The Beast of Bray Road

Way back in Episode 49, we had Linda Godfrey speak about her deep research of dog men, American folklore, and, of course, a little bit about The Beast of Bray Road. But, so many people in the years since have asked for deeper coverage of The Beast and although he hasn’t gotten a full episode yet, I had to oblige Oscar V when he requested cover of this strange being for this year’s blogstonishing. Without further ado, let’s jump into the story of the Beast of Bray Road.

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For a moment, let's travel to Elkhorn, Wisconsin. As Linda Godfrey notes in her book about the Beast of Bray Road it "isn't exactly Translyvania we're talking about." It is a small town, with a population hovering around 6,500, that's about an hour drive from the larger Madison or Milwaukee. While this is a rural area, it isn't the wild wilderness and not exactly a place you'd put money on finding some kind of werewolf-dog-man creature lurking. Funny enough, and just to really get the picture of Elkhorn in your mind, it is known as the "Christmas Card Town" thanks to it's charming buildings and long-standing county seat.

Now, let's get even more specific: let's think about Bray Road. It's a simple mile-long stretch that connects Highway 11 with County Road NN. It is dotted with old family farms, cornfields, and some scrubby woods. Largely, the road is an alternative route to important buildings: the police station, a nursing home, and a hospital. While it wasn't a bustling interstate, it isn't exactly competely rural and was used often both during the day and night. Which makes the stories I'm about to share all the stranger.

Although sightings spiked in the 1980s, one of the first recorded sightings happened all the way back in 1936. Enter Mark Shackleman. Mark was the night watchmen for the grounds of the St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children. While the perserved Indian burial mounds in the distance and the strangeness of a monastery-turned-school might be enough to freak anyone out, this was Mark’s job. And he was used to it.

But one night in particular, he noticed something strange…a shadow. He got closer and shined his flashlight near it to reveal a creature hunched on all fours near the burial mounds. Mark later said the way it was digging, it seemed canine. However, even at a distance, Mark knew it was far too enormous to be a run of the mill dog, or even wolf. After a few strained seconds, the creature looked at Mark. At this point, it is said that the creature unhunched itself and revealed that its hairy body must be at least six feet tall. Despite the thick fur and canine face, Mark noted it seemed to have the muscular body of a man. Then, it growled. Frozen, Mark waited and began to smell rotting meat. Then, impossibly fast, the creature took off towards the treeline.

Mark saw it again the next night and this time it seemed to growl at him in half-human-half-canine garbled speech. While it bared its teeth, it never approached Mark and once again fled to the woods. Mark never saw it again, but he also never forgot.

So marks the first story in what would be many. In fact, infamously, the county Humane Officer, Jon Fredrickson, had an entire maila folder in his office marked “Werewolf” filled with notecards detailing events and sightings. This is also where Linda Godfrey and the small town gossip and strange tales whispered to friends grew legs (and fur). So, Linda was digging up and connecting all kinds of stories in the 1980s and 1990s of sightings of this terrifying creature.

I highly suggest reading her book, The Beast of Bray Road, for in-depth coverage of stories, the media’s reaction, and theories.

One of my favorite stories happened in 1999 when a young woman was driving down Bray Road one night. It was a normal experience, until she felt her right tire hit something and lift off the ground for a moment. She slowed down her car and got out to investigate, but didn’t see anything. Then, when she looked to the side of the road she noticed a “massive wolfish form standing on two legs.” She rushed back to her car and drove away. Impossibly, she watched the Beast start gaining on her and he jumped and landed on her trunk. However, thanks to rain and some defensive driving, he slid off and she headed home.

And, of course, Linda Godfrey hasn’t interviewed every Beast sighting (based on my research, that alone would take years…and the number is slowly growing with more and more people coming out of the woodwork as people grow more comfortable with sharing). Another one of my favorite tales comes from reddit user u/notkendorsey who recounts their experience in the late 90s:

I lived in the town of Franklin, WI. This was about 1997-98 We had just moved into a brand new subdivision, and were currenty the only house that was built. The rest of the area for a long distance was empty lots on what used to be the adjoining farm's old land. Our back yard had a running creek. On the other side of the creek was some brush and a single lane road with an old wooden streetlight that gave off an orange hue about 30 yards or so away.

“It was a warm summer night, and I was having a sleepover with one of my friends. We had all the lights off and were playing hide and seek in the dark. I went back into our sunroom and saw something crouched over illuminated through the brush and the orange streetlight. I'm not sure how to descrbe its body posture. You know how when you're about to throw up, and you hunch over on your knees and palms? I was similar to that. Its breaths were so deep and heavy that you could see its chest heaving from that distance. We had a 140lb Akita who stood 6 ft on his hind legs. I could easily tell that whatever this was dwarfed my akita. I also know that it wasn't any type of dog or wolf. Its hind legs were thick and muscular like a mans but its body tapered at the abdomen and head like a wolf or canine. I called out to my friend who came over and just said "what the f*** is that!?" to me, trying not to make much noise. We sat there as it was hunched for a good 30 minutes. My dad (who was a hardass Vietnam Vet) came out to see what the hell we were doing up so late. We asked what it was and he just said " I.....don't know." He then went outside as we stayed in, scared for my dad. He had one of those old "megalights" that had "the power of 1000 candles" and took it with him. He stood in the driveway and shined it onto whatever we were watching. It looked back at us and I honestly dont remember its eye color. What I do remember is that when it took off into the brush it took off upright, like a sprinter from the on all 4's stance. My dad heard it splash through the creek and hightailed it in. It was one of those fucked up moments you dont really talk about because people with think you were crazy. When I heard about it so many years later I immiediately knew I'd seen it too.”

It seems the longer I keep researching certain phenomena, the more crossover I see with these stories. Similar to Bigfoot, it seems almost every culture seems to have a story about dogs, dogmen, werewolves, or some sort of canine-with-human-qualities combo. I wonder what it is, either with the human psyche or with the paranormal theory, that so prioritizes canines.

The blog image is of a drawing of a werewolf in woodland at night. Main illustration for the story "The Werewolf Howls". Internal illustration from the pulp magazine Weird Tales (November 1941, vol. 36, no. 2, page 38). This work is in the public domain.

Thanks to Oscar V for this blogstonishing 2022 suggestion!