But there's more to the John Bryan "Twilight Man" legend than that, as I learned from a contributor to the website. She sent the following story:

I just had some comments to make on the John Bryan State Park haunting you have on your website. It is a true encounter with the Twilight Man.

In December of '02 my three friends and I decided we wanted to go to Yellow Springs and John Bryan State Park because one of my friends had been there earlier in the month and she said it was really freaky. So the four of us got in my friend's Explorer, me in the front and my best friend driving. Right before we hit one road that had a brown sign saying John Bryan State Park 1 Mile, my best friend told me and my other two friends, "Guys...I know you are scared already and I don't want this to freak you out anymore, but I want to warn you. There is a man that sits in this car up here every night." At that point we all freaked out. Sure enough we drive past this old Monte Carlo sitting on the side of the street in front of a little house, and there was a man in the car. There is a part up by the park that you can make a U-turn on so we did just that. We drove by again and he was still there. At this point I was in tears, my best friend was beating the steering wheel freaking out, and my other friend in the back saw and was crying too. But our other friend didn't see him.

We stopped at the BP in Yellow Springs and everyone was making a big deal about it. The people at the gas station told us that it was just a man who watches TV in his car every night. Well we thought, "Bullshit...there was no light in that car...so we are gonna drive back by and see if there is a light." We go past him again--no light in the car at all. We turn around in the same spot we had before. On the way back by, my friend stopped right beside this dude's car (my window closest to him). The guy looked straight foward. Didn't acknowledge us at all. And there was no light in his car that indicated he was watching TV. We hauled ass out of Yellow Springs.

So in Feb. I told my friend Mike about it and he wanted to go see him too. So him, my cousin, and his friend all piled in Mike's car. We drove out to Yellow Springs. The guy wasn't out there so we went and got lost near Ceaser's Creek. That same night when I came home I found your website. I read what you had about Twlight Man and I cried. I couldn't stop crying. I never noticed if it was Meredith Road that the dude was on or not. But what you say he is wearing on your website--a blue shirt, overalls and a red hankerchief tied around his neck--is exactly what the guy had on when I saw him the very first time.

I went back a couple of weeks later with my friends Colby and Ashley. When we went to turn on to the road the man is on I looked at the sign and sure enough it said Meredith Road. Once again the man wasn't there. But I was still freaked out.

On June 12 I went with my friends Ashley, Bixby, and Dan again because Dan is one who doesn't believe in the whole ghost thing. We went and Twilight Man wasn't in the car.

Then yesterday...Friday, June 13th...my friends Bixby, Ashley, Micah, and I all went to see House of 1000 Corpses. If you haven't seen it, it is about four teenagers who go to look at a haunted site and end up getting killed. So later, we all four got kind of bored and decided that we wanted to go to see if Twilight Man was there. We thought it was a full moon last night, and it was Friday the 13th...so we figured he'd be there. We drove past the first time and couldn't tell if he was in the car. We turned around and went back by. We pulled up next to the car, and there was the man with his head down and all I could tell is that he had a blue shirt on. We tried to get my friend to turn around again but he wouldn't. Then later, after going home, we went back to John Bryan State Park. This was three hours after we had seen him with his head down. Sure enough, we rolled past his car and now he had his elbow sticking out. We turned around where we normally do and we saw his blue shirt and overalls. I didn't bother to look for the bandana around his neck...I knew it was him. Ashley called her dad (who lived in a haunted house and believes about this stuff more than anyone I know) and her dad never calls her by her middle name but he says to her, "Ashley Elizabeth get the fuck out of Yellow Springs now...people get killed there. The people in Yellow Springs always try to hide what goes on in that town...everyone knows that."

We're going back with our other friend tonight. I have no clue what is going to happen. Just in case I never come back, I wanted to write and tell you all of my experiences with Twilight Man. If I make it through the night I will write tonight and tell you...if I never write again...never ever ever go to John Bryan State Park to see Twilight Man...please!!!

She didn't write back to me that night, but I did hear from some of her other friends. Apparently this creepy guy sits outside the park in his car. It's a bit of a variation on the traditional tale, but the fact that his outfit matches that of the original apparition is quite creepy. If you happen to see this guy, please write and tell me about it.

John Bryan.org - Official Park Website