf is not afraid of humans, is very dangerous and has caused fatalities. Check out http://www.michigan-dogman.com/01_encounters_index.html to read the encounters there. The onstar operator's recoding of a couple who were attacked in their SUV and the police pictures of the destroyed SUV will make you think twice about the woods. They never found the couple. If you want a real scare, then watch the Gable Film part one on You Tube. Part two is very disturbing and shows Aaron Gable's remains so it has been pulled from You Tube several times. Of course there are many bigfoot videos out there on you tube as well - but they are all either running away or hiding ( very smart ) from us.

Savanna Kougar said...

Great article. No monkey man for me. Give me a wolf beast. I had no idea there was a sighting in Missouri.
I've listened to Linda Godfrey on Coast-to-Coastam, often, about the dogman or werewolf, or whatever they all are.
Personally, I think there are several different species. Plus, you can label me a kook, but I think some of them are black ops created creatures.
Being a paranormal romance author and given I adore wolves, I have a couple WIPS, one novel length already, staring a wolf shifter hero.
Werewolves are popular in the paranormal romance world and I doubt that will change anytime soon.
And, given, I like to begin from a point of reality when I write a story, I always enjoy these types of reports.

Anonymous said...

South Central Oklahoma all over Murray County is currently being infested with werewolf. Last night several dogs, a horse and and at least two goats were injured and or killed by a pod of three werewolves. Seems to be mating season currently and the beasts are openly moving around late at night and early morning. Several sightings have occured and one person in the town of Doughtery reports shooting at a large dark colored and hairy beast almost seven feet tall and trying to enter an abandoned house. Stated the the beast's eyes shimmered in the dark and could be heard grunting. Long scratches were left on a door to the structure where it had been standing.

Big Daddy said...

A few years back, me and my sister were talking about werewolves sighting in MI and WI. My father(70) walked by to get something in the kitchen, he paused and commented. Yeah, they used to have them here in ohio. Both our jaws dropped. We have ever been about to get him to talk about it

Anonymous said...

How bizarre to read two posts here regarding Dougherty, OK! Just last Saturday at around 2:30 a.m. I was skywatching with my night vision scope from a hill just outside of Dougherty and decided to call it a night. Before getting back in my truck I scanned the treeline next to me and noticed some green eyeshine close to the ground. I walked toward the eyeshine until I was able to see a creature laying in tall grass. It looked huge, perhaps as large as a tiger but this was no cat. It had a rounded snout like that of a gorilla, it's eyes were squinted while my NV's laser beam shined on them, they opened a little when I dropped the beam lower, I noticed "lepord spots" on one front arm from the elbow down I could only see one arm) and on top of its head were ears sticking up like those of a german sheppard dog! As soon as I noticed the eyes open a little I continued to look through the night vision as I walked backward to my truck. I started my truck up and turned it around so the headlights would shine on the spot where the "Dog Man" had been but of course it was gone. I have known for years about the Bigfoot sightings in the Arbuckle Mtns of this area and now I know "werewolves" exist here. I wish I could have seen it standing up in the headlight beams of my truck, but not before I was back in the truck.

Anonymous said...

I am a "werewolf" and I resent the stereotype. Did you consider those mentioned in your fear filled stories just wanted a belly scratch or to play fetch?!? We get lonely. We eat mostly rabbits by the way. Sorry about the giant dookies we leave behind. We would pick them up but that would be gross for us. We have pride too!

Anonymous said...

I saw something similar. it was dark along a row of trees. we stop in our car to pee, my cousins and I, when something from the other side of the trees started coming towards us, it was kinda tall, we jumped back in the car and headed out, it ran beside this tree and then jumped up, high into the tree beside it. it was freaky, never seen anything like it. just plain weird. i saw it jump up through the back window, i was the passenger in back.

Anonymous said...

Those involved need to get in contact with Linda Godfrey @ http://www.beastofbrayroad.com/

Alee said...

I've seen them around Edmond oklahoma. I don't know if I'd call them werewolves, except for one I saw last year. It was blueish grey and really tall, but I've seen others that are canine kind of but they don't scream werewolf to my senses. The one That was definately werewolf, I think he just lives around here and is trying to get by, doesn't frighten me at all.

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