Urban Legends, Haunted Places, ETC .

Char-Man

Back in 1948 there was a big brush fire in the Ojai Valley, which burned a good part of the valley and destroyed many homes. It was several days after the fire before anyone could get around to all the burned homes in the surrounding foothills to see if everyone was all right. There was a man living with hi son in an isolated cabin in the hills south of town. There house was burned in the fire, the father was killed in the fire, and the son was badly burned. When someone finally got out to the remains of the cabin, they found that apparently, the son had gone crazy from the experience, for he had hung the body of his father from what was left of a nearby tree and had stripped all the burned skin from it. After skinning his father, he fled into the hills down on Old Creek Road, where has lived in his "charred" condition ever since. Every once in a while he comes close enough to town to encounter someone, occasionally chasing people and such. The police have been sent out to look for him, and although they have caught glimpses of him, and found traces of him, they have never been able to catch him.

One story, probably one of hundreds told around late night campfires, says that Charman is the ghost of a man who was hiking back to his stalled car with a full can of gasoline late at night. Some of the gas spilled on his clothes, and for some reason, he made the fateful decision to light up a cigarette, turning him into a human torch. Most accounts though, center around the big fire, and a homesteader who was unable to save his wife or family in the conflagration. The fact that the stories started to bloom just as the baby-boom generation was reaching high school age may also have something to do with its popularity—replacing the old "killer with the hook" story.

The Legend of the Char-Man is a well-known tale in California. It comes from the Ojai Valley in Camp Comfort Country Park. According to the story, the spirit of a man burnt in a fire will emerge from the forest and attack cars and hikers. He is known as Char-Man because his face and body are extremely burnt.

There are several versions of the Char-Man's tale, but they all have the same beginning, with a wildfire that occurred in the park in 1948. A man and his son were caught up in the blaze and the older man was killed, however his son survived. When the rescue team arrived at the scene, they found that the boy had strung up his father and pulled off his skin. He then disappeared into the woods.

Another story about Char-Man has the victims as husband and wife, claiming that the husband went made as he lay trapped and injured in the fire, unable to save his wife who was screaming for help.

Regardless of which tale is told, it is said that if you drive out onto the bridge located in the park, and get out of your car, Char-Man will come. The man burned to a crisp will run at you and attack, attempting to tear off your skin.

Ojai California has been described as a very strange place. It is a mix of rural country that is filled with long-time residents and the fortune and fame of Hollywood located nearby. The Ojai Valley is a beautiful place for such a harsh and spooky story to be told It is filled with enchanting orchards and many hiking trails with the vast, uninhabited Sespe Wilderness running alongside it.

Char-Man is one of the spookiest stories that is often told around Ojai campfires, and while there is usually an ounce of truth to these types of stories, in the case of Char-Man, many people hope that it is all fake. The monster is creepy, grotesque and downright dangerous. The people who call Ojai, California home would certainly say that the legend of Char-Man is real, and they say that he is out there wandering out in the wilderness.

The region of Ojai, California is a hot valley and is in the driest part of the state. There are scrub brushes everywhere and it is prone to wildfires. The fire that broke out in 1948 was particularly memorable and it burned a large portion of the valley.

Due to the isolation of Ojai, and the limitations of the times, there were some families who had to wait for days for the authorities to come out and provide them with assistance. In the hills of the south of Ojai, there was an isolated cabin. A man lived there with his son and they usually kept to themselves without associating with the other people in town.

It is possible that the people of Ojai forgot all about them when the fire broke out, and that was a very big mistake. Their cabin was unfortunately directly in the path of the fire. Their home was consumed by flames and they were burned to death. The father died, however the son was able to survive, barely.

He was practically unrecognizable as a human, his skin was fried and smoke was rising off his body. It is a wonder that he survived. The pain itself had to be difficult to bear. At one point, the boy's mind snapped due to the horrific circumstances. No one is quite sure what happened and when the police and firemen arrived, days after the fire had occurred, they found a terribly gruesome scene.

The boy's father had been flayed, his skin was completely removed from his body, peeled off like he was a piece of fruit. The body was hanging from a nearby tree and he was obviously dead. The police immediately attempted to search for the person responsible for such a horrible mutilation of a corpse. Suddenly something bolted out, it was the boy, who was described as a mass of charred flesh, yet he was still able to move.

The officers were too busy gagging at the smell to chase after him and he could escape. He ran off into the hills and that was the last time anyone saw him up close. But people say that the Char-Man is still out there. Searching for more human skins to replace his own.