How Many Maine Folks have Heard About the Legendary Hidebehind?

Maine has a lot of forest. Do we really know what's out there?

In general, I'd have to describe myself as a skeptic when it comes to things like cryptid creatures. I want to believe that Bigfoot is real, or that the Hoop Snake could have been real. But until there's some actual scientific proof, I tend to stay on the outskirts of those conversations.

READ MORE: Did You Know Maine Has A Rattling Snake That's Not A Rattlesnake?

Mostly, since I can't prove they don't exist, I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade about whether something is real or not. I know that the world is full of unexplained things, and likely our Maine woods contain plenty of truly unexplainable things as well. For instance, have you ever heard of the Hidebehind?

Get our free mobile app

The Hidebehind has made children behave for generations.

I saw a post recently on Reddit, where someone was recounting how their grandmother used to level low-grade threats at them for misbehaving. The grandmother would say something like, "Don't play outside too late or the Hidebehind will get you". Then she would go on to imply that the Hidebehind was always right behind you, but you just couldn't see it.

It was a creature perpetuated by lumberjacks, who said it would stalk and capture you, and then bring you back to their lair to eat you up. Here's where the good old lumberjack-ness comes in, because there's always a hilarious twist... Hidebehinds prefer to eat a human's intestines but are also repelled by alcohol. So the idea was, that regular alcohol consumption would keep you safe, hahaha.

Read More: These Are Quite Possibly The Three Most Dangerous Animals In Maine

But it's not just limited to Maine... The Hidebehind has been featured in movies, TV shows, and books. There's even an old Pecos Bill story about it. The Hidebehind is a perfect horror antagonist, because you never actually see it. Maine lumberjacks likely just used the legend to explain mysterious night noises. But just to prove how spooky Hidebehinds could be, scope this little 10-minute movie... It's not bad!

Bigfoot has been spotted many times in Maine, unlike the Hidebehind. But here are a bunch of actual BF reports from Mainers...