WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.759 For decades, people have disappeared in the woods without a trace. 2 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:10.279 Some blame wild animals, others whisper of creatures the world 3 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:14.160 refuses to believe in. But those who have survived they 4 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:18.679 know the truth. Welcome to Backwoods Bigfoot Stories, where we 5 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.879 share real encounters with the things lurking in the darkness Bigfoot, 6 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:28.239 dog man, UFOs, and creatures that defy explanation. Some make 7 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:32.280 it out, others aren't so lucky. Are you ready, because 8 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:34.640 once you hear these stories, you'll never walk in the 9 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:38.920 woods alone again. So grab your flashlight, stay close, and 10 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:41.840 remember some things in the woods don't want to be found. 11 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.240 Hit that follow or subscribe button, turn on auto downloads, 12 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.399 and let's head off into the woods. If you dare. 13 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:05.480 Deep in the heart of New Jersey, where ancient cedar 14 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:09.480 and pine trees stretched their gnarled branches toward an indifferent sky, 15 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:14.599 lies a wilderness older than memory, the pine barrens, a 16 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:18.840 million acres of dense forest, brackish streams, and forgotten places 17 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.840 where civilization fears to tread. It is here in this 18 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:27.359 primordial landscape that one of America's most enduring legends was born. 19 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:32.480 In blood, blasphemy and supernatural terror. The pine barrens have 20 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.319 always been different. The Lenape Native Americans who first walked 21 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:39.719 these paths spoke in hush tones of spirits that dwelt 22 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:43.319 in the deepest groves of places where the vale between 23 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:47.000 worlds grew thin. They called it a land of shadows, 24 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.840 where the earth itself seemed cursed with an ancient malevolence. 25 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:55.239 When European settlers arrived in the late sixteen hundreds, they 26 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:58.319 found the forest resistant to their axes and plows, as 27 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:02.319 if the very soil rejected their attempts at civilization. The 28 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.000 region became a haven for outcasts, criminals, and those who 29 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:10.039 preferred the shadows to the light of proper society. Isolated 30 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:14.080 communities sprouted like poisonous mushrooms in clearings carved from the 31 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:19.159 reluctant wilderness. Here, far from the watchful eyes of colonial authorities, 32 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:23.439 desperate people made desperate bargains with forces they barely understood. 33 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:26.479 It was in one such settlement, in the winter of 34 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:29.639 seventeen thirty five, that Mother Leeds made a pact that 35 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:32.879 would damn not just her own soul, but unleash upon 36 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:36.479 the world a creature so terrible that its very existence 37 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.680 would become woven into the fabric of American folklore. The 38 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.360 story of the Jersey Devil is not merely a tale 39 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.719 of monsters and mayhem. It is a chronicle of what 40 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:51.039 happens when human desperation meets supernatural malice, when a mother's 41 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:54.719 curse births a legend that refuses to die. For nearly 42 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:58.240 three centuries. The creature has stalked the pine barrens, its 43 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:03.199 presence felt in unexplained disappearances, livestock found drained of blood, 44 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.360 and the bone chilling screams that echo through the forest 45 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.919 on moonless nights. Witnesses describe a being of impossible anatomy, 46 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:16.000 part bat, part horse, part demon, with glowing red eyes 47 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.560 and a cry that can drive men mad with terror. 48 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:22.639 But to understand the Jersey Devil, one must first understand 49 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:25.879 the woman who brought it into being. Mother Leeds, was 50 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:29.560 no ordinary woman, and the night of January thirteenth, seventeen 51 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:33.800 thirty five was no ordinary birth. What follows is the 52 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:38.199 true account of that terrible evening, piece together from whispered confessions, 53 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:41.960 faded journal entries, and the testimony of those few brave 54 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:44.360 enough to speak of what they witnessed in the cursed 55 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.800 cabin deep in the pine barrens. This is the story 56 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.439 of how a mother's thirteenth child became the Devil of 57 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:53.960 New Jersey. The winner of seventeen thirty five struck the 58 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.560 pine barrens with unusual ferocity, as if nature itself recoiled 59 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.639 from what was to come. Snow fell in thick, oppressive blankets, 60 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.639 muffling the world in an unnatural silence, broken only by 61 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:09.479 the distant howling of wolves and the creak of ancient 62 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.319 trees bending under the weight of ice. In a ramshackle 63 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:16.639 cabin nestled deep within the forest's heart, where no decent 64 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.879 folk would dare to venture, Mother Leeds felt the familiar 65 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.920 stirrings of impending birth. Deborah Leeds was a woman weathered 66 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:28.079 by hardship and twisted by bitterness. At forty three, she 67 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:31.519 had already borne twelve children to her husband, Daniel, a 68 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.519 weak willed man who spent more time drinking pine liquor 69 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.279 than providing for his ever growing brood. The Leeds family 70 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.040 existed on the margins of colonial society, scratching out a 71 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.920 meager living through poaching, moonshining, and trading with pirates who 72 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:49.639 used the isolated waterways of the pine barrens as smuggling routes. 73 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.399 Their cabin stood in a clearing that seemed perpetually shrouded 74 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:57.800 in shadow even at midday. Built from logs blackened by 75 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.720 age and weather, it hunched against the the elements like 76 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:04.360 a wounded animal. The structure itself seemed to exhale a 77 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:08.639 kind of malevolence, windows like dead eyes, a door that 78 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:11.959 never quite closed properly, and a roof that leaked in 79 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:16.079 patterns that formed disturbing shapes on the floor below. The 80 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.800 twelve leads children ranged in age from infancy to adolescence, 81 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:23.759 each one bearing the marks of their hard existence. They 82 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.759 were pale, hollow eyed creatures who moved through the cabin 83 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:30.680 like ghosts, speaking in whispers and flinching at sudden movements. 84 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.639 The older ones had learned to make themselves scarce when 85 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:37.240 their parents' arguments turned violent, while the younger ones huddled 86 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.720 together for warmth and comfort that their parents rarely provided. 87 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.040 Daniel Leeds sat by the dying fire on that January evening, 88 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.519 his roomy eyes fixed on nothing in particular as he 89 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:52.000 nursed a jug of his own distilled poison. He was 90 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:54.839 a man broken by failure and haunted by choices that 91 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.600 had led his family deeper into the wilderness, both literally 92 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:02.519 and figuratively. Once he had been a surveyor and map 93 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:06.079 maker of some small reputation, but gambling debts and a 94 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:09.079 fondness for the bottle had reduced him to his current state, 95 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.000 a shadow of a man living in the shadow of 96 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:16.720 the forest. Mother leads her belly swollen with her thirteenth child, 97 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:20.600 paced the cabin like a caged animal. Each step was 98 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.560 punctuated by sharp intakes of breath as contractions began to 99 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.519 grip her. But it was not the pain of impending 100 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:31.120 childbirth that caused her face to twist with anguish. It 101 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:34.800 was the crushing weight of poverty, desperation, and a fury 102 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:37.399 that had been building for years, like pressure in a 103 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:42.000 sealed vessel. Thirteen children, thirteen mouths to feed when we 104 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.759 can barely manage twelve. Daniel looked up from his jug 105 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:50.759 what's that you say, thirteen? Do you hear me? You worthless? Drunk? 106 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:54.519 Thirteen children and not a penny to our name, not 107 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:57.279 a scrap of food in the larder, not a single 108 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.000 blessing from the God who seems to have forgotten we exist. 109 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:05.199 The children pressed themselves deeper into the shadows, having learned 110 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.079 that their mother's rages could turn violent without warning. The 111 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:13.079 older ones gathered the younger ones protectively, creating a huddle 112 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:15.879 of trembling bodies in the farthest corner of the cabin's 113 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:20.439 single room. Mother Leeds doubled over as another contraction seized her, 114 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.759 But when she straightened, there was something different in her eyes, 115 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.680 a wild light that seemed to flicker like flame. She 116 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.759 raised her fist toward the smoke stained ceiling, toward the 117 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:34.160 god she believed had abandoned her family to poverty and despair. 118 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.360 If this be your will, if you would burden me 119 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.560 with yet another mouth to feed, another soul, to clothe 120 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:43.720 and shelter with nothing but misery and want, then let 121 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:46.839 this child be cursed. Let it be borne not as 122 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:51.120 a blessing, but as the very devil himself. The words 123 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:53.959 hung in the air like a physical presence, seeming to 124 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:58.399 echo and re echo despite the cabin's small confines. Outside, 125 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:01.360 the wind suddenly stilled, as if the very forest was 126 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:04.600 holding its breath. The fire in the hearth guttered and 127 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:09.680 nearly died, casting the cabin into deeper shadow, Deborah, you 128 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.800 don't know what you're saying. Take it back, Take back 129 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:17.519 those words. But Mother Leeds was beyond reason, beyond fear, 130 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:21.480 beyond any emotion save the black rage that had consumed her. 131 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:26.199 Another contraction racked her body, and she screamed again, not 132 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:30.279 in pain, but in defiance of heaven and earth. Let 133 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.399 the devil take this child. Let it be his spawn, 134 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:37.440 not mine. If God will not provide, then let Satan 135 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:42.000 claim what is rightfully. His thunder rumbled overhead despite the 136 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.600 falling snow, and lightning flickered behind the clouds, an unnatural 137 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.960 storm born of unnatural words. The cabin's walls seemed to 138 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:53.919 pulse with a malevolent energy, and the shadows in the 139 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:56.759 corners deepened until they appeared to move with lives of 140 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:01.639 their own, as if summoned by her blasphemous invocation. Something 141 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.200 answered Mother leads as call. The temperature in the cabin 142 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.559 plummeted until their breath misted before their faces. The remaining 143 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.720 embers in the fireplace flared with an unholy green light, 144 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:16.120 and from somewhere far below the cabin, as if rising 145 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.080 from the very bowels of the earth, came a sound 146 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:23.759 like distant laughter. The birth began in earnest as midnight approached, 147 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:27.720 but this was no ordinary labor. The contractions came with 148 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:33.200 supernatural intensity, each one accompanied by phenomena that defied explanation. 149 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:38.240 Windows cracked without being touched. The cabin's wooden walls groaned 150 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:41.759 as if under tremendous pressure, and strange symbols seemed to 151 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.679 appear and disappear in the frost that formed on the 152 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:49.600 interior surfaces. Mother leads. Screams took on and inhuman quality, 153 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.200 rising and falling in harmonies that no human throat should 154 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:56.440 have been able to produce. The sound seemed to penetrate 155 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:59.240 not just the ears, but the very souls of those 156 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:03.200 who heard it. Even Daniel, dulled by drink and despair, 157 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:06.679 felt something primal and terrifying stirring in the depths of 158 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:10.519 his being. Outside the forest itself seemed to respond to 159 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:14.960 the unholy birth taking place within the cabin. Trees swayed 160 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.200 without wind, their branches reaching toward the structure like gnarled fingers. 161 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:23.360 Night hunting animals fell silent, as if sensing that something 162 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.720 far more dangerous than any natural predator was being borne 163 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.200 into their domain. The older Leeds children huddled together, their 164 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.559 faces pale with terror as they watched their mother writhe 165 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.080 on the rough wooden bed. They had witnessed berths before, 166 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:42.240 in a family of thirteen children. It was inevitable, but 167 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.519 this was different. This birth was wrong in ways their 168 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:49.600 young minds could not fully comprehend, but their instincts recognized 169 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:53.480 with crystal clarity. As the hour of midnight struck on 170 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.159 some distant church bell, Mother Leeds gave one final earth 171 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:00.679 shaking scream that seemed to split the very air. The 172 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:03.879 sound was so terrible that birds roosting miles away took 173 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.120 flight in panic, and every dog in the scattered settlements 174 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:11.120 of the pine barrens began to howl in unison. And then, 175 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:15.039 in the sudden silence that followed, a new sound emerged, 176 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:19.639 the weak, muling cry of a newborn child. For a 177 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.000 moment that stretched like eternity, the cabin held its breath. 178 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:25.840 The only sounds were the crackling of the fire that 179 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.799 had mysteriously resumed its normal hue, and the soft whimpering 180 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:33.639 of the newborn. Mother. Leeds lay exhausted on the straw 181 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.399 filled mattress, her face slacked with a combination of physical 182 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:43.120 depletion and something approaching relief. Perhaps, in those first precious seconds, 183 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.440 she allowed herself to believe that her blasphemous words had 184 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.960 been nothing more than the ravings of a woman driven 185 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:53.759 to desperation. Daniel approached the bed with unsteady steps, his 186 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:57.159 face showing the first genuine emotion he had displayed in months. 187 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:02.399 Despite everything, the poverty, the despair, the terrible words his 188 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.399 wife had spoken, this was still his child, his blood. 189 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:09.480 He reached toward the bundle of rags that held his 190 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:13.159 thirteenth offspring, his hands trembling with something that might have 191 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:16.720 been hope. Let me see, let me see my son. 192 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:20.759 But as his fingers touched the rough cloth swaddling the baby, 193 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:23.600 a change began to manifest that would haunt him for 194 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:27.200 the remainder of his brief life. The child's cries, which 195 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.279 had initially sounded like those of any newborn, began to 196 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:34.080 take on a different quality. They grew deeper, more resonant, 197 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:37.320 carrying undertones that seemed to vibrate in the very bones 198 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.840 of those who heard them. Mother Leads, still weak from 199 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:44.559 the traumatic birth, struggled to sit up her eyes, which 200 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.960 had blazed with unholy fire during her labor now showed 201 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:53.559 the first flickers of uncertainty. Daniel, something, something is wrong. 202 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:58.240 The baby's cries grew louder, more insistent, and with them 203 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:02.919 came physical changes that began slowly but accelerated with terrifying speed. 204 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:06.799 The child's skin, which had appeared normal in the dim light, 205 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:11.039 began to darken and take on a leathery texture. Its fingers, 206 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:15.960 initially delicate and pink, stretched and elongated, ending in points 207 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.480 that were distinctly not human. Daniel stumbled backward, his face 208 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:25.000 draining of all color. Dear God, what have we done? 209 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:29.759 The transformation was not gradual. It was explosive, violent, and 210 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:34.039 utterly horrifying. Before the eyes of the terrified family. The 211 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.720 infant that mother Leeds had birthed began to grow at 212 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:41.559 an impossible rate. Its limbs stretched and contorted, bones cracking 213 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.799 and reforming with sounds like breaking branches. Its skull expanded 214 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:49.399 and reshaped itself, the soft fontinell becoming a ridge of 215 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:53.200 bone that swept back like a crest. The baby's cries 216 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:56.080 evolved into something that no longer resembled any sound a 217 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:59.639 human child could make. They became shrieks that seemed to 218 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:03.600 tear the fabric of reality itself, punctuated by a noise 219 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:06.840 that could only be described as laughter, but laughter touched 220 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.759 by such malevolence that it made the listener's skin crawl 221 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:13.559 with instinctive terror. Within minutes, the thing on the bed 222 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:17.279 was no longer recognizably human. Its body had grown to 223 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.440 the size of a large dog, but its proportions were 224 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:24.559 all wrong. Its torso was elongated and covered in skin 225 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.159 that looked more like hide, dark and poked with what 226 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:32.559 appeared to be scales. Its arms had become grotesquely muscled, 227 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.960 ending in hands that were part human, part claw. But 228 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.639 it was the creature's head that truly defied description. The 229 00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:45.039 skull had elongated into something horse like but twisted and demonic. 230 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.799 Its mouth, when it opened to release those terrible cries, 231 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.639 revealed rows of needle sharp teeth that gleamed in the firelight, 232 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.919 and its eyes. Its eyes burned with an intelligence that 233 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:01.679 was both ancient and utterly malign, as fresh blood and 234 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:06.120 bright as the fires of hell itself. The Leeds children, 235 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.879 who had witnessed this impossible transformation from their huddled position 236 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.919 in the corner, could no longer contain their terror. They 237 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:17.039 began to scream in unison, their voices joining with the 238 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.360 creature's inhuman cries to create a cacophony that seemed to 239 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.320 shake the very foundations of the cabin. But the transformation 240 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.120 was not yet complete. As the family watched in horror, 241 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.720 leathery wings began to unfurl from the creature's back, wings 242 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:36.159 that looked like those of some gigantic bat, but shot 243 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.919 through with veins that pulsed with their own dark light. 244 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.639 The wings stretched and stretched until they spanned nearly the 245 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:46.320 width of the cabin, casting impossible shadows that seemed to 246 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:50.279 move independently of their source. The creature, for it could 247 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:53.120 no longer be called a child, rose from the bed 248 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:57.320 with fluid grace that belied its grotesque appearance. It stood 249 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:00.159 on legs that had become digital grade, like those of 250 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.320 a great horse, but ending in hoofs that struck sparks 251 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.600 from the wooden floor. When it moved, it did so 252 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.960 with the predatory elegance of a natural killer. Mother Leeds, 253 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:14.519 confronted with the abomination that her curse had wrought, found 254 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:18.120 her voice at last, But instead of horror or regret, 255 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:23.159 what emerged was a kind of mannic triumph. Yes, yes, 256 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.559 my beautiful devil child, you are everything I asked for 257 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.720 and more. The creature turned its burning gaze upon her, 258 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.799 and for a moment, something almost resembling recognition flickered in 259 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:38.240 those hellish eyes. But then it threw back its equine 260 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.759 head and released a sound that combined the screech of 261 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:44.679 a hawk, the roar of a lion, and something else entirely, 262 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:50.519 something that spoke of realms beyond human comprehension. Daniel, driven 263 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.200 beyond the limits of his sanity by what he was witnessing, 264 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.720 reached for the rifle that hung above the mantelpiece. His 265 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.720 hands shook so violently that he could barely grasp the weapon, 266 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:04.200 but desperation gave him strength. I'll not let this evil live. 267 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:07.799 But the creature was faster than any mortal being had 268 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.839 a right to be. With a movement that was part leap, 269 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.640 part flight, it crossed the cabin in an instant. Its 270 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:17.839 clawed hand struck Daniel with such force that it lifted 271 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:20.000 him from his feet and sent him crashing into the 272 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:24.880 opposite wall. The rifle discharged harmlessly into the ceiling, bringing 273 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.359 down a shower of splinters and soot. Daniel slumped to 274 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.960 the floor, his chest caved in, blood frothing from his 275 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.319 lips as life left his eyes. The last thing he 276 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.799 saw was his thirteenth child, perched atop his soupine form, 277 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:42.799 studying him with the detached curiosity of a cat examining 278 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:47.400 a wounded mouse. The older Leeds children, witnessing their father's murder, 279 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:51.079 broke from their paralysis and fled. They burst through the 280 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.200 cabin door and into the frozen night, their bare feet 281 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.279 slipping on the icy ground as they ran blindly into 282 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:01.200 the forest. Some would make it to distance settle, babbling 283 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:05.240 incoherent tales of devils and transformations that would be dismissed 284 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:09.440 as the fantasies of traumatized minds. Others would be found 285 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.359 days later, frozen to death among the pines, their faces 286 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.960 locked in expressions of terror that would haunt those who 287 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:20.599 discovered them. Only the youngest children remained too small to run, 288 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:25.039 too frightened to move. They pressed themselves against the cabin wall, 289 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.160 whimpering like wounded animals as the creature that had been 290 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:32.279 their brother turned its attention to them. But instead of violence, 291 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:35.279 the Jersey devil displayed something that might have been mercy, 292 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:40.160 or perhaps simple disinterest. It studied its siblings with those 293 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:43.839 burning eyes, then turned away, as if they were beneath 294 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:47.720 its notice. Its gaze fixed instead upon the cabin door, 295 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:52.640 which hung open to reveal the dark forest beyond. Mother Leeds, 296 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:56.240 still standing despite her exhaustion, watched with a mixture of 297 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.000 pride and dawning horror as her devil child approached the threshold. 298 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.319 Where are you going? You're my child, my beautiful, cursed child. 299 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.839 The creature paused at the doorway and looked back at her. 300 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.480 For just an instant, its expression softened, and she saw 301 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:16.559 something that might have been recognition, even affection. But then 302 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:19.839 the moment passed, and the Jersey Devil spread its massive wings. 303 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:24.039 The forest calls, the forest has always been waiting for me. 304 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.440 With a sound like thunder, the Jersey Devil launched itself 305 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:31.680 into the night sky. Its wings caught the wind with 306 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:35.640 impossible grace, carrying it up and over the towering pines 307 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.960 until it was lost against the star filled darkness. But 308 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.720 its cry echoed back through the forest, a sound of triumph, 309 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:47.559 of hunger, and of promises yet to be fulfilled. Mother 310 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.759 Leeds stood in the doorway, watching the empty sky. Long 311 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:54.759 after the creature had vanished. The cold bit through her nightgown, 312 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:58.640 but she seemed not to notice. Around her feet the 313 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.200 snow was stained with her husband In's blood, and from 314 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.920 the corners of the cabin came the soft sobbing of 315 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:08.119 her surviving children. Stay tuned for more Backwoods Bigfoot stories. 316 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:14.400 We'll be back after these messages. She had asked for 317 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:17.839 a devil, and a devil she had received. But as 318 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.319 she stood there in the aftermath of her wish fulfilled 319 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:23.440 Deborah Leeds began to understand the true weight of what 320 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:27.079 she had unleashed upon the world. Her curse had been answered, 321 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:30.000 but the price was higher than she had ever imagined. 322 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.440 In the distance, carried on the wind, came the sound 323 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:37.279 of the Jersey Devil's cry, wild, free and hungry for 324 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:41.319 whatever darkness the night might bring. The Jersey Devil's first 325 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.880 night of freedom was a symphony of terror that echoed 326 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:47.200 through the pine barrens, like a promise of horrors to come. 327 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:50.400 As it soared through the frigid air on wings that 328 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.079 defied every law of nature, the creature felt the intoxicating 329 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:58.599 rush of power coursing through its transformed body. Below, the 330 00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:02.160 forest spread out like a dark ocean, its frozen streams 331 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:06.000 and snow covered clearings, creating a landscape that seemed designed 332 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:10.319 for hunting. The Devil's enhanced senses picked up every detail 333 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:13.319 of the world beneath it. It could smell the warm 334 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:16.880 blood of deer huddled in thickets miles away, hear the 335 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:20.559 rapid heartbeats of rabbits trembling in their burrows, and see 336 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.279 through the darkness with eyes that burned like coals in 337 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:26.559 the night. But it was not animal prey that called 338 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:30.680 to the creature's newfound hunger. It was something far more complex, 339 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:36.240 far more satisfying. It sought fear itself. The first settlement 340 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:38.799 the Jersey Devil encountered was little more than a collection 341 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:42.880 of rough cabins clustered around a frozen pond. The Whitmore 342 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:46.119 family had built their homestead three years earlier, carving a 343 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.599 small farm from the reluctant wilderness through backbreaking labor and 344 00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:54.279 stubborn determination. They were good people, methodist farmers who read 345 00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:57.319 from the Bible each evening and said grace before every meal, 346 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:00.880 No matter how meager. John whitpm More had been awakened 347 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:04.039 by his cattle, which had begun lowing with distress despite 348 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:06.839 the late hour, He pulled on his boots and coat, 349 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:09.960 grabbed his lantern, and stepped out into the bitter cold 350 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:13.480 to investigate. The cattle were pressed against the far side 351 00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:16.559 of their pen, their eyes rolling white with terror as 352 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:20.359 they stared up at the star filled sky. Easy, girls, 353 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:24.440 what's got you so spooked? The Jersey Devil descended in 354 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.559 absolute silence, its massive wings allowing it to glide without 355 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:31.640 the slightest sound. It perched on the roof of the 356 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:35.599 barn like some nightmarish gargoyle, its red eyes fixed on 357 00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:40.000 the farmer below. For long moments, it simply watched, studying 358 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:43.319 this human with the intensity of a predator selecting its prey. 359 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.519 John felt the weight of that gaze before he saw 360 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.640 its source. The sensation was like ice water in his veins, 361 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.519 a primal recognition of danger that every human carried in 362 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:59.640 their deepest genetic memory. He turned slowly, raising the lantern higher, 363 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:02.880 and found himself staring into the face of nightmare itself. 364 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:07.200 The Jersey Devil's horse like skull tilted slightly, as if 365 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.880 it were considering the terrified man below with academic interest. 366 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:14.359 Its lips pulled back to reveal those rows of needle 367 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.559 sharp teeth in what might have been a smile, good evening, Farmer. 368 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:21.799 Such a cold night to be wandering about one might 369 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:25.400 catch their death. John Whitmore was a man of simple 370 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:28.640 faith and practical nature, but nothing in his experience had 371 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:32.160 prepared him for this moment. His mouth opened and closed 372 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:35.839 without sound, his mind struggling to process what his eyes 373 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:39.920 were seeing. The lantern trembled in his grip, casting dancing 374 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:44.640 shadows that made the creature appear even more demonic. What 375 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:48.200 what are you? The Jersey Devil's laugh was like breaking 376 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.720 glass mixed with the screech of metal on stone. I 377 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.720 am what happens when prayers go unanswered and curses find 378 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:58.359 their mark. I am the thirteenth child of a desperate woman, 379 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.319 born of blasphemy and raised on hatred. I am your 380 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:06.240 newest neighbor, Farmer Whitmore. The fact that it knew his 381 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.759 name sent fresh waves of terror through John's body. He 382 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:13.680 stumbled backward, the lantern, swinging wildly and creating a dizzy 383 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:17.880 and kaleidoscope of light and shadow. You're not real. You 384 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:21.319 can't be real. Oh but I am, and I find 385 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:24.960 myself quite hungry after my recent birth the question is, 386 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:29.440 Farmer Whitmore, what shall I feast upon? First? It was 387 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:33.559 then that John Whitmore's survival instincts finally overcame his shock. 388 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:36.720 He turned and ran toward the cabin where his wife 389 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:40.000 and three children slept, screaming warnings at the top of 390 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:43.640 his lungs. Behind him, he heard the Jersey Devil's laughter, 391 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:48.079 growing louder, more triumphant. Run, little man, Run and wake 392 00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:51.160 your family. Let them all see what walks among them now. 393 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:55.279 John burst through the cabin door, his wife Mary, already 394 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:59.039 sitting up in bed, awakened by his shouting. The children, 395 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:02.759 ages eight, six, and four, were crying. Frightened by their 396 00:25:02.759 --> 00:25:08.920 father's obvious terror, packed the wagon, pack it now, we're leaving, John, 397 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:13.480 what's wrong? What's out there? Before he could answer, the 398 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:17.079 cabin's windows began to rattle as something large circled overhead. 399 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.079 The sound of massive wings beating the air was unmistakable, 400 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.160 and with it came that terrible laughter that seemed to 401 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:28.640