President’s Day greetings everyone! As you may know, today is also known as Washington’s Birthday. And when I think of Washington, what springs to mind is that iconic painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware. It is there, on the icy riverbank between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, that we celebrate this week’s monster: The Bryn Athyn Beast, aka the Montgomery County Monster, aka the Pennsylvania Dogman.
Origins of the Bryn Athyn Beast
The Bryn Athyn Beast gets its name from the town of Bryn Athyn where the sightings have taken place. A small town of 1400 about 60 miles south of Allentown, Bryn Athyn (roughly translated from Welsh to mean “Hill of Unity), strikes me as similar to another “sleepy” New England town. Though the creature residing there is more of a legendary ghost than a cryptid creature.
While the Headless Horseman dates back to the Civil War era, the Bryn Athyn Beast’s origins are much more recent. In fact, the first recorded sighting only took place in 1990. However, the larger lore of dogmen is not so modern. In fact, the most famous dogmen pack resides in Michigan and reports of sightings date back to the late 1800s. Documentation of those encounters recall “a monster with a dog’s head and the torso of a man. It is also described to have blue or amber eyes with a howl that is said to sound like a human scream.”
The Bryn Athyn Beast is not as well-documented as its Michigan counterparts, nor is it as well-known outside the immediate community. However, jazz singer and local ghost hunter Eric Mintel has compiled multiple accounts and performed several stakeouts to try and get to the bottom of things. According to Mintel, the Bryn Athyn Beast is a giant dog that prowls on all fours until it goes on the offensive. Then it rears up onto its back feet, rising up to its full seven- or eight-foot height, and attacks like a human.
It also shares a few characteristics with ghosts: It doesn’t make noise when it walks, and it disappears as if melting into the ether. One of Mintel’s colleagues, paranormal investigator Tom Carey, shared his suspicions that the Beast may be using portals to travel between locations.
See more about Eric Mintel’s investigative endeavors on his YouTube channel, Eric Mintel Investigates.
Powers and Abilities
As are most other dogmen, the Bryn Athyn Beast is your classic cryptid. It hangs out in the woods or in the less-traveled parts of small towns just long enough for people to snap a couple grainy photos. And…that’s about it. Every sighting, from Bucks County to Baton Rouge, ends with the dogman disappearing silently into the woods.
At this point, you may be asking yourself: aren’t these just werewolves with a different name? Sort of, but not really. While they may appear similar to werewolves, their form is not affected by the full moon. Also, most attacks seem to happen during the day. Which makes the whole dogman phenomena even more unsettling. It takes a truly horrifying creature to freak people out in broad daylight, and by all accounts, these guys do just that.
Fighting the Bryn Athyn Beast
While everyone who has encountered the Beast has reported feeling very threatened, everyone has also survived. Which is another trait of your classic cryptid: they’re more afraid of you than you are of them. So if you ever encounter the Beast (or a dogman in general, since they are apparently everywhere), stay calm and wait for them to melt into the darkness. And don’t forget to snap a few pictures if you can.
Fun Fact: Dogmen have gone international. According to Dogman Encounters (which totally sounds like a super niche hookup site BTW), people have sighted them on every continent except Antarctica. But if a Dogman eats someone in Antarctica and no one is around to see it, did it happen?
The world may never know.
Happy Monday, everyone!
