Monsteropolis: (185) Monsters of Michigan

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 

email [e-mail]

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 mons