Pope Lick Monster
Encyclopedia
The Pope Lick Monster is a legend
ary part-man, part-goat and part-sheep creature reported to live beneath a Norfolk Southern Railway
trestle over Floyd's Fork Creek, in the Fisherville
area of Louisville
, Kentucky
.
Numerous urban legend
s exist about the creature's origins and the methods it employs to claim its victims. According to some accounts, the creature uses either hypnosis
or voice mimicry to lure trespassers onto the trestle
to meet their death before an oncoming train. Other stories claim the monster jumps down from the trestle onto the roofs of cars passing beneath it. Yet other legends tell that it attacks its victims with a blood-stained axe
. It has also been said that the very sight of the creature is so unsettling that those who see it while walking across the high trestle are driven to leap off.
Other legends explain the creature's origins, including that it is a human goat hybrid, and that it was a circus freak who vowed revenge after being mistreated. In one version, the creature escaped after a train derailed on the trestle. Another version claims that the monster is really the twisted reincarnated
form of a farmer who sacrificed goat
s in exchange for Satanic
powers.
The legends have turned the area into a site for legend tripping
. There have been a number of deaths and accidents at the trestle
since its construction, despite the presence of an 8 foot (2.4 m) fence to keep thrill-seekers out.
There are misconceptions that indicate this train trestle is abandoned and no longer used; this is false. Trains go over this bridge many times on a daily basis so it is easy for someone to get caught atop the bridge while an oncoming train barrels down on them. Authorities urge citizens not to attempt thrill seeking at this area for lack of credibility of this story.
Norfolk Southern railroad officials were very upset about the film, as they thought it would encourage teenagers to visit the trestles. They found one scene in particular dangerously misleading. In the scene the main character, a high school student, narrowly escapes an approaching train by hanging suspended from the side of the trestle. In reality this would be quite impossible as there are few people that would have the strength to hang on for the 5 to 7 minutes it takes for the train to clear the 772-foot trestle; in addition, the vibrations from the train are so strong that the ground beneath the trestle shakes as the train passes, making hanging from the trestle to avoid being hit virtually impossible.
Because railroad officials were worried that the film would add to the death toll, the Norfolk Southern railroad issued a statement, read at the premiere, which warned of the trestle's dangers and informed the audience that anyone caught on the trestle could be prosecuted for trespassing.
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
ary part-man, part-goat and part-sheep creature reported to live beneath a Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
trestle over Floyd's Fork Creek, in the Fisherville
Fisherville, Kentucky
Fisherville is a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky centered along Taylorsville Road & Finchville Road. It was originally named Curreys after Edward Currey, who opened a post office in 1833. In 1847, it was renamed after Robert Fisher who had died two years earlier and operated a mill on Floyds...
area of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Urban legend
In most accounts, the Pope Lick Monster (named after the Pope Lick Creek below the Pope Lick Train Trestle) appears as a human-goat hybrid with a grotesquely deformed body of a man. It has powerful, fur-covered goat legs, an alabaster-skinned face with an aquiline nose and wide set eyes. Short, sharp horns protrude from the forehead, nestled in long greasy hair that matched the colour of the fur on the legs.Numerous urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
s exist about the creature's origins and the methods it employs to claim its victims. According to some accounts, the creature uses either hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
or voice mimicry to lure trespassers onto the trestle
Trestle
A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...
to meet their death before an oncoming train. Other stories claim the monster jumps down from the trestle onto the roofs of cars passing beneath it. Yet other legends tell that it attacks its victims with a blood-stained axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
. It has also been said that the very sight of the creature is so unsettling that those who see it while walking across the high trestle are driven to leap off.
Other legends explain the creature's origins, including that it is a human goat hybrid, and that it was a circus freak who vowed revenge after being mistreated. In one version, the creature escaped after a train derailed on the trestle. Another version claims that the monster is really the twisted reincarnated
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
form of a farmer who sacrificed goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s in exchange for Satanic
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
powers.
The legends have turned the area into a site for legend tripping
Legend tripping
Legend tripping, also known as ostension, is a name recently bestowed by folklorists and anthropologists on an adolescent practice in which a usually furtive nocturnal pilgrimage is made to a site which is alleged to have been the scene of some tragic, horrific, and possibly supernatural event or...
. There have been a number of deaths and accidents at the trestle
Trestle
A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...
since its construction, despite the presence of an 8 foot (2.4 m) fence to keep thrill-seekers out.
There are misconceptions that indicate this train trestle is abandoned and no longer used; this is false. Trains go over this bridge many times on a daily basis so it is easy for someone to get caught atop the bridge while an oncoming train barrels down on them. Authorities urge citizens not to attempt thrill seeking at this area for lack of credibility of this story.
Media
The monster was the subject of a 1988 film by Louisville filmmaker Ron Schildknecht called The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster. The 16 minute, six thousand dollar film premiered on December 29, 1988 at the Uptown Theater. Most of the film was shot at the Pope Lick Trestle, but scenes showing the characters up on the trestle were shot at another safer location.Norfolk Southern railroad officials were very upset about the film, as they thought it would encourage teenagers to visit the trestles. They found one scene in particular dangerously misleading. In the scene the main character, a high school student, narrowly escapes an approaching train by hanging suspended from the side of the trestle. In reality this would be quite impossible as there are few people that would have the strength to hang on for the 5 to 7 minutes it takes for the train to clear the 772-foot trestle; in addition, the vibrations from the train are so strong that the ground beneath the trestle shakes as the train passes, making hanging from the trestle to avoid being hit virtually impossible.
Because railroad officials were worried that the film would add to the death toll, the Norfolk Southern railroad issued a statement, read at the premiere, which warned of the trestle's dangers and informed the audience that anyone caught on the trestle could be prosecuted for trespassing.