Every October, spooky stories resurface — and here in Louisville, few loom larger than the Goatman, also known as the Pope Lick Monster, who's said to haunt a railroad trestle in eastern Jefferson County.
Michael Book is the author of “The Legend of Pope Lick.” I spoke with him about the Goatman’s origins, the dangers around the legend and how it lives on through the upcoming Goatman Festival.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Ayisha Jaffer: Well, there are a few competing back stories for how this legend came to be. What do you believe to be the most compelling or plausible of the Goatman?
Michael Book: The most common story that we've heard and we tell ourselves, is about a circus train that crossed the trestle going towards Fisherville over off of Pope Lick road. And lightning strikes this trestle and derails this train. And on this train, a very common thing at that time was a freak show. And within that freak show was this half-man, half-goat creature. The legend is that he escaped this train wreck and has been taking his vengeance out on humankind ever since, because that's who was mistreating him all of these years.
There are other stories that have a little bit more latitude. One of which is involving a man named Charles McCartney, Ches for short. And he's known as America's Goatman. This is a real guy. And he was traveling the country back in the ‘30s through the ‘80s with a wagon pulled by about 30 goats, which is how he got the name Goatman. And he would come in. He would tell these tall tales because he traveled the country with these goats. He saw weird things.
And our thought is that a family went and listened to Ches McCartney tell one of his stories. And when the kids went back to school the next week, they were talking about what they did that weekend. “Oh, I went to see the Goatman.” And the kid from across the class heard that. And kids being creative with what they are, took it, ran with it, and [it] became this story of this half-man, half-goat creature.
AJ: The Goatman legend has drawn so many seekers over the years, and people have tragically lost their lives on that active Pope Lick trestle. Given that risk, what steps have you and your partners taken to deter people from going there and to help fans engage with the story in a safer way?
MB: The steps we've been taking is trying to educate the public. Because looking at that trestle, if you see it, just even driving past it, it doesn't look like it would be an active train trestle. And it is, in fact, a very active train trestle.
And we try to educate people not to try to explore this creature, this story, by going up on this trestle. Which is one of the rumors, that is how you experience the Goatman is to go up on this trestle and you come face to face with him, and that's how you meet your demise.
AJ: I'm sure you get some concerns from people even celebrating the Goatman brings some unintentional people drawing near. How do you kind of balance sharing this story with making sure safety stays front and center?
MB: We aren't out there celebrating the darker side of things. What we're really celebrating at the heart of it are these stories. So we don't just talk about the Goatman. We're talking about cryptids from all over. Primarily, we're looking at cryptids in Kentucky, or have some kind of overlap with Kentucky, but not always.
So we have people coming in talking about Bigfoot and Sasquatch, the Mothman, Goatman, of course. So there are these stories that go generation to generation, and we're just prolonging that story and also trying to do it in a way that is providing an outlet that's safe for people to experience it.
AJ: So if people want to learn more about the Goatman, Goatman Festival, or even resources about cryptids, what do you suggest?
MB: if you want to learn more about the Goatman Festival, which happens this weekend, October 10 and 11, you can just simply go to goatmanfest.com. We have a schedule there. We have bands that have written songs about the Pope Lick Monster that are going to be performing, which is pretty cool.
And as far as cryptids, there is one that is Kentucky-based: Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization. This is ran by a guy named Charlie Raymond. And he takes in accounts that people submit to him of their experiences with the different cryptids, whether it be Bigfoot or Goatman.
