About two months ago, it was time for me to finally watch the classic “Bigfoot” movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek. All I remembered hearing about it was that there is a scene of a hairy arm coming through a window. Creepy. But it was an old movie, made in the 1972 so I figured it wasn’t so scary anymore.
It was dated, cringe-worthy at parts, a little cheezy, but fascinating. I could totally understand how kids could be frightened and influenced by the movie that was very popular in spite of its method of being made and distributed. I enjoyed it and recommended it to others with some caution over the outdatedness.
Just after, I listened to an interview with author Lyle Blackburn who had written the first definitive book on the Boggy Creek monster, also known as the Fouke monster, The Beast of Boggy Creek (Anomalist Books, 2012). Blackburn seemed to give sound grounding to the story of the town of Fouke, the episodes they experienced and the making of a movie about it. So, I bought his book.
Blackburn does not attempt to speak on the existence of a big hairy hominoid that reportedly terrorized the residents. He aimed, instead, to “provide an entertaining and comprehensive account of the creature”. In my opinion, he succeeded. I very much enjoyed this book.
The hubbub started on May 3, 1971 when the Texarkana Gazette reported the Ford incident where a man had to be taken to the hospital for shock after an encounter with something at an isolated cabin in Fouke, Arkansas. This report opened the floodgates to publicity for the sleepy town of Fouke and sparked a resurfacing of seemingly similar incidents of a creature encounter in the recent past in Fouke and nearby Jonesville.
The author includes background to the area in order for us to understand life here. It’s very different than what we might be used to. There is a feeling I get when imagining living in a remote area without modern conveniences at the mercy of whomever or whatever is hiding in the shadows. It is not a peaceful, tranquil feeling. It’s scary as hell.
Blackburn does a good job of examining the reports – the only evidence we have of the Fouke monster phenomena. Many people shot at the creature but there was never any physical evidence found. The tracks revealed three-toes. These characteristics are problematic. There are no three-toed bipedal creatures that we know of. Why wasn’t the thing, whatever it was, brought down in a place where everyone had a rifle at the ready? One of the accounts that occurred prior to the publicity explosion of the 1971 article was that of Lynn Crabtree who reported encountering a very frightening creature in the wood when he was out hunting. Blackburn searches to find the best account of this event. He includes details that Lynn’s father, Smokey Crabtree, went to the site where the incident occurred and found evidence of gunshots which had hit the trees but found no spent shells. Blackburn focuses on these discrepancies for a moment – what really happened to Lynn, why wasn’t he able to bring the creature down? This is the best place to mention the fabulous drawings by Dan Brereton that accompany the account write-ups depicting the monster as a very muscular, intimidating, hairy, Sasquatch-like animal. They are dramatic and add greatly to the book. Yes, they are exaggerations because we can only use the stories that still exist so, I’m torn about their accuracy and the possibility that they skew the story, but they are very cool.
The book not only chronicles the history of the creature sightings before and after the pivotal Ford incident but does a fine job of analyzing the movie in terms of the actual reports that inspired each scene. This makes The Beast of Boggy Creek a must have for those who saw the movie and are interested in Bigfoot reports. Note that the Fouke monster was not tied to Bigfoot at the time of the incidents but the success of the movie was aided by the surging interest in Bigfoot in the early 70s and the idea that it might be real. In addition, Blackburn covers the aftermath of the movie and its influence on Fouke citizens. I’m not sure if people who have not seen this movie will enjoy the book as much as if they did but it should prompt them to see the film itself (I rented it from Netflix).
This is a well-done bit of research put into a readable and fascinating book from many angles. Recommended.
Hi —
his book looks very interesting, on the list it goes.
This was very nostalgic I recall being vaguely terrified by the film. Although I lived in a well settled area, my house in particular was the end of that, it backed onto a large state forest filled with marshes and creeks, and my window view was of nothing but trees through the screen that sometimes came loose on it’s own.
I thought possibly I might have a clue that will help with the mystery here… or at least something that might be worded differently above.
“There are no three-toed bipedal creatures that we know of.”
Au contraire:
http://www.ostriches.org/
It is now obvious to me what was terrorizing this small town… joking, I’m joking… thanks for pointing this book out again.
Oh, you are VERY correct. How could I have missed that? Emus too. But not with heels.
Oh, I can’t resist…
Some birds do leave marks which have three toes followed by a “heel”, it’s not actually a heel but it is a mark following the main footprint. See some examples here.
http://infothread.org/Animals/Bird%20Tracks.jpg
Tracks distorted by a running animal in wet mud, well, they might appear very strange indeed.
Ostrich tracks don’t look like you might expect, even in pristine dry sand, and can have a “foot” like impression. An example:
http://mainetobotswana.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/a-partial-guide-to-dung-tracks-and-small-animals-of-southern-africa-as-seen-by-david/
Ostriches are also fond, especially if farm raised, with sticking their necks through windows, as they have learned to associate this with being fed. Their strange, hairy necks, in the dark.
Finally, there is the case of the dead cat. We all know cats never die of natural causes, they have nine lives. For an autopsy to confirm a cat died of terror, there is only one answer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_and_Go_Tweet
OK, but no one reported an ostrich (or emu) on the loose in Fouke either. 😛
Secret government project codenamed “Head in the Sand”… think GMO monkeys, rocket launchers, and armored flightless birds…
only they broke free… the body armor is why guns didn’t work…but that’s not the scary part…
I can’t say more here… this blog post is no longer secure… it’s coming for me, and it has a RPG…. watch the trees, whatever you do, watch the trees!
Good review, Sharon. I’ll have to add this one to my library. I do remember seeing the movie as a child, though only once, and I’m sure that time has compromised my recall of it since.