Halloween History of the Maryland Goatman
The Maryland Goatman is a hybrid beast who reportedly inhabits the Forestville and Upper Marlboro areas of Prince George’s County, Maryland. Generations of children (including this writer) grew up with tales of the Goatman’s series of horrific murders. The victims of the satyr-like creature were reportedly hacked to death with an axe and then eaten.
The first sightings of the Goatman occurred in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Certainly the legend was well-established in the area by the mid 1960s. The Goatman made appearances throughout Prince Georges County, usually alongside roads such as Lottsford and Fletchertown. These stories often seem to be a version of the “hook” urban legend, where young lovers are threatened in their parked cars.
The Goatman also was said to stalk the grounds of the Glenn Dale Hospital and Sanatorium, which was a state tuberculosis facility. Another story associates the Goatman with the Governor’s Bridge in nearby Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The bridge is said to be the haunt of either a) a young unmarried mother who committed suicide there, b) a baby who was flung off the bridge by a similarly desperate mother or c) both.
There is a similar legend of a Bunnyman in adjacent Northern Virginia, which is said to inhabit the area around the Colhester Overpass, a railroad bridge which spans the Colchester Road.
One Goatman legend says that the beast was the creation of an agricultural scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture research facilities in Beltsville, Maryland. This echoes the legends of the Chupacabra, which in some accounts was created by a US lab in Puerto Rico. It is interesting that Chupacabra means Goat Sucker.
Another make the more obvious witchcraft connection, claiming the Goatman is a summoned devil or demon.I had also heard that it was actually a hobo who lived in the woods and turned into a were-goat at night.
Indeed, the Goatman legend incorporates many broad horror themes.The beast was created by a Mad Scientist, and resembles nothing less than the devil of medieval witchcraft. The Goatman was a serial killer threatening teenagers long before Michael Meyers, Jason or Freddie. It is said to inhabit a bridge like a troll, and perhaps be an example of lycanthropy. Add to that cannibalism, and you have the perfect Halloween monster.
The Maryland Goatman is a hybrid beast who reportedly inhabits the Forestville and Upper Marlboro areas of Prince George’s County, Maryland. Generations of children (including this writer) grew up with tales of the Goatman’s series of horrific murders. The victims of the satyr-like creature were reportedly hacked to death with an axe and then eaten.
The first sightings of the Goatman occurred in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Certainly the legend was well-established in the area by the mid 1960s. The Goatman made appearances throughout Prince Georges County, usually alongside roads such as Lottsford and Fletchertown. These stories often seem to be a version of the “hook” urban legend, where young lovers are threatened in their parked cars.
The Goatman also was said to stalk the grounds of the Glenn Dale Hospital and Sanatorium, which was a state tuberculosis facility. Another story associates the Goatman with the Governor’s Bridge in nearby Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The bridge is said to be the haunt of either a) a young unmarried mother who committed suicide there, b) a baby who was flung off the bridge by a similarly desperate mother or c) both.
There is a similar legend of a Bunnyman in adjacent Northern Virginia, which is said to inhabit the area around the Colhester Overpass, a railroad bridge which spans the Colchester Road.
One Goatman legend says that the beast was the creation of an agricultural scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture research facilities in Beltsville, Maryland. This echoes the legends of the Chupacabra, which in some accounts was created by a US lab in Puerto Rico. It is interesting that Chupacabra means Goat Sucker.
Another make the more obvious witchcraft connection, claiming the Goatman is a summoned devil or demon.I had also heard that it was actually a hobo who lived in the woods and turned into a were-goat at night.
Indeed, the Goatman legend incorporates many broad horror themes.The beast was created by a Mad Scientist, and resembles nothing less than the devil of medieval witchcraft. The Goatman was a serial killer threatening teenagers long before Michael Meyers, Jason or Freddie. It is said to inhabit a bridge like a troll, and perhaps be an example of lycanthropy. Add to that cannibalism, and you have the perfect Halloween monster.
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