Monday, March 22, 2010

The Milhopper Devil

In Gainesville, Florida (where I'm originally from) there is a place called the Devil's Milhopper, so named by early settlers who found bones and fossils at the bottom of a large sinkhole that they believed was the hole that fed bodies to the devil.

It is a local legend, that long ago the devil fell in love with a beautiful native maiden. She refused his advances and proposal of marriage. One night, while she lay sleeping, she was kidnapped by the demon and carried screaming into the forest. Her tribe's bravest warriors gave chase, and when they had just about caught up with the Devil, the fiery demon whirled on them and transformed the posse into stone. At that same spot he opened a great chasm in the earth and disappeared along with his maiden prize to the depths of hell, leaving nothing but the stone warriors and the sinkhole known today as the Devil's Milhopper.

It is said on the night of a full moon, you can still hear the cries and moans of the young maiden.

On a cool Fall night in 2004, my best friend and I were driving to a friend's house down Milhopper Road on the way to a friend's house. As we drove we talked of all sorts of important events (girls, college classes, girls, the Gators, girls, video games, girls, etc. etc.) When all of a sudden "something" ran in front of my friend's Chevy Blazer. We both fell silent for what seemed several minutes. To break the silence I finally said: "Did you see that?" and my friend (a non-believer in ALL things supernatural and paranormal) said "YOU SAW IT TOO?"

Recently, I have revisited that night in an interview with a member of the Florida BFRO (Bigfoot Field Research Organization) who upon discovering my artistic background requested that I try to sketch what exactly it was I saw. Below is a sketch of what I have dubbed "The Milhopper's Devil".