The mysterious "Beast from Benais" terrorized France

Everyone knows the famous "Beast from Zhevodan", this monster that became a myth and terrified in the 18th century in the vicinity of Marvejol (Lozer). A century earlier, the west of Touraine also had its own "beast", much more deadly than Gevodan, because in eighteen months it claimed twice as many victims!

The first known manifestation of this "Beast from Benais", as it was later called, occurred on February 19, 1693. On that day, the body of little Pierre Boirot, a 9-year-old boy, was found badly mauled.

At that time, this accident, almost common for this region of forests and swamps, where many wolves live, seemed almost normal... But a few days later, a little further north, near the Continuoir, the brutally mutilated body of a 7-year-old girl Antoinette Doriant was discovered. Then, soon, there were reports of other victims, here and there, in the parishes surrounding the Benais forest...

This time there was no doubt: all these tragedies were caused by a "monstrous beast". In fact, eyewitnesses everywhere claimed to have seen him and described him in great detail. In the minds of most people, he was necessarily an evil being!

The various hunts that were organized did not give the proper effect, and as the weeks passed, the list of unfortunate victims became longer and longer. No one dared to go out into the village, much less into the forest...

At the end of November 1693, there was even a real massacre: the "beast" struck on the 18th in Langeais, on the 19th in Bourgeois, on the 22nd in Continuoir, on the 23rd again in Bourgeois, on the 25th in Restinier, on the 26th in Benet, on the 27th again in Bourgeois...

The parish of Langeais paid dearly to the "monster": in three days (November 29-30 and December 1), the "beast" killed three people. Two weeks later, he did it again, still in the same Garage, killing three more people!

Desperate, the inhabitants of the region no longer knew which saint to turn to. Under the guidance of the local clergy, they multiplied their processions and prayers.

Finally, the heavens, which had been deaf for a long time, seemed to finally hear them. At the beginning of August, the massacre stopped, although no one knows why.

Then you can try to summarize.

The parish priest of Varenna named the figure of 250 victims of the "Beast of Benais". The beast from Zhevodan, on the other hand, counted only one hundred victims for three years, that is, on average, "only" three victims per month!

Why did the "Beast from Benais" not achieve the fame that the "Beast from Zhevodan" was awarded? Perhaps it was wrong to appear too early, at a time when news was still difficult to spread...

In any case, we still don't know what this famous "beast" really was. According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses who saw him and survived, it is possible to make up his overall appearance - a huge beast with its appearance similar to a wolf.

Who knows what it really was - a werewolf, an alien hound "Chupacabra" or just some wolf mutated to unimaginable size…