Not everthing Goes Bump in the Night… Some Slither & Snap

This is a family-friendly ghost story about one of the creatures said to protect the heritage of Goodyear Lake. The story is fun on the surface… but the history beneath it is very real.

The Historical Foundation of Hell Slime – Make it Real

The story of Hell Slime begins here.

Look out at the lake in front of you over Goodyear Lake. Calm water. Quiet shoreline. The sun dipping behind Catskill foothills.

But it wasn’t always this way.

See the bats flickering under the floodlights by the oak tree? Those are Northern Long-Eared bats.

(Wave your hands through the air.)

(Point to the water.)

And beneath these waters – just north of here, where the mouth of the Susquehanna, the longest river on East Coast, meets Goodyear Lake – lives another rare creature: the Hellbender, a giant, aquatic salamander that hides beneath the rocks in cold, clean water.

Before the docks… before the fishing boats… before the campfires… this wasn’t a lake at all. It was the winding Susquehanna River flowing through swampy land used by Native Americans.

In the early 1800s, two men – Peter Collier and Jared Goodyear – changed everything. They built the first dam across the river to power their mills.

And almost a hundred years later, people returned with even bigger plans on Goodyear Lake: the Colliersville Dam, the same one that still stands today.

People believed they were building a lake to generate hydroelectric power for a trolley system. But local lore says… something else was born with it.

The story of Hell Slime begins here.

Compelling Character – Hell SlimE – The Lake Guardian

When the valley flooded, something strange happened.

Two rare creatures already lived here. The Hellbender salamander and the Northern Long-Eared bat. 

Both were endangered. Both were fighting to survive.

And there was one man who didn’t care about either of them. Old Man Briarson. He had no regard for the land… and even less for some salamanders or bats standing in the way of development.

God usually keeps its creatures separate. But when the valley changed too fast, the river became a lake almost overnight, and Old Man Briarson arrived. God made strange adjustments. Maybe it wasn’t the salamander or bat that were in danger’s way? 

One night, Old Man Briarson disappeared without a trace. What they found behind is difficult to describe. Some say a long streak of slime with bloody fingerprints as though someone was grasping on as being pulled away against one’s wishes. 

Not long after… locals started whispering.

They say the creature that they spotted near their trash cans was about the size of a black bear. Its eyes, tiny. It’s thin hair, slimy. Its ears pointed, like a bat. It’s gills, pulsating red tentacles. And fangs. Long fangs. 

Most folks around Bluegill Cove don’t want to talk about it… but they know it well enough to give it a name: “Hell Slime.” 

The Unease – The Campfire Moment

(Lower your voice.)

Every year, kids sitting around campfires swear this happens. They’re roasting s’mores – and suddenly, the s’mores stops burning.

Not a strong gust… just a light, dead wind.

Maybe it’s the cheap Walmart marshmallows. Seems reasonable.

Then… the whole fire dies.

Folks around the cove say, “If your fire goes out… something made it happen.”

The Excuse – Lower the Guard

(Voice calm. Reasonable.)

Tonight, around this camp fire, you’ll see and hear things: 

• S’mores blow out… Probably the wind.
• Shadows flickering beyond the oak tree… Probably ordinary bats.
• A gulp in the water… Probably a carp.

That’s what you should tell yourself.

The Suspense – Flaps, Gulp, Flaps

(Slow, gravelly whisper.)

But if the legend is true…

He flaps… gulps… flaps… and drips slime.

Something moving where only small creatures should be.

And those unexplained breezes?

(Point around the group.)

Not bats!

The Jump

(Sudden shout and lunge.)

SNAPPING FANGS!

The Deeper Meaning Behind the Story

Like most campfire ghost stories near Cooperstown, the legend of Hell Slim carries a deeper message.

Who is the Real Predator?

Around this lake, people think they know the predators:

• The black bear in the woods.
• The bald eagle in the sky.
• The chain pickerel, the water wolf, in the water.

But Hell Slime reminds us that animals are not the ultimate threat.

In the 1970s, the power company NYSEG planned to destroy the dam because it was no longer profitable. If they had succeeded, the lake would have drained away, leaving only a muddy river channel.

The real predator isn’t the creature in the woods. It’s humankind.

Can Humans and Nature Truly Coexist?

Hell Slime represents the collision of habitats.

It’s a forced combination of a bat and a salamander – a symbol of the strange adjustments nature must make when humans reshape the wild. The creature is both protector and monster.

It exists because we flooded a valley to power a trolley line.

Even innocent moments – like roasting marshmallows by the lake – happen in a place forever changed by human decisions.

And today, the lake still faces threats from pollution and invasive plants like water chestnuts that choke the water of oxygen.

The Near Cooperstown Ghosts of Yesterday Are the Guardians of Today

We’re sitting tonight on the edge of a drowned world.

Beneath the lake are old forests and stone fences that sank when the valley flooded.

Camp fire stories help us remember the people and places that came before us.

And sometimes the “guardian” isn’t a monster at all.

In the 1970s, when the dam was threatened, local homeowners formed the Goodyear Lake Association.They sued to stop the demolition — and eventually bought the dam themselves.
In a way, the spirit of Hell Slime represents that same determination. A guardian protecting the lake.

So… Is Any of This True?

Parts of it absolutely are.

The Creatures:

Both the Hellbender salamander and the Northern Long-Eared bat really live in the Goodyear Lake region. Both species are considered threatened or endangered.

The Flooded Valley:

Between 1905 and 1907, the Colliersville Dam was built to generate power for a 52-mile electric trolley line called the Southern New York Railway, also known as the “Leatherstocking Route.”

The 1970s Rescue:

The lake truly almost disappeared when NYSEG planned to breach the dam. Local residents saved it by buying the dam themselves. Today it still produces carbon-free hydroelectric power.

The Real Guardians:

In the 1970s and 80s, bald eagles returned to the northern end of the lake. Because of them, federal “exclusion zones” limited shoreline development.

Those eagles may have done more to protect Goodyear Lake than Hell Slime ever could. But don’t discount this if your s’mores blow out!