The Legend of Kentucky's Pope Lick Monster

Yesterday, I looked at a ghostly goatman said to haunt Old Alton Bridge in Texas. Like I mentioned in that article, stories of goatmen come from all over, and there are many legends similar to the one concerning Old Alton Bridge from various places in the United States.

Perhaps the most famous goatman legend is that of the Pope Lick Monster.

Like the Old Alton Bridge creature, the Pope Lick Monster is said to be a part-man part-goat monstrosity. It is said to live under Pope Lick Trestle, in Louisville, Kentucky. Descriptions of the monster say it has the body of a man, legs of a goat, and horns on its head as well as long, disheveled hair.

Pope Lick Trestle
(lhcoyc, Wikipedia)

Just like the Old Alton Bridge monster, there are several stories about the origin of the Pope Lick goatman. Some say it is a goat-human hybrid (though that would be genetically impossible), others that it was a circus freak that vowed revenge for being mistreated, or that it is a farmer who was reincarnated as a monster because he sacrificed goats in satanic rituals.

It is said that the goatman can lure people onto the bridge and to their deaths. Some claim it uses hypnosis or can mimic voices, luring people onto the bridge and into the path of an oncoming train. Others say it jumps onto cars from on top of the trestle, or that it attacks people with a blood-stained axe.

There have been many times when people have gone to Pope Lick Trestle in search of the goatman. However, the bridge is still used and freight trains regularly cross it to go to Louisville. Because of this, many people have lost their lives atop the bridge when a train comes rushing towards them while they are searching for the monster.

The most recent death occurred in April of 2016, when 26-year-old Roquel Bain was killed.

"If you believe the legend, Kentucky's 'Pope Lick Monster' has claimed another victim.

"An Ohio woman was looking for the mythical creature - half man, half goat - with her boyfriend Saturday from atop the Pope Lick railroad trestle outside of Louisville when she was hit by a train and plunged at least 80 feet to her death." [SF GATE]

Bain's boyfriend managed to save himself by hanging off the edge of the trestle as the train passed.

As already mentioned in this article, some think that the goatman can somehow lure people atop the trestle, where they will inevitably be hit by an oncoming train. Other stories say the sight of the goatman causes people to leap off the edge.

Strangely, this incident with a survivor hanging off the edge of the bridge is similar to a 1988 film called The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster, made by Louisville filmmaker Ron Schildknecht, in which a character avoids death on the trestle by hanging off the edge. Railway officials were upset by the film when it premiered, saying it would encourage people to go onto the bridge, and that someone could not hold onto the side of the trestle as a train rumbled past. They warned people not to go onto the bridge, but that has not stopped people like Roquel Bain from doing just that. And for those who believe, the goatman's death toll has not stopped rising, either.

*This post is #2 in a series concerning legends and folklore of monsters and paranormal beings throughout the USA. Check the label to see the others.*