Denton, Texas

Several states have a Goatman tale, with Texas having a few itself, but each have reminders of threats from a forgotten past. Liminal areas of crossing can be full of possibility and danger, present injustices are informed by past prejudices, and there are critters – like snakes or gators – down in the creek that young ’uns should be leery of. The Goatman isn’t just a haunting campfire tale, it’s also a reminder that ignorance of our history is no protection from its consequences.

Denton’s famous specter comes from a story handed down for generations with a few variations. Built in 1884, Old Alton Bridge was a busy thoroughfare. Many people reporting frightening encounters and ghostly experiences with supernatural creatures have made it a legendary spot for Texas ghost hunters.

The most common version of the story points to an African-American family that tended a farmstead goat herd near the bridge. They were renowned for quality meat, milk, cheeses, and hides. When they proudly hung a sign on the Old Alton Bridge directing “This way to the Goatman,” it infuriated local Ku Klux Klansmen who plotted violence.

In the middle of the night in the 1930s, a lynch mob of Kluxers stormed the family’s home and dragged the screaming goat herder to their noose waiting on the bridge, tightened the rope around the begging man’s neck, then flung him off the side. However, when the Night Riders stumbled down to the dark river’s edge to confirm their handiwork, they were shocked to find only an empty noose dangling over dark waters.

The panicked Klansmen searched the area unsuccessfully before rushing to the family’s home, setting it on fire with the Goatman’s family shrieking inside, perhaps to bait a desperate rescue attempt by the vanished herder. The man was never seen again, they say, but a vengeful spirit has haunted the Old Alton Bridge ever since.

Legend has it that if you knock on the steel bridge three times at midnight or turn off your car’s headlights and honk three times you may receive a visit from the vengeful Goatman. If you smell decaying flesh, it’s already too late. 

Reports tell of burning red eyes from the darkness, eerie glimpses of a large snarling goat-headed man-beast stomping through wooded shadows, or a frightening apparition of a maniacal satyr carrying human heads in his hands.

The terrifying encounters and reported vanishings have been so frequent that numerous investigations by paranormal groups have been done. But as I said, there’s more than one version that attempts an explanation for a century of recurring frights and sights encountered at the bridge.

Some attribute the work of Satanists that opened a portal for a demon, while others say the Goatman’s wife is eternally searching for her murdered children.

Regardless of which tale is told, just know that knocking three times on the trusses of the bridge is an invitation to judgment. Goatman only spirits away those related to Klansmen or slaveowners his terrible revenge.