The mother-in-law, the husband, the amateur map reader, none of these are quite as dangerous a backseat driver as those infamous hands on the roads of Dartmoor.
For those of us who love forteana—the collective term for the unexplained, strange, bizarre, or unusual, often with a supernatural or fantastical bent—there are certain cases we know well, things the general public usually knows little to nothing about. One such case is that of the Hairy Hands of Dartmoor, England. If you’re one of those NOT already familiar, here’s the skinny: Beginning in the early 20th century, drivers along a certain stretch of lonely country road near Dartmoor would report a pair of “hairy hands” that would appear out of thin air, grabbing their steering wheels and forcing them off the roadway. Traffic fatalities have been blamed on the Hairy Hands, although not all encounters with them have taken place on the highway. People camping or hiking in the area have also reported run-ins with the malicious mittens.
So, do the Hairy hands belong to a nefarious ghost, intent on causing harm to those who trespass in its domain, usually by trying to make them crash their motor vehicles? Or is it an invisible werewolf or Sasquatch type creature that, in order to make physical contact with an object or person—such as a steering wheel—has to become momentarily visible, or at least its HANDS do?
