I recently received a few very odd incidents told to a colleague:
Mid-1960s - Appalachian Mountains, Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA
“This happened in the Anthracite coal region of Pa. We have a lot of forest and are surrounded by mountains. This happened back in the mid 60's. I was stunned to see someone talk about a 'Pumpkin Man' because I never heard it mentioned other than that one story. This reminds me of a story that was told to me 50 yrs ago. A guy I knew was walking through the woods (shortcut path) when out of the blue he saw a man in a black suit with a pumpkin over his head. It was nodding it's head as if to say YES you are seeing what you think you're seeing. Being 13 at the time he got totally freaked out because it was so bizarre. He just ran. He looked back and it was facing him and nodding but made no move to pursue him. I said do you think it was someone trying to scare you as a joke? It was after Halloween so he didn't think so. He'd used that path all the time and never encountered anything weird. He said the guy was thin, tall and had very pale hands. Was it just some creep? I don't know but my friend would no longer use that path when walking alone. He was terrified of seeing it again."
NOTE: I'm aware of the 'Pumkinhead' legends in the Appalachians...especially in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. This seems to be something different. Lon
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2011 - Carrizozo, New Mexico
“Surely you've heard of Dave Paulides and his Missing 411 books? He mostly talks about Bigfoot and in one interview he mentioned the tale of a child who had gotten separated from her parents in Yosemite and when she was found, her story differed greatly from all others. She told her parents a "Dog Man" had found her, had laid with her to rest, had given her "berries from his paw" and then led her back to her family. This was the first time I heard anything suggesting werewolf type cryptids in the wild and since then I just stumble on more and more.
This brings to mind an incident with my little sister and I (she was 16 at the time, myself 24). We were on the fairly placid highway through Valley of the Fires outside Carrizozo, New Mexico bound for Ruidoso, New Mexico. As we rounded one corner, we both looked left in time to see a gray/salt & pepper fur covered very tall, very muscular "man" with the characteristic dog legs (same bends). We screamed, I swerved, and we both thought instantly that we had seen a "Goat Man", yet there were no horns. Some goats don't have horns so we didn't seem swayed by that detail. He was wearing some clothing, in fact, the most notable being baggy denim shorts. I know that sounds ridiculous, believe me. She and I were dumbfounded as to how/why something so wild looking could be wearing clothes. It was late afternoon around 4pm and he didn't hurry when we came into view, he sauntered on normally as though he didn't care if he were spotted. He didn't even look at our car despite my erratic driving when we noticed him.
I drive by that spot regularly on commutes for the doctor between Albuquerque, NM and Ruidoso and though I've never seen "him" again, there is a small bluff right there with beautiful rocks in a tall stack that it would have taken three or more human males to lift and stack the way they're situated. I always see it and figure it had to be Mr. Wolf Man who did it. Goat Man simply makes no sense anymore. New Mexico is infamous for it's Goat Man stories though so we assumed based on an idea planted by local history."
The Michigan Dogman: Werewolves and Other Unknown Canines Across the U.S.A. (Unexplained Presents)
Kohuneje: Sketches Of An Encounter With Dogman
The Dogman Epoch: Shadow and Flame
Real Wolfmen: True Encounters in Modern America
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