March 03, 2025

Episode 185: The Monsters of Michigan

1 hour 2 minutes

As the 2025 Kickstarter draws to a close (there's still time to back!) we're looking ahead at one of the major projects we have coming this year - Dawn of The Dogman. But not that, because it's not out yet! Instead Mark, Heather and Seth are talking about the some of the other Monsters of Michigan.

Back the 2025 Kickstarter Campaign

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BONUS: Aaron's Unedited Producer Notes:

Monsteropolis

Monsters of Michigan

WELCOME BACK

KICKSTARTER is still running. Last episode before the campaign ends. To keep the excitement going we’re talking about one of our upcoming projects - DAWN OF THE DOGMAN, but not THAT, because that’s what the movie is, and you can’t see it yet. Instead we’re looking at the OTHER Monsters of Michigan. At least a few of them. There might be more.

Wendigo – cannibalistic humanoid monster. Strong association with winter and extreme cold. Comes from native legends.

Has gained a lot of popularity in the modern era, frequently placed alongside other cryptids, but very much its own Native legend.

Comes from the Algonquin language/dialect spoken by tribes like Ojibwe, Kree and Saulteaux.

You can kill a Wendigo by putting hot tallow down its throat, which melts its icy heart and kills it. Otherwise they’re pretty much invincible. At least in some legends.

Like a lot of native lore/older legends, as the Wendigo has become more popular it’s been adapted as a storytelling motif. A lot of horror/narrative podcasts use it as the “monster of the week,” the video game Until Dawn features the Wendigo as it’s primary antagonist (the special edition or secret ending bonus or whatever for that game has Chad Lewis in it talking about the Wendigo)

Loup Garou - You’ll have to wait for Dawn of The Dogman. Dogman and Loup Garou aren’t exactly the same thing (Rougarou also) and if we wanted to we could get in the weeds and pinpoint differences between what we consider the modern “Dogman” phenomenon and the Loup Garoux vis a vis the term’s roots in France but nah, we savin’ that.

Sasquatch - The BFRO lists 225 sightings for Michigan, and those are just the ones that made the cut.

I don’t really know what else to say about this. Michigan is big and cold and there’s woods, so like, Bigfoot can hide there. Hey, here’s a cool Class A report from the BFRO!

Spring of 1999, near Copemish/Thompsonville

“I was walking in the woods down a two track by Thompsonville in the early spring morning. On these early morning walks I often scare up deer and occationally a bear so when I heard the noises of something running in the woods I expected to see some such animal. Instead I saw what looked to me like a large man dressed in white running at an incredible speed. He was about 50 yards away and I tracked him for some distance. I was amazed at how he ran so fast through the dense undergrowth. He had to have long legs to be able to traverse the fallen trees and swampy areas.

The next day I was walking in that same area and discovered tracks that confirmed to me it was not a man I had seen. They were quite large - about 18 inches or so. I could only see three toe prints thought there may have been more that didnt inprint and what may have been claws or long toenails that left a mark. The distance between them was about three of my strides long.”

Pressie - five bucks you already know what this is. That’s right baby, a WATER MONSTER, ERRBODY got a water monster these days. ERRBODY also be stealing Nessie’s alliteration. What happened to originality. Just kidding, no really though I don’t like this trend, kind of glad it’s died off, anyway PRESSIE is,

Supposed to be whale tailed and horse headed and have whiskers. Sort of sounds like a big manatee. It hangs out in Lake Superior. Lots of water there, plenty of places to hide. Very good monster place.

Is Pressie a manatee? Must investigate.

Probably not. It’s supposed to be 75 feet long.

First spotted in 1894! Wow. From there it jumps to 1977 with a few sightings in between, and conjecture over rumors of sightings in “the 1990s”

Named for Presque Isle River where it has frequently been seen.

Nain Rouge - bon nuit, The Red Dwarf AKA Red Man AKA Little Red Man. I did a House of Monsters on this guy. He’s a favorite.

Said to be a harbinger of bad luck and ill fortune

Shows up before something bad happens

Ya’ll know Detroit be real french? City was founded by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in the 1700s. ONE DAY this guy is on a stroll with his wife, when suddenly a TINY RED MAN jumps out of the bushes. Antoine yelled at the tiny man and hit him with his cane, after which he was CURSED. He eventually lost his fortune and died in poverty.

The Nain has been blamed for a number of tragedies over the years, though whether he’s supposed to be causing them or is just showing up to give people a warning seems to be a matter of interpretation.

1763 - The Battle of Bloody Run - 60 british soldiers are massacred by Native inhabitants

(OH BUT OF COURSE this had nothing to do with the European settlers encroaching upon land and devastating their populations, sure, totally unprovoked, blame the nain, sorry feeling fighty today, been binging Cobra Kai)

The great fire of 1805 - Massive city wide fire, destroyed nearly the entire thing. Massive loss of life and property. In the wake of the fire the city’s flag was changed to include the phrase “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus,” which means “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.” Man I get chills every time, that’s inspiring.

1967 - The 12th Street Riot - one of the deadliest examples of civil unrest in the United States at that time. Precipitated by a number of onerous conditions, such as racial segregation and over-policing, the riot would result in 43 deaths, nearly 1200 injuries and over 700 arrests. It went on for five days.

1976 - a huge blizzard knocked out and crippled much of the city’s infrastructure

And other tragic events throughout the years.

The city would eventually embrace the Nain as a local symbol, holding an annual parade where they chase the Nain out of the city to usher out the bad luck.

Fun fact, there’s an OLDER story about Napoleon taking advice from a Little Red Man who advised him on battle tactics. He only lost when he didn’t listen. He’s supposed to have met the guy in an ancient egyptian tomb before declaring himself Emperor of France.

PRODUCER’S NOTE - I’m very much of the opinion that the Nain Rouge is a direct folkloric descendent of Napoleon’s little red man, not literally but like, there’s clearly a lineage there.

Giant Green Squirrel of Amble: “It is literally just a very large, green squirrel.” - Reddit

Okay so. I guess this is a squirrel the size of a cow or a small car.

It makes a lot of loud chirping and squeaking noises, and it’s also green

There, uh... There doesn’t seem to be a lot more to this. Or anything else. I like it though, let’s make a movie about it.

https://99wfmk.com/monster-squirrel-amble/

Okay also though, there are apparently giant squirrel legends present in some native cultures in Nova Scotia (The Micmac Tribe) - some researchers believe these were derived from stories about giant ground sloths, which were (are?) a thing. So there is some background to this one. No idea if theres a direct link to the Michigan one.

There are OTHER weird Michigan monsters, but because the movie doesn’t come out for a bit we’re gonna save ‘em. Thank you for listening, and be sure to go back the Kickstarter RIGHT NAAAOOO - Link in the show notes. There are only four days left (counting today at time of air), and then a brief window for late backing with much higher rates due to kickstarter specific policies beyond our control.

If you’d like to add on a copy of Mark Matzke’s Ten Years: A Decade of Monsters, send an email to Courteney! [email protected]

Tune in next time, until we meet again! (Skeletor running away meme)

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