The Rake
The Rake. Photo: The Culture Crush
Sightings of a creature known as the Rake have been reported as far back as the 1600s but gained more notoriety as a creepypasta on the internet. What is the truth about the Rake and what is just internet legend?
The Legend of the Rake
The first account of the Rake was found in a mariner's log written from 1691. A group of settlers had recently arrived in America after immigrating from Europe. Just a few weeks after arriving at their new home the group began to be tormented by a large white creature that seemed to be like a naked man running on all fours. The dubbed the creature The Rake due to its huge claws which resembled a rake.
One of the men wrote in his log that the Rake took everything from them and demanded they return to where they came from. The men were so terrified that they returned to Europe.
Another account written in a Spanish journal entry from the 1800’s described a lanky, white creature running on all fours with hollow black eyes and rake like claws. An excerpt reads:
“I have experienced the greatest terror. I have experienced the greatest terror. I have experienced the greatest terror. I see his eyes when I close mine. They are hollow. Black. They saw me and pierced me. His wet hand. I will not sleep.”
Is the Rake real?
The Rake allegedly captured in a trail cam. Photo: The Culture Crush
If we dig a bit deeper into the legend of the Rake we find that the legend was concocted in the depths of 4chan. A group of writers came together to create a legend that sounded real and it eventually became a meme.
The stranger element to this story is the real life sightings that followed. After the story circulated online in the early 2000’s people began to report their real life sightings of the Rake.
Users on Reddit’s r/humanoidencounters have reported numerous encounters with the Rake. One user wrote:
“I woke up at 3 am to the feeling of something watching me. I felt extremely uneasy. I rolled over to look around the room and my eyes locked onto something standing beside my mom. It was extremely tall but looked as if it had a broken back and couldn’t stand up completely. It was slouched over and had extremely pale skin and bones sticking out under the skin everywhere due to how skinny it was. It had long claws hanging from both hands. It’s face was sunken in and eyes were completely black holes. A few greasy hairs were visible on its head. It had no clothes but also no genitals or nipples.”
Another user was falling asleep on the couch when they heard weird slapping sounds. They wrote:
“I hid my head under the blanket and stayed as still as possible. I could see a faint silhouette through the fabric. It looked like a hairless dog with a warped body with long, distorted arms. The creature walked across the floor and crawled out of sight. I could only assume that it had gone up the steps. I didn't sleep at all. I held still and refused to allow myself to move until dawn. My mother had come down the steps confused and a bit aggravated. She had asked me to come upstairs and look at the wall. The walls had been covered with long scratches. The distance between the marks was large. The hands must have been at least six inches wide. We moved within the following weeks and it wasn't until four years ago that I heard of the Rake.”
Theories about the Rake
Even though the Rake itself is a fictional story people around the world have reported encountering a similar creature. What could this mean?
There has always been a creature out there that resembles the Rake from the creepypasta and it now has a name that can be used to draw sightings of it together.
The Rake has become a Tulpa. The fact that so many people believe the Rake to be a real creature has caused it to become real, at least to the people who witness it.
People are misidentifying natural things like large dogs with mange or crazy naked people as the Rake.
They’re making it up. This is always a possibility when dealing with the paranormal.
What do you think about the Rake? Is it 100% fiction or is there something more to the legend?
If you enjoyed this article you may also be interested in the giant mutant spider of Chernobyl or the curious story of the Loveland Frogman.
