The Legend of Skin-Bob

It is said that he (for we think Skin-Bob may have been manfolk, but we're not entirely sure) has been sighted around dawn or dusk, standing at the side of the road and waitin' for a ride. Skin-Bob is typically wearin' a horseman's overcoat, a scarf and a hat, and he has a voice smooth as honey. He'll really want that ride, since he wants to know you real well. Real well...

Now, Skin-Bob wants somethin' besides the ride. He'll sweet-talk you for quite some time, never removin' his garments, and you'll just see his eyes and hear that voice. Skin-Bob's eyes seem to dee-fi descriptin, an those who survived meetin' Skin-Bob always remember them eyes, but not what they really look like. After listenin' to him for a while - some folk it's hours, some say even days - he'll reveal what he really wants, and you will barely notice as that short an' razor-sharp knife of his enters your body. Some folk says it's a claw, other that he's bitin' you, but I say it's a knife, a skinner's knife. You see, Skin-Bob wants just that your skin. That's the one item he's lackin' - skin. When he jumps out of that coat, he's flayed as a deer after huntin' season, and he needs new skin, since even if he has some form of life, his skin rots, and peels, and falls off in shreds and tatters. He will seek you out for a new skin-suit, and you'll eventually be left a skinless bloody thing at the side of the road, perhaps even livin' in real pain for some time until the hurtin' really does you in.

- Eliza Hawkins, Brattleboro, Massachusetts. Recorded in 1915. Recording kept at The Brooklyn Museum, New York. 

Robert Skinner was queer man, living by himself and minding his own business in a stately residence outside Worcester around the time of the Revolutionary War. He was a learned man, but some say that he also delved far into the arcane and the unwholesome, although he was more known for providing his community with many of the necessities others couldn't afford. Despite these endearing qualities, persistent rumors spoke of other things, especially strange visitors during Maundy Thursday and Walpurgis, visitors that seemed to leave unnatural footprints in the planters outside Skinner's mansion.

Robert Skinner was also a patriot, and he enlisted in the Massachusetts Militia under Colonel Wilkes as the war started. Skinner was given a captaincy in the regiment, and he attacked both Tories and the British with much ferocity during several of the early battle of the war. As rumors started spreading about his conduct, many of the New England Tories wanted to see him dead, and they eventually caught up with him outside Westfield. He was forcefully dragged out of the private library were he was temporarily residing. The Tories mocked him for his name, and decided to demonstrate their skills with the knife. Thus, Skinner was indeed flayed alive, and before succumbing to the gruesome treatment, he cursed the Tories and swore to make sure that none of the laughing miscreants were to see their next birthday. That was to be the case, and the offending Tories were said to be found in sad states of dismemberment during the week before their respective birthdays. This eventually grew into the legend of "Skin-Bob", who would hunt Tories, British and Hessians for their skin.

Robert Skinner being apprehended by Tories.

- E. F. Robinson. Macabre and Patriotic Tales of the Revolutionary War. Providence: Charterhouse Publishing, 1878.

...there are also indications that the legend of Skin-Bob may have its origins in Indian myth and legend that may have become part of the early colonial storytelling, perhaps as early as the mid-seventeenth century. Legends similar to the tale of Skin-Bob can be found in the lore of several Indian tribes, all the way from New England to the west and possibly as far as certain Apache and Navajo tribes in the southwestern territories of the United States, where the tales of the Skinwalker (yee naaldlooshii or yig naaldloshii) can be found. There are also similarities to the folklore surrounding the Flayed Lord in Aztec culture.

- Thomas D. Marcus. Indian Mythology. Arkham: Miskatonic University Publishing, 1911.