The mountains of Southwest Virginia have long been home to strange tales — ghostly lights, howling beasts, and shadowy figures that seem half-human, half-animal. But few stories have spread fear quite like that of the Virginia Devil Monkey — a bizarre creature that’s been sighted in the region for decades, described as something between a wolf, a baboon, and a demon.
The Stormy Night Encounter — 1994
It was a stormy spring night in 1994 when a woman from Ohio found herself driving through Southwest Virginia, taking a back route toward the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Heavy rain and construction delays forced her off the main highway and onto a dark, winding two-lane road south of Roanoke. She later described the area as “the most isolated place I’d ever been — no lights, no houses, nothing but trees and the sound of thunder.”
Around 2:30 a.m., lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the soaked asphalt — and that’s when she saw it.
Out of nowhere, a dark, muscular shape leapt across the road in front of her car, landing with inhuman agility before vanishing into the woods.
At first, she thought she’d seen a large dog or maybe even a deer — until the creature turned its head.
She caught a glimpse of a flat, ape-like face, framed by short, sleek black fur and pointed, animalistic ears.
It stood briefly on its hind legs, towering nearly six feet tall, with a long, whip-like tail that flicked behind it as it disappeared into the treeline.
She said it looked like “something between a monkey and a wolf — but too thin, too muscular, and too wrong to be either.”
The creature didn’t react to her car or headlights — it simply walked away, as though it didn’t fear her at all.
The woman drove off in terror and later contacted local authorities, who found no evidence but took note of her shaken state.
The Aftermath — Livestock and Pet Disappearances
In the weeks following her report, locals began to whisper.
Farmers near Shawsville, Elliston, and Vinton claimed to hear strange screams echoing from the woods at night — a sound like a human yell mixed with a hyena’s cackle.
Soon after, pets and livestock started to go missing.
Goats and chickens were found mauled but uneaten, as if something had attacked them out of sheer aggression. Dogs went missing from yards, including one German Shepherd belonging to a couple near Shawsville, who later reported seeing a strange figure moving across their property one night.
They described glowing red eyes peering from behind the barn, and a silhouette that moved upright for several steps before dropping to all fours and sprinting away.
Other Sightings Across Appalachia
The 1994 encounter wasn’t the first — or the last — time this creature was seen in the region.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, similar reports surfaced in Tennessee, West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky, describing a vicious, fast-moving beast that could leap great distances.
Some claimed it attacked cars, leaving deep claw marks and dents on the metal. Others reported it chasing deer — or even people — through back roads and forest trails.
In Saltville, Virginia, an elderly man once claimed to have seen “a black, dog-faced monkey thing” rummaging through his trash before vanishing into the woods.
And in Marion, hikers reported a creature that followed them for over a mile, grunting and snapping branches in the dark — only stopping when they reached the main road.
Cryptozoologists have long speculated that the Devil Monkey could be some undiscovered primate species — or perhaps a misidentified Dogman.
Skeptics blame escaped exotic pets, or even large baboons once kept by roadside zoos decades ago.
But locals say the sightings are too consistent, too strange, and too widespread for such simple explanations.
The Legend of the Devil Monkey
Across Appalachia, the creature has earned many names — the Devil Monkey, the Mountain Ape, even the Ridge Runner.
Descriptions vary slightly, but most agree on three key traits:
- It stands between 5 to 7 feet tall,
- has dark, short fur, and
- moves with terrifying speed, often on two legs before dropping to all fours.
Some say its face looks almost human, while others claim it’s a twisted reflection of both man and beast — something primal that shouldn’t exist in these mountains.
Whether it’s an unknown animal or something far more sinister, one thing is certain — the Devil Monkey of Virginia isn’t just a campfire tale.
And for those who have seen it, that stormy night outside Roanoke is one they’ll never forget.
Source: “Monsters of Virginia: Mysterious Creatures in The Old Dominion” by L.B. Taylor Jr
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