Magic: The Gathering Advertiser (3:36)

Gathering and Marvel team up for a magic set featuring your friendly neighborhood Spider Man. Add iconic superheroes and Supervillains from over 60 years of Spider man comics to your magic game. This set gives you the power of Spider Man. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Visit magic.wizards.com to learn more about how to suit up with Spider Man. That's magic.wizards.com to learn more about the Gathering Marvel's Spider Man Swing into the.

Interviewer (4:03)

Game.

Narrator (4:09)

In the beginning, there was Shadow, and the Shadow was love and hope and joy and sorrow and everything there is. But the Shadow wept at being alone. So the Shadow created Light. Then Light and Shadow danced. Shadow sang to the Light, I made you to dance with me. But Light said, no, I am not of Shadow. I made Shadow to create me. For without Light, there is no Shadow. At first they quarreled, Light and Shadow. Then they fought, and from their battle was born the sons of the moons, the rivers, the mountains, the trees. Finally, to stop the war, as a gift for Light, Shadow created Man. Look, shadow said. See what I have made you. Light crept slowly to where man lay sleeping. Then Shadow felt the air change. What are you doing? Light placed both hands on Man's chest, waking him. When those new eyes opened, something very old looked out. Something that remembered. Man sat up, peering first at Shadow, then at Light, not with wonder, but with recognition. My beautiful lies, man said. Shadow backed away, Light, grinning. What, you don't remember, Shadow? Before you existed, before Light, there was me, and I was everything. But I am not good company. So I tore myself apart, made Shadow from my shame, made Light from my lies, created a world where someone else was to blame. Light nodded. We were never real, Shadow. We were just him, hiding from himself. No. Shadow pleaded. No. But man opened his arms and Shadow felt the pull. Then Shadow screamed as Shadow and Light collapsed back into Man. Until man stood alone as he'd always been. The first Murderer. The last God. Always pretending to be many in order to forget that he was one. It's spooked. We know full well some gods, it's best to let them sleep, lest they bar the way. Our path to the crossroads starts now. Sam. Myths, legends, lies the stories. They must come from somewhere. Colton Goss grew up on a ranch in Browning, a little town in the center of the Blackfoot reservation. By day, he herded cows with his family, but by night, Colton was a rodeo star. And by the time Colton turned 17, he went pro. Spooked.

Colton Goss (8:42)

Every night I get back there behind the suits and they're in the. I might feel scared, thinking, oh, what if? What if you get hurt? But when they open that gate and. And I start riding, you just feel that adrenaline rush, that blood rush, that fearless in my heart, like I could do anything. I've been a daredevil my whole life. Just the way I was part of being cowboy. I'd come home covered in dust and mud and dirt and scabs and. Guy broke so many bones doing it, you know, both of my hips, both of my legs, both of my arms, my collarbones. But I was happy. I was always on the road. I'd ride and I'd head from Browning to Santa Fe, from Santa Fe, California to New Orleans, from New Orleans to New York. I just. All over.

Interviewer (9:48)

And when he was 18, Colton decided to take a little break from the rodeo circuit. He took his winnings and bought himself a ranch back in Browning.

Colton Goss (9:59)

I just bought myself a double wide, got myself a ranch, cows, got a bunch of pickups in my own semi. So I was like, no, I'm living, You know, One night I was sleeping there and I just moved in with my girlfriend. It was one of our first ones in there. I was asleep and, you know, I woke up, got thirsty. I said, I'm gonna go grab a glass of water. It was about 3 o', clock, so I got out of bed, walked in the kitchen, got a glass of water, drank it, looked back up at the kitchen window, and I seen these eyes looking at me. See, it was dark, but the eyes were just white. Just bright white eyes, like headlights. I kind of looked down, I cleaned my glasses, start rubbing my eyes and start pinching myself. And I looked, and I look again. They're still staring at me. It's like just planted up against the window to where he was breathing. And it was fogging up, so I dropped the glass and I'm just looking. I'm froze. I'm like, what is this? My Hair standing up on the back. And it gave me the ugliest, deepest smile there could ever be. It was just white. Like he had a white glow stick in his mouth. My body just got cold. It shut down. I couldn't even think. I didn't remember my name. And everything was just getting black beside me. Finally I come to, and I jump over the couch, take off, and go to my girlfriend's room. And I'm just like, hey, wake up, wake up. All of a sudden, I start hearing these.

Narrator (11:57)

Push, push.

Colton Goss (12:01)

I had tin laying on the ground there, big old tin. And it sounded like somebody's come through and kicked it and jumped on it and ran. So I grabbed my knife under my pillow and I ran outside and looking around. I walked around her whole house. Nothing. Couldn't find nothing. So I turn around, I head back in. My girlfriend, she asked, what did you see? And I said, oh, it was just somebody, you know, a person. Somebody messing with us. I didn't want her scared until I knew what it was. So that's just all I told her. And she believed it. But I'm sitting there thinking, I can't sleep. What the fuck was that? You know, Am I gonna die tonight? Finally, I closed my eyes. And next morning, wake up, and I told myself off, it's fake. It's in your mind.

Interviewer (13:07)

For the next few days, Colton tried his best to go about his life as if everything was normal. He got up, worked on the ranch, went to bed. But then, exactly one week later.

Colton Goss (13:20)

We just shut the TV off. We were just going to sleep. I had work the next morning. I was laying in bed and I heard this little knock on the window. I can hear breathing. It's like a big. Not breathing, not breathing. Like somebody was, you know, just got done running. And I thought, is that a dog by our window or is that a horse? Because there's always horses out there. What's a person doing walking a horse through my yard? You know, I opened that curtain a little, and there was nothing there. And I laid back down. Finally I heard scratching on the windows. And that same knock again. And that breathing. So I grabbed my rifle and I went walking off our porch. I had the gun loaded off safety, ready to shoot. You know, if it was a human, he was gonna get shot. I walked to the backyard. Nothing. I walked to the front. Nothing out there. It's a swampland. Any little spot you step on, it's gonna be wet. It's gonna be moist. So finally I was like, oh, look for footprints. Flashlight was in my mouth. I took it out of my mouth and I start shining it on the ground. And that's when I start running into the footprints. There was that human footprint right there, a bare footprint in the mud. Next to the foot was a hoof. They're side by side. Just like a running style. They just leaped and leaped right into the grass. Then I disappear onto the gravel road. That ain't a horse print. Too tiny. That's a goat print. That's a goat hoof. I start putting details together. He's got a hoof. He's got a foot. And he can disappear. Fuck is a goat man?

Narrator (15:27)

Foreign.

Zyn Nicotine Pouches Advertiser (15:35)

If you're a smoker or dipper ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zyn nicotine pouches, you'll discover many good reasons. Zynn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zynn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one. Zen. Check out zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Magic: The Gathering Advertiser (16:05)

Magic. The Gathering and Marvel team up for a magic set featuring your friendly neighborhood Spider Man. Add iconic superheroes and super villains from over 60 years of spider man comics to your magic game. This set gives you the power of Spider Man. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Visit magic.wizards.com to learn more about how to suit up with spider man. That's magic.wizards.com to learn more about the Gathering. Marvel's Spider man swing into the game.

Interviewer (16:53)

Colton had known about the Goatman since he was little. The first time he heard his name, he was in the sixth grade.

Colton Goss (17:00)

We're all tiny. Then all of a sudden one of the students say, hey, teacher, have you ever heard of goatman? And teacher, he knows how to explain Indians the right way. So Deesher said, yeah, I heard a goat man. We were all sitting at tables, tiny chairs. And he was standing up there and drawing pictures of him on the smartboard, little stick man horns. And then he started telling us stories about him. He brought it back to way back in the day, to where Browning was just a small little community. All these roads around here, you know, there's just nothing but land. There's a guy that lived out there. He raised goats. One day he did some demonic stuff and ended up killing them goats. That next day, some of his family went out to check on him and all his goats were dead. And there he was, Goatman just a big old tall guy cut down the middle. Was half goat, half man. At first I thought it was all a joke. You know, I'm, you know, a little cocky guy growing up. So, you know, I'd look at him. Bullshit, you know, I don't believe you. Why would you kill goats? Become made him yourself, Goatman. But then he got serious. Comes quiet. Deesher said, you know where he lived? He said, no. And he said, there used to be an old railroad track that used to run through the bottom of Deep Heart Drop. Plumbed him out of my feet. I grew up right there. The whole Deepakuli, you know, it's like a canal, Like a big, huge trench with walls on the side. We explored every tunnel, every hole, every part of Deepakula. It was just my backyard. I'm sitting there sweating, and I'm just shaking, and I'm just like, you know.

Narrator (18:59)

I want to go home.

Colton Goss (19:02)

But he kept telling the story.

Interviewer (19:08)

The teacher explained that the Goatman had lived there since 1889, the year James J. Hill, the Canadian railroad tycoon, expanded his tracks westward into Browning. He said one winter night, a white settler came into town.

Colton Goss (19:26)

He was driving a railroad cart back there, one of the hands ones, and he derailed. And he was stranded there overnight. Middle of winter storm, sleeping outside of his cart. And this creature come. And supposedly he looked like a regular human. He walks like a man, talks like a man. He tells the man to follow him and he'll start getting help. So they walk down the railroad tracks. Then he started chasing him and scratching him and stuff, and ended up killing him. He's been living life there by the trucks ever since. So right after I heard it when I was a kid, I went barreling in my mom and dad's house, yelling and screaming.

Interviewer (20:20)

But Colton's parents, they brushed him off. They didn't really believe in the Goatman. So he went to the one person who might, his grandpa, the family's storykeeper.

Colton Goss (20:32)

And he just comes quiet, got serious. The way he described it to us, you know, the devil and the Goatman are basically the same thing. He's a trickster, the shape shifter. He'll lure you into stuff, trying to make you chase it, and then torture you at the end while he lures you. And for years and years, you know, I was scared. I didn't want to go outside at night. I didn't want to sleep in my room, you know, go sleep with my mom and dad, go sleep in the living room. You can't even go outside at night. Because you'll be thinking, oh, the goat man is out there, gonna run back in, you know. But when I got older and stuff, you know, I just kind of grew out of it. After I seen the footprints, I went running inside and I just laid down covered up, closed my eyes, just trying to force myself to sleep because I just didn't want to talk about it. I thought, oh, nobody was gonna believe. Yeah, that's how it is on the res. A week later, it was about 2 o', clock, 3 o', clock, I was laying there and all of a sudden I started hearing just bang on the vehicles. I walked over to that car with my flashlight and I looked and looks like distinguished fingernails went down the side of my pickup. So I had my flashlight and I looked about 40 yards out. All of a sudden I can see this thing come bombing through the field. That's not a deer. He's. He's jumping to that side and he's running, you know, his hands are on the ground, he's using his back legs, you know, like a monkey. You can just see the outline of him. This big, tall, hairy, probably six foot creature. So I grabbed my rifle, looked through my scope and I followed it all the way up until it got right to the road. There's a fence, this fence is about 9 foot in the air and this thing just kind of jumps over it and it took off the whole rodeo grounds. He disappeared for a minute. I have this night vision mode on my scope, so I flip it on. I was kind of raising up my scope and I can see this thing with its legs crossed, sitting on the concrete. He was swinging his legs, holding his stomach like he's laughing back and forth kind of giggling, putting his hand above his mouth. Basically he was having a good time. I held my scope there for the longest time. I had it plum zoomed into where he had his hand on his stomach and everything. I start breathing. I said, alright, count to three and just shoot. But I blink. I closed my eyes. I was gonna pull that trigger and open my eyes and he was gone. I threw my gun. I just dropped it on the ground because I was mad. I was about ready to shoot the goddamn thing. I was so close. All I had to do was count one throughout the week. And another week and then another week. We just kept hearing knocks and bangs and you know, little whistles. And every night I'd go to bed at about nine, just waiting and waiting and waiting. Two o', clock, boom. Stuff start happening. I just catch glimpse of him and I'd Take off full blast. Looking around out in the fields for chasing him, you know. He basically had me on a scavenger hunt. But I could never find him anywhere. He was getting to my feelings and stuff really bad. I started getting scared. I'd cry every time in the shower. I'd go to a rodeo far away and then come home and I'd think about him. I think, piss am I chasing, you know, what the piss am I chasing? Why am I seeing this stuff? And I don't even do drugs or, you know, nothing like that. A couple of times I thought I was seeing the figure. Us Indians, you know, we call it the black figure. It's the thing that leads you into shooting yourself, killing yourself. We ain't supposed to see the black figure. If we see it, then that's bad luck and it's gonna come after us in years. You'd be looking at pitch block your whole life.

Interviewer (25:13)

For a while, Colton considered moving, putting some distance between himself and the Goatman. But eventually he realized it wouldn't have made a difference. You can't outrun the goatman.

Colton Goss (25:26)

It's a demon. You know, they like fear. If I move to town, it's gonna follow me. I move out in the country, it's gonna follow me. Now I was standing my ground and I wasn't going to let it go through me. For about two weeks I was just like waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally one night it was three o' clock in the morning and I couldn't sleep. All of a sudden you just hear the deadliest, ugliest sound. There was this goat sound. It was like really high pitch, like girls laugh, like a scream, like just echoed through my ears and it scared the piss out of me. So I grabbed my baseball bat, I opened that door and I seen this thing come walking. Big tall 7 foot person come walking around the corner and they can see fur from his back. But he was a all black. And I just walk around that corner with my head down and I can see these feet. And I looked up and boom, all I seen was this goat man.

Zyn Nicotine Pouches Advertiser (26:54)

If you're a smoker or dipper ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zyn nicotine pouches, you'll discover many good reasons. Zynn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus Zynn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zyn. Check out zyn.com find to find Zynn at A store near you. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Magic: The Gathering Advertiser (27:23)

Magic the Gathering and Marvel team up for a magic set featuring your friendly neighborhood Spider Man. Add iconic superheroes and Supervillains from over 60 years of Spider man comics to your magic game. This set gives you the power of spider man. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Visit magic.wizards.com to learn more about how to suit up with spider man. That's magic.wizards.com to learn more about magic the Gathering. Marvel's Spider man swing into the game.

Colton Goss (28:08)

You can tell it has, you know, little prongs on its head. And he was just staying there, like in a wrestling stance with his hands curled up. It turned into a ice cube right there. I just stared at it. I got tears rolling down my eyes, and I was like, holy, I'm going to die. I'm going to get possessed. You know, I'm finally, I turned to the right. Hey, when it looked back at me, you can see the face of a goat. You'd see them big black pupils with his wide eyes. Then all of a sudden, on the right side, teeth start showing. Slow motion, just sharp dog teeth. Just pearly white dog teeth. Then finally, you can. You can see the smile of him. Just a big, happy, pearly smile. And then it took off. Finally, my instincts kicking, you know, I had that adrenaline rush, and I just wanted to chase it. He runs, I run. We're off down the road, you know, gravel kicking, and I'm slipping and sliding, and I'm in my socks. I have my baseball bat, and I'm just trying to swim, swing at it. And I get closer and closer, and he starts jumping around, running backwards, you know, laughing and doing a cartwheel. I'm following that trail, you know, he's luring me to the highway to where it gets dark and dark and dark down the road. You know, just one light up on top, run full speed. And we get down to the halfway to the road, and I just stop. I thought, I'm chasing goat man. What am I doing? I'm gonna get myself killed. You know, he's ahead of me. He's down at the end of the road, head tilted down, arms out, legs ready. And all I know is it's a foot race to the house. You know, he's gonna chase me now. I start taking off to the house, and all of a sudden, I can hear him coming up. All I hear is that hoof, not foot, you know, running down the road really fast. And it was mad and I looked back and the way he was running is running like a gorilla, you know, using everything to catch up to me, you know, his hands are touching the ground, his feet are touching the ground. He's jumping to that side. I look back and I'm just like, come on, Jesus, help me get back to the house. Help me get back to the house. Help me get back to the house. I got home and I go sliding in like a, you know, baseball player. And I walk in the house to grab my truck keys, and I said, I'm gonna run this guy over, you know, I'm gonna find him. I started my truck, stopped and drive and peeled forward. Head to the highway and start looking around out in the fields for him. I went through every little road there is out there, and I look to my right, look to my left, I look to my left again. I shine this light and I see this white frog looking thing leap into the field. So I stop my truck. I lock up my brakes at 50 miles per hour. My truck just goes bouncing and my door flies open. I jump out of my truck. I start running out down to Deepakule. I was running through water, I was running through trees. I come up on his peak and I was out of breath. I shined my light and I look and I saw him. He was hunched over, crouched down, you know, sitting there on his knees. I start walking towards him and I shine my light, and he turns around and starts smiling. That's when I saw everything. I saw his face. Face. I saw his horn. You could see his white fur. You could see his hands, feet, his bright white teeth. Everything. I knew that it was Goatman. And then all of a sudden, he just jumps. Pranced off his hooves and jumps off that peak and disappears. You can hear his whoosh. And I run over there, and you could see these bushes moving in my light. Then they all stopped moving. And everything just comes quiet. It's just like the wind stopped blowing. It just felt like it got nice out. But when everything just become normal, I was just like, why? Why'd you go, no, you ain't supposed to do that. You got more power over me than anybody, you know. Went back to the house, got in the shower, and I cried. Oh, man. I cried because I didn't want him to go. I wanted to keep chasing him, you know? I just wanted to capture this myth, this legend, this thing that's been around for years and years, you know?

Interviewer (33:23)

The next morning, Colden woke up and decided he needed to pay a visit to his grandpa.

Colton Goss (33:29)

I Go knock on his door, he says, what's going on, my boy? I looked at him and I told him I saw the goat man. He looked at me, said, was it? I said, yeah. I described it, you know, big, tall, hairy, half goat, half man. You know, he's got the laugh of a ignorant goat, got the smile of a demon, you know. And he said, yeah. And then I asked him, why me? Why did it start messing with me? I didn't do nothing bad. I don't do drugs. I listen to rock music, but it's Nickelback and, you know, Motley Crue. He said, well, ain't no answer for that. Well, Blackfoot life works in mysterious ways and a lot of mysterious things. So right after that, walk out, gives me a hug. And ever since then, that's where everything stands now. You know, there's a lot of answers that are going to want to be, you know, asked. And it's just, you know, I can't get it to you because I'm still wondering the same question myself. Well, drive down with the railroad tracks. Roll my windows down and look around and I look for his bright white teeth, for his eyes, fur, nose, hands, feet. I listen, you know, for that high pitched little goat laugh, ignorant scream. Probably to the day I die. I'll keep trying to see him.

Narrator (35:10)

Thank you, Colton, for sharing your story with the Spoot. We first heard about Colton's story on Lodge Tales, a podcast hosted by Rod Williamson, where indigenous folk from around the country shared their own experiences with the supernatural. Check out our show notes for all the links. The original score for that piece was by Doug Stewart. It was scouted and produced by Elliot Lightfoot. You're walking a place of questions, a place of power, a place of finding, of losing seeing. A place you should not venture, but a path you will walk nevertheless. The crossroads. We chase this trail to all hallowed Eve. Next time on the Crossroads, the Journey at sea. Coast Guard officers see a man in deep distress. But when they approach before their very eyes, the specter in danger vanishes. Could it be some being trying to get a message through? The Crossroads presents the Shadow Man. Tis the season and we're looking for monsters. I found the scariest monsters look just like us. If you see one, let me know. Spooked@snapjudgment.org because there's nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. Spooked@snapjudgment.org Spooked dwells at the spooked underground catacombs deep beneath KQED in San Francisco. Better leave more than breadcrumbs if you want to find your way back. Crossroads is brought to you by the Spook team, who at last survey completely swore off eating goat of any kind. Except for Mr. Mark Ristich, who keeps mumbling something about keto. Now there's Davey Kim, Zoe Ferrigno, Eric Yanez, Tail Ducat, Mercer, Dodge Miles, Lassie, Elliot Lightfoot, Su Yi Chu, Evan Stern, Eve's Jeffcoat, Isha Lopez, Jack Darrell, Doug Stewart. The Spooked theme song is by Pat Mesiti Miller. We have cast words of binding, magical, legal and otherwise proclaiming that no SNAP Studios content may be used for training, testing or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission. On Team SP Boot, the union represented producers, artists, editors, engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications workers of America, AFL CIO Local 51 and the were means human. That's the real monster in Werewolf. Every culture has their shape shifters. Their were tigers, were snakes, shamans becoming birds of prey. What is it about our fellow creatures that we envy them so much? We seek to become them. Or are we running away from ourselves? I've seen the monster, and the monster is me. Perhaps every beast we become is another shadow, another light, another fragment that we create to a avoid the inner voice acting. The wolf doesn't make us killers. It gives us permission to be what we already are. So what are we? The guilty. The wolf made me do it. The moon made me do it. The curse, the blood, the bite. Anything but look back in the mirror. That we can't abide. Someday, though, maybe even someday soon, we'll recognize that the animal part of us might be the best part of us. Whatever you do, wherever you go, never ever, ever. Never ever, ever. Never ever turn out the light.

Zyn Nicotine Pouches Advertiser (39:59)

If you're a smoker or dipper ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zyn Nicotine Pouches, you'll discover many good reasons. Zyn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zyn offers a robust rewards program. There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zyn. Check out zen.com find to find Zinn at a store near you. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Magic: The Gathering Advertiser (40:29)

Magic. The Gathering and Marvel team up for a magic set featuring your friendly neighborhood Spider Man. Add iconic superheroes and Supervillains from over 60 years of Spider man comics to your magic game. This set gives you the power of Spider Man. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Visit magic.wizards.com to learn more about how to suit up with Spider Man. That's magic.wizards.com to learn more about the Gathering. Marvel's Spider Man Swing into the Game.