The Horrifying True Story That Inspired ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’

November 12, 2025

In 1996, Paramount Pictures released The Ghost and the Darkness, a historical horror-adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins, starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The story is based on the true account of the Tsavo man-eaters, in which two lions — reasons for which are still debated to this day — mercilessly preyed upon construction workers during the tumultuous construction of a significant railway bridge in Kenya, Africa. Over the course of nearly a year, these two lions were reportedly responsible for the death of 135 people.

Screenwriter William Goldman — the famed writer of such classics as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Princess Bride — first heard about the legend of the Tsavo man-eaters while traveling in Africa in 1984, and immediately found the subject engrossing and perfect fodder for the big-screen treatment. Although the film indulges in some creative liberties in its retelling of this famous tale (as is the case with most Hollywood movies based on true stories), it may have actually downplayed the gruesome events that unfolded over 100 years ago. Let’s take a look at the horrifying true story behind The Ghost and the Darkness.

The Hunter Becomes the Prey in ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’

Paramount Pictures

At the heart of the story is Lt. Colonel John Henry Patterson (played in the film by the late and great Val Kilmer), who in 1898 was sent to Africa by the British government to oversee the construction of an essential railway bridge in the Tsavo region of Kenya. The building project was a massive operation, employing thousands of workers (most of them brought in from India) and spanning miles of railway track. Almost immediately after Lt. Patterson’s arrival, the pair of lions began their vicious attacks.

Right away, these attacks were considered highly unusual; not only is it incredibly uncommon for lions to hunt in pairs, but the fact that they were both male was even stranger still. Furthermore, unlike typical lions, the Tsavo man-eaters lacked manes (a common trait among lions in the region). While animal scientists aren’t exactly sure why this is the case, the most prevalent theories suggest that the harsh environment — which is incredibly dry and covered in rough, thorny brush — makes manes inefficient at best and debilitating at worst, so lions evolved to be born without them.

But more puzzling still is why. It isn’t normal for lions to attack humans without provocation, yet almost every night, workers were literally being dragged out of their tents and feasted upon. They even targeted specific areas of the camp — like the hospital tent — and took advantage of the sprawling area, never attacking the same place twice. And while the lions occasionally engorged themselves on the remains of those they killed, for the most part, the man-eaters didn’t eat their victims. In other words, they were killing for the thrill of it. These were like monsters out of a horror movie.

Since Patterson oversaw the bridge project, it was also his responsibility to remove these two lions from the area. It was a massive undertaking, and not an easy one. Most nights, Patterson would spend camping out in a tree, waiting for the lions to strike. But this method quickly proved ineffective, as the construction site was so large that he could not know which section the lions would target.

Patterson also tried a defensive approach, but his efforts were in vain. He and the workers set up bomas — barricades made up of thorny brush — around the perimeter of the campsite, but the lions would easily circumvent these obstacles. Small fires were lit around camp to scare the lions off, but they were unbothered. Strict curfews were instituted, but this didn’t make much of a difference when workers were being killed in their tents. Patterson even moved the hospital tent — a hotbed of attacks — but the lions quickly sniffed out the new location. As the bodies continued to pile up, the workers began to revolt, threatening to stop production until the monstrous lions were killed.

Since many of these workers were brought in from India (the country was under British rule at the time) and weren’t native to the region, they had no idea how to properly defend themselves from these beasts. And even if they did, these lions proved far more cunning than the typical big cats that even the locals were familiar with. Legend quickly began to spread around the camp, claiming these were no ordinary lions, but vengeful ghosts defending their territory from the railway system and, in effect, the encroaching British Empire. The workers named them “Ghost” and “Darkness” (hence the film’s title).

Patterson Concocts a Crafty Plan To Stop the Ruthless Beasts

With the workers threatening to cease work and the British government breathing down his neck, Lt. Patterson had to get crafty. One of his most well-known attempts to capture the beasts is wonderfully recreated in the film, where Patterson transforms an abandoned railway cart into a box trap. Three workers (who apparently volunteered for this thankless role), armed with rifles, locked themselves behind steel bars within the box trap and baited the lion with animal remains. Surprisingly, the trap worked; one of the lions was drawn into the car, triggering the trap doors and locking it inside with the workers.

Immediately, the lion panicked and lunged at the steel bars, which started to give way under the beast’s massive size. The frightened and overwhelmed workers desperately unloaded on the lion with their rifles, but somehow missed every shot. One of their bullets connected with the cage door, opening the trap and allowing the lion to escape. Around this point in the movie, the audience is introduced to Charles Remington, a famous big-game hunter who is played by Michael Douglas. But this character is a creation of William Goldman’s and didn’t actually exist.

In reality, Patterson requested that British troops help take down the lions — that’s how serious the problem had become. While Britain was hesitant to send troops (out of fear that it might make them appear weak), it did send in a small squadron of Indian soldiers — known at the time as Sepoys. It’s around this point that things finally started to turn around. Patterson built a scaffold in the middle of an area where the big cats were known to stalk and used it as a hunting stand. Using the remains of a dead donkey to lure the lions out of hiding, Patterson sat atop his hastily assembled hunting stand and waited. But he didn’t have to wait long, as that night the first lion emerged from the brush.

Patterson managed to shoot the beast a few times, but it escaped. A few nights later, the lion returned, and Patterson, with the help of a much more powerful rifle, was able to take it down. With one lion dead, morale began to shift, but hunting the second lion would not be as easy. Things started well enough for Patterson, who utilized the same technique to lure the lion out of hiding. As before, it worked, but Patterson was again unable to kill the beast.

What followed was a multi-week hunt for the injured lion. For close to two weeks, the lion was untraceable. But eventually Patterson and troops tracked it down and managed to shoot it a few more times. Somehow, the lion still managed to get away — but not for long. The next day, Patterson took down the second and last lion, finally putting an end to the months-long ordeal.

Patterson’s Trap Finally Puts an End to the Horrific Nightmare

With the lions finally neutralized, work on the railway was soon completed. Soon after, Patterson returned to his home in London with the bodies of the two lions and recounted the events in his semi-autobiographical book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, which William Goldman drew from heavily when writing The Ghost and the Darkness. Despite the dark shadow of brutal colonialism over the story, it remains a nail-biting tale.

To this day, scientists are unsure what caused these attacks. The bodies of the lions, which Patterson later donated to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, were studied by scientists, who concluded that the lions’ bad teeth may have been to blame for their unusual behavior. Allegedly, their teeth were “soft” — much like a zoo lion — and thus unable to catch prey and tear through bone. One of the lions also had what appeared to be an infected root, which most likely made hunting incredibly painful. In short, these lions targeted humans because they were easier prey.

The actual death toll is debated as well. While Patterson claimed these lions killed 135 people, official records put the real number somewhere in the vicinity of 30–40. However, we’ll never be sure: Great Britain had reason to undermine these numbers to maintain their image, and Patterson could have exaggerated the number of dead to further bolster his own status and ego. Although we’ll probably never get the “full truth” about what happened, one thing is for sure: it made for one hell of a terrifying movie.

Where To Stream ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’

Those of you who are brave enough to watch all the action, terror, and carnage unfold in the gripping adventure thriller can stream The Ghost and the Darkness on Pluto TV or rent/buy the film on multiple streaming platforms, including Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango, all for $3.99/$7.99.