In The Folk Tradition

June 25th, 2007 | webmaster | Beast of Bladenboro

By Hiram Hester

Let’s talk about the Beast. That’s right, the Beast of Bladenboro.

In the past few weeks, I’ve learned a lot about BOB. And in the meantime, we’ve joked a lot about him. But on December 29, 1953, something “sleek, black,” a catlike animal, “about five feet long with a round face” terrorized the town of Bladenboro. To this day not a soul knows what the beast was. But as reported by Joseph F. Gallehugh, Jr., in the North Carolina Folklore Journal [Student Issue], August, 1976, it had extraordinary strength and sucked the blood from living animals.

What has appealed to me the most during my research is the realization that the beast became something of a “standing joke” across the state. In the town of Bladenboro a lot of humor has been shared about the beast but still to this day, there are no clear indications as to what was going on—what the beast was. Sure, there are those that blame two or three “good ole boys” for the excitement and some may have contributed to the panic through insensitive practical jokes.

I did chance a very brief chat with Mrs. C.E. Kinlaw who denies the allegations that she encountered the beast. She stated that it was all a lot of hype that was blown out of proportion. I respect Mrs. Kinlaw and would like for it to go on “someone’s” record that she did not encounter the alleged beast. It was reported to me not so long ago that there are those with more intimate connections to the panic who have bad feelings still to this day. Thus, every time one of us from Boost the ‘Boro brings up BeastFest, we stir up dreaded and long suppressed feelings.

I feel blessed to know Kenneth, Harold, and Eric Davis, all three sons of Mr. Luther Davis. All three I am acquainted with and all three are very gifted and very special gentlemen. Recently, Kenneth shared with me a folder, compiled over the years by his father, containing articles and recollections of those days of the beast—and Mr. Luther was credited with killing a bobcat that he had killed around 8:30 AM on the morning of January 13, 1954. One report described the bobcat as a “half-starved 25-pound bobcat that he had killed but fitted all descriptions and tracks of the Beast of Bladenboro.

Mayor W.G. Fussell reported to newspapers that the Bladenboro Beast had been killed. Interestingly, even though Mr. Luther’s kill was claimed to be the famed beast, sightings of a large catlike creature continued to be reported in the Big Swamp section of Bladen County.

Was BOB put down? Interestingly also, on the day that “BOB was reportedly killed”, a Tabor City man struck a beast while leaving Bladenboro, and tossed into his truck a “spotted like a leopard” animal of 20 to 24 inches high, with a tail about eight inches long and weighing 75 to 90 pounds.

I was born in 1952. When I was about 10 years old, I remember something of a “revival” of the beast, when tracks and animal deaths were reported. People were staying in-doors as reports of “the beast” came into the community. I also remember one terrorized witness having an encounter with something that resembled a monkey, who threw rocks at her.

Don’t know about all that—monkey business?? We’ve taken a sharp turn here. What happened to the catlike creature? At any rate, on October 27, we are going to celebrate the Beast of Bladenboro in anticipation of Halloween. I can only hope that the “real beast” doesn’t show up for the festivities!!