Episode 9: Beware the Dark Watchers

Mar 20

“Go not near them, nor try to speak to them…”

Episode Transcript

I have a bit of a confession to make.

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There isn’t much that scares me. I mean, I don’t think I would make it very far in this field if I were one to scare easily. But ever since I was a kid, there has been one thing that has throughly given me the creeps.

Now I don’t like to share this often, mainly because the phobia is more or less stereotyped as being juvenile and irrational. But even still, it seems that the anxiety around this topic is more common than you might think—especially considering the psychology behind it.

You see, I have Nyctophobia—more commonly known as the fear of darkness. Yes I am scared of the dark, and while it does feel a bit… comical to be saying that out loud, I should mention that I am likely not the only one of us who has this aversion. In fact, approximately 11% of the US adult population shares this disdain for darkness, due to a wide variety of different reasons.

For instance, nyctophobia is what psychologists call a prepared fear. Which basically means that, on an evolutionary scale, we are predisposed to fear the same things that our ancient ancestors did, with darkness being at the very top of that list. Not to mention, the fear of darkness is often associated with a fear of the unknown. Because after all, when there is darkness there is also uncertainty.

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And then in my case, nyctophobia is commonly linked to a fear of what could be hiding in the shadows or rather what might watching us when it’s too dark to see.

I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned.

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The coastline of Central California is a mountain lover’s paradise. Between the cool and refreshing waters of the Pacific Ocean and the expansive terrain of the Santa Lucia Range, the region is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts and nature-lovers alike. And for good reason too.

For starters, the Santa Lucia wilderness area is home to an array of exotic wildlife—many of which are indigenous to the region. In fact, if you are interested in visiting Santa Lucia yourself, you may just come across everything from the boa constrictors and the highly venomous Fer-de-lance, to the more tame Agouti or even the St. Lucia Parrot during your travels.

Not to mention, the wilderness area is also frequented by locals of the nearby Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, thanks to its collection of developed campgrounds and a multitude of scenic waterfalls.

All things considered, it’s no secret why the countless hiking trails of this 18,000 acre wilderness area are so highly trafficked during daylight hours. But what many don’t know is that there is also something a bit… darker that travels these trails as soon as the Sun begins to fade.

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Reports of strange encounters in the foothills of Santa Lucia have been sited as early as the 1700s—back when Spanish explorers still frequently traveled across the rugged chaparral-covered terrain. It was during their travels through the wilderness, that these explorers began to notice dark figures off in the distance at sundown.

They were tall and foreboding, never failing to send a shiver up the spines of these mere mortals. This is likely due to the fact that these being had no discernible features. In fact, they were little more than a humanoid silhouette that appeared to have a wide brimmed hat resting atop its tall frame. Not to mention, these spirits never appeared up close—instead opting to remain a distant but ever present penumbra.

And worse even was the ominous aura radiating from these entities. What their intentions were, we still don’t know. But as these explorers traveled through the wilderness toward the coastline, one thing became clear: these dark shadows were watching their every move.

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These beings inhabiting the Santa Lucia wilderness area were soon given a rather menacing name. The moniker Los Vigilantes Oscuros, or the dark watchers, was coined by the very Spanish settlers who had the unfortunate pleasure of discovering these entities all those years ago. And over the last 300 years, these Dark watchers have been fascinating and terrifying hikers visiting Santa Lucia wilderness.

Now as always, I will strive to remain as transparent as possible throughout the entirety of this episode. And in-service of this, I feel the need to make one thing clear before we move forward. The earliest reports of the dark watchers are fairly vague. In fact, I wasn’t able to find any concrete stories about these entities that date earlier than the lates 1800s.

But be that as it may, the limited background that this early history provides is still worth considering when analyzing this haunt as a whole. So let’s continue with a bit of Native American folklore.

The vast majority of my sources credit the Chumash Tribe of central California for the first oral record of the dark watchers. Although, they were of course called by a different name.

The closest Chumash comparison to the Dark Watchers is an entity called nunašīš—a creature of a place known as the lower world, that harbor ill will and bad fortune toward those of us living here on this higher plane. So much so, that they have the propensity to pierce the veil and reap havoc on our realm as night descends.

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Now in case you were curious, these creatures are more often described as the tenebrous form of misshapen animals. Although, they have also be known to manifest in a more humanoid shapes. Which no doubt has lead many to believe that the these beings and dark watchers are one and the same. However, there are some discrepancies between the two that may be worth noting here.

Specifically, this Chumash legend is more akin to the more menacing entities of Native American lore. In fact, they are considered to be closely related to the Algonquin legend of the Wendigo or Navajo stories of the skin walker. Both of which are arguably much worse than a shadow figure looming in the distance.

Although this is not to say that you shouldn’t have a healthy fear of the dark watchers. In fact, they say you shouldn’t even approach if you happened to encounter one out in the wilderness. Because, according to the earlier records at least, those who have tried vanished without a trace.

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Despite the obscured nature of early dark watcher encounters, more concrete stories of these nebulous specters eventually wormed their way into American Literature. And while these works were in mostly fictional, the stories that had inspired them were more or less based in personal experience.

Enter American author Robinson Jeffers who is credited with the first literary reference to the dark watchers. Now Jeffers is known for highlighting the lifestyle and culture of central California. So it’s no wonder why he focused his lens on the enigmatic legend in his 1937 poem titled Such Counsels You Gave to Me, where he evocatively warns quote “they come from behind ridges and watch.” End quote.

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In the year that followed author John Steinbeck, published a short story entitled Flight, which paid its own respects to these fabled specters. For some context, the narrative follows the story of 19-year-old Pepe Torres who lives with his mother in rural California—just about 15 miles outside of Monterey.

The story begins with Pepe’s mother asking him to ride into town to pick up a few items on her behalf. It should have been a simple favor. Yet when he returns the following morning, Pepe admits to his mother that he has killed a man in a drunken blur and that he would be hiding from authorities in the nearby wilderness.

Now Mrs. Torres, while apprehensive, lets her son go—but not before passing along the following warning: "when thou comest to the high mountains, if thou seest any of the dark watching men, go not near to them nor try to speak to them.”

She, of course, was speaking of the legend of Los Vigilantes Oscuros. And lo and behold, as the story progresses, Pepe does have a chance encounter with these creatures. But thanks to his mother‘s advice he was able to evade them.

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Now, like I said, the tale of Pepe Torres is, of course, fictional. Although the story of a son and his mother, living in rural California, alongside the ever present threat of these creatures, is a very real experience from Steinbeck’s childhood.

Like most California locals, Steinbeck grew up hearing stories about the dark watchers. Namely from his mother, Olive, who passed a healthy dose of respect and fear of the spirits onto her son. And it was likely her experiences that inspired this haunting narrative.

It was during her early career as a school teacher, when Olive first encountered the dark watchers. You see, on her daily commute riding horseback through the remote forests of Big Sur, young Olive began to spot dark figures out of the corner of her eye. Now while her gut reaction was likely to flee, Olive instead approached these encounters with a bit more poise—opting to leave gifts for these specters as a sign of respect. And to her surprise, the dark watchers acted in kind, often leaving bundles of flowers for Olive to find on her daily trek through the forest.

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When he got older and had a child of his own, John Steinbeck passed his mother’s stories along to his son, Thomas. And in the end, it was Thomas who eventually published grandmothers encounters in a book which he titled In Search of the Dark Watchers.

As always I will have Thomas’ work, along with the other literature I have mentioned throughout the episode, in this weeks show notes. And I do encourage you to go read more about Olives encounters for yourself, because they present a new take on this otherwise spine chilling legend: maybe the dark watchers aren’t as nefarious as they seem.

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At this point in my research, I began to wonder if there was any legitimacy to the legend of the Dark Watchers. I mean, aside from the accounts of Olive Hamilton, any in depth reference that I could find was purely based in fiction. Which made the story as a whole, seem a bit lackluster.

So there lies the question: if not a malevolent being from a spectral plane, then what are the dark watchers? Well, as it turns out, the answer may come down to basic physics.

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There is a phenomenon known as Brocken specter, which more or less accounts for light anomalies that occur during twilight, when the sun is a perfect angle to the horizon. As a general concept, Brocken Specter is simply the magnified shadow of the observer—the Spanish explorers in this case—which has been cast onto the surface of a cloud or mist instead of a solid object.

For some additional background, this spectacle is also known as mountain specter, because it’s most likely to occur at higher altitudes where dense clouds form can below the observer themselves. And given the mountainous terrain where our story is set, it wouldn’t be unfair to assume that the original Spanish explorers were observing this phenomenon on their travels. Simply put, they may have just been spooked by their own shadows.

Now for the record, I do believe that Brocken Specter is the most likely culprit behind this haunt. But there is one minor detail that gives me pause.

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Even to this day, the dark watchers are described as the tall silhouette of a man wearing a wide brimmed hat—a description that is almost synonymous to that of the well known shadow figure known simply as the hat man.

As the name would suggest, this entity is most identifiable by the brimmed hat that sits atop its head. Beyond that, the hat man is known to be a tall and slender shadow. Sounds familiar right?

Now if you go purely off of this description, you could make the argument that the hat man too is a product of Brocken Specter. But I hate to say, that’s likely not the case. You see, the hat man is encountered in a variety of different situations—the majority of which seem to be at lower altitudes after the sun has completely set.

For some context here, the hat man is thought to be a common hallucination that most often manifests during instances of sleep paralysis. However, some site encounters with this being during their lucid waking hours—which has led many to believe that the phenomenon is more likely paranormal activity than a nightmare induced hallucination.

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Don’t worry, we will discuss the Hat Man at length in a future episode. But for now, I think it’s worth considering as a potential cause behind the dark watchers. Because after all, the hat man is known to watch from the shadows.

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A quick google search of the term dark watcher will lead you to countless articles describing these beings as fictional creatures. And based on my own in depth research, I can almost certainly subscribe to that mentality. This of course is due to the lack of tangible evidence and documented encounters with the dark watchers. But what if I were to tell you that there is a similar legend that carries bit more substance?

Before we end today’s episode, I would like to take you on a quick trip across the pond, to the rolling hills of the Scottish countryside. Because here amongst these lush green pastures, lurks something a bit darker.

The spirit said to haunt the foothills of Ben MacDhui is known simply as the greyman, which can only be described as a tall and thin shadow figure that stalks hikers and travelers visiting the area. But unlike its cousin who supposedly inhabits that wilderness of Santa Lucia, the greyman can only be seen on a clear day or moonlit night, rather than a misty twilight. But on most occasions, the entity is merely just heard.

Take the story of J. Norman Collie, for instance, who is credited for the first encounter with the greyman. Back in the year 1891, Collie was hiking to the summit of Ben MacDhui and on his was back to lower elevations he began to notice a strange sound on the trail behind him.

As far as he was able to tell, the noise was almost mimicking his foot steps. Only this was no mere echo of his feet hitting the gravel, but rather the independent sounds of someone else’s stride crunching along the trail.

Collie turned back toward the summit, likely expecting to see another hiker further up the incline. But when he did, he found that he was utterly alone—save for the crunching sound of disembodied footsteps still echoing off in the distance.

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It wasn’t until years later that Collie finally made an official report of the encounter to the local press, which eventually sparked a debate between skeptics, who argued that the story was merely the product of Collie’s own paranoia, and believers, who would often site their encounters with the Greyman of Ben MacDhui. And even though it’s been nearly a century since that report was made, skeptics and believers have yet to agree on an explanation.

So in parting, allow me to turn this debate over to you: are these legends simply the manifestation of our own prepared fears or maybe even just a trick of the light? Or is it more likely that we are never truly alone in the dark?

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Credits