In 1996, a young journalism major from Boston traveled to the northern border of Vermont with her girlfriend after learning about a series of disappearances some believed to be linked to a 18^th century werewolf legend. After securing a position with a local newspaper in the Cold Hollow region of Vermont, she became convinced that something far more sinister was at work in the remote mountain villages of New England.

Fast forward 20 years…

Freelance writer and documentary film-maker J.D. Thompson pursues a story about Vermont’s unique political culture. While researching the story, he learns of the legend and, believing it to be a light-hearted regional superstition, writes a tongue-in-cheek article on the subject for Playboy. The article inspires a new wave of reports on strange wolf-like creatures in the area.

During Thompson’s time in Northern Vermont (2015-2018), he dubbed the phenomenon The Hound of Cold Hollow. Later, chance brought Thompson into contact with the first journalist who pursued the legend in the late 1990s, providing new leads as well as new questions. Nevertheless, Thompson remained skeptical of any claims about werewolves, and pursued the story believing local monster legends serve as a cover-up, but for what?

In 2018, the investigation stalled and Thompson concluded his research, assembling the high-points in a short film entitled “Hunting the Hound of Cold Hollow” (2018). After the film received more than 500,000 views, others began to ask questions.

In 2021, artist and independent filmmaker, Niamh O’Connor assembled a small crew to accompany her to Vermont to track down J.D. Thompson and get to get the facts behind the reports. Initially, Thompson declined to participate, but with Niamh’s persistence, he agreed to support her endeavor. 

Today, Niamh resides in Vermont where she continues to work as an artist while working to complete the investigation that began more than two decades earlier.