Dogman

[00:00:00] Foreign I'm Ben, and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this campfire to hear some of our fellow campers scariest experiences. So whether you're a new or returning camper, I am happy to have you. Tonight we hear a story sent in by a camper named Chandler about his experience with the Michigan Dogman while working as a land surveyor for the state. As always, before we begin the show, if you want to check out our camp's monthly bonus episodes, head over to patreon.com.aher Ghost Story. You'll also gain early access to ad free episodes, get a shout out at the end of one and much more. But without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story? [00:00:48] They say the woods come alive at night, but I never really believed it. Growing up in Michigan, the forest was just part of life, a backdrop, really, to summer hikes and winter hunts. It was a familiar anchor in our lives, and for me it was peaceful, ordinary. [00:01:08] That all changed one night in late October a few years ago, when the woods showed me something that was, well, far from normal. [00:01:16] I was 23, working as a surveyor for the state. The job wasn't glamorous, but it paid pretty well, and it let me explore parts of the state no one ever got to see. That week I'd been sent to survey a patch of land near Reed City, deep in the heart of Michigan. It was remote and the kind of place where the only myth was cell service and the nearest person might be miles away. [00:01:40] The land was dense with trees, the kind that stretched so high their branches knitted together, leaving the forest floor in dim twilight. Even in the middle of the day, the only sounds there were were the crunch of leaves underfoot, the occasional rustle of animals, and the distant caw of crows overhead. At first the isolation was really refreshing, relaxing. But by the third day, I couldn't shake the feeling that. Well, that I wasn't alone out there. [00:02:12] The first incident, as I remembered, happened as the sun dipped low in the sky, painting the treetops with a fiery streak of orange and red. I was finishing up for the day, packing my gear into the back of my truck, when I heard a howl. A low, guttural howl. At first I thought it had to be just a coyote. I mean, after all, Michigan's full of them, and their yipping howls are pretty common at dusk. But this was, as I said, low and guttural, different from the common coyote's growl, and it stretched out for longer than I've ever heard a coyote or wolf, for that matter. [00:02:54] But it didn't stop at one howl, either. It came again, closer this time, echoing through the trees and all around me. [00:03:03] My chest tightened at this. It had to be a wolf. No, a pack. A big pack. I've heard stories about wolves in the area, and though attacks are rare, the idea of being cornered out here, miles from anyone, was enough to make my stomach drop. [00:03:20] Then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, about 30 yards away, just below the tree line. Something shifted. I was trying to make it out. Maybe it was just. Maybe it was the wolves. No, a deer. [00:03:37] But I realized it was standing upright. [00:03:40] It was too tall to be a person, at least seven feet, hunched over, with long, angular limbs and shoulders that seemed to sway unnaturally. [00:03:51] I froze, my hand tightening around my truck's tailgate. [00:03:55] And, well, at this point, I was pretty confident it was a bear. You know, I've seen plenty of bears in these woods. And so I did what you always do to bears. You get big, you get loud. But as soon as I put my hands up and started yelling, I noticed it had pointed ears. And here's the thing. Bears don't have pointed ears. And their eyes sure as hell don't glow yellow. [00:04:22] I stopped and froze as this thing just stared back at me. Not like an animal would, but with a calculating stillness that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, like it was trying to figure out how to play with me. Like it didn't want to just eat me. Like it wanted to enjoy it. [00:04:45] And that is when it did something that I knew no animal would. It smiled. Its lips curled back, revealing all the rows of sharp teeth. It wasn't an animal snarl. I know what you're thinking. It was something worse. [00:05:00] It was, without a doubt, a grin, like it knew exactly what it was doing. Like it enjoyed the fear it saw on my face. [00:05:11] I didn't think or just moved. [00:05:14] I dove into my truck, slamming the door behind me and locking it in one panicked motion. My hands fumbled for the keys, my breath coming in shallow gasps as I tried to start the engine. The truck roared to life, and I floored it, the tires kicking up a cloud of dust as I sped down the narrow trail. [00:05:32] And for a few seconds, I thought I was safe. [00:05:35] But then I heard a rhythmic tapping behind my truck. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw it. That thing was chasing me, bounding down the trail on all fours like a predator closing in on its prey. Its long, clawed limbs tore through the dirt, just like my tires, and Its glowing eyes locked onto mine in the mirror. I slammed the accelerator harder. The truck groaned as it hit 40, 50, 60 miles per hour, the trail a blur of dirt and shadows. It didn't matter. The thing, whatever it was, was keeping up. It wasn't just running. It was leaping, covering impossible distances with each bound. Its jaws hung open in the same horrible grin it gave me earlier. And I swear I could hear its claws scraping against the ground, even over the roar of my engine. At one point, it veered off into the trees, disappearing from view. I thought I'd lost it, but then it came crashing out of the brush just feet from my truck. So close I could see its muscles ripping beneath its matted fur. I don't know how I made it out of the woods that night. The trail spit me out onto the main road, and I didn't stop until I reached the nearest gas station. [00:06:56] When I finally parked under the bright fluorescent lights, my hands were trembling so hard, I don't know how I was even gripping the steering wheel. I sat there for a long time, trying to convince myself that maybe it was a bear with mange. [00:07:11] But then I got out and I saw the scratches on my truck. Three long, deep gouges along the side of my truck bed. All were too high up to have come from a branch and too deliberate to be anything accidental. For the days after. I kept trying to explain it away. It had to be a bear. It had to be my mind playing tricks on me. But then I heard the locals telling stories. [00:07:36] Stories of the Dogman. Half dog, half man. A creature of legend that's been haunting Michigan for, well, they say centuries. They said it only appeared every 10 years, though no one could explain why. [00:07:51] I dismissed it as folklore. Just another tall tale people tell to scare kids. But the scratches on my truck told a different story. A story that wasn't folklore. A story that was real. [00:08:03] I haven't been back to those woods since. Hell, I don't even like driving through rural Michigan after dark anymore. Sometimes when I'm lying awake at night, I think I hear it. That low, guttural growl echoing through the trees. Distant but unmistakable. I always tell myself it's just the wind. But deep down, I know better. [00:08:25] Because once you've seen the Dogman, you never forget. [00:08:30] Thank you, Chandler, for allowing me to share your story. This was a truly terrifying one and one that I think needs to be told more. [00:08:40] The Michigan Dogman is one of those legends that gets passed around the paranormal community from time to time. And every time, it gets brushed off just as quickly as it comes around. [00:08:49] Now I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but but I think that is by design. You see, I've sat down with a friend of mine who's well, special interest is the Dogman. He's been meticulously tracking missing person reports in rural Michigan and cross referencing them with reported Dogman sightings for a while. And lets just say he makes a pretty compelling argument. I will talk to him and see if he's willing to do a special edition of the show to discuss his findings. But with that I'll leave you here for the night. If you want early access to ad free episodes, a shout out at the end of one, head over to patreon.com do you want to hear Ghoststory? And as always, I'm glad to have you all as campers on this journey. Please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories. Someone you're just trying to scare. If you're enjoying it, go ahead and leave a review. I would love to hear from you. Until next time.