The Beast of Bladenboro

70 years ago, a town would be terrorized by a mysterious creature. As a series of mysterious and vicious animal attacks shook the community, speculation grew rampant as to what the beast could be. As stories circulated, the national media picked up the story with thousands of hunters taking up the challenge to hunt and kill the creature. After the events unfolded, the creature was named the “Beast of Bladenboro”. 

Bladenboro is a small town located in the southeastern section of North Carolina. Located around 140 miles east of Charlotte, Bladenboro is a historic farming community, known in its earliest days for its turpentine and lumber.

Located around 8 miles from Bladenboro, Clarkton NC residents would be the first to witness the mysterious creature. There, In the winter of 1953 on December 29, a dog would be aggressively attacked and killed. Scared and confused witnesses would report seeing a strange creature that was sleek, black, and about 5 feet long.

Only two days later, On New Year’s Eve, Bladenboro Police Chief Roy received a call about strange activity on the farm of Woody Storm. Storm had two dogs, which were mutilated by something large and powerful. The dog’s bodies had been completely drained of blood.

In the coming days, more stories around the beast started pouring in , with a variety of strange activity and unexplained sightings. 

All over the county, Chief Fores was overwhelmed with numerous reports of dogs being slaughtered. 

People described the creature as “like a bear or a panther” that was “three feet long, twenty inches high, with a long tail and a cat’s face.” Other witnesses reported hearing dreadful screams from the creature coming from the swamps around the town. Many reported it sounded “like a woman with a knife stuck in her back.”

Local Resident D.G. Pait was sitting in his service station when he witnessed a dog get attacked by the creature and eventually pulled into the woods. 

On January 1, the bodies of two more dogs were discovered. Like before, these dogs had been drained of blood.

The next night on January 2, 1954, a farmer called to say that his dog had been savagely killed.

Fed up with reports, The next day, Police Chief Roy Fores searched for the creature with his dogs, but the dogs were scared to follow the trail. 

While Chief Fores was out, two more dogs were found dead. Shockingly, an autopsy was performed on one of the dogs and it was reported that “there wasn’t more than two or three drops of blood in him. Horrifically, the dog’s bottom lip had been broken open and his jawbone smashed back.

As Bladenboro had a small police force, Chief Fores began recruiting local hunters and soon would reach out for help. 

On January 4 seasoned hunters began searching for the creature with two parties looking for the creature. The first was Fores and about ten other officers. There was also another group of Hunters who traveled to Bladenboro from Wilmington days earlier at the request of Chief Fores. Reportedly, they tracked the beast for 3 miles around the swamp.

During this time the press got wind of the story and it went from small and regional news to national news. 

Bladenboro was overwhelmed with hunters coming in, eager to kill the beast. Over 800 men descended on the town from all around the country. A fully armed pack of fraternity brothers from UNC Chapel Hill came with the goal of putting the beast’s head on their wall.

On January 5, the first attack on a human was reported. 

Mrs. C.E. Kinslaw heard the sound of whimpering dogs outside of her house. As She went outside to see what was going on, Mrs. Kinslaw saw a large, cat-like creature charged towards her. Terrified, Mrs. Kinslaw screamed, and her husband ran outside to defend her. Something her husband did must have frightened the beast, as it scurried off into the forest quickly.

That day Fores and other hunters were hiking through the swamps but unable to find the creature. 

The next day Fores and the hunters devised a plan to trick the beast. They planned to tie up some dogs, and lure the beast in. However, the plan was never implemented.

On January 13, Luther Davis, a local farmer, trapped a bobcat four miles from the city, and shot it in the head. Woodrow Fussell, the mayor of Bladenboro, told newspapers at that time that the beast of Bladenboro had been found and killed. However, immediately questions began as to how such a small cat could have killed and mutilated dogs. 

That same day, Berry Lewis, a professional hunter killed a bobcat inside the county. Some newspapers reported Lewis had killed the creature.

After these two killings, both the mayor and chief called an end to the hunt. There were concerns over safety and the town wasn’t equipped to handle all the visitors. 

After a week or so, life returned to normal. The hunters left town, and the reports of killings stopped.

Over the years there has been much speculation as far as what the beast of Bladenboro was. Some believed it was a Carolina panther, a species of large cat that had lived in the area until the early 20th Century but was now thought to be extinct. In the 1950’s, this would have only been 20-30 years after the thought extinct date. Perhaps a group of panthers survived, lived deep in the swamp and were reclusive. In this narrator’s opinion, this seems like the most likely outcome. 

Others believed it might have been a coyote. Still, others point out the vicious way the animals were attacked. While a panther is surely capable of crushing a skull, neither it nor a coyote has ever been reported to drain the blood of its victims. 

It should be noted that the Beast of Bladenboro shares a striking similarity to El Chupacabra. another cryptid which has been reported in Central America and Texas. El Chupacabra is said to drain the blood of its victims and savagely mutilate its victims. Both the size and color are very close between the two. 

The Beast of Bladenboro gets its name from the sign that was hung up under the bobcat killed by Luther Davis. That Bobcat was strung up in the center of town, with the sign underneath stating, “This is the Beast of Bladenboro.”

So, was the beast of Bladenboro an undiscovered cryptid, a Panther or other large cat, or perhaps a coyote? We may never know, but like so many other cryptids, theories will continue to surface.