Since it's the Halloween season, I thought I'd share a small legend that occasionally makes its way around town where I live. There's a lot of dense forests here in the Seattle area, and people like to tell stories about a tall hairy creature that walks between the trees at night. There's lots of Bigfoot rumors around here, but they say it's definitely something else, more like the Michigan Dogman or some kind of werewolf. The big difference is that it has an animal skull for a face with sharp rows of teeth and large empty eye sockets, or at least that's what people say; see, the thing is that the legend says it doesn't like to be watched, and it recognizes and avoids all kinds of cameras (convenient, I know). This, combined with other details that I'll mention later, leads me to believe that this cryptid could have been a regular person at some point.
An old drawing of the Michigan Dogman with the different areas scribbled over. My artistic talents are obviously unparalleled
Anyways, the story goes that it lives deep in the forests near Seattle and Bellevue, watching hikers from a distance and feeding off of deer and wild berries. These food sources can be inconsistent though, which leads to the main risk that I'll get into after the instructions. Most reported sightings are around Coal Creek, so that's probably where you'd want to go if you're looking for it. That's also where it gets its most common name; "The Coal Creek Demon". Some people say that it's a vengeful spirit from the long-lost mining settlement that used to be there, but that sounds a bit too melodramatic to me. I'd say it's probably the result of some freak accident, but I'm not a scientist or anything, so who knows.
There's no real reward for encountering this so-called demon that I've heard of, but if you want to seek it out anyways, here's what you need to do. Results are far from guaranteed; it can only be in one place at once, and it doesn't live to serve your interests. If nothing else, it's a fun excuse to go camping with some friends.
Required Supplies
To conduct this ritual, you'll need:
- A Gift (described below)
- Camping Equipment
- Flashlights
- Blindfolds
- A Remote-Activated Light Source
Some of these items are only necessary for certain approaches, so you can read ahead and decide what exactly you need to bring.
Instructions
Step 1. Prepare a gift. This could be a metal token or some kind of trinket, but it's usually recommended to bring a nice meal consisting of red meat and berries. This is a very important step, because without a gift, it most likely won't show up, and if it does show up, you need to leave immediately.
Step 2. Set up camp deep in the woods; if you can still see lights from other structures, you aren't far enough. You'll want to go in the late evening so that you can set everything up just before sunset.
There's actually some really scenic trails to go down if that's your kind of thing
Step 3. Put away all recording devices and limit your light sources to your flashlights. You can also start a fire as long as it doesn't burn too bright. The idea here is to create a welcoming environment while also maintaining a protected area.
Step 4. Set up your remote-activated light source a few feet away from the edge of your camp, and place your gift next to it. Keep the light switched on for now.
Step 5. Sit back and relax. Once the sky is pitch-black, you just need to wait for a sign. Feel free to chat and play games with anyone you brought along with you, just as long as you all have a clear view of the tree line.
Step 6. Eventually, you might realize that something is observing you from a distance. It could be a tall shadow in the distance, the snapping of foliage, a sudden unnatural silence, or just the feeling of being watched if you believe in that sort of thing. If you notice any of these signs, it could very well mean that you've made contact. You're now ready to move on to the next step.
Step 7. Stop all conversation and reduce your noise as much as possible. Switch off the light next to your gift and make sure your flashlights are pointed away from it. This is also where you need to pay close attention to these instructions, as any mistake past this point will cause the demon to "panic", which can have very dangerous consequences.
Step 8. The demon should now approach your gift slowly. Stay calm and avoid any noises or sudden movements. Do NOT shine a light on it or take out any recording devices. If everything is done correctly, it will take the gift and briefly gaze at the people in your camp. (However, if it ignores your gift and instead starts moving toward your camp, you need to get up and run to the nearest shelter you can find. Your lights will no longer matter, so just focus on moving as fast as possible. If you can't find anything nearby, try to hide in the surrounding foliage; according to all known recollections, it can run much faster than any human, so whatever you do, do it fast.)
This is the point at which most would be content to stop, so if you've had enough, just stay in place until it makes a small bowing motion with its head and walks back into the forest. But if you're an idiot like my friend, you can continue through these next steps and potentially get a much closer encounter. I don't recommend it; in my opinion, you're just asking for trouble by now.
Step 9. While this creature is near your camp, quickly eliminate all sources of light and put on your blindfolds. This is where it comes in handy to be using flashlights, since turning them off is much easier than dousing a fire.
Step 10. The demon will now feel free to explore your camp and inspect you up close. You'll hear it rummaging through your supplies and pacing around you. You might even feel its breath on your face, but you need to remain calm and stay still, and whatever you do, do NOT remove your blindfold. This creature is known to be relatively passive towards humans if unprovoked, but if you happen to hear any sudden sounds of distress from your friends, immediately evacuate the area as described earlier.
Step 11. Wait until it loses interest and walks away. Once you can no longer hear its footsteps, you're free to take off your blindfolds and turn your lights back on. You've now stood face-to-face with a cryptid and lived to tell the tale, so you've got some bragging rights with anyone who's willing to believe you. Like I said, there's no big reward, so it's mostly just about having the experience.
Important Notes
Now let's talk about the risks here. As you may have assumed by now, stories say that it has an occasional tendency to eat people, so there's that. However, based on my research, it seems to only do this when starved or provoked, so you don't have to worry as long as you play it smart. If anything, you should feel bad for the hikers who randomly run into this thing with no preparation. I'd recommend going out during the summer or early fall, since that's when the blackberries are in season and the wildlife is most active. That's just my theory, but most of the darker stories I've heard take place during winter, so I'd say it holds some water. Now, like I said earlier, there's a chance that you could startle the demon and cause it to "panic". I believe this is usually caused by it suddenly being caught in clear view by a person, so that's why you don't want to shine a light on it or try to record it. If it "panics", then it will either run off in a hurry or attack the person watching it, mostly depending on how far away it is. That's why it's a stupid idea to let it walk around your camp, because one mistake could be enough to put you on a missing persons poster.
Past Encounters
Because of the positive reception to this post, I decided to do some more research on this thing. I found a lot of neat stuff, but there's too many stories to go over them all, so I'll just cover the big ones.
The Case of Bryan Matthews
So back in 2004, this kid found himself in a bad situation, and I'm not just talking about him having two first names. At the age of 9, he's out on a hike with his parents, when suddenly they turn around, and he's just gone. I don't know what they were doing having him at the back of the line, but that's not the point here. Obviously they immediately panic and run around yelling to him, and when that didn't work, they went to the police. Within a few hours, park rangers were sweeping the area, and after 2 days with no results, they brought in the national guard. While they're out searching on day 3, the kid turns up, but not with the cops. Instead, a group of backpackers find him sitting on a tree stump, 20 miles north from where he went missing. When they brought him in, he was healthy and well-fed. When asked where he'd been, he just said that he was playing with a "friendly bear" he'd met. When shown an artist's sketch of the Coal Creek Demon, Bryan immediately identified it as the creature he was talking about. Articles quote him as saying "did you meet him too?" when he first saw the sketch. In my opinion, this is a pretty big boon for the ex-human theory, unless there's some species of wild animal that just so happens to have a habit of caring for human children like a parent would.
Steven's Camping Trip
Now as I mentioned briefly, my friend Steven carried out this whole process and ended up getting in over his head. At the time, we were both graduating high school, and he went on a camping trip with some other seniors to celebrate. I would've joined, but I was down with Covid at the time, so that was a no-go. Besides, I wanted to give him some space since I knew he had feelings for one of the people going. I should've seen it coming that he would do something stupid to try and impress her and screw up massively. The group was telling scary stories around the campfire one night, so he brought up this ritual, and of course some of the people wanted to try it. He didn't want to look like a wuss, so he just went along with it. Once they started to get things rolling, most of the group checked out and walked down to the beach instead, including his crush. It was way too late for him to back out by then, so he'd just won the award for world's biggest backfire.
So at this point, it's almost pitch black outside, the four remaining people are putting beef jerky on a paper plate, and Steven's just trying to keep his pants dry. They sit out with the plate for a while, and just as they're about to call it quits, the thing actually shows up. Everyone there is totally paralyzed, but they still move on to dousing the fire and wrapping bandanas over their eyes. I can only assume their brains were just running on autopilot by that point. Now it's pacing around the camp, slowly rustling through their bags and inspecting them one at a time. When it gets to Jack, this really wiry kid with red hair, apparently its breath hits his face and makes him jump in his seat, shaking off his blindfold in the process. The whole group hears a dry shriek and takes off their blindfolds just in time to see him get thrown into the tree line, and they all bolt out of there. Steven went and ducked behind a big log, spending about 20 minutes huddling in a ball and freaking out. When he heard footsteps approaching, he thought he was done for, only to see that it was the rest of the group coming back from the beach. He ran up to them and started incoherently rambling about what was going on, but he realized that the demon was completely gone.
Imagine walking back from the beach only to find the people you left there cowering in shrubbery and rambling about a giant monster that isn't there; I wouldn't even know what to think. Of course they didn't believe them, even though Jack was covered in bruises and scratches. I guess they thought it was some sort of elaborate prank and they just ended up being pissed. I wouldn't believe him either if it weren't for the fact that I know he could never orchestrate something like that if he tried. Overall, it was a very bad night for Steven.
And that's all I've got. If I remember anything else worth mentioning, I'll be sure to update this page. Thanks for reading, and good luck out there!
-Bucket :)