I was driving home from Morgantown to Wetzel County late one night, taking Route 7. It was probably around midnight or 1 a.m. If you’ve ever been on Route 7, you know it’s the middle of nowhere — nothing but winding, hilly back roads surrounded by darkness.
As I was nearing a little town called Hundred, I came around a sharp curve and saw something walking along the white line on the right side of the road. At first, all I could make out was a huge, dark shape, like a massive black blob moving steadily along the edge of the pavement.
I slowed down immediately. A couple of months earlier, I had hit a deer and spent $1,200–$1,500 fixing my car, so I wasn’t about to hit whatever this was. I straddled the yellow line to give it as much space as possible.
As I passed by and glanced out my passenger-side window, my heart skipped a beat. This thing’s shoulders and head were high enough to be almost level with my window. It had a long snout, pointed ears, and the distinct features of a canine.
My first thought was, Wow, that’s a massive dog.
Still tired and not fully processing what I’d just seen, I kept driving. But two or three miles down the road, it hit me — dogs don’t get that big. I tried to rationalize it, convincing myself it must have been a really skinny bear. That explanation stuck with me for years… until something even stranger happened.
Fast forward about a decade to 2021 or 2022. I was driving the same stretch of road, only this time a little closer to the town of Mannington. It was late fall — early November — and the night was pitch-black and foggy. It was around 10 or 11 p.m., and I was driving slowly, extra cautious because of the poor visibility.
Up ahead, I spotted a large dark figure moving near the guardrail. Then, in one smooth motion, it crossed the yellow line in the middle of the road.
That’s when I knew it wasn’t a deer. When deer cross the road, you can usually see the staggered motion of their front legs, body, and back legs. This thing, however, moved as one solid shape, gliding across in a way that screamed two legs — not four.
I slowed down even more, thinking maybe it was a person, but when I got about 20 or 30 yards away, I realized how massive it was. It stood somewhere between 5’8” and 6’5”, completely covered in black. At first, it almost looked like someone in a hoodie with the hood up.
But then it moved to the white line on the far side of the road, dropped to all fours, and turned its head toward me. My stomach dropped.
I could clearly see a long snout and tall, pointed ears — just like that night years before.
Before I could react, it leapt up a six- to eight-foot embankment and disappeared into the woods at incredible speed, still on all fours.
That’s when I knew for certain:
- It wasn’t a person.
- And it definitely wasn’t a bear.
About a month ago, I attended Veggie Main Day at Fairmont State University, where one of the speakers was Les O’Dell, a paranormal investigator from northern West Virginia.
He spoke about local stories of Dogmen — massive, bipedal, wolf-like creatures people have been seeing across the region.
The moment he started describing them, a chill ran down my spine.
Because what he described… was exactly what I had seen.
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