So I don’t know much about cryptid stories or urban legends so I thought maybe this would be a decent place to put a story to maybe find out some information. Sorry if it’s a bit long I just really want to see if anyone knows anything. And I swear to you i have made nothing up and am not exaggerating anything.
I live in the rural Midwest on a property that has over 60 acres of woods surrounding the house, right on the edge of a smaller farm town. I know for a fact there are coyotes in these woods as I’ve seen them with my own eyes before, and I’ve also heard them howling and making noise. But occasionally there is something else mixed in with them that sounds almost like a mix between a howl and a scream that I cannot place to any animal I know of that exists in this region or part of the state.
Tonight me and a friend were out at dusk finishing up fishing in the small pond on the property when we heard that mystery call from somewhere in the distance and booked it inside. Then later on we had the brilliant idea to walk down the trial I usually hear things from to investigate and make the full loop around that side of the woods while staying close to the house. (Context: there are trails going back miles but this is the first half circle loop that only goes about 200 yards deep into the woods, with the other trails extending out farther off of this one).
While walking this the woods were dead quiet like I’ve never heard them before. To the point that it was possible to hear the running water of a small creak all the way down the hillside that you cannot normally hear. It was unsettling to say the least. About halfway through this loop my friend swore he heard a voice somewhere behind us off of the main trail and in the deeper woods calling out to him. That really freaked us out so we hurried up and made it to the end of the trail as fast as possible.
About 15-20 yards from the exit of the trail back onto the houses yard I suddenly heard something from behind me on the same trail we had just walked. In all honesty I’m not sure exactly what I heard, but in the moment I could have sworn it was a child letting out one sharp laugh (like “ha!”) or something along those lines. What I didn’t realize at the time is that I had unknowingly taken several steps back where we had just came, and towards that noise and was about to be left behind.
Luckily, At this point my friend realized I wasn’t with him and ran back to grab me right as we heard the first of many howling noises from very far off the trail on our left. We got the hell out immediately. Once we were back in the yard and talking about what just happened we heard more howling, but this time it came from just beyond the tree line of the exact trail and spot we had come out of almost like whatever it was had followed us or come after us.
For the next ten minutes straight we heard a mix of screams and howls and noises like what I described earlier as somehow in between. The reason that this was freaking us out so much was that these were noises that coyotes cannot make because of how high pitched they were. It sounded like something was trying to pass itself off as a real coyote since other than the pitch and how long and drawn out it was it sounded almost spot on.
And the screams we heard again sounded like something trying to mimic a scream but not quite getting it right. But these were blood curdling screams like you would hear from a horror movie so there is nothing that could physically make that. Especially since the last one we heard was very clearly the word “help”. After a while these noises starting moving farther away until we couldn’t hear anymore.
I’m not sure what those things are but I feel like I need to learn for my own sake. If it wasn’t for my friend coming back for me I may have kept walking back towards whatever it was. I do have videos of some of the noises in the distance but I don’t think I can post them here or just don’t know how to. If anyone knows or has any ideas on what this is please share.