Support Us Button Widget

Meet these legendary Louisville, KY monsters

Allow us to make formal introductions

A person dressed as the Pope Lick Monster, wearing a furry costume and goat horns, pretends to choke City Editor Katie. The photo has a playful and staged air about it.

City Editor Katie came face to face with the Pope Lick Monster this month.

Photo by LOUtoday

We all know (and maybe love) the Pope Lick Monster and his legend, but Derby City hosts more haunting characters than just the Goatman.

Kentucky is actually ripe for all sorts of cryptids + creepy tales, from sightings of the 15-ft pig-headed Herrington Lake Monster to the extraterrestrial Hopkinsville Goblins that tried to invade a family home in 1955 after landing on a nearby farm.

But we like to be spooked a little close to home, so allow us to dim the lights as we introduce you to the Demon Leaper + the Bullitt County Beast.

👻 Demon Leaper

Said to frequent the Gothic spires of the Walnut Street Baptist Church at 1143 S. 3rd St., this “living gargoyle” has spooked the city for more than a century. It’s described as a large bat-like creature with leathery skin, wings + talons. Thanks to its wings, the Demon Leaper has been seen on rooftops throughout Old Louisville and even made headlines as “An Aerial Mystery” in the Sept. 12, 1880 edition of “The New York Times.”

Read: “Haunts of Old Louisville” by David Dominé for Demon Leaper lore.

👻 Bullitt County Beast

Not to be confused with a Sasquatch, this dark-furred, 7-ft tall Kentucky cryptid is described as having the head of a German shepherd and the torso of a muscular mancheck out this eyewitness sketch for a visualizer. You’ll know the beast is near when you begin finding strange, large footprints, hearing unidentified growling, smelling a foul stench + the skin-crawling feeling of being watched.

Listen: to this account of a Bullitt County woman’s encounter with the “Dogman.”

More from LOUtoday
Keep your plumbing safe and sound this winter.
Louisville’s baseball stadium could soon have some new neighbors — a hotel, offices, and retail.
Louisville is made up of so many wonderful small businesses, here are a few our readers love in honor of Small Business Saturday.
The White Oak Ridge Loop is a 2-mile addition to the Red Trail.
The sixth annual event brings ice-skating, holiday shpping, and the inaugural Skillet Curling Competition to Paristown.
Dig into LOU’s must-try pizza shops including Lupo, The Post, and Mozzapi.
The Bow Wow Meow Holiday Basket Boutique benefits the Animal Care Society.
I’ll take LOU for 502, Alex.
It wil serve as the centerpiece of Light Up Louisville on Dec. 7