WEBVTT 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.