Bandage Man

Bandage Man

Also known as the Ghost of Highway 101

Classification

Roadside Apparition / Folkloric Specter

Description

Bandage Man is described as a human-shaped figure entirely wrapped in dirty, frayed bandages, often stained and loosely hanging from the body. The face is usually obscured, with only partial features visible beneath the wrappings. The figure is reported to move slowly and unevenly, giving the impression of severe injury.

Unlike many cryptids, Bandage Man does not display exaggerated size or strength. His presence is unsettling not because of scale, but because of proximity and sudden appearance.

Habitat & Range

Sightings are associated with the coastal stretches of Highway 101, particularly in Oregon, with repeated reports near Cannon Beach and Manzanita. The figure is said to appear along forested roadside shoulders, near curves in the road, and occasionally in pullouts or near stopped vehicles.

Encounters almost always occur at night or in low-visibility conditions.

Behavior & Characteristics

Bandage Man is typically reported standing motionless near the roadside or walking slowly toward vehicles. In some accounts, he is said to appear unexpectedly in the rear seat of a stopped or slowed car, only to vanish moments later.

The figure does not pursue vehicles and rarely reacts when noticed. His presence is brief and silent, often ending as suddenly as it begins.

Evidence & Reports

Reports are entirely anecdotal, passed through local storytelling and repeated across generations. Accounts are notably consistent in appearance and behavior, though explanations vary widely.

Some stories describe Bandage Man as the ghost of a logger injured in a mill or forest accident; others frame him as a warning figure meant to discourage night travel or reckless driving along the coastal highway.

Notes from the Field

Bandage Man differs from other Pacific Northwest figures in that he appears tied to movement and transit rather than wilderness or water. He does not guard a place so much as haunt a route.

Whether cautionary tale, shared hallucination, or something else entirely, the persistence of the story suggests a figure shaped by isolation, darkness, and long stretches of empty road.

Encounter fleeting. Do not stop.