A town long since forgotten. A scenic wood, growing eerie as the night grows. And in the middle of this, a seemingly ordinary bridge with a dark, twisted, tragic past. A bridge, haunted by a demon.  Only an hour away from Wylie in Denton, sits the Goatman’s Bridge

Personally, I don’t believe in ghosts. Certainly, there is some compelling evidence out there, but overall, most of it is probably just a hoax. However, I do believe in demons, which is what makes the Old Alton Bridge, or the Goatman’s Bridge so intriguing. I first heard about the bridge from the popular youtube series Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural.  The historic bridge has also been featured on Ghost Adventures and just about any other paranormal show you can think of, and it’s easy to see why. Surrounded by woods that are supposedly just as haunted as the bridge itself and terrifying stories of paranormal encounters only add to the location’s notorious reputation. So, eager to follow in the footsteps of so many paranormal enthusiasts before me, I recruited my boyfriend and fellow Buzzfeed Unsolved watcher, Tyler Tawney, and headed to Denton to see if it was really as haunted as it seemed. 

When I first arrived at the bridge, it was still light outside, and the bridge was swarming with people, which I thought was odd for a bridge that essentially leads to nowhere. However, on second glance, I discovered that each group of people was there, not for the demon, but to take professional photos. Something about engagement pictures and cute families took away from the terrifying, murderous vibe that the bridge was supposed to emanate. At this point, the most terrifying thing I encountered was a screaming child, five rather large spiders and so many wasps it turned a part of the bridge black. Little did I know what the Goatman had in store for me.

Branching off from the bridge was a long, winding trail through the woods surrounding the bridge. These woods have been said to house ghosts, and more terrifyingly, cultists. According to local legend, animal bones not native to the woods have been found there. One police officer reported that local pet stores stopped selling cats due to the large amount of remains found in these woods. So, naturally, Tyler and I set out onto the trail, not knowing where it would take us. Though we did not experience anything weird the first leg of our journey, we had a blast walking and talking through the wood, taunting the Goatman and the cultists, deciding that the Goatman liked to make frequent trips to 7-11 to get Big Gulps, Monster Energy drinks and Kombucha after we found numerous cans, cups, cartons and boxes littered along the trail. 

We had been walking for a while, nearly 40 minutes, and though it had been fun, we were ready for the trail to end. Naturally, we looked up how much longer we had on the trail. To our horror, the trail continued on for four more miles and did not turn around, which meant one thing: we had to walk back the way we came. By this time, night had fallen and the woods were alive with sounds, shadows. Like a scene out of The Blair Witch Project, we walked through the wood, phone flashlights in hand. Suddenly we saw lights, heard voices, and we were free from the trail.

As we laughed and joked the whole way to our car, someone on the bridge turned on a spirit box, a tool that paranormal investigators use to communicate with supernatural entities. The spirit box scans through five radio stations per second, creating white noise that spirits are said to be able to communicate through. Now, I’ve seen a spirit box used many times in paranormal shows, including on Old Alton Bridge, but this was something new.  This time was in person, 10 times louder than I expected and clear as day. Through the static, a voice clearly said, “I want a drink.” Tyler and I turned to each other, remembered all the drink containers found on the trail, and lost it, laughing hysterically. We returned to the car and headed back on our one-hour drive home. 

Now, if you were thinking of going to visit Goatman’s Bridge, I say, go for it. Go in with a sense of humor and you will have a spook-tacular time. If you really want to see something paranormal, try going at night, and maybe you will have better luck. As for the question, is the bridge as haunted as it seems, my answer is no. Overall, everything I saw just felt like ordinary woods and there was no Goatman to be seen. But if the spirit box was anything to go by, maybe the woods harbor more than meets the eye.