Original subtitles

ENGLUND: Hidden away in news reports

from America's past

are tales so frightening that they must be true.

I'm Robert Englund.

Join me on a journey into the dark shadows

of our nation's history to uncover a trilogy of stories

as terrifying as they are real.

♪♪

A mysterious creature invades the Old West.

[ Gunshot ]

-Come on! -Sam!

ENGLUND: A future president

enters a savage beast's domain...

[ Growling ] -No!

ENGLUND: ...and a merciless demon

has villagers living in fear.

-Jane, come on! -I'm trying!

[ Screams ]

ENGLUND: Brace yourself

for "True Terror."

♪♪

Now, it's been said the oldest and strongest kind of fear

is fear of the unknown.

You want proof?

In the three stories I have for you now,

you'll see that it's a basic instinct

that can save or cost you your life.

Our first stop is Tombstone, Arizona,

best known for the gunfight at the O.K. Corral,

but just nine years after that the Tombstone press

reported something far, far scarier --

a threat that wasn't man, but beast.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

♪♪

Looks like you need a drink.

Whiskey.

ENGLUND: 54-year-old Ezekiel Bates

has cheated death more times than he can count.

Two for a quarter.

ENGLUND: But they all pale in comparison

to the inexplicable horror

he's faced over the past 72 hours.

What ails you, pilgrim?

Eh.

You wouldn't believe me anyhow.

[ Scoffs ] Try me.

Well, I reckon it all started about three days ago.

We was out east of the Huachucas.

ENGLUND: Recounting some memories can be as painful

as walking barefoot through a nest of scorpions.

The time Bates stared the devil in the face

would be one of those.

We were just wrapping up about a six-week cattle drive.

[ Cow moos ]

♪♪

MURPHY: Ranchers Ezekiel Bates and Sam Dawson

had been working together

for 20 years in this part of Arizona.

These guys had survived cattle stampedes,

rattlesnake bites,

lynch mobs, and renegade Indians.

Whoo.

It's hot enough to gag a maggot.

At least we got a cold bath and bottle of whiskey

waiting on us when we get to Tombstone.

I'm looking forward to that, brother.

We're talking about two old cowboys here

that have seen everything the old west has to offer.

ENGLUND: But then there came the day

when two men who didn't believe something could exist

inevitably realized that it did.

Cloud.

There's a break.

[ Growls ]

That ain't no cloud.

What the hell is that?

Darned if I know.

Being that they are cowboys, their first instinct

when coming upon this strange creature

was to take a shot at it.

[ Gunshots ]

♪♪

In this case, this is a huge mistake.

Whatever that thing is, it was minding it's own business.

Now they've poked the monster with the proverbial stick.

♪♪

Oh, man.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Growls ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Horse whinnies ]

♪♪

[ Thud ]

What they saw that day was nothing short

than the stuff of legends.

"A winged monster, resembling a huge alligator

"with an extremely elongated tail

"and an immense pair of wings,

was found in the desert by two ranchers."

♪♪

God almighty!

You okay Dawson?

I'm okay.

[ Groans ] What the hell was that?

I ain't never seen nothing like it.

Thank you.

This thing, whatever it is,

swoops right in and kills their horses.

Now, Bates and Dawson,

they're just not stranded in the desert,

they also believe they're next on the menu.

Go get your gun!

♪♪

Steady.

Fire!

Come on!

[ Gunshots ]

We didn't touch it!

♪♪

♪♪

ENGLUND: "After the first shock of wild amazement had passed,

the two men regained sufficient courage to pursue the monster."

♪♪

Hmm. "Pursue the monster."

Not sure I'd call that a bright idea,

but desperation can drive men to the extreme.

Problem is, if they're not careful,

curiosity will get them killed.

♪♪

God.

For the first time, the cowboys get a look at this creature,

and what they see stuns them.

♪♪

We're talking about a 92-foot wingspan,

and 160 feet tip to toe, and those jaws!

♪♪

Back up. Back up. Back up. Back up.

[ Roars ]

[ Screeches ]

♪♪

ENGLUND: Terror is never more intense

than when there's no place to run and no place to hide.

♪♪

Sam!

[ Screeches ]

♪♪

ENGLUND: Like any cowboy worth his salt,

Ezekiel Bates always felt at home in the Arizona desert.

That is, until the day a dragon swooped down

and took his friend Sam Dawson away.

-[ Screams ] -Sam!

♪♪

Now, Ezekiel Bates is standing there

in the middle of nowhere,

powerless to stop the winged beast

from making off with his friend.

It doesn't take him long to realize he's the next target.

That's when, off in the distance,

he notices a prospector's abandoned shack,

and he's thinking, "If I get there,

I can probably hide and protect myself."

♪♪

[ Screeches ]

♪♪

ENGLUND: Ah, yes, but how does one truly believe they're safe

if they can't comprehend the severity of the situation?

[ Screeches ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Growls ]

♪♪

The monster in a crisis is fear,

and when forced to face it alone,

there's a good chance it will devour you.

♪♪

Though before it does, it stalks and taunts it's prey,

taking ruthless delight in your terror.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Rocks fall ]

[ Gunshot, animal whimpers ]

♪♪

[ Growling ]

[ Gunshot, animal whimpers ]

♪♪

[ Screeches ]

[ Gunshots ]

♪♪

♪♪

Bates makes it safely through the night,

but the next morning he's consumed

with a fear that this dragon is going to find him

until he sees evidence to the contrary.

♪♪

♪♪

So, Mr. Flying Lizard,

it appears you can be hurt.

If I can hurt you,

yeah, then I can kill you.

[ Clears throat ]

At this point, Bates believes his only chance to survive

is to attack,

so he starts following the trail of blood,

hoping to find the creature.

♪♪

♪♪

But there is a huge problem.

♪♪

He only has one bullet left.

♪♪

One...

two...

[ Growls ]

...three!

♪♪

♪♪

And I swear to God

that's exactly what happened.

Some big fairytale, guy!

[ Laughter ]

ENGLUND: Bates' account leaves Tombstone residents

a bit skeptical

until he produces the evidence to prove it.

[ Laughter ]

♪♪

♪♪

An expedition is sent out to review the creature's body

so that it can be sent east to be examined

by the eminent scientists of the day.

When the group arrives to where Bates claims the creature fell,

they find nothing.

what became of it is a total mystery,

and nothing like it has ever been seen again.

ENGLUND: The unknown frightens us

because it can strike from anywhere,

but it terrifies us most when it emerges from the places

we think we know best.

[ Screeches ]

Just as the cowboys in Arizona

confronted an unknown menace in their own backyard,

so did hunters roaming the Montana wilderness.

In 1883, something was lurking there,

described as half human or half devil,

some great goblin beast.

Now, those aren't just the words of some science fiction writer

but Theodore Roosevelt, America's 26th president.

♪♪

At the time, 25-year-old

Roosevelt is a well-respected state assemblyman from New York.

18 years will pass before he becomes president.

Weary of dodging bullets in the political arena,

he's come to Montana

to take aim at big game on the wild frontier.

[ Growls ]

[ Gunshot ]

-Nice shot, sir. -Yeah.

[ Animal howls ]

Among Roosevelt's hunting party is his guide,

a weather-beaten old mountain man named Bowman.

Doing all right, Mr. Roosevelt?

Indeed, sir.

These mountain men were frontiersmen

who spent almost their entire lives in the wilderness.

They were hunters and beaver trappers,

and these were the first white men

to explore the wild and remote areas

of the American continent.

They became icons of the American culture.

♪♪

[ Growling in distance ]

♪♪

♪♪

Mr. Bowman?

What is that?

That's something I never want to hear again.

Thought that was relegated to memory alone.

♪♪

ENGLUND: On this night, Bowman shares a story

that mesmerizes the future president.

Roosevelt will later chronicle it

in a best-selling book.

♪♪

40 years ago, Jones and I were out trapping.

[ Ducks quacking ]

[ Gunshot ]

Good shot.

CLARKE: Bowman was on a fur trapping expedition.

He was with another trapper named Jasper Jones.

No other frontiersman dared enter this pocket

of the Montana wilderness.

This area is said to have an evil reputation.

The story goes that an earlier trapper

was eaten alive by some unknown beast.

♪♪

These mountain men were not concerned

with any man-eating beast legend.

These guys had ice water running through their veins.

♪♪

And that day they set up camp,

and then headed out to trap some beaver.

Come on.

♪♪

ENGLUND: As Bowman and Jones ventured deeper into the woods,

they get the uneasy sense that they are being watched.

♪♪

Little do they know,

they're about to learn a terrifying lesson,

if you're going to spit in the face of superstition,

you must be careful where you spit.

♪♪

ENGLUND: In 1883, young Theodore Roosevelt

and his hunting party are mesmerized by

a chilling account told to them

by an elderly Montana mountain man.

We heard this shriek, this scream.

This sound, it just cut to you.

♪♪

The first time I heard it I thought it could be a bobcat.

It could be something. I...

ENGLUND: 40 years earlier, in the same remote forest,

he and his partner were stalked by a mysterious creature.

CLARKE: Bowman swears that every iota of this story is fact.

That day, 40 years ago, Bowman and his partner, Jones,

were running from this mysterious creature

that saw them as its next snack.

♪♪

Bowman and Jones had heard all about this creature

from other hunters,

but they assumed it was just a myth,

and as the hours pass without incident,

they had no reason to believe otherwise.

ENGLUND: Everything changes the moment

they get back to their camp.

Someone or, more accurately, something has been there.

♪♪

Damn bears.

♪♪

Weren't no bears.

Look!

ENGLUND: The two veterans of the wilderness have no clue

what kind of creature has invaded their camp.

Whatever it is, it's enormous and walks upright on two legs.

♪♪

♪♪

That buck's got to weigh 300 pounds.

Didn't get up there by himself.

♪♪

ENGLUND: The mountain men must face the cold, hard truth --

They're trespassers in the domain of a beast

the likes of which they have never encountered,

and it's a natural-born killer.

♪♪

There was a deer ripped stem to stern

laying up in the branch.

No animal can do that.

ENGLUND: Legends are born out of human need to provide

an explanation for the unexplained,

but let's be clear,

Bowman's story is far more than a precautionary tale.

We went on back to camp.

When the darkness set in that night,

an uneasy sense came over he and Jones,

as if they're being watched by menacing eyes.

[ Leaves crunch ]

It's not long before they can feel the creature.

It's so close, they can smell it.

♪♪

ENGLUND: Smell is the most primal of our senses.

It's often our first warning of danger,

something no one should ignore.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Growls ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Growls ]

[ Gunshot ]

♪♪

♪♪

Whatever Bowman smelled worried him enough to get up

and take a shot, causing the creature to retreat,

but whatever it was made it known clearly

that it was not happy.

♪♪

I believe the creature's sounds

were a deliberate effort to taunt these men.

It was almost like psychological warfare,

and it was working.

These mountain men had spent their whole lives as hunters,

and now the shoe is on the other foot.

They were in the crosshairs of a monster.

I'm not sure what it was, gentleman.

We were mystified.

We did not know what was becoming of us.

♪♪

Next day I was out looking for this beast.

I remember I stopped at a stream,

and reaching down into the stream to fill my canteen,

and I see a silhouette in the water.

♪♪

I look up.

Nothing there.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Growling ]

And then I hear more shrieks, screams.

I got back to camp as fast as I could,

then I see the beast.

♪♪

[ Growling ]

Jones!

♪♪

[ Gunshot ]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

ENGLUND: We've all heard the phrase

"a fate worse than death."

One definition of that fate is to see death coming,

know it will be horrifying, and yet be powerless to stop it.

♪♪

ENGLUND: In 1843, a Montana mountain man named Bowman

is as the mercy of a mysterious, bloodthirsty beast.

After witnessing his hunting partner's brutal death,

he awakes to discover that his own life hangs by a thread.

♪♪

The amazing thing about this encounter

is that it's consistent with the key elements

of every Bigfoot sighting.

It's said to have happened over 160 years ago.

That would make this one of the earliest Bigfoot sightings

ever chronicled.

The huge footprints, the 8-foot-tall hairy biped,

the horrible stench --

it checks all the boxes, and very importantly,

this account is handed down to us by Teddy Roosevelt,

as credible a source as you could ask for.

♪♪

♪♪

Ah!

♪♪

♪♪

[ Animal howling ]

Gentleman, I don't know what it was.

The smell of it,

a horrible smell.

The sound of it,

I'll never forget it.

ENGLUND: Bowman's story leaves the hunting party speechless.

Roosevelt himself wonders is it the truth, or a tall tale?

I could prove this to you.

Look here, Mr. Roosevelt.

Check that out right there.

Look at the butt end of it there.

That hair is from that beast,

and if he's still out there,

we're in for a world of trouble.

♪♪

♪♪

Roosevelt writes that Bowman's account truly impressed him.

Who knew that one of our greatest presidents

would be a key part of a Bigfoot narrative?

♪♪

♪♪

Mr. Roosevelt?

It's sack time, sir.

ENGLUND: No story haunted Roosevelt's memory

like Bowman's,

in which the pursuers had become the prey.

File this story under M for monster,

and on your next camping trip,

ignore any strange noises at your own risk.

♪♪

You need to beware of more than just the bloodcurdling

howls that Teddy Roosevelt's heard,

for there was another sound that long petrified residents

of a rural Pennsylvania town, one the press described as

"piercing shrieks, as if demons were engaged in battle."

♪♪

♪♪

Hey! I can't walk any faster.

Of course. I'm sorry.

ENGLUND: It's a warm summer night,

and 18-year-old Nathan Walsh

is walking his sweetheart, Jane Parker,

home from a church social.

If you're worried about what my father will say, it's...

What? No.

Okay.

♪♪

ENGLUND: Of course, Nathan is afraid of Jane's father, Cyrus.

It's already past Jane's curfew.

♪♪

[ Owl hooting ]

Hey, it's nothing to be afraid of.

Right.

Come on.

ENGLUND: But what he doesn't know yet

is that there is something lurking in these woods

that is far more dangerous than Cyrus Parker.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Gasps ]

Oh, my god!

♪♪

Oh.

Is that Mr. Freed's dog?

What happened?

A wolf?

Maybe?

Jane and Nate's walk takes them

by the property of a local farmer,

but finding the farmer's dead dog

is just the start of a horrifying night.

♪♪

[ Howling ]

What was that?

♪♪

This is no ordinary sound from an ordinary animal,

and not only can they not identify the sound,

they can't identify where it's coming from.

ENGLUND: What they can be sure of

is that whatever it is,

it's closing in.

[ Growling ] -[ Screams ]

♪♪

[ Growls ]

♪♪

ENGLUND: In 1881, the hideous howls of an unknown predator

send Nathan Walsh and his girlfriend,

Jane, running for their lives.

[ Growling ]

Nathan and Jane aren't that far from her house.

All they need to do is get to the other side of the clearing,

and through the front door.

[ Growling ]

Jane, come on!

I'm trying!

Come on!

I'm trying!

♪♪

♪♪

Jane!

[ Crying ]

Dad, oh, god, there's something out there!

We don't know what it is!

♪♪

[ Goat bleats ]

Mr. Parker,

this thing or things,

they chased us.

I've never heard or see anything like it.

♪♪

Mr. Parker, your goat.

♪♪

[ Screams ]

ENGLUND: Whatever lurks outside their home,

it now has Nathan, Jane, and her father, Cyrus,

trapped inside, and it wants in.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Screams ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Growls ]

♪♪

[ Thud ] -[ Screams ]

[ Gunshot ]

♪♪

ENGLUND: The unknown demons vanish into the night.

♪♪

But the danger remains,

and not just for Nathan, Jane, and Cyrus.

♪♪

"Big Beaver Township became under a reign of terror.

"Sometimes the sound would come from the underbrush

"at the roadside,

and at others from the tops of the highest trees."

♪♪

After that night, there are still reports of these

unknown beasts roaming the woods of Big Beaver.

So now, with widespread fear gripping the community,

the mayor calls a town meeting.

MAN: Just tell us what it is!

Look, there's no reason to panic.

The town is split over what this thing is.

Half of the people believe it's some kind of wild animal.

The other half believe it's some sort of demon entity

haunting their woods.

It's not an animal!

It's a curse!

ERDEL: This is a time and place

where there's a deep belief in the supernatural.

People believe in signs and omens,

and that satanic forces all around them,

and that this beast is a manifestation of the devil.

We need to see what this is first

before we panic, all right?

We're gonna wait until we have one of our children killed?

[ Thud ]

ENGLUND: To rid the Township of the menace,

the town elders call upon Pennsylvania's

most renowned hunter, David Musser.

He's bagged everything from bears to cougars,

all sorts of stuff.

If anybody can track and kill this creature, Musser can.

I can kill any beast there is.

You all don't have to be afraid anymore.

I can promise you that.

Now, who will join me?

♪♪

I'll go.

Not without me.

♪♪

On Thursday, February 24th, 1881,

the legendary hunter, David Musser,

and three brave volunteers head into the woods.

The area they were in was near Big Beaver Township.

They had entered the woods to hunt down this unknown menace.

ENGLUND: As brave as David Musser is reported to be,

he's never experience anything this evil before.

I dare to say no one has.

♪♪

ENGLUND: Under the cover of a full moon,

renowned hunter David Musser

leads a party into the Pennsylvania woods.

His strategy is to lure the mystery creatures

that have been tormenting Big Beaver Township

with live bait, while his gunmen lie in way.

Let me try it over there.

[ Goat bleats ]

♪♪

ENGLUND: Musser's partner leads their bait

towards a clearing beyond the tree line.

♪♪

We should get in position.

When he comes back, then.

♪♪

♪♪

MAN: [ Screams ]

[ Growling ]

Musser is used to running into the teeth of danger,

but these farmers are fighting their natural instincts

to run in the opposite direction.

♪♪

♪♪

Well, here's the goat.

Where's Ezekiel?

♪♪

You saw it?

That thing is evil.

ENGLUND: In an instant, David Musser and his group

go from being the hunters to the prey.

Look!

[ Growling ]

[ Gunshots ]

♪♪

♪♪

Stop, stop.

♪♪

Something's not right.

ENGLUND: Among the four men,

an unsettling sensation sinks in --

have they been lead purposefully to this spot?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Nathan, move.

[ Growling, gunshot ]

[ Whimpers ]

♪♪

♪♪

CLARKE: That night, Musser kills this demon in the woods.

It turns out to be a black panther.

He claims this has been the creature

terrorizing this community.

ENGLUND: The horrible howling, the orbs glowing in the night,

the dead livestock.

Could a wild cat really do all of that?

The people of that area, they weren't buying it.

There haven't been accounts of wild cats in this area

for decades,

and they don't make the kind of shrieking noises

that this creature supposedly makes.

[ Growling ]

My god.

♪♪

[ Gunfire ]

♪♪

We may never know exactly what prowling

in those Pennsylvania woods,

the Montana wilderness, or the Arizona desert,

so count these mysterious beasts

among the unknowns that haunt and terrify us.

Yet another reason for you to stay vigilant.

That is, until our next descent into "True Terror."

♪♪