Author: Jonathan McCray
Previously, the small town of Bladenboro encompassing approximately 2.2
square miles of land, was an unknown shadow of the southeastern piedmont of
North Carolina. That changed
dramatically during the winter 1953-1954.
In North Carolina Ghost and
Legends, it explained that a local farmer reported seeing a huge cat-like
creature that mauled one of his dogs and dragged it into the woods four days
after Christmas of 1953 (“The Beast of Bladenboro”). Several other mysterious attacks followed
including an attack on New Year’s Eve where two dogs were killed and another
one a day later in a farm named Woodie Storms (Weaver). After New Year’s, a young wife went on the
front porch and discovered a four foot tall animal “stalking” towards her. Frightened, she ran into the house, slammed
the door and summoned her husband. Later
that night, while surveying the premises, he later found unusual paw prints in
the dirt (Administrator). Local theater owner and mayor W.G. Fussell decided
that the scare needed more publicity. He
reported the beast to larger, state newspapers and it caught fire. Reports on the newspaper went public the week
after Christmas 1953 saying that the monster crushed the skull and sucked the
blood out of its victims. These
sensational reports soon caught headlines and the attention of hunters eager to
get a shot at this beast.
 |
| “Vampire Beast of Bladenboro.” |
With the attacks of dogs and
livestock during the winter of 1953 and into 1954, came the terror of the
citizens of Bladenboro at large. Women
and children stayed inside the house while men cautiously went about their
business armed with a weapon (Hoyt).
Then just as suddenly as the mysterious attacks and sighting started,
they stopped. The creature vanished
without leaving a trace.
“Then in
September of 2007, the mysterious attacks started up again across a much larger
area. Similar attacks on dogs and goats
have been reported in North Carolina along a 200 mile track including the towns
of Greensboro, Lexington, Bladenboro, and Bolivia. The methods of attacks have been similar to
those reported in 1954 (Adminstrator).”
The History Channel visited
Bladenboro in 2008 for an edition of MonsterQuest. After exhuming the remains of some of the
canine victims and examining them, they concluded that the dogs died from blood
lost and severe spinal trauma. Given the
nature of the evidence, they said a vampire-like animal could have not attacked
the dogs of the livestock (Administrator).
People still believe that the beast is still in existence to this day,
and the people of Bladenboro hold a festival every year to attract more
tourists and to bring more attention to the area. The beast has certainly brought a tradition to the town of Bladenboro.
Works Cited:
Hotz, Amy. “The Beast of Bladenboro.” StarNewsOnline.com. Star News Online, 27 October 2006. Web. 16
October 2012.
Administrator. “The
MonsterQuest Search for the ‘Vampire Beast.”
The Monster Site. N.p.,
2 February
2010. Web. 12 October 2012
“The Beast of Bladenboro.” North Carolina Ghost Stories and Legends. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
October 2012
Weaver, Jefferson. “Coverage of "beast" became
real monster for Bladenboro” BoroBeast.
Loren Coleman. 1 September 2006. Web. 9 October 2012.
“Vampire Beast of Bladenboro.” Photograph. Webshots. 2008. Web. 19 October 2012
Links for further research:
You Tube website
Contains the episode of MonsterQuest featuring the beast
Star News Online
Contains an article written for the Beast of Bladenboro
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