The Bandage Man of Cannon Beach
The Bandaged Man
Hwy 101 near Cannon Beach, Oregon
There is a mysterious legend along with the coastal highway 101 on the Oregon coast – that of an apparition of a man walking along the highway covered in bandages. He is often seen on the side of the road or in one’s rear-view mirror. Some have claimed to see him in their backseat through their rear-view mirror. When they turn to look in person, he’s not there. The reports of this apparition go back to the early 1960s.
Most claim that the best way to see him is to go down the older highway 101 that runs parallel to the main highway through the forest. This is now an abandoned road not in use, and it is said to travel at night, as very few reports seeing him in the daylight. Some call this “The Bandage Man Road”. Most notably where Highway 26 intersects with Coastal 101. He is said to vanish just before reaching the town. His name is “The Bandage Man” because he’s a man with a bandaged face.
Almost a ghastly mummy, he’s wrapped in bandages and apparently haunts the Cannon Beach community, based on urban lore. He’s described as a bloody figure of a man, covered in bandages drenched in blood, and the stench of rotting flesh follows him. He’s been said to jump into vehicles passing on the road out of Cannon Beach, especially into pickup trucks and open-topped vehicles, sedans, station wagons, and sports cars. He’s been claimed to have broken windows and leaving behind bloody bandages in his aftermath.
Some claim he is the unrestful spirit of a lumberjack who was sliced and diced in a sawmill accident nearby. He is said to have killed people along the highway and to have eaten the dogs of neighboring communities.
One of the original tales is about teenage kids “Parking and sparking” along the Bandage Man road. The boy had an old Chevy pickup and they were kissing when they felt the truck bounce with something moving in the back bed. They looked out the window to see a man in a bloody bandaged face with weird eyes. He began banging on the glass and top of the cab. The kid revved his engine, put it in gear, and raced away in terror to Cannon Beach to the safety of their parent’s service station in the greenhouse. He was gone.
The bandaged man has also been reported to be seen along the route from Lincoln City to Seaside. Some tag on that Bandage Man was a criminal shot by the police along the highway – he was transferred from the hospital to the jail, escaped, ran into the woods, and never seen again.
In the area are also tales about flying pots in Seaside, a haunted hotel in Nehalem Bay, and many mysterious apparitions in Astoria giving a great backdrop for films like Goonies, The Ring 2, and The Fog as well as inspirations for Lovecraft film Cthulhu.
Bibliography:
- Alexander, Stephen 2014 “Haunted Oregon – Interesting before scary” Portland Tribune. Website http://portlandtribune.com/pt/11-features/229134-92235-haunted-oregon-interesting-before-scary referenced 10/12/15.
- Hagestedt, Andre 2006 “Oregon Coast Ghosts, and Other Paranormal Legends” Website http://www.beachconnection.net/news/ghost1006_0174.htm referenced 10/12/15.
- Shadowlands 2015 “Haunted Places in Oregon” Website http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/oregon.htm referenced 10/12/15.
- Tindrick, Ryan 2014 “11 Scariest Haunted Places in Oregon”. Website referenced 10/10/15 at http://articlecats.com/index.php/11-scariest-haunted-places-in-oregon/
- Sluggo 2009 “The Bandage Man of Cannon Beach” website referenced http://sluggosghoststories.blogspot.com/2009/10/bandage-man-of-cannon-beach.html on 10/12/15.
- Unexplained Mysteries 2015 “” website http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=81120 referenced on 10/12/15.
