1 00:00:11,199 --> 00:00:16,239 The house in the woods east of Lebanon, Missouri, June fifth, nineteen 2 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,960 eighty five. In the summer of nineteen eighty five, we found the house 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,239 in the woods. My friend and I decided to backpack into the woods near 4 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:30,359 his home in the Missouri countryside. We were both armed. I was a 5 00:00:30,359 --> 00:00:35,759 twelve gate shotgun and Rich with a rugor ten twenty two semi auto twenty two 6 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,359 caliber rifle. We figured on shooting a squirrel or two while we were hiking. 7 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,479 We must have walked a few miles when we cut across this old, 8 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,679 overgrown trail in the woods. It was still early in the day and we 9 00:00:48,719 --> 00:00:52,719 hadn't had any luck with the squirrels, so we thought we might explore the 10 00:00:52,799 --> 00:00:57,920 trail. That was the entire point of the expedition anyway, to check out 11 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,159 the land in the area. We had never gone into the woods on that 12 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,079 land, since it was pretty tangled up. It was not an easy place 13 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,280 to hike, but we figured that deer and squirrels would be plentiful. We 14 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,680 weren't sure who the land belonged to, but everyone in the area thought it 15 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:19,120 was a government land. There was no conservation signs or signs to warn off 16 00:01:19,159 --> 00:01:25,280 trespassers. It was just a four strand barbed wire fence that had seen better 17 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,560 days. That was all the imitation a couple of curious country kids needed. 18 00:01:32,079 --> 00:01:36,840 We both had backpacks and a couple of blowney sandwiches, apiece and two canteens 19 00:01:36,879 --> 00:01:42,040 of water, our army surplus ponchos in case it rained, and a first 20 00:01:42,079 --> 00:01:47,359 aid kit. Ritchie's mom insisted on the first aid kit. We both had 21 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:53,640 our deer hunting camouflage and we wore Booney style military hats. When we first 22 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,319 cut the trail, I asked Rich if he had ever seen a gate or 23 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:01,280 a road on the land anywhere. Said he couldn't remember seeing anything like that, 24 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,120 so we figured it might have been an old logging trail from the fifties. 25 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,000 We noticed the trail to the left went up hill, so we thought 26 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:15,199 we'd start that way. I remember noticing the place was eerily quiet, but 27 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,520 I assumed Rich and I made so much noise that we scared the animals off. 28 00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:23,719 We'd gone about a half a mile on this old road when we found 29 00:02:23,719 --> 00:02:29,879 an old plow and we decided to check it out. It was really old, 30 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:34,800 and it was completely rusted and wooden. Handles mostly rotted away. The 31 00:02:34,879 --> 00:02:38,680 left side handle was broken off about a foot from the end. It was 32 00:02:38,719 --> 00:02:43,280 the type of plow you pulled behind a mule or a horse, not the 33 00:02:43,319 --> 00:02:46,120 one you pulled with a tractor. And besides being old, it looked pretty 34 00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:50,759 good and it must have been in excellent condition when it got left here. 35 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,919 Richie said that we should return with his dad's pickup and drag it to his 36 00:02:55,039 --> 00:03:00,800 house. It was clearly an antique. All we munched on a baloney sandwich 37 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:06,360 and drank a little water. I noticed that it was still quiet. Rich 38 00:03:06,479 --> 00:03:09,520 realized it too, and we started to look around a bit. The woods 39 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:14,879 were thick with a lot of brambles and undergrowth, but the only sound beside 40 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,039 us was the wind, and it was spooky. We again started up the 41 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,000 trail when we heard the sound up ahead in the trees. It was a 42 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:27,919 sort of a grunt or a snort, and I looked at rich and he 43 00:03:28,039 --> 00:03:31,520 smiled and said he thought it was a buck. It wasn't deer season, 44 00:03:31,759 --> 00:03:36,439 so we decided to look and see if it was a big enough buck to 45 00:03:36,479 --> 00:03:39,639 come back when the time came. So we walked another half a mile or 46 00:03:39,639 --> 00:03:44,479 so without seeing the buck. When we saw something in the tall grass ahead. 47 00:03:45,439 --> 00:03:49,080 It looked like a car, and when we got closer you could tell 48 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,080 it was an old junk car. The body had rusted over and no paint 49 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:58,000 remained on the thing. The interior seats had rotted away, leaving only the 50 00:03:58,039 --> 00:04:02,000 metal springs, and none of the glass was intact. Looks like Grandpa's old 51 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:08,560 Chevy, I said, yeah, but older, said Rich. Grandpa's Chevy 52 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:13,360 was a fifty three and it was still in excellent shape. Rich was right, 53 00:04:13,439 --> 00:04:16,439 though this one did look older. The doors were still in place, 54 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,839 and when we lifted the old hood, the engine was still there. All 55 00:04:20,879 --> 00:04:25,920 the old hoses and stuff were long since gone, though it was just an 56 00:04:25,959 --> 00:04:30,800 old rust heap. We heard that grunt or snort again, but only this 57 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,079 time it was behind us and closer now. I grabbed the shotgun and turned 58 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:40,079 to look, but we couldn't see a dang thing. The tangles were so 59 00:04:40,319 --> 00:04:43,560 thick that it could have been fifty feet away and we would have never seen 60 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,639 it go on, Get yelled Rich. We figured we'd hear the sounds of 61 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,920 a deer running off through the woods, but we only heard the wind. 62 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,439 This is starting to give me the creeps, Rich, I said, this 63 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,720 place is too quiet. Oh, come on, he replied, let's go 64 00:05:00,759 --> 00:05:04,120 a little further and see what we find. We found the plow and now 65 00:05:04,199 --> 00:05:09,759 the car. Maybe there's an old homestead around here. I shrugged, and 66 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,519 we started up the trail, and neither of us were talking, and by 67 00:05:13,519 --> 00:05:17,519 an unspoken agreement, I watched one side of the road while Rich watched the 68 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,360 other side. We hadn't gone more than a quarter of a mile when we 69 00:05:21,399 --> 00:05:27,439 saw a house through the trees ahead. It was an old two story place, 70 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,240 and the paint was gone and the glass was missing from all the windows. 71 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,920 The front porch roof hung almost to the ground, and the front door 72 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:40,879 hung off at an angle. Another old, rusted car was in the tall 73 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,399 grass near the house. It was an old ford by the look of it. 74 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,480 The barn had fallen in on itself years ago, and there weren't any 75 00:05:47,519 --> 00:05:53,040 telephone poles around here, and that meant they'd abandoned this place before there was 76 00:05:53,079 --> 00:05:57,639 electricity in the area, which was in the forties. According to my dad, 77 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,399 the place looked like it could have been older than that, though Rich 78 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,439 started toward the house and I grabbed his arm. You aren't planning on going 79 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,360 in that thing, are you? I asked him, Well, sure, 80 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,839 he said, Lord knows what we might find in there. They left behind 81 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,360 a plow in two cars. It's no telling what else might be in there. 82 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:23,720 Reluctantly I followed him. The porch was pretty rotted and we had to 83 00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:27,800 watch our footing to get in the door. The place was a wreck and 84 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,800 one of those old wood cook stoves was in the kitchen. There was a 85 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,839 basin, but there was no faucet. Must be an old well with a 86 00:06:34,879 --> 00:06:41,480 pump around here somewhere, I said quietly. Rich nodded and kept poking around. 87 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,319 There were a few pieces of old furniture, but it was all broken 88 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,480 and rotted. The old cook stove was in pretty good shape, but I 89 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:54,240 bet it weighed four or five hundred pounds. That stove was solid cast iron. 90 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,040 In one room we saw animal scat. It was pretty big and in 91 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,959 big piles. What kind of animal dropped that? I asked, that's way 92 00:07:02,959 --> 00:07:06,360 too big for a coon or a coyote. Well, it must be a 93 00:07:06,399 --> 00:07:12,439 cow or something, Rich said, maybe a horse. Well I wasn't convinced, 94 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,160 but I didn't argue. I couldn't think of a thing that could do 95 00:07:15,319 --> 00:07:19,639 that and still fit in the door of the house. It also smelled funny. 96 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:25,399 It wasn't like deer scatter or horse apples. I took out my honting 97 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,439 knife and I poked into one of the piles and in the scat with some 98 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,680 hair and what looked like a tooth. Hey, rich this is a meat 99 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:38,839 eater. You see this tooth and there's hair in it too. Well, 100 00:07:38,879 --> 00:07:42,079 I heard there were bears in the woods around here. That must be it, 101 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,240 said rich shotgun or no shotgun. A bear was not something I wanted 102 00:07:46,279 --> 00:07:50,839 to run into. I only had squirrel shot, not slugs, and all 103 00:07:50,879 --> 00:07:55,600 I would do was make it mad. And the twenty two wasn't much better. 104 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,879 My dad always said you could not run a bear anyway. Come on, 105 00:08:00,319 --> 00:08:01,439 let's get out of here. I think it's the best. We head 106 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:07,519 toward home. Not yet, let's check upstairs first. Oh man, I 107 00:08:07,519 --> 00:08:11,079 don't think that's a good idea. This place looks like it could collapse. 108 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,519 We might fall through the floor, I said. Now, this old place 109 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,720 is pretty solid. The porch is shot, but the floors feel solid enough. 110 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,439 Besides, it'll only take a minute, said rich Well slowly. I 111 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:30,079 followed him up the old steep stairs. Unfortunately, he was right, they 112 00:08:30,079 --> 00:08:35,159 did feel pretty solid. Once up the stairs, we both started looking around. 113 00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:39,720 The furniture up there was all gone. There was more scat up there, 114 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,720 and it looked about the same as the stuff downstairs. Hey, come 115 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:48,960 check this out, called rich In the next room we saw what looked to 116 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,200 be a nest, only it was bigger. It was made of long grass 117 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:58,360 and leaves and woven with tree branches. There was more scat in this room, 118 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,559 but none in the nest. There were a few bones in it, 119 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,679 though, and it looked like a rabbit or a squirrel, some kind of 120 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:09,399 small game. O'Neil to look at the bones. And we heard a grunt 121 00:09:09,519 --> 00:09:13,679 or snort again, and this time it was right outside the house and it 122 00:09:13,759 --> 00:09:18,039 was loud. It sounded angry, and then something hit the side of the 123 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,919 house hard enough that we felt the floor shake. What the hell was that, 124 00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:24,639 I yelled, I don't know, but it don't sound friendly, said 125 00:09:24,759 --> 00:09:31,279 rich A pointed the shotgun out the window and let fly around. The loud 126 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,720 boom of the twelve gage prompted another snort or grunt, and then there was 127 00:09:35,799 --> 00:09:39,919 a growl and we heard something crashing off through the tall grass and into the 128 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,559 trees. We both took the stairs as fast as we could, and we 129 00:09:43,639 --> 00:09:48,360 jumped out of the living room window and we ran down the road past the 130 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,559 old cars, and we didn't stop until we reached the old plow. And 131 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,279 when we got there, we stopped to catch our breath. What in the 132 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,720 hell was that? I asked, gulping air down. Not only knows, 133 00:10:00,799 --> 00:10:03,679 man, Rich replied, but whatever it was, it sure didn't take too 134 00:10:03,759 --> 00:10:07,519 kindly to us being up in that old house. I was just about to 135 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,759 open my mouth to reply when I rock the size of a bowling ball flew 136 00:10:11,799 --> 00:10:16,879 out of the trees and slammed into the plow blade right next to us, 137 00:10:16,519 --> 00:10:20,240 and it bounced up and it knocked Ritchie off the plow where he was sitting 138 00:10:20,279 --> 00:10:26,480 on the handle. Right then came the most horrendous roar from the trees. 139 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:31,480 It sounded like a lion or something like it, but it was just inside 140 00:10:31,519 --> 00:10:35,639 the tree line. The roar lasted for a good ten seconds, and while 141 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,320 it was roaring, I couldn't do anything but stare at the tree line where 142 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,639 the sound was coming from. And when it stopped, I grabbed Rich and 143 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:48,679 pulled him to his feet. Can you walk, I asked, Hell, 144 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:52,759 no, I can't walk, he replied, I'm going to run. The 145 00:10:52,799 --> 00:10:56,559 noise came from the trees about that time, as if something was tearing up 146 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:01,559 the brush. Limbs were breaking and cracking, and Rich leveled IS twenty two 147 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,399 at the area and fired off three rounds. The sharp crack of the rounds 148 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:09,360 going off must have scared it, because the sound stopped and we could hear 149 00:11:09,399 --> 00:11:15,679 something tearing off through the trees. We took off like rabbits down the trail, 150 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,000 heading for the spot where we could cut a trail, and it didn't 151 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,759 take long to make it, and we stopped there because neither of us was 152 00:11:22,799 --> 00:11:26,159 in any hurry to go into those trees. We would have to go through 153 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:31,279 the woods for a few miles to get home. We listened for any sounds 154 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,440 or signs of whatever we'd heard back at the plow, and after a couple 155 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,720 of minutes, when we hadn't heard anything, we decided to go for it. 156 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:45,240 We heard a sound from back toward the plow as we entered the trees, 157 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,759 and it sounded like someone banging wood against wood, and at not three 158 00:11:48,879 --> 00:11:52,720 times, and we heard it again after a few seconds, only from the 159 00:11:52,759 --> 00:11:58,080 other side of us, deeper into the trees. By this point, we 160 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,159 were so scared that we couldn't even talked to each other. I've been in 161 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,960 out of the woods my entire life and never experienced anything like this. Neither 162 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,679 had Rich and we kept up a quick pace in the thick underbrush, and 163 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,320 we hadn't gone far when we heard that roar again, and it was close. 164 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:20,159 I turned to point my twelve gage in that direction and I fired off 165 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:24,879 around and the boom of the shotgun was almost deafening in the thick woods. 166 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:31,080 Instead of running off like before, it roared again and started throwing tree branches 167 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,759 at us. Rich and I got a pretty good look at it, but 168 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,960 just for a few seconds, and it was about ten yards away and looked 169 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,000 like a giant man, only he was covered in black hair from head to 170 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,399 foot. The face looked more like a gorilla than a man, with black 171 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,399 skin and not much of a neck, and the head looked pointed, and 172 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,080 it was not a cone or anything. It was just like it sloped backwards 173 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:58,519 to the back of its head. It was kind of like the hood on 174 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:03,240 a poncho. And it was big too. It must have been close to 175 00:13:03,399 --> 00:13:07,720 seven feet tall and had a massive chest and arms like a bodybuilder. Rich 176 00:13:07,799 --> 00:13:11,039 fired at it with the twenty two, and we're sure he hit it because 177 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:16,080 it grunted and disappeared into the trees. There wasn't any sound of it running 178 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,799 off, so we knew it had just taken cover. And we started getting 179 00:13:20,799 --> 00:13:24,360 branches tossed at us from the other side about that time, and without even 180 00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:28,080 looking, I fired off the shotgun that way and we heard whatever it was 181 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:33,919 crashing into the thicker trees. Rich and I decided that it would be a 182 00:13:33,919 --> 00:13:37,639 good idea to move faster. And this went on for quite a bit, 183 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:43,039 with one side tossing rocks or sticks until we fired off our guns and then 184 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,440 it would come from the other side. They're trying to get us to run 185 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,159 out of ammo, Rich yelled, well, I knew he was right, 186 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:54,519 and it was working. I was down to five rounds left for the shotgun, 187 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,799 and Rich had two more magazines for the twenty two. We were pretty 188 00:13:58,799 --> 00:14:03,399 close to panicking. We knew we had to be close to the fence where 189 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,200 we first came into this property, so we decided to make a break for 190 00:14:07,279 --> 00:14:11,600 it. I fired one way and he fired the other and we started running, 191 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,279 and instead of them running away, it sounded like they were running after 192 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,480 us. Looking back at it now, I think they knew that we were 193 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,720 close to getting away, and the undergrowth was stick and we knew that they 194 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,039 could be right on top of us before we could see them, so we 195 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:33,919 just started firing blind well. He emptied the magazine in the twenty two and 196 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,320 I was pumping in my fourth round into the chamber when we saw the fence. 197 00:14:39,279 --> 00:14:43,120 Richie dove over it and came up to his feet. I wasn't much 198 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,679 of a jumper, so I got ready to climb through or over, and 199 00:14:46,759 --> 00:14:50,240 the crashing was right behind us, so I tossed the shotgun over the fence 200 00:14:50,279 --> 00:14:54,360 to rich and he shouldered it and aimed behind me, and I could see 201 00:14:54,360 --> 00:15:00,759 the look of terror on his face. I grabbed the fence started over, 202 00:15:00,799 --> 00:15:03,320 and that's when I felt something tug at the back of my shirt. It 203 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,679 only tugged for a second, and rich fired the shotgun right over my shoulder 204 00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:13,120 and I planted my foot and I flipped over the fence. I reached for 205 00:15:13,159 --> 00:15:16,159 the twenty two and pulled it off the ground and got to my feet and 206 00:15:16,279 --> 00:15:20,200 rich fired off my last ground in the shotgun, and we took off down 207 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:26,080 the gravel road as fast as possible. We could still hear them crashing through 208 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,639 the trees beside the road. Rich and I switched guns while we ran, 209 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,200 and we loaded his last magazine into the twenty two. And the things in 210 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,840 the trees kept getting closer, and we were still more than a mile from 211 00:15:39,919 --> 00:15:43,600 Rich's house, and we knew there was no way we were gonna make it. 212 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:50,399 We were already exhausted and almost out of AMMO. And then we heard 213 00:15:50,559 --> 00:15:54,159 a horn. One of Rich's neighbors was coming up the road in his pickup. 214 00:15:54,879 --> 00:15:58,799 The sounds in the tree stopped as the truck caught up with us, 215 00:16:00,559 --> 00:16:03,440 leaned out his window and he smiled at us. You boys want to ride? 216 00:16:03,759 --> 00:16:07,240 He asked, well, yeah, We shouted and jumped into the pickup 217 00:16:07,279 --> 00:16:12,559 bed. Mister Bridges dropped us off in front of richest house, and we 218 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:18,960 thanked him profusely and he waved it us and he drove away. The wood 219 00:16:18,039 --> 00:16:22,000 stopped down the road from Rich's house, so we were safe. We didn't 220 00:16:22,039 --> 00:16:26,840 hear or see anything. Rich's parents were gone to town, so we went 221 00:16:26,879 --> 00:16:32,639 inside and cleaned the guns. We were both still shaking, and I went 222 00:16:32,679 --> 00:16:37,679 to the refrigerator to get a coke and Rich gasp I spun around and said, 223 00:16:37,679 --> 00:16:41,039 what is it? Man? Look at your back. I pulled off 224 00:16:41,039 --> 00:16:47,440 my shirt and looked, and across the back were four slashes side by side 225 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:51,080 that had been the tug. I felt before I crossed the fence, there 226 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:56,879 were slashes across the fabric, but it hadn't reached my skin. We locked 227 00:16:56,879 --> 00:17:00,600 all the doors and reloaded the guns, and Rich went and got the Marland 228 00:17:00,639 --> 00:17:04,960 thirty thirty and he loaded it and I loaded slugs into the twelve gage and 229 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,400 we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the tree line through the windows. 230 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,400 Every night after that, for two weeks you could hear strange screams coming from 231 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,279 the woods. Rich's dogs went nuts one night, barking at something, and 232 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:23,680 then they heard it yelp. Rich's dad went outside to see what happened, 233 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:29,400 but nothing was there, and they never found the dog. Two nights later, 234 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,839 one of their cows got attacked and killed. They found it partially eaten 235 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,079 and torn up pretty good the next day, and whatever had killed it, 236 00:17:37,079 --> 00:17:41,960 it had broken one of its legs and its neck. A couple of times. 237 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,000 Something even tried to get into the house, but it ran off when 238 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:51,200 Rich's dad turned on the lights and grabbed his rifle. But by the end 239 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,680 of two weeks, everything had returned to normal and they no longer heard the 240 00:17:55,759 --> 00:18:00,119 screams. And we told Rich's dad what had happened in the woods. He 241 00:18:00,279 --> 00:18:04,039 just laughed at us. He thought that our imaginations had run away with us, 242 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,519 and since he didn't believe us, he never told anyone else until I 243 00:18:07,599 --> 00:18:14,119 decided to write this. Rich and I didn't talk about it much later. 244 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,200 After both of us joined the army, we drifted apart. Last I heard 245 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,599 Rich lived out of state with his wife and kids. I'm not sure where. 246 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,519 His parents sold their farm and moved to New Mexico in nineteen ninety six. 247 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,440 And as crazy as this all sounds, I promise you this is true. 248 00:18:34,039 --> 00:18:37,359 The only thing I changed was the names of the people involved, because 249 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:41,039 I didn't want to reveal their names without their permission, and I had no 250 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:47,400 idea how to find them to ask. I never returned to those woods again, 251 00:18:47,599 --> 00:18:51,920 not even with Rich or with better weapons. I'm not sure that I 252 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:56,400 would go back there even now. It scares me that bad and I don't 253 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:00,359 get scared easily. And even though that was almost twenty years ago, I 254 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,440 remember it like it was yesterday, and if I lived to be one hundred, 255 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:10,599 I will never forget it. Whatever those things were, they lived in 256 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,440 that old house, and I honestly feel they were trying to kill us. 257 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,519 I often wonder if they didn't kill the people who lived in that house all 258 00:19:18,559 --> 00:19:23,799 those years ago. One of those old cast iron stoves wasn't something people in 259 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:29,440 those days would toss aside. They were expensive to buy, and that was 260 00:19:29,519 --> 00:19:33,400 one in good shape, even in nineteen eighty five. If we didn't have 261 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,440 our guns, I think that neither of us would have made it out of 262 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,880 the woods alive. And that thing I saw that day was no bear. 263 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,920 Bears don't have hands or walk on two legs, and whatever it was, 264 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:52,839 it damn sure wasn't friendly. I've read about the legends of Bigfoot. That 265 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:57,200 is the only thing that fits what we saw. And if it was Bigfoot, 266 00:19:57,519 --> 00:20:02,680 it sure wasn't some gentle giant of the woods like some people try to 267 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,839 make it out to be. This thing was dangerous, and I think that 268 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,920 the only thing that kept it at bay were our guns. I still say 269 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,440 they were trying to make us run out of AMMO that day. We wouldn't 270 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,720 have made it home if mister Bridges hadn't come along. We were lucky that 271 00:20:18,839 --> 00:20:22,279 day. I guess that's why I don't want to go back. Why in 272 00:20:22,319 --> 00:20:25,200 the world would I push my luck.