A Year At Boggy Creek | The Fouke Monster Mystery Continues

 Fouke Location Photos and Story By Ken Hulsey

I, like many others, first became fascinated with the infamous "Fouke Monster" in the 1970s when the film "The Legend of Boggy Creek" was released in theaters and drive-ins across the country. Although I didn't see the movie until it aired as a Saturday afternoon feature on a local TV station in the 1980s, the original trailer had a lasting impact on my young and impressionable mind—it scared the crap out of me. A big, hairy creature reaching through windows to grab young girls (the Fouke Monster doesn't hold a candle to King Kong), girls screaming, guns firing, people chasing the monster, the monster chasing people-all set in what looked like the creepiest place on Earth: Boggy Creek. I hid under my bed until I was ten! 

However, when I finally saw the movie as a teenager, I was more fascinated than terrified. The eyewitness accounts were credible and compelling, and due to budget constraints, filmmaker Charles Pierce only showed glimpses of the creature, which allowed the viewers’ imaginations to run wild with what might actually be lurking in the Arkansas woodlands. I didn’t watch the film again until I purchased a DVD copy at Walmart in the early 2000s, and it has been one of my favorite films ever since.

Check Out: The Ford Family's Escape from a Fouke Monster Nightmare! | Tales of the Unexplained!

In 2018, my wife and I made the significant decision to leave the sunny shores of California for the humid and wet swamps and farmlands of central Louisiana. I remembered that both Shreveport and Texarkana were mentioned in the film, so I turned to Google Maps to see how far Fouke, Arkansas, was from my new home. To my surprise, it was only about a two-and-a-half-hour drive away. I promised myself that I would one day make a pilgrimage to that mysterious and eerie location, where a real-life monster might actually reside. 

Years passed, and in November 2022, my wife took a trip to South Carolina to visit her sister. With some free time on my hands, I decided to finally make that trip to Fouke. Little did I know, I was about to become part of the Fouke Monster story myself.

The first stop for any monster hunter or movie enthusiast arriving in Fouke is the Monster Mart, which serves as a convenience store, gift shop, and Bigfoot museum all in one. While it's certainly a tourist trap, I can’t fault anyone for trying to make a dollar or two off a local legend. It would be easy to dismiss a place like this, but there is more to it than meets the eye. The museum section of the Monster Mart is incredibly campy. It features giant statues of the Fouke Monster, amusing Bigfoot illustrations on the walls, and even an enormous werewolf head for some reason. It has all the trappings of a sideshow exhibit.

With no definite direction in mind, I ventured out of town along what appeared to be a well-traveled road toward Boggy Creek. I was relying purely on instinct, but after several miles of driving, I found myself at the shore of the infamous waterway. There wasn’t a place to park right next to the creek, so I found a level area just up the road to leave the car, grabbed my camera, and headed out. As I walked toward Boggy Creek, a line from the movie echoed in my head: "He always travels the creeks," referring to the monster.

My first impression of Boggy Creek and the surrounding area was simple: it is every bit as eerie and creepy as depicted in the movie. The place is definitely as advertised. The forest is dark and mysterious, the water is murky, and there’s a strange, unsettling calm. Being a shutterbug, I took several photos to document my experience and convey just how spooky Boggy Creek really is. 

After taking my photos, I felt an unusual compulsion not to head back to my car immediately but to linger and savor the experience a little longer. After all, I had wanted to visit this place for several years. I gave in to that compulsion and wandered around the area for a bit. About twenty minutes later, feeling satisfied, I decided to return. That’s when things took a strange turn.

Having just crossed over Boggy Creek, I heard three loud knocking sounds about 50 to 100 yards behind me, to my right. It sounded like two blocks of wood being struck together. I stopped in my tracks, unsure of what to make of it. Just as I was about to dismiss the sounds as some local resident working on a project, I heard three more knocks, this time further away—around 200 yards in the same direction. I began trying to rationalize what I had heard, but then the knocks came again: first the closer ones, followed a few seconds later by the distant ones. I stood still, looking around for the source of the sounds, but nothing moved, and I quickly realized that the area had grown strangely quiet. There were no birds or animal sounds, just silence. A very unnerving silence. At that moment, I decided it was time to head back to my car.

Once inside, I started the engine, but instead of driving back toward town, I instinctively turned the car around and headed back toward Boggy Creek. I felt compelled to discover who or what was making those sounds. I rolled down both windows to listen more carefully and drove slowly, hoping to spot anything or anyone that might have created those knocks. I heard nothing and saw no one. I drove past a couple of nearby homes, looking for anyone outside working on a project that could explain what I had just experienced, but there wasn’t a soul around.

I finished my trip by driving around town and taking a couple more photos of various locations in Fouke before heading on to Texarkana. During my drive home, I couldn’t shake the events of that day from my mind. I had heard that Bigfoot-like creatures communicate using knocking sounds. Could that have been what I heard? I couldn't wrap my mind around the whole experience. When I got home, I decided to do a little research. I soon discovered some fascinating information. I went online to see if I could find recordings of alleged Bigfoot-related ‘wood knocks’, which were not difficult to find. After listening to a few, I concluded that what I heard was indeed somewhat similar.

All of this, of course, only fueled my fascination with the Fouke Monster even more. When you experience something like that, your mind naturally seeks answers. In that moment, I transitioned from being simply a movie fan with an interest in Bigfoot to an amateur researcher. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have another chance to return to Fouke for two years. In the meantime, I spent countless hours reading and rereading my copy of Lyle Blackburn's book, *Boggy Creek Casebook*, which I had purchased at the Monster Mart during my initial visit. If you haven't read it, I can't recommend it enough. The book chronicles the history of sightings of the creature from the 1800s to today, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the lore surrounding the Fouke Monster.

 

As fate would have it, a new job allowed me to make a trip through Fouke once a month en route to a job site that I inspect deeper in Arkansas. Trust me, I took full advantage of these opportunities to do further investigations around the town and the surrounding area—during designated breaks from my job duties, of course, in case my boss reads this! In all seriousness, my job provides me with such luxuries. So, I have visited Fouke once a month for the past twelve months in 2025. These excursions have given me the chance to survey the area and speak with three residents about the subject: one eyewitness, a family member of a well-documented witness, and one absolute skeptic. During one of my visits, I even had another strange experience along the shores of Boggy Creek.

In March of this year, I returned to the area where Miller County Round 9 crosses Boggy Creek, south of Fouke. This is the location where I heard the wood knocks in November of 2022. On this day, the area was dry for a change, as it had been flooded by winter rains in January and February. This allowed me to explore a section south of the creek, which I believe is where the mysterious sounds I heard in 2022 originated. There was a clear path, or game trail, crossing through the area, suggesting that animals—possibly the monster and its kin—regularly travel through here. 

Being alone in an area frequented by unknown wildlife made me reconsider exploring too far from the road. However, I was satisfied with what I had found, so I made my way back to my truck. Before leaving, I paused to take one last look around. It was then that I started hearing unusual calls coming from the woods to the southwest, across County Road 9. These sounds were distant and could best be described as resembling the vocalizations of monkeys or other primates in a zoo. There was some chattering, followed by several distinct “whooping” sounds. I listened for some time, but the vocalizations didn't sound threatening at all, unlike the screams that Bigfoot has reportedly made when agitated. Instead, these seemed like some form of friendly communication, possibly a mating call. After waiting for a long time to see if the calls would start again, I realized they wouldn’t. The area grew eerily quiet, so I decided to hit the road. It seemed my Bigfoot friend must have found himself a date.

The first resident of Fouke I spoke with was the cousin of Mary Beth Searcy, who famously encountered the Fouke Monster. Her encounter has been featured in several books and was reenacted in the movie *The Legend of Boggy Creek*. As most of you know, Mary Beth lived in nearby Jonesville. In 1964, she was home one evening studying for a test the next day when her sister called her to hang a blanket in the window to keep her baby warm. As she looked out the bedroom window, she witnessed a large, hairy creature emerge from the woods and start walking toward the home. She quickly became hysterical, and her family had a difficult time calming her down. The event was so traumatic for Mary Beth that it haunted her for the rest of her life.

She shared some interesting trivia that many fans may not know. Because Mary Beth's encounter occurred in the 1960s, a younger local girl named Judy Haltom was cast to portray her in the movie. Mary Beth herself also appeared in the film, playing her older sister.

Mary Beth's cousin mentioned that she had lived in the area all her life and had never seen or heard anything, but the memory of Mary Beth’s experience haunted her throughout her life. She also shared that her nephew had recently seen the creature while fishing at Boggy Creek and that he was very shaken by the encounter.

During one of my visits to Fouke, I had the opportunity to talk to former Monster Mart owner Denny Roberts and his wife. Denny shared a chilling story of an encounter he had. He explained that he and his wife were driving just south of town over a year prior when he glanced down a logging road and spotted something unusual in the roadway. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the dark-colored object was far too large to be a deer. 

Denny brought the car to a stop, and that’s when the creature suddenly stood up on two legs and looked directly at them. Denny described the creature as standing between seven and eight feet tall, with an orangish hue and a face resembling that of an orangutan. The creature was holding something in its hand, which it then dropped on the road. Despite its imposing size, it did not act aggressively and simply walked off into the nearby treeline. 

Denny stated that while he had always believed in such creatures, seeing one in person was a profoundly life-changing experience. Initially, he had been somewhat skeptical when his brother Rick claimed to have seen the creature in a nearby area a couple of months earlier. However, after witnessing the creature himself, Denny no longer teases his brother about that encounter.

I also spoke with another resident of Fouke, who wished to remain anonymous, at the Arkansas Welcome Center on Highway 71, just across the Texas state line. During our polite conversation, I brought up the Fouke Monster, and she rolled her eyes and shook her head. She quickly explained that she didn't believe in such nonsense and was relieved when the conversation shifted to another topic.

On another note, as someone who has spent the year visiting Fouke and the surrounding area, I would like to share some observations about my experience. This part of southwest Arkansas is a true wonder of nature, teeming with wildlife. While driving down a back road in the woods, I spotted something watching me from a clearing. I only caught a quick glimpse at first, so I backed up for a better look. What I saw was not a monster, but one of the most majestic bucks (deer) I have ever encountered. If I were a hunter, I would have certainly been taken aback. As a naturalist, I was awestruck by the sight of the animal. We locked eyes for a moment, and just as I thought of getting a photo, he lost interest in our interaction and bolted into the trees.

Speaking of the area's natural beauty and flora, it can be described as truly bipolar. In the spring and summer months, it is calming and beautiful, while in the fall and winter, it takes on an eerily atmospheric quality, reminiscent of a scene from a Hammer horror film. You might feel as concerned about running into Dracula as you would about Bigfoot. This area offers everything a classic monster could desire: ample food, fresh water, and thousands of acres of wilderness where only a few humans dare to tread.

When considering all these factors, anyone who has experienced what I have—talked to credible witnesses, reviewed the history of the matter, and surveyed the area—cannot help but be convinced that something unknown to science currently lives in the vicinity of Fouke, Arkansas. Personally, I am not satisfied with what I have presented in this article. As we approach 2026, I will soon be returning to Fouke. My plans include exploring Mercer Bayou, an area that has reported numerous sightings of the creature for over a century. In future excursions, I intend to investigate the Sulphur River area, another location where sightings frequently occur. I will, of course, share these experiences here, so stay tuned for those updates.