WISCONSIN — All month long we've shared spooky and haunting stories from across Wisconsin.  

That takes us now to the Northwoods, and the story of a beast known as the Hodag.  

Rhinelander native Ben Brunell will tell you he was born and raised a Hodag-believer.

Burnell describes the mythical creature that inhabits the Rhinelander area as friendly, according to the modern day depiction. But Burnell's perspective is a bit different.  

"I like to picture him as a fierce creature that terrorizes the Northwoods of Wisconsin," he said.

The Hodag went "viral" so to speak in the 1890s. Lumberman Eugene Shepard was the first to circulate reports of the creature. As Burnell tells it, "on his adventure through the wilderness of the Northwoods he [Shepard] discovered this fearsome critter, and he captured one and brought it back to town and he displayed it at the first Oneida County fair."  

History shows hundreds came to see the Hodag and left believing it was real.

It's now a big draw for tourists in the Rhinelander area. Burnell said he's had people from many different states in his store. 

"I've come to learn the Hodag is a fascinating creature, and he draws people from all across the country," he said. 

He now owns The Hodag Store in Rhinelander.  

About 10 years ago Brunell owned an antique shop. Everyone kept asking him where to get Hodag merchandise.  

"At the checkout time people would always ask, 'Where do you get a Hodag key chain, postcard or shirt?' And I kept telling them 'I don't know,'" Burnell said.  

He now sells everything Hodag at his store.