The Goat Man of Nags Head

 

Sometimes when researching folklore, you stumble upon stories that can take on multiple lives within their history, and one of those sits on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 

The story of the Outer Banks Goat Man has a history that is part myth and part reality, and both can be true.  

The most widely whispered stories of the Outer Banks Goat Man read something like this: Sometime in the 1970s, a hermit lived peacefully in the maritime forest surrounded by his goats. One night, a group of rowdy teenagers vandalized his home and killed his goats. From there, the heartbroken hermit began chasing and kidnapping trespassers. Sending chills down everyone in the area. 

But is this reality? Did the Goat Man actually exist? It has been added to the Dare County Outer Banks folklore map. 

But looking deeper into the story tells a different tale. In a preserve of woods along the sound side of the Outer Banks sits an old yellow shack, which was the legendary home of the Goat Man, but that’s all it was: a tall tale told by the teenagers of the era. Instead, the truth is that the cabin was the hunting retreat of a man named Calvert Duvall, who occasionally hunted and fished in the area. 

Yes, the story of the vandalism was true, but instead of placing blame on those responsible, the legend of the Goat Man was born to keep people away. 

But what is reality? Is it the legend, or is it just a tale meant to keep vandals away? Or was it something altogether different?

The state of North Carolina does have some folklore centered on a real Goatman-like creature, with stories of the legendary half-man, half-goat creature standing upright on two legs, destined to lurk along watery shores searching for food from unsuspecting livestock. And one of those legends sits along a tributary of the Pamlico Sound. 

The Tar River Goat Man is said to run alongside cars traveling along the river banks, slamming its claws into the vehicles on foggy nights. While there is a distance between the original story of the Goat Man near Nags Head, the fact that a real cryptid version lurks in the region is interesting. 

But there is also another story with characteristics similar to both the cryptid and the hermit. This story comes from Goat Island in Alamance County, along the Haw River near Burlington. There, a farmer dealt with more than just raising the goats that gave the island its name; he had a dark reputation that led locals to claim the presence of a half-man, half-goat monster responsible for the strange, eerie sightings near a pond.

So, what do you think? Is it the story of an abandoned hunting cabin? Something darker? Or a cryptid waiting to be discovered? In time, maybe more evidence will come to light. 

If you have any strange tales of cryptids, hauntings, or UFOs, feel free to reach out and share them with us.