6 The Beast of Bladenboro

Via strangeworldofmystery.blogspot.com

Southeast North Carolina has successfully fought its crusade against air-conditioning and buildings that are over two stories since the dawn of man. Its No. 1 export is sweat, and it displays Confederate flags as if its residents are hiding a time machine from the rest of the world. Only in Southeast North Carolina could there be reports of a monster with such a dumb, haphazard legacy.

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In early 1954, the residents of Bladenboro began to notice a problem; namely, their dogs, rabbits, and goats were having the crap killed out of them. Most sightings indicated that it was some kind of cat, and a guy quoted for an article in the Wilmington Morning Star felt the need to let everyone know that, more important than any other information that he could possibly give, the animal "really upset the women. They were wringing their hands and like that." It's the tiny detail of an interviewee just trailing his comment off into the distance that gives us a giant amount of insight into gender relations in 1954.