Beast of Bray Road
Prairie Oak Press
When I first heard of the Beast of Bray Road, well before reading Linda S. Godfrey's Beast of Bray Road book, I wondered what the heck this thing, or things, could be that people were seeing around Walworth, Jefferson and Racine Counties in Wisconsin. In the early to mid 1990's people reported sighting a strange man-like creature with the head of a wolf in the vicinity of Bray Road, near Elkhorn.
These sightings mingled with reports of Bigfoot too, making it possible that they could be misidentifications of the more legendary beast. But witnesses were convinced of what they had seen (a creature with a longer snout and dog-like head) so the mystery remains: does a wolf-man inhabit the wilderness and fields of rural Wisconsin? Or does a strange cousin of Sasquatch lurk in the woods with a more baboon-like head than your average pipedal primate?
If you're interested in learning about the Beast of Bray Road and how the whole story started, the perfect place to begin is the book "The Beast of Bray Road" by Linda S. Godfrey, who has penned other titles about her home state, and is a journalist for a small Wisconsin newspaper. A follow-up book, which will include more details and newer sighting reports, is in the works.
Godfrey begins with the earliest reports of a strange creature sighted along Bray Road, detailing how the story came to her and how she wrote the first piece for her newspaper. She soon became the spotlight reporter for the Beast of Bray Road and was the "go to" person for anyone seeking information on the mystery.
She writes with humor, but maintains all due respect for the witnesses and an open mind to the subject matter as well. A very open mind is what is required for the study of lycanthropy as it applies to the potential existence of a real life werewolf. The idea of a werewolf prowling the countryside is far fetched to say the least, but Godfrey explores this angle through the legends and lore of various cultures including early Native American tales of shape-shifters and skinwalkers.
Throughout The Beast of Bray Road Godfrey touches on many possible explanations for the beast, keeping the reader in the "what if" frame of mind the whole way through, no matter how fantastic the suggestion may be. As I mentioned earlier, this is the book to read if you'd like a primer on the Beast of Bray Road and a clue to what's going on in Wisconsin. Looking forward to the next one.
— Drew
