Monday, September 23, 2013

Another Tale of the Supernatural: The Top Hat Man

A couple of weeks ago I was at our local farmer's market when, deciding that I had a few minutes to kill, I took a seat on a bench directly across from one of the local street musicians who was playing some rather nice sounding slide material on his Dobro. No sooner had I made myself comfortable however, before he stopped playing, looked at me and said, "I've been wanting to talk with you. Judging from your attire, I'm curious about something."

At that moment I figured that I was going to have to confess all; yes, I'm a Goth and no, I'm not a devil worshiper. As it turned out, that wasn't what he wanted to talk about at all. Instead, he told me that I dressed like someone who would know about the Top Hat Man. At this point, he had most definitely garnered my attention, and almost embarrassingly, was forced to admit that I'd never heard of the fellow.

"Well," he began, "he's not a real man; he's a spirit that has been seen all over. I think he might be a defender of children because he seems to come around when something happens to them."

The musician went on to tell me that he was sharing this information with me because I looked like someone who might be interested in what he had to say and wouldn't scoff at him. He went on to describe the Top Hat Man as always dressing in a long, black coat, having long hair and of course, a top hat. He filled me in on encounters people  close to him have had with the mysterious man and those closely associated with celebrity as well. "Look it up," he told me, "you'll find plenty of information about him."

Well, I did look it up and as my new acquaintance suggested, I did find quite a bit of information on the subject.

The first impression I got from my research is that my musician friend was spot on regarding the Top Hat Man's dealings with children. For whatever reason, it seems that it is mostly youngsters who have initial encounters with the entity. It would be easy to discount the various sightings as the product of young imaginations, but that neither explains how kids hundreds of miles apart manage to describe remarkably similar experiences nor accounts for the fact that upon growing into adulthood they continue to stand by their childhood stories. Additionally, older people sometimes see him as well.

One young adult described his first encounter with the Top Hat Man this way:

"The first time I saw the Top Hat Man was my freshman year at Eastern Oklahoma State College in my hometown of Wilburton, Oklahoma. I was walking from the library to my dorm and I saw a man wearing a long black coat, shiny black boots, a top  hat and sunglasses. He had long black hair anc carried a wooden cane with a silver handle. 

"The apparation scared me to death and I told my roomate about it. She said that she and some of her friends had seen the man as well. They weren't sure what he was, but believed that he was a demon closely related to shadow creatures." 1 

Another account tells of a ten-year-old boy named George who, while living in Alaska, heard his friend's mother discuss her personal encounter with the mysterious man in a top hat. According to George, she referred to him as death. A few years later, the young man made the claim to have encountered the entity himself. He didn't tell everyone however, and it was not until after he and his family had moved to Texas that George's mother mentioned having a vision of the man staring at her one night from the foot of her bed.

From Arkansas and Oklahoma to Alaska and even the north coast of France, people of all ages have reported seeing the shadowy man. Some consider him to be pure evil while others think him harmless and perhaps, even a protector of children. Reports such as the ones mentioned here are difficult to verify and perhaps, quite impossible to believe for some. Most of the information about this phenomenon is found in forums or on websites that discuss the unexplainable; and admittedly, these are not necessarily the most dependable sources of information. Still, there's enough similarity between accounts across the miles that there may very well be something to his story. If that's the case, then we must ask, who is this mysterious shadow man who walks the Earth in Victorian attire and a top hat?    

1. About dot com. Paranormal Phenomena: The Top Hat Man

2. From the Shadows











   

8 comments:

  1. This is interesting. It sounds like an apparition described on my Ghost tour who leans against the fence by the railroad tracks. It also sounds similar to a "shadow man," of whom I encountered a few years back. It seems like a distant memory now, but it definitely left a mark on me.

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    1. Wow, OddGhoulOut, that sure sounds interesting! Of course, I've heard of the shadow people many times and might have seen one at the cemetery I care take. I wonder if your apparition is one and the same with the Top Hat Man who seems to manifest here in the States.

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  2. Fascinating! My first thought was Baron Samedi. However, that could just be because I watched a couple of episodes of Grimm last night that featured him! But he does wear a long coat and a top hat, and I believe he carries a cane; I don't know about the rest of his appearance, though.

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    1. You may be on to something here, Lucretia! While researching this topic I came upon some information with references to the Top Hat Man and Voodoo. The illustrations of Baron Samed do resemble our Top Hat Man as well. So, who knows?

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    3. That is my question..is he baron samedi...I first saw him last fall..I was forty..just lost our house..stay in at my moms..he was waking up basement stairs..very tall..long coat and wide brimmed hat..some have red eyes while others don't..he had his head down and I couldn't see his face,.I continued on out the door into garage..I turned back and through the glass window on the door I saw him walk right past and into wall like he was heading to the back of house where I was going..he blocked out my reflection... When I went back and looked in window again I could clearly see my bright colored shirt in my reflection.. When he had passed the window I could not see that reflection of my shirt..my daughter had seen him months before but I blew it off and never asked for a description until I saw him...I then went to her and asked her to describe what she saw..it matched exactly!! I just want to know if he is baron samedi and most of all IS HE DANGEROUS.. I believe he followed us to our new home cause a few nights ago my daughter and her boyfriend were home alone.. They BOTH heard heavy loud footsteps on the stairs..her boyfriend picked up a bat and searched the entire house...no one was there...I need to know if I should have a pastor come in and clean the house...or is this "shadow hatman' a protector??? If ANYONE has any answers please email me at. r.l.watson@live.com. PLEASE only serious answers...this is not fake or made up!!! I am trying to keep my children safe!!!

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  3. A top hat and a long black coat. Creepy. ;o)

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    1. I know, right? I do think it interesting that no sooner had I purchased a top hat than the street musician told me his story. He's never seen my top hat or my trench coat.

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