January 28, 2015
As someone who grew up, and lived for many years, only a 15-minute drive from England’s notorious Cannock Chase woods, I have taken a keen interest in the many and varied cryptozoological events, incidents, and encounters that have occurred there. There are dozens and dozens of reports of so-called “Alien Big Cats.” Sightings of Bigfoot-like beasts abound. Huge, winged beasts have been encountered. As have giant snakes, and much more.
The late John Keel would almost certainly have referred to the Cannock Chase as a definitive “window area.”
Well, there’s now another strange entity to add to the Cannock Chase’s menagerie: the Slender Man. It’s a story told by Mike Lockley, in the England-based Birmingham Mail newspaper. It begins:
“A paranormal probe has been launched in the Midlands following FOUR sightings of Slender Men – long, stick thin spectres feared around the world. Each of the chilling close encounters took place in the Cannock area, and now X Files investigator Lee Brickley is trying to fathom why the ghoul has descended on the Staffordshire mining town. Slender Men have been a part of global folklore for centuries. They may be known by different names, but their harrowing, elongated appearance remains the same around the world. In Scotland the fiendish figure is known as Fear Dubh (The Dark Man), the Dutch dubbed him Takkenmann (Branch Man) and in Germany he is referred to as Der Grosse Man (Tall Man).”
About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.
Filed under Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Folklore, Forteana, Lair of the Beasts, Paranormal Investigators