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NEW ORLEANS — For centuries there’s been a spooky story circulating of the Grunch, a deadly monster on the outskirts of town. Check it out in today’s “Hometown Haunts.”

Picture this: a car drives down a dark road and stops, you look through the windows to find the passengers have vanished. It’s just another causality of the of the Grunch, resident evil-doer, and demon of New Orleans.

Kalila Smith is an Instructor of South Louisiana Folklore & Legends. She tells us that she’s heard about the Grunch her entire life.
“He had legs of a goat. He was the size of a large man though, he’s not tiny like a goat but he had goat legs, almost like the God Pan. Unlike Pan, he didn’t have this funny little personality or funny little flute. He was actually quite vicious.”

Accounts of a goat-headed menace started shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, with the most recent sightings being in 2005. The Grunch is said to hide in the tall grass and exist off of the blood of goats and humans. It preys on those who park their cars on its namesake road at night. The Grunch had sharp teeth, long claws and it is said that he would rip his victims open.

Stories vary, but one suggests that Voodoo Priestess Marie Laveau castrated the devil baby and from what fell sprouted two creatures. They assaulted her and escaped into the night to feast upon generations of New Orleanians.

The modern-day Grunch Road of shells and dirt have since been paved. Many believe it became Gannon Road of the Little Woods neighborhood.

There’s no evidence of the Grunch. However, a word of caution, should a goat appear in the night, steer clear!