Episode 30: The Beast of Bray Road
She drove out of there like a bat out of Hell, praying to God that the devil didn’t follow…
Episode Transcripts
It’s a tale as old as time: two teens, driving recklessly down the winding back roads of their small rural town. It’s a Friday night and the companions weren’t exactly looking for trouble but they were in for a good time—as long as it involved staying out until curfew—at the earliest.
As they drove—with the wind whipping outside the car and the radio playing softly in the background—these youngsters felt a happy-go-lucky sense of freedom. They were carefree, that is until the car came to a screeching stop.
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There, now only a few feet from their vehicle was a large figure standing in the middle of the road. The teens looked at it, and the figure stared right back—seemingly frozen in as much fear and disbelief as they were.
As near as they could tell, the creature was K-9 in nature, but not entirely. Because as uncanny as it was, the beast seemed to be humanoid as well.
But before either of the companions could point out these oddities, or even speak for that matter, the creature ran off into the trees. Leaving them to wonder what in God’s name they had just witnessed.
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I know it sounds far-fetched and to be honest I’m right there with you. I mean stories like this couldn’t be anything more than a work of fiction, right? Well as we will soon see, that assumption isn’t entirely true.
I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…
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Our story begins in the charming town of Elkhorn, Wisconsin--a quaint family-friendly community in the Great Lakes region of the United States. By all accounts, Elkhorn offers a pleasant small-town lifestyle. Between, weekly farmers markets and annual holiday celebrations, to playing host to one of the oldest county fairs in the state, well it's no wonder why Elkhorn is popular among growing families and young professionals.
It’s what the locals called a Christmas card town—a sleepy hamlet that rarely saw any trouble or was easy on the eyes. A place where you could leave the door unlocked at night. So when rumors began swirling around Elkhorn of strange incidents unfolding along Bray Road, well it came as a bit of a shock.
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This rather supernatural gossip was first incited at the back of a crowded school bus in 1991. Where one young student whispered to her friends and classmates—spinning the description of an illusive creature she had encountered only a few nights before.
A werewolf they were calling it. I know, if you are anything like me, the label may seem like something to scoff at. But hey, this creature—whatever it may be—does sort of fill the bill.
Based off of that early description, the beast was somewhat of a behemoth—with reports indicating that the creature sat between 6-7 feet tall. It was humanoid in stature but covered entirely with grayish-brown fur. Oh and here’s the kicker, it had a large head that resembled that of a wolf complete with glowing red eyes.
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So yeah, pretty much a werewolf—or at least that was the assumption back in the early 90s when Elkhorn locals first began to encounter the alleged creature. But as the decades have passed this beast of bray road has turned into so much more.
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Now if you were to ask me, Bray Road is as unlikely a place as any for such a mystery to take root. Truth be told, Bray Road isn't anything more than a three-mile stretch of road that serves to connect Highway 11 to County Road NN. And really, if you didn't know any better, the little rural byway would likely be easy to overlook.
But that fact didn't stop the stories from bounding through the halls of Elkhorn Area High School in the early 90s. Stories that may have never been written if it weren't for Walworth County School Bus driver, Pat Lester.
The bus was erupting with speculation when Lester first caught wind of the illusive beast. She was driving down her normal route when she felt the lightest tap on her shoulder. It was Dorris Gibson, one of the Elkhorn Area Highschoolers who rode her bus every day before and after school. On this day, in particular, she had been rather chatty at the back of the bus, wearing an anxious expression on her face.
When the doors opened at the next stop--the girl's classmates pushing past her as they flooded onto the sidewalk--Dorris looked up at Lester with fear in her eyes. Pat, of course, recognized Dorris. After all, they had lived in the same neighborhood off Bray Road for several years now. Maybe it was for this reason, that Dorris felt safe confiding her story with her bus driver.
Just a few days before, claimed Dorris, on Halloween night, she had spotted a strange creature along Bray Road. It was too large to be a dog, but at the same time too dog-like to be a person.
Of course, the sighting was unsettling enough to frighten the poor girl, especially after it had chased her when she had stepped out of her car for a better look. But even still, the claim seemed too outlandish for Dorris to feel comfortable telling an adult. Well, that is until she heard that one of her classmates had a similar experience a few years back.
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I can only imagine that Lester looked back at the child with a comforting smile--reassuring her that there was nothing to be afraid of. But this is not to say that there wasn't at least some curiosity behind Pat's eyes. Because she too had noticed something odd drifting along the road that led to her neighborhood, an eerily distant noise that she couldn't quite place.
Pat Lester continued along her route, now asking herself one simple question. Could it be the sound of howling?
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Years before the rumors and stories found their way to Elkhorn Area High School, the Beast of Bray Road was investigated by the most unlikely of partners. Lori Endrizzi, another high school student who lived down the road from Doris Gibson, first spotted the creature hunched over the decomposing remains of roadkill.
She watched as the beast sank its teeth into rotting flesh—its sharp blade-like claws wrapping around the animal in its grasp. It was something that she would later describe as satanic.
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Now unlike Dorris Gibson, Lori decided to forgo telling her schoolmates of the grisly wolf-like creature she had encountered, evidently thinking that the sighting would become the punchline of some unwanted jokes. Instead, she went straight to an adult—the only one who may have been able to tell her exactly what it was she had seen.
Jon Fredrickson worked as an animal control officer for Walworth County. And as such, he was kind of the go-to when it came to apprehending strange, or even dangerous animals. So when Lori Endrizzi walked into the Lakeland Animal Shelter, well Fredrickson likely thought it was just another day at the office.
Of course, he politely took Lori’s statement, listening patiently as she told her story from start to finish. But then something strange happened. Just as Lori began to express concern that this creature may have had some sort of connection to the occult and black magic, a set of heavy hard-cover books flew off of Fredrickson’s bookcase. Almost as if they had been pushed from their spot on the shelf.
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I know the incident was eerie to say the least, especially considering that the bookshelves had been fastened tightly to the wall. But even still, they did their best to write the experience off while Fredrickson filed Lori’s statement into a manila folder.
As unlikely as it seems, that very folder grew with each passing year from one single account to dozens of reports—each of which made its own claims about the wolf-like creature that has been terrorizing the residents of Walworth County for over 3 decades. This of course presents the questions: what exactly is the beast of Bray Road and where on earth did it come from?
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By now, you are all well aware of my skepticism when it comes to cryptozoology. But I do have to admit the story surrounding the beast of Bray Road is, well, somewhat intriguing.
Let me put it to you this way. It’s not exactly a common practice for the Animal Control Department to record-keep encounters with a creature so mythic as an alleged werewolf. And speaking from my own professional experiences, working directly in that field, trust me when I say that those kinds of reports are typically filed away in a drawer, where they are left to collect dust for all eternity.
So at least in my own opinion, the fact that Jon Fredrickson continued to collect those reports, lends a bit of legitimacy when it comes to this haunt. But this is not to say that there aren’t a handful of theories that step outside the realm of the paranormal.
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The first and likely most cited is the theory that the beast of Bray Road is nothing more than a feral dog. One that is large enough to roughly resemble a human who is crouched down on all fours.
There are, of course, a few obvious contenders—including Great Pyrenees which can weigh anywhere from 110 to 160 pounds went full grown. Likewise, they often sport grayish-brown fur which fits the description of this so-called beast.
Now there are others who have come to a similar conjecture—claiming that the creature isn’t a dog but rather a wolf. One that has found itself a little further south than the rest of its pack.
Okay admittedly, these theories do hold some water. But there is one minor detail that brings me pause. The last time I checked neither dogs nor wolves have the capacity to live for over 30 years. At least not in the general sense.
And that brings us back to the proverbial corkboard that is now overcrowded with pins and blurry photographs—each connected back to the creature by nothing more than a single-piece thread. So let’s dive into those theories one by one—cutting the yarn as we go. And when we’re done, if we’re lucky, we may just make some sense out of this mystery.
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If you have made it to this point in the episode, then it should be apparent that some of the theories surrounding the beast of Bray Road are as wild as the creature itself. Several of my sources, for instance, make the argument that beast is in all actuality just a mangey black bear.
And that makes sense when you really think about it. I mean, a bear would be about the right height when standing on its hind legs. The animal would also likely be less recognizable if it were suffering from mange. Meaning that any unsuspecting passer-by could easily mistake the ill-stricken bear for something a bit more sinister.
Not to mention, that there are over 24,000 black bears currently living in Wisconsin. So it wouldn’t be that surprising if one or two have found refuge along Bray Road.
However, it is worth noting that black bears—like wolves—don’t typically travel to the southern region of the state. So as compelling as this theory is, perhaps a misidentified wild animal doesn’t fit the bill after all.
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So once again I would like to focus our lens back on Lori Endrizzi and claim that the beast of Bray Road is something a bit more demonic in nature. You see, it was Lori’s opinion that the creature may have had an ill-omened connection to occult activity. Although she and Fredrickson weren’t entirely sure what that connection was. All they could say for certain was that they had a poltergeist-like experience inside Jon’s office and that reported encounters with the beast kept flooding in.
Now I’m sure we can all agree that this argument is at least somewhat intriguing. But considering that this was the era of the satanic panic movement, well let’s just say that it’s a bit too convenient for my tastes.
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And then, of course, there’s the skeptic's side of the argument—one vehemently, claiming that the beast of Bray Road is nothing more than an eerily elaborate hoax. Okay, I do admit, it’s this perspective that I believe to be the most plausible. And I would be willing to bet that a handful of you may feel the same.
But even so, I encourage you to remain objective, at least for the time being. Because as we will soon see, jokes and hoaxes, can sometimes take on a mind of their own.
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Now with all the theories and conjecture aside, it still doesn’t change the fact that there is something mysterious lurking along Bray Road, terrorizing anyone who encounters it, even those who remain somewhat skeptical. So before we end today’s episode, I think it’s only fitting that I share one final story.
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It was a dark October night in 2004 when
Marie, a 47-year-old nurse from Milwaukee, found herself behind the wheel of her car—her daughter and a close friend in the back seat. As they drove along Bray Road, Marie decided to have a little Halloween-inspired fun.
As she began to tell the story of a beast beyond the girls' worst nightmares, she slowly removed her foot from the gas and eventually brought the car to a stop. The engines stalling she told girls as she continued her charade, but this joke turned into a chilling reality when Marie looked out her window.
There, no more than six feet from the car stood a tall wolf-like creature. It was massive and muscular—covered in fur from head to toe. And if that wasn’t unsettling enough, the creature's legs seemed to be mangled. Its knees were even bending in the wrong direction.
This unnerving site was all it took to send a blood-curdling scream from Marie’s throat. She slammed her foot on the gas and drove out of there like a bat out of hell—praying to god that the devil wouldn’t follow.
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Credits
Sources
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https://www.milwaukeemag.com/the-legend-of-the-beast-of-bray-road/
https://www.timeout.com/chicago/things-to-do/werewolves-of-elkhorn
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_Bray_Road