Many towns in America have their own Lover’s Lane
monster. Seems there’s just something about amorous couples in parked cars that draws hidden beasts out of the dark woods like moths to a porch light. Honestly, it’s a wonder
anyone parked at those remote spots can even get to first base with all the
vengeful ghosts, hook-handed serial killers, hairy hominids, lizardmen, and
other supernatural oddities trying to get into their vehicles.
One of the more memorable of these voyeuristic creatures hails
from Lake Worth, Texas. Described as resembling a seven-foot satyr covered in thick white fur- and possibly scales- the Goatman
has been haunting the brushy hills and cliffs around the lake since at least
1969, when it attacked a car packed with three couples out enjoying the night.
Soon after that initial attack, crowds of people along the
Lake Worth shore claimed to have seen the Goatman trudging through the
underbrush. Cars were attacked in the dark, their metal chassis
torn and shredded by inhuman claws. Several witnesses even saw the creature
pick up a truck tire and hurl it 500 feet through the air. As is typical when any new cryptid makes an appearance, the Goatman's antics quickly brought in a rush of tourists, reporters, and self-proclaimed
monster-hunters- the latter of whom became a public hazard as they prowled the scrub around the lake with loaded rifles.
One man, Allen Plaster, even snapped a blurry photo of a
tall, hairy white creature emerging from a stand of tall grass. Plaster, though, would eventually come to
doubt that the thing he saw was an actual cryptid, theorizing instead is that
it was merely local kids playing a prank.
Indeed, many other folks around Lake Worth eventually came
to the conclusion that the creature was nothing but a hoax, perhaps begun by
bored teenagers on summer vacation. Still, regardless of whether the Goatman
was real or not, it has become a fond part of Lake Worth folklore. The Forth
Worth Nature Center & Refuge, located on the shores of the lake, has even begun celebrating an annual Lake Worth Monster Bash, featuring an appearance by the infamous creature (or at least, a
person in an impressively-detailed Goatman costume).
One can’t help but notice that the Goatman’s description as
a hairy, possibly scaly hominid, and its propensity to attack and damage parked
cars, are strikingly similar to the appearance and habits of the Bishopville Lizard Man. Could both creatures
be part of a Southern population of small, lightly-built sasquatches with an
odd hatred of motorized vehicles? Or maybe both are just hoaxes drawing on classic
American folklore about monsters lurking in the dark, ready to trash unwary vehicle, and perhaps their unlucky occupants if they aren’t
careful.
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