Dawn of the Dogman Explores 50 Years of Michigan’s Most Terrifying Legend

Dawn of the Dogman investigates Michigan’s infamous upright wolf-like cryptid through eyewitness stories and archival research.

Dawn of the Dogman — Michigan’s Most Terrifying Legend Stalks the Screen This December

Backwoods claw marks. Mud tracks shaped like nothing recognizable. Scratches on the outside of remote cabin doors. If you’ve ever fallen down a cryptid rabbit hole, you already know what that means: Small Town Monsters is back, and this time they’re bringing one of America’s most persistent nightmares to the screen.

DAWN OF THE DOGMAN—the latest documentary from filmmaker Seth Breedlove—arrives on digital platforms December 9, 2025, marking a major new chapter in nearly 50 years of Michigan Dogman lore.

For decades, the Dogman has stood shoulder to shoulder with Bigfoot, the Mothman, and the Bray Road Beast as one of America’s most unnerving cryptid mysteries. Said to be a towering, wolf-like creature walking upright on two legs, the Dogman has prowled Michigan’s forests, lakes, and backroads since the 1980s… at least, according to those who swear they’ve seen it. And while jokes, hoaxes, and internet creepypasta have tried to blur the line between legend and fiction, Breedlove’s new film cuts through all of it.

The documentary digs into the research of the late Linda Godfrey, the renowned author and investigator who first exposed the Dogman phenomenon to the wider public. Her work on beast sightings in Wisconsin and Michigan made her a leading voice in cryptozoology, and Dawn of the Dogman functions as a spiritual successor to Breedlove’s 2018 documentary The Bray Road Beast. Through archive footage, new interviews, and chilling eyewitness retellings, the film honors Godfrey’s legacy while deepening the mystery she chased for decades.

Shot across the frozen lakes, pine forests, and rural outskirts of Michigan, the documentary leans into the geography that made the Dogman legend possible. Breedlove’s team meets with the journalists who chronicled the earliest sightings, the researchers who tracked the creature’s supposed patterns, and the witnesses who insist that what they encountered was not human, not animal, and not something they could ever forget.

Small Town Monsters has spent ten years building a reputation for accessible, atmospheric, and deeply researched explorations of America’s strangest legends—from On the Trail of Bigfoot to American Werewolves to The Mothman of Point Pleasant. But this one already feels different. Dogman sightings are on the rise, the community surrounding the legend is more active than ever, and the trailer hints at some of the most unsettling reenactments the team has produced.

There’s always been debate over what the Michigan Dogman truly is. Werewolf? Cryptid? Spirit? Hoax? Something older? Something worse? Those who believe insist that Dogman has never been human—that it’s not a shapeshifter but a creature entirely its own, one that’s been here longer than the towns telling its stories. And based on the interviews previewed so far, Breedlove seems more interested in documenting that fear than dismissing it.

The film was funded by backers of the 2025 Small Town Monsters Kickstarter, and with its release aligning with the group’s tenth anniversary, it marks a milestone for the indie studio that has grown into one of the most prolific chroniclers of paranormal folklore in the U.S. Their next Kickstarter arrives in February 2026, promising new films, books, series, and exclusive rewards for the cryptid faithful.

Dawn of the Dogman releases exclusively on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Google Play on December 9. Whether you approach the Dogman as legend, lore, cautionary tale, or something you pray never steps across your path, this documentary looks ready to sink its teeth into the mystery harder than any attempt before it.

Let us know:

Do you believe the Michigan Dogman is real—or just one of America’s best campfire stories?