In Jefferson County, Kentucky, no other legend has generated more discussion than the Pope Lick Monster, which is said to walk the train trestle over Pope Lick Creek near Fisherville, Kentucky. Area storytellers credit the half-goat, half-human creature with three deaths and possibly countless others over the last sixty years.
Stories abound in Jefferson County surrounding the Pope Lick Monster. The creature is known across Kentucky due to its alleged lethality, and to an extent nationwide because of the popularity of paranormal investigation and reporting. As with any legend, the origin stories of the creature range from the absurd to the nearly plausible. One account states it is the product of a rural farmer who became a little too familiar with his goats. Yet another explains it as a reincarnation of a farmer who sacrificed goats to gain satanic powers and who swore to regain life as he was dying. Now he has come back as the half-goat, half-man creature to procure sacrifices for Satan.
The most involved origin story involves a circus act near the turn of the century. The story states that circus proprietor Silas Garner offered a reward for the capture of a new animal for his circus, and the goatman was caught in the wild areas of Canada. Garner then put the creature in his freak show where it became the star attraction, traveling all across the country and drawing a crowd wherever they stopped. One stormy night as they were heading into Louisville, lightning struck the tracks and derailed the train. The only survivor was the goatman, who stalks the trestle seeking revenge because of its mistreatment as a sideshow freak.
The creature is said to appear as a deformed man with the fur-covered legs of a goat, the torso shape of a man, a goat-like face with wide-set eyes, with small, sharpened goat horns protruding from its forehead and long, greasy white fur. Based on these accounts it would likely resemble the popular conception of the god Pan or other mythological figures such as the perceived image of Baphomet, the idol the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping in the fourteenth century before being excommunicated and put to death, which has since often been associated with satanic and occult practices and beliefs.
The Pope Lick Monster is reported to have several supernatural abilities, depending on the story being told about it. It is said to possess hypnotic abilities, which allow it to lure its victims onto the trestle and in front of oncoming freight trains. It also is said to be able to mimic voices, allowing it a second method of enticing victims further out onto the trestle. Many versions of the legend also tell of the monster grabbing its victims from below the tracks as they try to run across, holding them in place as a train approaches. Alternately, the monster uses its grotesque appearance to frighten victims, causing them to jump from the tracks to escape instead of falling victim to its blood lust. As a last resort, it is said to wield a bloody, rusted axe, which it uses to dispatch its victims when all its other charms and tricks fail.
The Pope Lick Monster is credited with the deaths of two teens who died in two separate incidents in 1987, one struck by a train and the other jumping to avoid one. In 2000, another teen was killed after falling from the trestle as he tried to avoid a train and being shaken from the framework by the vibrations of the cars passing overhead. There have been numerous other injuries and incidents associated with the monster legend, particularly with the practice of crossing the trestle to challenge the goatman. The site was a popular party venue for teenagers and college thrill seekers and remains a common place to test bravery against the legendary creature. Because of the danger associated with the trestle itself and the escalation of the situation due to the legends, the area is fenced off and patrolled to prevent further incidents, but it still remains a very active spot for ill-advised thrill seekers to this day.
Stories about the Pope Lick Monster appear to have originated sometime in the 1960s. The goatman story falls under the rubric of the urban legend, and therefore was primarily communicated by word of mouth from generation to generation. It was likely created as a story used by worried parents to deter teenagers and children from playing on or near the train trestle, as many legends of this type are, and eventually grew to the status of a veritable legend in the area. The publicity associated with the deaths and injuries attributed to the legend unfortunately provided a springboard for further attempts by those seeking to tempt their fate and the monster’s wrath. In 1988, the Pope Lick Monster was featured in a short film, which only served to fuel interest in the legend, spreading the stories to a much larger audience outside Louisville and Jefferson County.
The legend itself is likely derivative of other popular half-goat creatures across North America, as well as the European tradition of the bridge monster stories, as the legend has tinges of a Billy Goat’s Gruff telling gone awry. Within close proximity lie the areas associated with the Sheepsquatch in West Virginia, the Goatman in Kill Devils Hill, North Carolina, and the very similar and bloodthirsty Goatman of Bowie, Maryland, which is likely linked to the aspect of the bloody axe in the legend. Urban legend or not, the goatman is one of the most lethal and dangerous legends in Kentucky and still poses a threat to those who wish to tempt the Pope Lick Monster.
Jonathan Byrn
See also Boogie Man; Chupacabra; Goatman (Maryland Monster); Mothman; Wild Man of the Navidad
Further Reading
Coleman, Loren, and Jerome Clark. 1999. Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. New York: Fireside Books.
Godfrey, Linda S. 2014. American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America. New York: Tarcher.
Holland, Jeffrey Scott. 2008. Weird Kentucky. New York: Sterling.
Newton, Michael. 2010. Strange Kentucky Monsters. Atglen, PA: Schiffer.