Kushtaka are an evil spirit known to the Tlingit tribe of Juneau, Alaska. The spirits are thought to be ottermen and can morph into otter, man, and monster in between.

These creatures are thought by the natives to be the reason for the disappearance in the area known as the Alaska triangle. A stretch of land where numerous travelers go missing every year. Since 1988, more than 16,000 people have gone missing in this remote part of Alaska.

The Kushtaka or Kooshdakhaa legend is as follows. If you’re walking through the wildlands of Alaska you will be approached by a man or group of men. They seem very friendly, kind, and come across as kinsmen. If you become lost or injured, these beings will appear and claim they are there to help you. Occasionally, kushtaka will lure victims to them using the scream of a woman or the cry of a baby.

After meeting with these creatures, they attempt to lead the victim deeper into the Alaskan wilderness. If successful, kushtaka do one of two things, either tear the person apart, or turn them into a kushtaka. This is believed to prevent the person’s soul from reincarnating and causes them to be trapped as a kushtaka.

It’s said that travelers are easily manipulated by the kushtaka in otter form, due to the cuteness and playfulness. To protect themselves, natives travel with dogs. It is said that the kushtaka are terrified of dogs and will avoid them at all costs.

One eyewitness claimed to have seen a kushtaka late one night on a trail near his house in Juneau. He and his friends were simply passing time one Saturday night the way high schoolers do. They grew bored of their activities and someone suggested a nighttime walk through the woods. Having spent plenty of time in the nearby woods and not being concerned about anything too dangerous as bears were hibernating, the group put on their clothes made for zero degree weather and headed out into the cold night.

The night was black and clouds blocked the moonlight. A very faint reflection of light was bouncing off the deep, white snow on the train. The group could effectively only make out shadows. They crunched the snow as they made their way up the hillside. Until, someone came running from the back of the group.

When asked what he was doing, he claimed to have heard snow crunching behind him, lightly, as if something was following them. Another, jokes about it being a kushtaka. After the comment, the group fell silent for a second, until so,done managed to choke out that it was just a tale to keep children from wandering into the woods.

Still unsettled, the group decided to head home as it was near 3a.m. As the group slowly walked back, each looking intently into the woods, covering every direction, listening for something odd, a baby’s cry pierced through the night.

The group set out dead sprint for the safety of the house. Once, out of the woods, one turned back toward the tree line. What he saw was like no creature of nature. It was five feet tall and stood on its hind legs. It looked a bit like an otter, but things were askew. It had large patches or thick brown fur, but where the fur was missing, the monster had black, leathery skin. It had almost human-like hands covered in the same black skin, with spindly and boney fingers which ended in large claws. It’s teeth were long and sharp and eyes were a bright, burning yellow.

With a retched shriek, the creature fell on all fours and sprinted towards the group. They made it to the house with the boy that stopped to look back further behind the rest. The others claimed the monster was right on his heels, by the time they slammed the door shut. Each of them peered out the windows by the door to see the creature stalking back and forth in the front yard. Until, a loud bark broke through the night air. With that, the beasts head rose quickly and looked for the dog. It broke into a sprint for the woods and that’s when the boys knew they had been hunted by the kushtaka.