York County is stirring with chilling reports of a creature long dismissed as a campfire myth. New sightings near Rock Hill have revived talk of the region’s most unsettling forest legend — a gaunt, starving humanoid known in Appalachian folklore as a Wendigo.
Although the Wendigo originates in Algonquian stories from the far north, the spirit drifted southward centuries ago as tribes migrated and European settlers pushed into the Carolinas. By the 1800s, the creature had fused with York County’s own Cherokee-rooted horrors — the Spear-finger, Raven Mocker, and the Stone Man — becoming a symbol of winter hunger, deep woods, and desperate isolation.
Now, as temperatures drop and the nights lengthen, the stories are back.
A Viral Video and a Terrifying New Claim
A recent incident surfaced in November 2025, when a video about a wendigo attack was posted that’s now gained over 140,000 views. “It was like a man screaming in hunger,” the witness said. “It knew I was watching.”
A much more recent ( posted 7 months ago ) video than most of the ones I posted here https://t.co/xfMgFtX54ehttps://t.co/Kh6EauOzyu
on the theme of Wendigo possibly living in certain areas of Kentucky ( Land Between The Lakes, Jackson County, and seems to have the strongest— Paul Edward Hieronymus Jr (@PaulH52242) November 12, 2025
Previous Sightings Paint a Disturbing Pattern
The new report follows a chain of increasingly eerie encounters over the past decade:
Winter 2024 — Ebenezer Park
Reports of a creature “breaking trees in half” quickly went viral on TickTok
I was in upstate South Carolina and my husband and I witnessed this as well and we took off running freaking out. This was two years. We still don’t know what it was to this day. I thought it was just a couple of bears but they were moving through the trees and effortlessly.
— A L E X ︻デ═一 (@Alex_zedra) December 27, 2024
Winter 2020 – Upstate South Carolina
Strange experience in upstate South Carolina
byu/Lyric46 incryptids
Fall 2019 – SC “Dogman” sighting (description of Wendigo)
Has there been a dogmam sighting in South Carolina?.
byu/bubbles0034 indogman
Summer 2018 — Catawba River Walk
A hiker described a “7–8 foot figure loping on all fours,” its arms dragging “like a starved ape.” He heard a guttural whistle before the creature slipped into the reeds. Rangers blamed a bear. (via Theawl.com)
The recent sightings even sparked some local filmmakers to explore the Wendigo legends in deeper and more exhaustive way.
Deep Lore, Local Roots
Although the Cherokee of York County had no Wendigo figure, their stories of cannibal spirits and winter demons created fertile ground for the legend to take root. As northern tales filtered into the Carolinas in the 1700s and 1800s, the creature morphed.
By the 1820s, settlers near present-day Rock Hill spoke of the Waxhaw Wanderer, described as a “gaunt devil” mimicking a child’s cry to lure travelers toward the bluffs.
In the 1890s, hunters near Kings Mountain fled after hearing a “voice like wind through bones” and finding deer carcasses stripped clean.
Several posts also claim strange nests and snapped branches in wooded areas between Rock Hill and Lake Wylie.
Experts Offer Explanations — But Residents Remain Unsettled
Local historians point to pareidolia, optical illusions, or misidentified wildlife. But the consistency of the descriptions unnerves many: elongated limbs, abnormal speed, humanlike howls, and an overwhelming sense of dread.
York County rangers say recent cold weather may be pushing wildlife closer to trails, but they are reviewing reports “out of caution.”
A Legend That Won’t Die
As York County expands — adding new neighborhoods, greenways, and busy recreation areas — the forest edges shrink. Yet locals say something still remains in the shadowed pockets of Kings Mountain, the Catawba River, and Ebenezer Park.
And with winter approaching, sightings tend to spike.
If you’ve seen something unusual on York County trails, contact Charlotte Stories and share your experiences.
