When he went back to open the door, the monster was still there, scratching away, and reportedly hissing at the man “like a wildcat.” McDaniel then frantically fired several shots at the beast, striking it several times, after which it reportedly leapt away, allegedly covering roughly 75 feet in three spectacular leaps before disappearing into the blackness. It stood four and a half feet tall and was grayish-colored… it was trying to get into the house!įearing for his life, McDaniel slammed the door and rushed off to retrieve a pistol he kept in the house. It had three legs on it, a short body, two little short arms coming out of its breast area and two pink eyes as big as flashlights. McDaniel would later describe it to authorities thus: There, looming over the front porch, was a brutish, twisted monstrosity which would exactly match the description of what little Greg Garrett had seen just half an hour before. When he opened the door, what he saw was no dog. McDaniel at first thought it must have been some sort of animal, perhaps a stray dog or cat, and he went out to confront whatever it was. It started when McDaniel’s children claimed to hear something scratching at the outside of the house, and when he went to investigate he too heard odd scratching noises. Police at the scene could find no trace of the entity the boy had described.Ībout thirty minutes later, the creature would make another appearance, this time in the yard of the Garrett’s neighbor, Henry McDaniel. The monstrous beast had then stepped forward and stomped on the terrified boy’s feet, ripping his shoes with its claws, before he had retreated to his house in terror.
According to the boy, the creature was around 5 feet tall, with three legs, short stumpy arms tipped with taloned hands, gray skin covered with slime, and disproportionately large, red eyes. Greg claimed that a hideous beast had crawled out of the darkness to attack him. The boy’s parents were startled when their son suddenly burst in through the back door, crying hysterically. On the evening of April 25, 1973, 10-year old Greg Garrett was playing in the backyard of his rural home as his parents watched TV. What would go on to be called the Enfield Horror first made its appearance in the small community of Enfield, Illinois, located in the southeastern corner of the state. It was to this cursed land that a sinister creature emerged to terrorize a small town and earn its place among the most bizarre mystery monsters of cryptozoological lore. It was a place that has a long history of paranormal phenomena, and the local residents made every effort to avoid them. The Native tribes believed this land to be cursed by wandering spirits, and the region became known as the Devil’s Kitchen. In addition they heard bizarre howls, shrieks, and screams penetrating the night. Native Americans and early settlers told of experiencing all sorts of strange phenomena, including seeing strange orbs of light, shadowy phantoms or frightening entities wandering the forests. The southern part of Illinois was well steeped in the bizarre before the arrival of the murderous intruder. It is is a prime example of either a bizarre cryptid which we may never understand, or the powerful and profound effect of myth, legend, and hysteria on the human psyche. As it stalked through the nighttime woods, the bizarre apparition held an entire community in the grip of terror. Such is the case of the strange creature who made its way to a rural community in the state of Illinois, in the United States leaving a trail of bafflement,mystery and mayhem in its wake.
In such instances it is hard to determine whether or not we are dealing with mysterious monsters, aliens, ghosts, or something else entirely. The Enfield Horror is one of those things.įrom time to time one learns of a case that is so strange it is hard to classify. The Mysterious and Terrifying Tale of the Enfield Horror There are some things that go bump in the night that we’d rather not meet.