The dwayyo is a humanoid creature that allegedly prowls the woods of western Maryland. In various reports of sightings, the creature bears some resemblance to Bigfoot: a hulking figure with a full coat of brown or black fur. The solitary dwayyo is known to dash through the woods, which makes it difficult to catch more than a fleeting glimpse of the animal. Because of this, people report hearing the dwayyo’s nightly howls more than they report seeing the dwayyo. Those who have managed to get a closer look at the creature state that it has the head of a wolf or a large dog and a full tail. Because of these distinctive characteristics, some call the dwayyo the dogman. Others suggest that it is actually a werewolf, although a dwayyo has never been observed changing into human form. In fact, the dwayyo appears to hate human beings, and it is typically aggressive toward any who draw close. Many believe that the dwayyo is related to the snallygaster, another unverified creature alleged to inhabit the same locale.
Reports of dwayyo sightings first appeared in Maryland during the twentieth century. In 1944, horrible cries were heard outdoors one night, and the next day footprints were discovered, suggesting that a large animal walking on two legs had made the noises. However, more than two decades passed before the first visual confirmation of the dwayyo. A 1965 story in the Frederick News-Post told how a man (who went by the pseudonym John Becker) was roused one night by a terrible howling behind his home. His property abutted Gambrill State Park, and he followed the disturbing sounds into the park’s trees. There he encountered a massive brute covered with black hair, with both a tail and the head of a wolf or a large dog. The creature was not interested in company and promptly attacked Becker. The man managed to escape and returned to his house, where he contacted police and shared what had happened.
More stories of the dwayyo soon followed. In the same year Becker’s story was published, students at the University of Maryland said that they had spied a dwayyo on campus. However, they asserted that the beast bore no ill will toward people: it was merely rushing about its business. A hunt was subsequently planned by George May, the same reporter who composed the Frederick News-Post story about Becker. Yet the event was never launched, leaving the creature’s existence unconfirmed.
Nevertheless, several additional newspaper stories about the dwayyo came out during the following decades. Brief but always unsettling sightings were reported by hunters, campers, and many living beside wooded areas. The coloration of the dwayyo varies in these accounts, but the unpleasantness of its cries and the angry look on its face are recurring features. Then, in 2009, a woman had a particularly alarming encounter. She was driving at night past Gambrill State Park and spotted something along the roadside. She saw a blurry shape keeping pace with her car, hurtling headlong through the trees. When she slowed her vehicle to take a better look, an upright figure with the head of a wolf or a large dog, covered entirely in brown hair, emerged from the woods. Growling as it approached, the monster exposed a mouthful of fangs. The woman sped off, fearing for her life, to warn others of what she had seen.
Despite its intimidating appearance and apparent hostility, the dwayyo has more than once been associated with Christmas. It has been invoked to threaten poorly behaved children around the holiday. And some responding to the 1960s stories dismissed the appearance of the monster as the result of excessive yuletide cheer.
Although not nearly as old or as famous as the snallygaster, the dwayyo is regularly associated with this other Maryland monster. Like the snallygaster, the dwayyo is nocturnal and solitary, despite what its looks might suggest about connections to pack animals. In addition, the dwayyo and the snallygaster both can be difficult to see because they move so rapidly. Moreover, some Maryland residents insist that the dwayyo hatched from a snallygaster egg. Also, a Baltimore Sun article from 1978 told of State Police pursuing a massive dwayyo-snallygaster hybrid that frightened Skyesville residents. However, others contend that the two species are not family but bitter enemies, inclined to attack each other on sight. Yet whatever the quality of the relationship between the snallygaster and the dwayyo, their Maryland roots bind them together.
Noel Sloboda
See also Bigfoot or Sasquatch; Rougarou; Skunk-Ape of the Everglades; Snallygaster; Werewolf
Further Reading
Cannon, Timothy L., and Nancy F. Whitmore. 1979. Ghosts and Legends of Frederick County. Frederick, MD: Studio 20.
Fair, Susan. 2013. Mysteries and Lore of Western Maryland. Charleston, SC: History Press.
Okonowicz, Ed. 2012. Monsters of Maryland. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.