Creepypasta stories

Michigan's Dogman

A very strange thing happened after the poem was aired on radio on April 1, 1987, and it became obvious the story was not going to fade away. The first two times the song was played; there was no viewer reaction or calls. Cook and O’Malley were prepared to let the failed prank die, when the phone lines started lighting up. People were calling in asking about that “weird” song.

Listeners asked, “Who did that song on the dogman thing?” and “when are you going to play it again?” O’Malley took a call from an elderly man who stated that he was chilled to the bone after hearing the song because he had actually seen a similar creature years before. That was the first of many sighting reports that would pour into the station over the next few weeks. Scores of people told of stories and encounters with a creature that was very much like Cook’s fabricated dogman. Within one month, “The Legend of the Dogman” became the most requested song on the air and for a short time was added into the regular rotation of the music.

Other stories began to surface and be compared to the Michigan Dogman story. A century old, mysterious Indian legend revealed shocking similarities. A French fur trader’s diary from 1804 told of an encounter with “loup garou.” A letter from 1857 described a creature that stood upright like a man, yet “bore the countenance of a grey wolf.” A real “dogman” sighting investigated by Lake County Sheriff’s deputy Jeff Chamberlain who was accompanied by DNR officer Ron McCarty was picked up and reported on by Mark Marantette, a reporter for the Cadillac Evening News, and then other news outlets picked up the story and it was later fed down the Associated Press newswire, and thus was picked up by newspapers all across America. It was even mentioned as a strange coincidence in Paul Harvey’s national “News and Comments” broadcast. McCarty called WTCM, stating that he and Chamberlain had openly joked about how this sighting would fit in with the seventh year prophecy made in the song. (McCarty’s voice would later appear in the beginning of the 10th anniversary version of the song, “The Legend 97”) Suddenly, “The Legend” soared into national prominence, and became a hit song once again, only this time on a much larger scale. Requests for copies came in from all 50 states and around the world. Eventually, the master tape, never considered to be of real value, had been destroyed, and Steve Cook went into the studio again, this time with an upgraded keyboard, and recorded the song a second time. A few changes were made to the lyrics to update “The Legend” for summer. When it was finished, the second master recording was shipped to Southfield Michigan for mass production. The first 500 copies arrived a week later, and sold out in 12 days.

"The Legend” had quickly become hot property with record stores and radio stations across the country calling the station requesting copies. A large record company offered to record and promotes the song and Steve Cook faced the difficult decision of whether to release “The Legend” on a national scale, or to keep it local and manageable. Steve chose to keep it local. The music and lyrics were copyrighted by Mindstage Productions, Cook’s marketing and advertising company. More and more copies of the tape, which was originally priced at $3.00, were sold and in the fall of 1987, WTCM held an art contest which allowed amateur artists the chance to submit works depicting what they thought the dogman looked like. There were over a hundred entries. Some were exceptional, but by far the most chilling and dramatic was an 11” by 17” charcoal sketch done by Brian Rosinski who was only 23 years old at the time and had never had a formal art lesson.

The song was never intended to be a marketable vehicle for profit and Cook made the decision early on that any profits earned derived from its sale would be donated to charity. The first charity was the Traverse City Cherryland Humane Society which scored $2,500 towards drilling a new water well and the remodeling of the adult dog facility which included new floor tile and pens. In 2001, Cook was introduced to Brian Manley founder of AC Paw, a no-kill animal rescue program that specializes in lost causes. AC Paw takes in animals that have been injured, abused, or neglected; or that have used up the maximum boarding time in traditional facilities and are about to be euthanized. They rehabilitate animals through a unique foster care network, and eventually place them in a loving home. Cook was so impressed with the AC Paw program; he shifted all donations from the proceeds of “The Legend” to their cause and thus the “The Legend of the Dogman’s” legacy lives on for animals in need.