Small town stories of terrifying creatures that live in the wilderness are not new to cinematic storytelling, but there is one tale of a real-life werewolf that stalks the small town of Elkhorn, Wisconsin and its impact is the topic of a new documentary scheduled to be released this fall.
“The Bray Road Beast” will chronicle the eyewitness accounts of local townspeople who have seen and reported the beast to local authorities.
Director Seth Breedlove was inspired by Linda Godfrey‘s articles, she was a reporter for Walworth County’s The Week in the 90’s.
Reports of the beast held a common thread in that people were describing the creature to animal control as a “werewolf.”
This led Godfrey to write a book called, “Monsters Among Us.” Breedlove and Godfrey met at a cryptozoological event and they decided to collaborate.
“The new film … promises to take viewers on a wild ride down one of the scariest stretches of blacktop in middle America,” a news release states according to GazetteXtra. “The Bray Road Beast is a terrifying, werewolf-like creature that has stalked the Midwest for the better part of a century.”
Breedlove is filming re-enactments and some special effects already and will conduct interviews and testimony from witnesses who have seen the creature.
The director wants to make this project more than just another chronicle of local lore, but also educate viewers on the beginnings of the legendary monster from its inception in Greek mythology to its popularity through the ages.
“Hopefully, it’s an informative look on a subject that people laugh off or think is just birthed by Hollywood,” Breedlove said. “We’re kind of hoping people will get the rich history of this kind of story.”
The creature has been seen as far back as the 50’s, which intrigued Breedlove enough to explore the legend further.
“(I’m) excited to have this chance to retell these stories,” he said.
He adds that it is not his intention to sway people into believing these accounts. “We’re much more interested in capturing a piece of history and putting it out there for the audience to make up their own mind,” he said. “(We’re) very much interested in simply documenting the story in the words of people who live it.”
Godfrey says reports of the hairy creature have not fallen off. She receives plenty of stories about sightings even today.
“People are still calling, emailing and messaging me,” she says on her website, “and yes, there are still sightings of large wolves or other canines walking upright — as well as reports of what witnesses say looks like a reddish-furred Bigfoot and odd light phenomena on Bray Road — but also widely spread around the US, Canada, and even South America.”
The legend also prompted a 2005 horror movie called The Beast of Bray Road from Asylum. That fictional account was also inspired by people’s sightings.
Breedlove will set up a crowdfunding page this month in order to help get this latest documentary finished.
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