Jan. 9, 2026

Best of 2025: Winter Horror Stories, Cryptids & Wendigo Folklore

Best of 2025: Winter Horror Stories, Cryptids & Wendigo Folklore
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Spreaker podcast player icon Audible podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon

Bundle up, my spookies—this Best of 2025 episode of the Weekly Spooky horror podcast is a snow-choked compilation built for year-round bingeing: winter horror, blizzard dread, creature features, and a finale that pivots into true crime + folklore with a chilling Terrifying & True deep dive.

Inside this Best of 2025 compilation:

  • “I Love the Cold” — Jonathan Lumpkin • A quiet winter evening turns wrong when comfort gives way to a creeping, unnatural chill—and the cold starts to feel less like weather and more like a presence.
  • “The Blizzard of ’58: Never Meet Your Idols” — Bruce Haney • A fan’s dream encounter collides with a historic storm, where admiration curdles into obsession and the whiteout becomes a trap you can’t charm your way out of.
  • “I Was Stalked by a Monster from the Woods” — Michael Kelso • From a porch with binoculars to a tree line that moves on purpose, this one escalates into full-tilt cryptid horror—the kind that makes you stop looking out the window at night. 
  • “The Wendigo Curse: A Legend of Greed and Destruction” (Terrifying & True) • We wrap with wendigo folklore, winter starvation terror, and the unsettling bridge between myth and documented history—where the legend becomes a warning… and the real world gets even darker. 

New here? These episodes stand alone—so hit play, lock the door, and tell us: which winter nightmare got under your skin the most?

🎧 LISTEN NOW and subscribe for spine-tingling horror stories every week!

🎉 Unlock exclusive bonus episodes and support the show on Patreon!
👉 WeeklySpooky.com/Join

📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story!

🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here !
👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.559
All right, my Spookyes, Welcome back to the best of

2
00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:09.279
twenty twenty five, where we crack open the vaults and

3
00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:13.480
replay the episodes that hit the hardest, the ones that

4
00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.160
made you pause the show to listen for footsteps in

5
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:23.519
your own house. To Night's compilation is pure winter nightmare fuel,

6
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.039
the kind of cold that doesn't just numb your fingers,

7
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:32.119
it rewrites you. Snow so thick it erases the road

8
00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:36.679
behind you. A blizzard that turns a bright, cheerful department

9
00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:41.399
store into a locked, shadowy maze. And a tree line

10
00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:46.840
where something tall is watching, something patient enough to wait

11
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:52.240
for you to look away. And then the terrifying and

12
00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:59.119
true story of the Wendigo of Algonquin. Myth plenty to

13
00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:06.079
wet your appetite, So get comfortable, get warm, and keep

14
00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:11.480
one eye on the window just in case, because these

15
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:16.239
stories don't just take place in the snow, they thrive

16
00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:21.359
in it. Now let's begin our best of twenty twenty

17
00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:25.959
five winter horror stories, cryptids and when to Go folklore

18
00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.799
and see what follows us out of the storm, and

19
00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:36.239
make sure you're subscribed for more scary stories, true crime

20
00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:47.959
and so much more every single week. I love the

21
00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:54.719
Cold by Jonathan Lumpkin. It could be worse. The old

22
00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:59.680
woman said, I love the cold. Jared Styles couldn't see

23
00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:04.400
how that was possible, I hope, so he said, here

24
00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.920
are a hundred pounds and didn't bring a jacket. Jared

25
00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:10.479
wanted to add that this might have been the first

26
00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:14.680
time Miss Durrick had been out of Florida for sixty years,

27
00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:20.439
but he was trying to hide his rising panic. The

28
00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.240
car could start, but it wasn't going anywhere. He felt

29
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:28.560
the impact when the car hit something as it slid

30
00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.879
down the embankment, and maybe it was hard enough to

31
00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:36.120
explain the shattered axle, but he didn't understand how his

32
00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:39.759
car got off the road. There was a loud whoosh

33
00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:43.439
of wind. He felt the car dip slightly away from

34
00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:47.039
the wind, and the wheels slid a little towards the

35
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.400
battered old guard rail. Then he felt a hard lurch

36
00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:56.479
towards the edge. Jared was in his mid thirties, insurance

37
00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.960
adjuster by day, and giving strangers rides in his car

38
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.439
in his spare time. There hadn't been another car on

39
00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:07.599
this road for fifteen minutes, and the only way to

40
00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:11.599
explain the lurch is if another vehicle hit him and

41
00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.960
all he had seen was an owl. It was sarcasm,

42
00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.039
said the old woman from inside the car. And I

43
00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:25.360
did bring a jacket. It just isn't thick enough. Jarrett

44
00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.879
had worn shirts thicker than what she was calling a jacket,

45
00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:33.400
and the snow had started up again. He was looking

46
00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:38.199
at his now useless rear passenger tire, remembering the impact.

47
00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:43.159
He remembered approaching a curve and heard wind so loud

48
00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:47.360
it drowned out nearly every noise in the car, including

49
00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:51.120
Miss Dryck screaming as they knocked over the guard rail

50
00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:55.800
and started sliding down the embankment. The ice on the

51
00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.479
road wasn't out of the ordinary, but how easily the

52
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.639
guardrail failed was concerning. It was difficult to see through

53
00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:08.080
the snow, but one hundred feet up it didn't look

54
00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.199
like the wreck of twisted steel that he saw in

55
00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.439
cell phone pictures every day in the office. It looked

56
00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:17.879
more like when he tried to use a coat hanger

57
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.399
as a makeshift door lock when he was a kid

58
00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:25.399
and bent it in one spot. The passenger side of

59
00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:29.360
the car also didn't look like it smashed through metal

60
00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:33.600
engineered to stop it. It looked like it knocked something

61
00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:36.920
out of the way. It hit the tree on that side,

62
00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.120
which broke the rear wheel, but that was a singular

63
00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:47.800
vertical impact. There's normally more horizontal indentation and linear scratching

64
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.319
when vehicles hit guardrails. The only time of vehicles crumple

65
00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:57.000
zones shouldn't crumple is when they hit something significantly more

66
00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:02.240
crumply than they are. He didn't have a flashlight, and

67
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.720
the only lady had was on the front of the car,

68
00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:12.439
but Jared was fairly sure there should be more damage.

69
00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:16.600
My phone doesn't work, miss Durrick screamed, as she hid

70
00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:22.480
her phone against his dashboard. Jared checked his smart watch dead.

71
00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:27.920
He pulled out his phone dead. The car was still running,

72
00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:31.160
which was good because his head lights were the only

73
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.959
thing cutting through the darkness. I've got charging cables in

74
00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:41.160
the console, he said, keeping his voice very calm. Try

75
00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:45.680
plugging it in. Her flight from Jacksonville had landed very late,

76
00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.800
and she said that she did not trust her sister

77
00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:52.879
or brother in law behind the wheel, so she found

78
00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:57.639
Jared on a ride share group on Facebook. Booking clients

79
00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:01.480
and not giving a cut to uber was pretty good

80
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.759
when you could get the work. It's not working, she said,

81
00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.600
opening the car door to talk to him. How long

82
00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:13.680
before Uber sends someone to check on us? They won't,

83
00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.800
said Jared. I didn't think you'd want me wasting time

84
00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:21.439
picking up other people, so I'm not logged onto the app.

85
00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:25.399
Your sister will probably call someone when we don't show up,

86
00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.079
though she was quiet for a moment, which was the

87
00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.680
first time she had stopped talking since he picked her

88
00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:37.560
up from the airport. They gave me their door code,

89
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:42.560
she said softly. They don't get in until tomorrow afternoon.

90
00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.240
Miss Durrik closed the door, leaving Jared to his thoughts

91
00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:52.759
in a snowstorm. When he was stressed, he would flip

92
00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.079
the lid of his earbud case up and down. He

93
00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.439
didn't think a grown man should have a fidget toy,

94
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:04.120
but sometimes he needed one, and it helped him think.

95
00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:08.600
Jared tried to steer his thoughts to something other than

96
00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.199
two dead phones, a dead watch, and a dead earbud case.

97
00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:17.680
In the forty minutes since Jared met Miss Durrick, he

98
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:22.360
learned a few things. She was divorced, she wasn't any

99
00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.160
younger in spirit than she looked, and her favorite hobby

100
00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:32.920
was complaining. She complained about a vampire podcast. The podcast's

101
00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:36.879
host spent a whole episode trying to say that vampires

102
00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:41.519
drinking their victim's blood was missing the point. What mattered

103
00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.839
was that the victims bled to death, and Miss Durreck

104
00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.839
thought it was stupid and spent most of the car

105
00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:52.120
ride to this point saying so. He wished complaining could

106
00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:54.639
be his job, and she had to figure out a

107
00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:59.680
way for them to survive until morning. Guys don't stand

108
00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.439
in the very long before they start thinking about making

109
00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:07.920
a fire. The tree they hit sliding down was long dead,

110
00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:13.000
which had conveniently shattered when it fell over. Dead standing

111
00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:17.079
trees are about the best firewood you'll find, almost as

112
00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:22.319
good for fires as a lighter. But Jared didn't smoke.

113
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.399
He got back into the driver's seat. Miss Durrek was

114
00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.319
having trouble opening a pill bottle. The car's heater was

115
00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:36.480
still working, although hot had been downgraded to warm. Jared

116
00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:41.000
suspected arthritis, and he held out his hand. She gave

117
00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:44.240
it to him, and he opened the bottle and handed

118
00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.960
it back. The old woman looked at him, not to

119
00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.720
see if he was going to steal her pills. But

120
00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.840
if he was going to judge her for needing them,

121
00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:59.919
Jared knew the look. My mom has bipolar, he said

122
00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:03.799
to the front windshield. She also takes pills that have

123
00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:08.600
liths something printed on them, and she has fewer bad days.

124
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:14.080
Feeling some sad coming up, not this time, she said,

125
00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.840
swallowing one of the pills. But too much happy isn't

126
00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:22.639
going to help right now? What kind of happy? Jared

127
00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:27.840
felt the desperate procrastination rise between him and outside as

128
00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:31.559
he asked the question. Small talk in a warm car

129
00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:35.080
is infinitely better than a snowstorm that will kill them

130
00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:41.480
with no help. Cozy happy, funny joke, happy, accomplishment happy,

131
00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:48.559
he trailed off, nostalgic happy. She said something about the

132
00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.120
way she answered made Jared think she had not been

133
00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:58.600
asked that question before, specifically about dancing under dressed in

134
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:04.039
the snow. Aren't you from Florida? It didn't happen. It

135
00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:10.240
just feels nostalgic. She paused for a second. I'd kill

136
00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:14.240
for some cozy happy right now. Your mom teach you

137
00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:18.480
about the happies. Jared glanced at her and looked back

138
00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.840
out the windshield. Some She tried to keep me at

139
00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:26.600
a distance from her mental health, but she opened up

140
00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:31.120
when I got older. I can't remember her mentioning nostalgic happy,

141
00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:36.399
though it's new for me too, she said. After a

142
00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:42.080
minute of trying the dead radio, Jared spoke again. Besides

143
00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:46.399
the car itself, everything that uses a battery is dead.

144
00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.399
The heater might go pretty soon too. I think there's

145
00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.080
a blanket in the trunk, but I'd like to get

146
00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.960
a fire going if I can. Do you have a lighter,

147
00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.639
I don't. I have hand sanitizer, which is flammable, if

148
00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:08.120
that helps. She pulled a small plastic squeeze bottle out

149
00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:11.840
of her purse and handed it to him. You could

150
00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:15.360
try jumper cables, but I doubt you'd get anything going

151
00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:20.480
in all this. Why is all our stuff dead? Jared

152
00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.960
thought for a moment. The only thing that makes sense

153
00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:28.639
is something killed them but wasn't strong enough to take

154
00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.960
out something as big as the car. Has to be

155
00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:37.000
something electromagnetic. But that's a problem I can't really worry

156
00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:40.159
about until I get a fire going. There had been

157
00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:44.360
folk tales in the area throughout the years of disappearances

158
00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:48.000
and dead batteries in the area. They went back to

159
00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:54.360
early settlers and demagnetized compasses, but conspiracy theories and ghost

160
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:58.799
stories weren't going to get anyone home safe. I was

161
00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:02.240
kidding about the jump upper cables. It won't work, and

162
00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.679
I don't want you to freeze to death or electrocute

163
00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:11.679
yourself trying. She was wrong, and Jared was drunk with accomplishment,

164
00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:15.519
happy and I told you so, happy, which he thought

165
00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:19.600
were the best kinds. It had taken a while and

166
00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:23.159
a lot of sticks, but he eventually managed to get

167
00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:26.759
a fire going. The trick is to put your larger

168
00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:29.720
logs at the bottom and get a bunch of sticks

169
00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:33.639
burned down to coals on top. Keep putting sticks on

170
00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.399
and the coals will light the wood. There was enough

171
00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.360
shattered tree that it should go for a few hours.

172
00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:44.840
The snow sizzled against his fire, and it was bright

173
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.679
enough that he could see further into the darkness around him.

174
00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:54.360
He thought he saw a young woman until he blinked

175
00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:59.720
and she was gone. She was dressed exactly like the

176
00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:05.799
missing person Facebook post from a week before. A lawyer

177
00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.159
had driven home from a late night at the office.

178
00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:12.799
Her vehicle was in her driveway, with her phone and

179
00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:17.840
bag still in the passenger seat, and the driver's door open,

180
00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:24.440
but she never made it to the ring. Doorbell snow

181
00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:29.559
had covered up the footprints, the phone had been factory reset,

182
00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:34.360
and the cops had nothing to go on. For a

183
00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:39.039
brief second, he thought he saw her, except that her

184
00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:45.039
hair and face were different. Maybe his mind brought up

185
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.480
the missing person photo with the clothes she was wearing

186
00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.759
at the game. All that was there now was an

187
00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:00.639
owl staring at him from a tree. That's amazing, said

188
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:05.759
a voice beside him. Jared jumped sideways. When he looked back,

189
00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:10.759
there was a tiny, one hundred pound old woman laughing

190
00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:15.159
at him. She pulled his blanket over her head, shook

191
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.080
it with her arms, and made ghost noises at him.

192
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:27.399
The woods are haunted, uber driver, beware, She trailed off.

193
00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:34.720
Oh shit, Miss Derrick said, you're bleeding. Jared looked down

194
00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:38.360
where he had landed. There was a rock about where

195
00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:42.720
his forehead hit the ground with blood on it. He

196
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:45.960
knew head injuries bled a lot, and he could see

197
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.279
it start to drip off his eyebrow. He felt the

198
00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:52.519
spot on his forehead where it hurt a little, but

199
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:57.039
he wasn't going to die of blood loss. I'm fine,

200
00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:01.399
he said, as he got up. My fault for being

201
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.360
so jumpy. Get warm by the fire. I've got a

202
00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:08.480
first aid kit in the trunk. He got to the

203
00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:13.000
open hood of the car and felt briefly like passing out.

204
00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.960
He heard the sound of a car approaching and saw

205
00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:20.679
the shadows from headlights on the road twenty feet up.

206
00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:25.200
The loud wind came again and drowned out his yells

207
00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:30.639
for help. As he looked up, he stopped yelling when

208
00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:34.519
the car's headlights hit the guard rail, he could clearly

209
00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:39.480
see that it had been repaired. He had hoped the

210
00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.480
driver would see the guard rail that he had crashed into,

211
00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.240
but it appeared to have been bent back to where

212
00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:51.960
it was before the crash. The driver would have no

213
00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.320
reason to check on them or call nine one one.

214
00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:02.840
Jared turned around, and that's when he saw. She was beautiful,

215
00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:08.639
appeared to be in her late twenties, dressed exactly like

216
00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:13.759
the missing lawyer. This woman was taller and her shirt

217
00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:19.799
didn't quite reach her hip. Her complexion was fairer, darker hair,

218
00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.240
and was clearly an athlete. She had her hand on

219
00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.960
Miss Dirick's cheek, and it was the most relaxed her

220
00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:33.279
body language had been since Jared met her, even letting

221
00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.519
the blanket slip from her shoulders and fall to the ground.

222
00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:44.200
You are tired, old woman. Kick snow on the fire

223
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:50.679
and then we can rest. We don't need it any more.

224
00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:55.759
Her voice was sweet, as if Miss Dirick was a

225
00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:01.320
loved one she hadn't seen in a long time. Jared

226
00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:06.559
heard an accent, but couldn't identify it. Miss Derrick leaned

227
00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:10.200
her head into the hand on her cheek and made

228
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:16.480
a soft noise Jared couldn't interpret other than sounding happy.

229
00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:21.640
The woman met Jared's eyes, and he felt as if

230
00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:25.160
his head was a train that had been knocked from

231
00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:30.279
its track. He immediately felt the sensation of his knees

232
00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:35.279
being cold, and when he looked down he was kneeling

233
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:40.960
in the snow. His brain felt broken, as if he

234
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.319
was playing a video game that lagged. By the time

235
00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:50.359
he looked up again, he felt his face gently pressed

236
00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:55.359
into the woman's stomach as she ran a hand through

237
00:17:55.400 --> 00:18:00.599
his hair. She shushed him, brought her index finger to

238
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:05.160
her lips and kissed it before touching the corner of

239
00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:09.920
his mouth. It was the last real thing he felt

240
00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:16.160
as he drowned in the happiness of being loved. He

241
00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:20.519
opened his eyes. Jared thought he had woken up from

242
00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:25.359
a nightmare he couldn't remember. He was laying in a pond,

243
00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:30.000
looking up into a snowstorm. There was an owl curled

244
00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.319
up on his chest, and he had no other motivation

245
00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:38.079
in the world than to keep this creature warm. He

246
00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.680
knew it was the last of its kind, her family

247
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:47.119
hunted to extinction by the bats of Europe. This owl

248
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.519
could not make more like it because there was too

249
00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:55.079
much risk to be discovered. All around the shore of

250
00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:00.960
the pond were people dancing naked in the snow. He

251
00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:04.079
turned his head to the side and saw the water

252
00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:09.000
at the shore start to freeze and the ice coming closer.

253
00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:13.519
One of the dancers was the lawyer he recognized from

254
00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:17.839
the missing person flier. She had recently broken up with

255
00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:21.559
her boyfriend after he cheated on her, and had been

256
00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:26.960
planning to move closer to her parents. Jared knew that

257
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.279
she was his sister. Now in a family brought together

258
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:36.480
by this owl. There was an explorer who killed his

259
00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:42.000
family after getting drunk three hundred years ago. He lit

260
00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:46.039
his covered wagon on fire and used the heat to

261
00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:50.880
keep warm. He was now a brother in the owl's family.

262
00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:56.759
Jared could see the ice forming closer to him. It

263
00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:01.400
would touch him soon, but the cold not get this owl.

264
00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:07.119
Something like a purr came from the bird on his chest,

265
00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:11.119
and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

266
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.720
He reached out to his right and tried to touch

267
00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:20.599
the ice to keep it from getting closer. Miss Derrick's

268
00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:25.519
head exploded in pain. There was also a familiar sensation

269
00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:30.079
as the lithium kicked in. It felt as if the

270
00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.480
wires in her head were being torn out of something

271
00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:38.160
happy and violently reconnected where they were supposed to go.

272
00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:43.359
She looked down at a half smothered fire and snow

273
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:47.119
on her feet. She looked up and saw her driver

274
00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:52.160
kneeling at the feet of a woman and hugging her tightly.

275
00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:58.640
As her brain rewired itself, primitive fear took over. She

276
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:02.119
could see Jared's arm around this woman and the way

277
00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:05.880
her brain reacted. She would have been less scared if

278
00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:10.359
the woman was a large bear. Jared's fingertips were starting

279
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.720
to turn black, and she watched the gangreen begin to

280
00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:19.839
reach the knuckles of his right hand. The woman was

281
00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:25.000
whispering to him about getting warm and resting Miss Derrick

282
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:29.599
felt herself about to pass out. She stepped forward, picked

283
00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.079
up the only weapon available to her, and did the

284
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:37.400
only things she could think of that might make a difference.

285
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:41.640
She jammed the end of the jumper cables into the

286
00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.799
sides of the other woman's head. The headlights dimmed and

287
00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:48.480
the engine sounded as if it was going to die.

288
00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:53.200
The woman didn't stiffen up or jump away like she

289
00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:57.480
expected her to. As soon as the electricity sparked into

290
00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:01.880
her skull, the woman slumped and fell to the ground

291
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:08.400
like a building collapsing. Her veins and arteries bulged against

292
00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:13.680
her skin. The skin above her veins charred and cracked

293
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:21.200
before opening, and a green fire poured out. Her driver's

294
00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.960
body was as still as a statue. Tears mixed with

295
00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:28.960
the blood from his head in a bright red streak

296
00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.519
down the side of his nose to his chin, forming

297
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:37.039
a crimson icicle. The wound had not scaped over, but

298
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:41.119
it wasn't bleeding any more. His arms were still hugging

299
00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:46.559
someone that wasn't there. She tried to lift him to

300
00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:50.480
his feet, but he was so stiff that his knee

301
00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:57.200
came off the ground. She was crying, now, knowing she

302
00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:02.640
was never getting rescued. All that was left of the

303
00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:08.480
woman was a burning pile of clothes and wispy green fire.

304
00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:14.119
It reminded her of the Northern lights, and the heat

305
00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:20.160
was intermittently and sporadically hot, but didn't seem to correspond

306
00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:24.480
to the dancing fire. There was a sweetness to the

307
00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:29.400
smell of the smoke that she could not identify. Miss

308
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:33.200
Derrick looked from the dying fire to her frozen driver

309
00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:40.319
and knew she would join them soon. It was only

310
00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:45.359
getting colder. Her legs couldn't handle the cold and adrenaline,

311
00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:49.680
and her mind couldn't handle the death. She sat down

312
00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:53.240
with her back against the front of the car. The

313
00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:57.599
heat from the engine was nice. Panic was setting in

314
00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:04.119
and the woman's green, burning eyes kept intruding into her vision.

315
00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:08.160
The weight of knowing she wasn't going to survive the

316
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:14.920
cold went straight to her stomach and she vomited. She

317
00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:18.680
heard what she thought was a bell and looked to

318
00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:23.319
the statue of her driver. There was a tiny glow

319
00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:27.920
coming from his wrist, and when she looked at it,

320
00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:33.559
she saw a new user welcome message on his smart watch.

321
00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:48.039
The Blizzard of fifty eight by Bruce Haney. Every kid

322
00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:52.960
loves the snow day, and Margaret was no exception, But

323
00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:57.400
why did it have to be this day of all days?

324
00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:01.759
She was upset because her big brain other, who annoyingly

325
00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:05.519
calls her Margo, was supposed to take her to Meyern

326
00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:12.279
Frank's department store because Lenore Shelley Ghoulcraft was putting on

327
00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:17.200
an in store appearance. Margaret knew that if school got canceled,

328
00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:20.480
there was a good chance that the appearance would get

329
00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:26.559
canceled as well. Lenore Shelley Guhlcraft hosted a television show

330
00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:33.759
called Miss Goule's Hour of Madness on KPWN. The show

331
00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:37.720
had only been running for around three months, but Margaret

332
00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:41.319
had been hooked since the first episode in October of

333
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.240
fifty seven. She was impressed by the ad in the

334
00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:49.319
paper that had lines like we dare you to watch

335
00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:55.359
and too Scary for the week Hearted. The first episode

336
00:25:55.400 --> 00:26:01.519
was nineteen fifty one's The Thing from Another World. Margaret

337
00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:04.839
loved the show, and her big brother liked it as well.

338
00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.319
This was a big deal to her because she and

339
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:13.079
her brother used to be close, but he just turned

340
00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:17.880
fourteen and she was only twelve, not a huge gap,

341
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.599
but he was at that age where he was less

342
00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:24.519
interested in hanging out with his kid's sister and much

343
00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:28.240
more interested in impressing the older kids and talking to

344
00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:32.680
girls his own age who weren't related to him. Margaret

345
00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:36.319
wondered if maybe her brother just liked Miss Goule's Hour

346
00:26:36.359 --> 00:26:41.799
of Madness because of how beautiful Leonore was. Because she was.

347
00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:47.000
Margaret understood that, but she loved her for her humor

348
00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.839
and for how cool she was. In one episode, Leonore

349
00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:56.559
Shelley Goulcraft, or as her fans called her, Miss Goule,

350
00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:01.240
rallied against the local school board for not teaching kids

351
00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:05.519
the important parts of history. Kids today don't even learn

352
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:11.400
about werewolves, vampires, or even ghouls like me anymore. Miss

353
00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:16.359
ghoul had rallied. Parents and teachers were not impressed by this,

354
00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:20.599
which just made the kids love her that much more,

355
00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:26.799
much to Margaret's dismay. School did indeed get canceled that day.

356
00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:31.000
The snow was light, but there was the threat of

357
00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:36.039
an even bigger storm, possibly even a blizzard, coming later

358
00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:40.599
in the day, but the weather stayed mild, so Margaret

359
00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:44.039
started working on her parents to convince them to let

360
00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:48.599
her brother David take her to the event. Anyways, I've

361
00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.200
been checking the TV all day and they haven't said

362
00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:56.000
anything about the event being canceled. Margaret's please worked and

363
00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.440
she got her parents to agree that if it didn't

364
00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.599
start snowing again by four in the afternoon, they could go.

365
00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:07.039
The event started at five o'clock, but it was only

366
00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:10.160
a twenty minute bus ride to the department store where

367
00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:15.559
she was having the appearance, so Margaret agreed to the terms.

368
00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:19.640
It didn't snow before they left, but it did start

369
00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:23.720
fifteen minutes into their bus ride, and by the time

370
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.200
they were dropped off in front of the five story

371
00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:31.079
department store, there was an additional three inches of snow

372
00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:37.079
on the ground. They arrived after four thirty. David wanted

373
00:28:37.079 --> 00:28:40.920
to look at the electronics section first. He heard they

374
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:44.799
had a portable nine inch television. I know I can't

375
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.240
afford it, but wouldn't it be swell your own TV

376
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.680
one you could watch even if our parents are hogging

377
00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:54.440
the one in the living room. The cool thing, too,

378
00:28:54.599 --> 00:28:57.559
is it weighs less than twenty pounds and has a

379
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:02.160
handle that makes it portable. David told his little sister

380
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:06.720
Margaret wasn't having it no way, I want a good

381
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:10.119
spot to see Miss goul She also wanted to get

382
00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:14.039
there to make sure it was still happening. When they

383
00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.720
arrived at the space, there were thirty chairs set up

384
00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:21.440
facing the minimal set. No one was sitting in any

385
00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:25.519
of them. The stage featured a coffin and a wreath

386
00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:31.599
with a sash that said beloved r Ip. Just as

387
00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:35.000
they got to the front and sat down, a man

388
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:38.799
walked over to the wreath and hung up a handwritten

389
00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:45.400
sign with the words event canceled storm warning on it.

390
00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:50.799
Then over the PA system, a similar message went out.

391
00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:56.240
Good evening shoppers. With the impending snowstorm, the in store

392
00:29:56.279 --> 00:30:00.400
appearance of Miss Goolcraft is canceled as well well. To

393
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.799
be cautious, we are closing the store for the evening.

394
00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:08.279
Please bring your final purchases to our always happy, always

395
00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:11.640
helpful cashiers. Please do hurry, as we want them to

396
00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:16.039
get home to their families safely. But we were so

397
00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:20.880
close to meeting her, Margaret pleaded with her brother. I'm

398
00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:24.400
sure they'll reschedule the event. Come on, let's get home

399
00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:29.119
while we still can. Let's look for her. She's probably

400
00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:33.079
still here. If it just got canceled. We could still

401
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:37.759
meet her, Margaret argued. David wanted to respond and tell

402
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:42.359
her no, but she was already up and moving. Most

403
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:45.640
of the staff were heading towards the exits, so the

404
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:51.000
usually off limits areas were unguarded. David watched and then

405
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:56.200
followed her outside the large windows. David saw that the

406
00:30:56.279 --> 00:31:00.000
snow was falling at such a rate he couldn't even

407
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:03.599
and see the building next door. It was a total

408
00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:09.359
white out. Margo, the snow was really coming down. She

409
00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:13.119
didn't listen, so David had to speed up his pace

410
00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:19.519
to follow her into the dimly lit hallway she had entered. Okay, Margot,

411
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:24.039
we gotta go while we still can, David said. But

412
00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:27.960
just then Margaret saw a simple sign tacked to the

413
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:33.359
wall that said guest with an arrow pointed further down

414
00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:38.000
the dark hallway. She pointed it out to David. We

415
00:31:38.119 --> 00:31:42.000
are so close. David got caught up in the moment

416
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:47.039
because he too wanted to meet Leonora Goolcraft. He wanted

417
00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:50.079
to know if she was even prettier in person than

418
00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:54.200
she was on black and white television. They followed that

419
00:31:54.400 --> 00:32:00.079
sign to a long walkway that led to another hallway.

420
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.119
They knew there were all these offices behind stores. Margaret asked,

421
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:10.000
they have to count the beans somewhere, the beans, Margaret asked.

422
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:14.319
David didn't answer, and Margaret had lost interest in the

423
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:18.200
answer anyway, because she realized she was standing right in

424
00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:24.599
front of the guest door. Margaret knocked but got no response,

425
00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:30.799
so she pushed the door open. Inside there were red

426
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.079
roses with a card next to them, and a small

427
00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:40.480
basket of untouched fruit. What wasn't there was any sign

428
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:45.559
of Lenore Ghulcraft. The handwritten sign on the door said

429
00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:53.720
Sondra Warden Parenthesi. Leonore asked Ghoolcraft. She must have got

430
00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:56.720
caught in the snow and never made it here, David

431
00:32:56.759 --> 00:33:01.559
explained to his sister. Margaret looked up at him. He

432
00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:06.599
could see the disappointment all over her face. Margo, it's fine.

433
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:09.960
I'll take you to the next appearance. Now, let's get

434
00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:12.440
out of here while we can still get home, and

435
00:33:12.599 --> 00:33:17.559
remember it's Wednesday. We can watch her show tonight, David said,

436
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:21.559
to try to comfort her. What if she's still stuck

437
00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:23.519
in the snow and doesn't make it to her show,

438
00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:28.680
Margaret asked, don't worry, There'll be a new episode. They

439
00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:32.000
filmed those things days, if not weeks before they air.

440
00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:39.160
David explained that made Margaret feel better. That is until

441
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:43.559
they heard an explosion in the distance and then the

442
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:49.279
lights went out. They both screamed. Then a few moments

443
00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:54.359
later they heard what they thought was someone else screaming.

444
00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:57.880
It wasn't close and it was hard to tell where

445
00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:00.519
it came from, being that they were in the back

446
00:34:00.599 --> 00:34:06.039
room of a five story building. I'm scared, Margaret said,

447
00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:11.000
it's okay, it was probably just a transformer. The lights

448
00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:16.760
went out, right, David explained, what about the scream, Well,

449
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:20.559
we screamed when the lights went out. Maybe it was

450
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:25.880
the same thing with whoever that was. Maybe. Margaret said,

451
00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:29.840
either way, let's start making our way out of here.

452
00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:34.119
It's going to be hard in the dark. They struggled

453
00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:37.519
because where they were there were no windows, so it

454
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:41.920
was pitch black. Margaret held out her brother's hand as

455
00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:45.760
he led the way. They walked for a few minutes

456
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:50.960
before realizing they may have just went in circles. After

457
00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:54.880
a couple more minutes, Margaret thought she was hearing noises,

458
00:34:55.719 --> 00:34:59.719
but she couldn't figure out what or where they were

459
00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:05.119
coming from. Do you hear that I don't hear anything.

460
00:35:05.719 --> 00:35:11.280
David said, Okay, maybe my mind is just playing tricks

461
00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:16.719
on me. It could be rats, David offered. The thought

462
00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:19.920
made Margaret let go of her brother's hand so that

463
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:23.000
she could use both of hers to feel the walls

464
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:27.920
as she desperately tried to find a way out. Hold up.

465
00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:31.440
David yelled out because she was getting too far ahead

466
00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:35.519
of him, But then he heard a click and some

467
00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:41.599
light entered the hallway. Margaret had found the exit. Back

468
00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:44.639
in the shopping area, they could see a lot better.

469
00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:49.239
There were no electric lights, but there was light filling

470
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:53.920
in from the various windows. It was night, but the

471
00:35:53.960 --> 00:35:57.360
moon's reflection hitting the white snow that was coming down

472
00:35:57.880 --> 00:36:01.840
kept it from being fully dark. This was the moment

473
00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:06.480
they realized that there wasn't anyone else in the store.

474
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:11.320
Noticing this, they ran back down the now frozen in

475
00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:16.119
place escalators and then ran to the entrance, which was,

476
00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:22.199
of course locked. It didn't take David long to find

477
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:24.719
that you didn't need a key to unlock it from

478
00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:30.039
the inside. The only problem was that the doors opened outward,

479
00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:33.360
and there were already a couple of feet of snow

480
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:38.159
piled up against them. They both pushed on the doors

481
00:36:38.199 --> 00:36:43.519
as hard as they could, but they wouldn't budge David.

482
00:36:43.800 --> 00:36:46.559
What are we going to do? How are we going

483
00:36:46.599 --> 00:36:51.920
to get the doors open? Margaret asked her big brother. Margo,

484
00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:56.039
maybe it's for the best. I don't think we want

485
00:36:56.039 --> 00:37:00.159
to go out there. Look at all that snow, and

486
00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:05.280
I don't see anybody. If we go out there, we'll

487
00:37:05.320 --> 00:37:11.760
freeze to death. But I'm already cold, Margaret said. David

488
00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:15.360
wasn't quite sure what to do to fix their situation,

489
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:18.360
but he knew he could at least try to solve

490
00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:22.639
the problem of his little sister being cold. Of course,

491
00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:26.280
this would benefit him too, he was starting to feel

492
00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:29.920
the chill as well. The two of them made their

493
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:33.480
way to the home goods section. David found a stack

494
00:37:33.519 --> 00:37:38.000
of blankets and covered his sister up. The smaller the

495
00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:40.000
space to heat up, the better we will be at

496
00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:44.559
keeping warm. I learned that in Scouts, so stay under

497
00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:47.679
the covers until I get back. I'm going to try

498
00:37:47.679 --> 00:37:51.360
and find us a tent. With that, he was gone

499
00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:57.480
looking for supplies, and Margaret was left alone. She hoped

500
00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:01.280
her brother wasn't gone too long. She was still worried

501
00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:06.159
about the sounds she had heard earlier. This worry increased

502
00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:12.760
when she began hearing the strange sounds again. It didn't

503
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:19.719
sound like rats to her. It wasn't scratching, more like

504
00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:25.239
a light tapping. When she realized that the sound was

505
00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:31.079
getting closer, she finally figured out what it was. It

506
00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:35.880
was footsteps, coming from the opposite direction of where her

507
00:38:35.880 --> 00:38:43.119
brother had gone. They weren't alone. With her curiosity peaked,

508
00:38:43.719 --> 00:38:49.719
she stared in the direction of the approaching figure. The

509
00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:53.960
first indication that this person was female was when she

510
00:38:54.119 --> 00:38:58.119
saw a leg wearing a black pump come around the corner.

511
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:02.679
Margaret held her her breath and remain silent as she

512
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:08.320
waited to see the rest of the body reveal itself. Then,

513
00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:13.760
to her amazement and excitement, it turned out to be

514
00:39:14.039 --> 00:39:21.039
Lenor Shelley Ghoulcraft in her signature black dress and pumps.

515
00:39:21.960 --> 00:39:27.519
Miss gool Margaret yelled. Miss goul just looked towards her

516
00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:35.320
with no expression. I'm your biggest fan. Margaret continued, Oh,

517
00:39:35.639 --> 00:39:40.719
thank you, my dear fiend. Now tell me what are

518
00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:44.960
you doing here all alone in this storm? Shouldn't you

519
00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:47.519
be at home in your pajamas with a bowl of

520
00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:51.599
popcorn waiting for my show to come on tonight. We're

521
00:39:51.639 --> 00:39:56.480
playing a personal favorite of mine, The Mad Ghoul from

522
00:39:56.559 --> 00:40:01.480
nineteen forty three. It's the story of my older brother,

523
00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:07.800
Miss Gould said, and then laughed. This made Margaret give

524
00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:11.400
a little chuckle. In the voice of the wicked witch.

525
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:16.400
She asked, are you all alone, my pretty or is

526
00:40:16.440 --> 00:40:22.320
your little dog here too? Margaret laughed again but didn't

527
00:40:22.360 --> 00:40:27.760
answer are you all alone? Miss Goul asked in her

528
00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:33.519
normal voice, My brother's here. He's trying to find us

529
00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:40.960
some supplies to stay warm. Ah, what a good protective brother.

530
00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:50.360
David was searching in the sporting goods department for a

531
00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:54.639
tent but was having no luck. He figured that the

532
00:40:54.679 --> 00:40:58.719
small sporting goods section didn't bother carrying tents in the

533
00:40:58.760 --> 00:41:02.440
middle of winter. But by this time he had already

534
00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:05.800
found a large bag that he was filling with items

535
00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:09.239
that he believed would help them. He told himself that

536
00:41:09.280 --> 00:41:12.000
it was not stealing because none of the stuff he

537
00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:15.480
was taking was going to leave the building. Being that

538
00:41:15.559 --> 00:41:19.000
there were no tents, he needed to find another small

539
00:41:19.079 --> 00:41:21.960
space where they could trap their body heat so that

540
00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:25.760
they didn't freeze during the night. On the fourth floor,

541
00:41:26.159 --> 00:41:29.159
he thought of the perfect spot. When he saw the

542
00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:34.559
female apparel section the dressing room, he was nervous as

543
00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:37.960
he approached it because it was much darker there as

544
00:41:37.960 --> 00:41:41.159
it was located in the center of that floor, so

545
00:41:41.280 --> 00:41:45.320
the light from the windows didn't quite make it. David

546
00:41:45.360 --> 00:41:48.440
reached into the bag and pulled out the flashlight he

547
00:41:48.519 --> 00:41:52.400
borrowed from the sporting goods section. When he pointed his

548
00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:55.920
light into the store, he noticed that a coat rack

549
00:41:56.079 --> 00:41:58.920
was lying on the ground, like there had been some

550
00:41:59.159 --> 00:42:06.000
kind of struggle. He approached slowly and searched the space

551
00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:09.440
with the beam of his flashlight for anything else to

552
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:15.239
be off. What is that, David said. He knew what

553
00:42:15.360 --> 00:42:20.119
it was, but hoped that he was wrong. He continued

554
00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:26.400
moving forward, now at an even slower pace. Oh fudge,

555
00:42:26.599 --> 00:42:31.719
he whispered to himself as he continued towards the pool

556
00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.760
of blood he saw on the floor. Fudge, fudge, fudge.

557
00:42:37.800 --> 00:42:40.519
He wanted to scream when he saw the dead body

558
00:42:41.239 --> 00:42:44.039
of what he thought was a man who looked like

559
00:42:44.119 --> 00:42:48.280
he had been attacked by a wild animal, with his

560
00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:52.239
neck torn open and his intestines lying next to him,

561
00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:57.760
plus the rather large chunk out of his skull. It

562
00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:01.400
was hard to determine what was the wound that killed him.

563
00:43:02.519 --> 00:43:05.880
The only reason he didn't scream was that he was

564
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:10.239
worried that whatever did this was still in the building.

565
00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:14.960
He turned around and ran. He had to get back

566
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.440
to his sister before whatever did this got to her.

567
00:43:20.840 --> 00:43:25.280
The doors are stuck. We can't get out, Margaret explained

568
00:43:25.360 --> 00:43:29.760
to Miss Goole. Oh well, what are we to do?

569
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:36.880
Miss Goole said, aren't you freezing in just that dress? Oh? Yes,

570
00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:41.840
it is quite cold, but I hide it. Well, I'm

571
00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:45.800
just that good of an actress. But your skin looks

572
00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:50.960
so smooth, no goosebumps or anything. It's it's freezing in here.

573
00:43:52.039 --> 00:43:56.719
It's amazing what modern makeup can hide. Miss Goole laughed.

574
00:43:58.039 --> 00:44:04.599
I guess so, Margaret, said, Margo. Margo. David yelled as

575
00:44:04.599 --> 00:44:07.480
he ran to where he had left his sister, but

576
00:44:07.599 --> 00:44:11.599
when he spotted Miss Gould standing there, he stopped in

577
00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:18.039
his tracks. What David, Margaret asked, but he paid no attention.

578
00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:23.559
His panic was temporarily forgotten as he looked upon Miss Ghoul,

579
00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:30.639
and she smiled at him. It's it's Lenor Goulcraft in

580
00:44:30.840 --> 00:44:35.960
the undead flesh A pleasure to make your acquaintance, young man,

581
00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:41.360
she said. Then she switched from a friendly smile to

582
00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:46.639
a seductive one. The teenage boy's hormones were activated, and

583
00:44:46.719 --> 00:44:50.280
he completely forgot about his panic from the horrors he

584
00:44:50.360 --> 00:44:56.000
had just seen. Gee whiz, you are even prettier in person.

585
00:44:57.159 --> 00:45:02.639
Oh am I you flir, she said, and then threw

586
00:45:02.679 --> 00:45:05.920
her head back in a seductive laugh that grew in

587
00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:13.039
intensity until it transformed into something else, something manic. When

588
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:15.400
she put her head back down to look at the boy,

589
00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:22.320
she smiled and opened her mouth to reveal her teeth.

590
00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:29.960
David smiled back because he didn't know what else to do.

591
00:45:31.079 --> 00:45:35.320
The laughter scared Margaret, so she pulled the blankets over

592
00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:40.239
her head. Since she was hiding, she didn't see Miss

593
00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:46.880
Gould stick out her alarmingly long tongue. David looked at

594
00:45:46.880 --> 00:45:50.880
her in shock as she smiled with her large, serpent

595
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:56.440
like tongue sticking out. He then watched in horror as

596
00:45:56.480 --> 00:45:59.920
she curved the tip of her tongue back towards her mouth,

597
00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:05.000
where she used it to remove her fake front teeth.

598
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:11.079
This revealed her real teeth, which were sharp and looked

599
00:46:11.119 --> 00:46:16.480
like they were made for chewing through bone. Because she

600
00:46:16.679 --> 00:46:21.199
was hiding. Margaret didn't see what happened when Miss Gould

601
00:46:21.320 --> 00:46:26.239
attacked her brother. All she heard was his scream, and

602
00:46:26.320 --> 00:46:29.000
by the time she got the nerve to climb out

603
00:46:29.039 --> 00:46:36.199
from her blankets, they were both gone and there was

604
00:46:36.239 --> 00:46:40.800
a pool of blood where her brother had been standing.

605
00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:47.480
Margaret knew she had to hide, but where, Plus she

606
00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:50.760
was too cold to get out from under the blankets.

607
00:46:51.239 --> 00:46:55.519
She looked all around at what her options were. None

608
00:46:55.559 --> 00:47:00.519
looked great, but then she noticed that duffel bag that

609
00:47:00.679 --> 00:47:05.800
David had brought back with supplies was left behind. She

610
00:47:05.840 --> 00:47:09.960
didn't get out from under her blankets, she simply scooted

611
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.960
herself forward, pulling the blankets with her. When she got

612
00:47:15.079 --> 00:47:19.159
close enough, she grabbed the handle of the bag and

613
00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:23.960
dragged it towards herself. She unzipped it in a hurry.

614
00:47:24.679 --> 00:47:29.719
Worried that Miss Goule would come back. She started to

615
00:47:29.760 --> 00:47:35.440
look inside, but she stopped and listened when she thought

616
00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:40.880
she heard something. After waiting ten seconds, she chalked it

617
00:47:40.960 --> 00:47:44.360
up to her nerves and began searching through the bag

618
00:47:44.480 --> 00:47:50.159
once again. When she heard footsteps running towards her, she

619
00:47:50.280 --> 00:47:54.079
took one look behind her, hoping it was her brother.

620
00:47:55.800 --> 00:48:03.719
It wasn't It was Lenor Shelley Gulcraft. She had abandoned

621
00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:08.760
her heels and was running right towards her, with her

622
00:48:08.800 --> 00:48:12.559
sharp teeth and the blood that was dripping from her mouth,

623
00:48:13.199 --> 00:48:18.599
down her chin, and onto her dress. Margaret no longer

624
00:48:18.679 --> 00:48:22.320
saw her as the hero to look up to. She

625
00:48:22.440 --> 00:48:26.639
didn't even see her as a person, more like a creature,

626
00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:33.519
like an actual ghoul. Margaret dug through the bag frantically,

627
00:48:33.920 --> 00:48:39.760
looking for something to fight her off with, but found nothing.

628
00:48:41.119 --> 00:48:44.760
Before Miss Goul got to her, she burst out of

629
00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:48.800
the blankets with the bag in hand and ran as

630
00:48:48.920 --> 00:48:52.920
fast as she could. She was afraid to look back

631
00:48:53.360 --> 00:48:57.719
to see how close Miss Goul was, so she didn't.

632
00:48:58.719 --> 00:49:02.679
She wasn't sure how how close Miss Gooul was as

633
00:49:02.719 --> 00:49:06.960
she sprinted from the home goods section and navigated through

634
00:49:07.039 --> 00:49:10.519
the kitchen area. If she wasn't in such a panic,

635
00:49:11.039 --> 00:49:14.079
she might have thought about grabbing a knife on her

636
00:49:14.119 --> 00:49:19.480
way through, but she was so lost in terror that

637
00:49:19.599 --> 00:49:23.440
she almost ran straight into a floor display of pots

638
00:49:23.440 --> 00:49:28.880
and pans. As she exited the kitchen department, she heard

639
00:49:28.920 --> 00:49:32.840
a loud bang and then things falling to the ground.

640
00:49:33.920 --> 00:49:36.760
Miss Goul must not have made it past the pots

641
00:49:36.760 --> 00:49:41.039
and pans display like she had. If she had seen

642
00:49:41.119 --> 00:49:45.400
that in a cartoon, Margaret would have been laughing, but

643
00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:49.079
in real life she knew it would just make Miss

644
00:49:49.119 --> 00:49:54.079
Goul angry and more determined. She did hope that it

645
00:49:54.119 --> 00:49:58.800
would buy her a little time at least, so when

646
00:49:58.800 --> 00:50:03.159
she reached the junior clothing department, she decided to hide

647
00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:08.400
behind the Sunday dresses that hung against the wall. Margaret

648
00:50:08.480 --> 00:50:12.039
sat and tried to catch her breath while listening for

649
00:50:12.119 --> 00:50:16.440
any sign of Miss Gooul. When she was calm enough

650
00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:19.599
to remember how cold she was, she dug through the

651
00:50:19.679 --> 00:50:24.679
Duffel bag again. Lucky for her, her brother had found

652
00:50:24.719 --> 00:50:28.920
a warmer coat than the one she had on, a hat,

653
00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:32.840
and even a better pair of gloves. The coat was

654
00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:36.440
the kind she saw rich kids wear, while the hat

655
00:50:36.559 --> 00:50:39.880
was even fancier than that. It was made of fur.

656
00:50:40.519 --> 00:50:42.880
It was the kind of hat she only saw people

657
00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:46.960
wear in movies. She put it on and then put

658
00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:50.480
the jacket on over her other coat. Though she was

659
00:50:50.559 --> 00:50:56.920
still frightened, this bit of comfort and warmth made her smile. However,

660
00:50:57.719 --> 00:51:02.159
she only got to enjoy it for a moment. She

661
00:51:02.280 --> 00:51:06.639
forgot all about her comfort when she heard footsteps approaching

662
00:51:06.880 --> 00:51:11.119
her hiding spot. She put her hands together like she

663
00:51:11.239 --> 00:51:14.760
did before she went to bed each night, and prayed.

664
00:51:15.840 --> 00:51:20.199
She hoped God could still hear her, even though she

665
00:51:20.320 --> 00:51:24.320
was not saying her prayer out loud like she normally would.

666
00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:30.000
Dear God, please let that be my brother. Please let

667
00:51:30.119 --> 00:51:35.360
him be alive, even though he is annoying, I love him. Also, God,

668
00:51:36.079 --> 00:51:39.239
please don't let me get eaten by miss gul Amen.

669
00:51:40.480 --> 00:51:45.599
But she accidentally said the amen part out loud. When

670
00:51:45.679 --> 00:51:49.639
two hands reached into the dresses to pull them apart,

671
00:51:50.360 --> 00:51:56.360
revealing her hiding spot, she screamed. When David heard his

672
00:51:56.519 --> 00:51:59.760
sister scream, he knew he had to get out of

673
00:51:59.800 --> 00:52:04.079
his hiding spot. It was a good one too. He

674
00:52:04.239 --> 00:52:08.000
found one of the new models of refrigerators, the ones

675
00:52:08.079 --> 00:52:11.400
that don't lock from the outside. He knew how to

676
00:52:11.519 --> 00:52:14.639
check for the inside latch because it was all over

677
00:52:14.679 --> 00:52:19.000
the news two years previously, when the Refrigerator's Safety Act

678
00:52:19.199 --> 00:52:22.920
was put into place after several kids locked themselves in

679
00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:28.360
discarded fridges while playing hide and seek. Those kids always

680
00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:32.360
won the game, but when they were finally found, they

681
00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:37.559
couldn't celebrate their victory. As he made his way towards

682
00:52:37.559 --> 00:52:41.199
the screen through the kitchen department, he grabbed a knife.

683
00:52:41.800 --> 00:52:44.840
He wished he had the Duffel bag, and there he

684
00:52:44.960 --> 00:52:48.159
had something he really thought would help them fight her off.

685
00:52:49.039 --> 00:52:51.159
He had grabbed it and put it in the bag

686
00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:55.679
after he had found that first dead body. Miss Goul

687
00:52:55.880 --> 00:52:59.639
picked up young Margaret with one hand, held her above

688
00:52:59.679 --> 00:53:06.079
her head and laughed, Oh, you sweet thing. I will

689
00:53:06.280 --> 00:53:14.079
so enjoy eating you, she said, exposing her large teeth again.

690
00:53:15.079 --> 00:53:20.400
With ungodly strength. She moved Margaret closer to her mouth,

691
00:53:21.159 --> 00:53:26.679
which unhinged and opened wider and wider, until her mouth

692
00:53:26.840 --> 00:53:32.239
was large enough to take Margaret's whole head in hey

693
00:53:33.039 --> 00:53:36.800
barf breath. David yelled while running at her with a

694
00:53:36.880 --> 00:53:40.840
knife held in front of him. Miss Ghoul looked over

695
00:53:40.920 --> 00:53:46.480
at him, then through Margaret at David. His reaction time

696
00:53:46.679 --> 00:53:50.840
wasn't quick enough to move the knife, and his sister

697
00:53:51.679 --> 00:53:58.639
landed on it, stomach first. Margo David screamed as they

698
00:53:58.719 --> 00:54:03.239
tumbled and rolled on the floor from the momentum. As

699
00:54:03.280 --> 00:54:07.679
the Ghoul approached, she pulled the knife out of Margaret

700
00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:12.159
and walked over to David. As missus Goul walked away,

701
00:54:12.880 --> 00:54:16.239
Margaret rolled up her coat in a panic to look

702
00:54:16.280 --> 00:54:20.360
at her wound. It was minor. If she hadn't been

703
00:54:20.360 --> 00:54:26.880
wearing the two coats, she might have been dead. Hey, cutie,

704
00:54:27.079 --> 00:54:30.760
I wondered where you'd gotten off to. Did I play

705
00:54:30.840 --> 00:54:35.519
too rough last time? She said, then took the knife

706
00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:40.320
and pressed it into David's shoulder. It was the same

707
00:54:40.480 --> 00:54:43.639
spot where she had bitten a small chunk out of

708
00:54:43.679 --> 00:54:48.840
him earlier. The pain was excruciating, but he still had

709
00:54:48.880 --> 00:54:54.400
the wherewithal to yell to his sister, Margo, grab the bag.

710
00:54:54.639 --> 00:55:00.119
It's in the bag, Margaret jumped up. She wanted to

711
00:55:00.159 --> 00:55:03.880
fight off the Ghul, but she followed her brother's demand

712
00:55:04.400 --> 00:55:08.719
and ran to where the bag was hidden. Inside she

713
00:55:08.840 --> 00:55:14.119
pulled out a small camping stove, a small container of kerosene,

714
00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:20.039
and another flashlight, before she spotted what looked like a gun,

715
00:55:21.400 --> 00:55:26.079
but the barrel was too big. She thought it looked

716
00:55:26.119 --> 00:55:30.920
like a shotgun handgun. She searched the bag for bullets,

717
00:55:31.559 --> 00:55:36.960
but only found these cylindrical things, which she hoped were them.

718
00:55:38.199 --> 00:55:42.679
She slid one in it fit, then put one more

719
00:55:42.719 --> 00:55:49.159
in her pocket. Here goes nothing, she said, then pointed

720
00:55:49.239 --> 00:55:54.079
the thing at Miss Goul and pulled the trigger. You

721
00:55:54.159 --> 00:55:58.239
have to cock it, her brother screamed in agony as

722
00:55:58.320 --> 00:56:05.000
Miss Goul twisted the blade fudge. Margaret cocked the gun,

723
00:56:05.679 --> 00:56:10.639
pointed it at Miss Goule, and pulled the trigger out

724
00:56:10.679 --> 00:56:14.360
of the barrel. A projectile hit Miss Ghoul on the

725
00:56:14.519 --> 00:56:20.360
back and then burst into flames. This made her stop

726
00:56:20.400 --> 00:56:24.199
her attack on David as she frantically patted the back

727
00:56:24.239 --> 00:56:29.480
of her head, putting out the fire and checking for damage.

728
00:56:29.599 --> 00:56:33.320
Once the fire was out, she stood up and walked

729
00:56:33.360 --> 00:56:38.639
towards Margaret. A flare gun. That was your big attempt

730
00:56:38.880 --> 00:56:45.719
at stopping me, Miss Goole laughed. Margaret was scared, but determined.

731
00:56:46.320 --> 00:56:49.800
She waited for the right moment. It came when Miss

732
00:56:49.800 --> 00:56:55.039
Goole hissed at her. Lucky for Margaret, she opened her

733
00:56:55.039 --> 00:56:59.280
mouth wide in the process. That was the moment that

734
00:56:59.400 --> 00:57:04.760
Margaret fired the second shot she had loaded. Margaret watched

735
00:57:05.159 --> 00:57:09.440
as the flare flew directly into Miss Goul's mouth, slid

736
00:57:09.480 --> 00:57:14.960
on her tongue, and disappeared down her throat. Miss Goul

737
00:57:15.119 --> 00:57:19.079
bellowed in agony and scratched at her throat as if

738
00:57:19.119 --> 00:57:21.360
she could get to the burning flare that was in

739
00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:25.920
her esophagus. Margaret took this opportunity to run to her

740
00:57:25.960 --> 00:57:29.760
brother and pull the knife out of his shoulder. She

741
00:57:29.840 --> 00:57:32.760
slid it into the front pocket of her jacket so

742
00:57:32.800 --> 00:57:36.119
that she could have both hands free to help David up.

743
00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:39.360
As soon as he was he grabbed one of her

744
00:57:39.360 --> 00:57:44.800
hands and started running, dragging her behind. He pulled so

745
00:57:45.079 --> 00:57:49.599
fast that she almost lost her balance. They ran down

746
00:57:49.760 --> 00:57:54.480
multiple frozen escalators before Miss Goole once again caught up

747
00:57:54.519 --> 00:57:58.760
to them. As they ran through the shoe department, Miss

748
00:57:58.800 --> 00:58:02.960
Goule was fury and began to take large leaps across

749
00:58:03.000 --> 00:58:06.960
the floor towards them. They tried knocking over as many

750
00:58:07.039 --> 00:58:11.199
shoes as they could to slower down, but it did

751
00:58:11.480 --> 00:58:16.239
very little. Eventually, they found themselves up against the windows

752
00:58:16.559 --> 00:58:20.320
leading to the outside. Where are we going to go?

753
00:58:21.159 --> 00:58:27.239
Margaret asked, I don't know, David said, I'm too young

754
00:58:27.320 --> 00:58:31.400
to die. David looked around at what was at their

755
00:58:31.400 --> 00:58:36.760
disposal to fight the creature off, stay here? What what

756
00:58:37.920 --> 00:58:44.320
do you trust me? David asked, yes, okay, David said,

757
00:58:44.880 --> 00:58:50.559
then ran, leaving his sister behind as Miss goul approached.

758
00:58:51.400 --> 00:58:55.400
When he got far enough away, he yelled, hey, you

759
00:58:55.480 --> 00:59:00.360
old hag. Come get me. Miss Goul took the bait

760
00:59:00.880 --> 00:59:05.039
and ran towards David, who grabbed the big metal shoe

761
00:59:05.119 --> 00:59:09.480
size measurer and then ran towards where the Ghoul had been.

762
00:59:10.280 --> 00:59:13.599
Then he made his way towards his sister. At this

763
00:59:13.800 --> 00:59:17.400
point he wished they hadn't knocked over all the shoes,

764
00:59:17.519 --> 00:59:21.880
because it hadn't slowed Miss Goool down much, but it

765
00:59:22.000 --> 00:59:27.039
was slowing him down significantly. He got just close enough

766
00:59:27.039 --> 00:59:30.400
to his sister when Miss Goul grabbed the back of

767
00:59:30.440 --> 00:59:35.599
his shirt. Duck David yelled and threw the heavy metal

768
00:59:35.639 --> 00:59:40.239
shoe measurer towards his sister. She just barely moved in

769
00:59:40.360 --> 00:59:44.280
time as it whizzed past her head and smashed the

770
00:59:44.400 --> 00:59:50.039
large glass window behind her. The cold was felt instantly

771
00:59:50.119 --> 00:59:55.400
by Margaret, and snow began to flow into the department store. Jump,

772
00:59:56.000 --> 01:00:00.360
David yelled. Margaret looked out the window. They were on

773
01:00:00.400 --> 01:00:04.360
the second floor. It was still dumping snow, and she

774
01:00:04.519 --> 01:00:08.360
prayed that the snow hadn't frozen over yet. Since it

775
01:00:08.480 --> 01:00:13.400
was still coming down, she told herself it must be soft.

776
01:00:13.960 --> 01:00:18.719
If it was, it might be survivable. If it's hard,

777
01:00:18.840 --> 01:00:22.800
it would be like jumping on to concrete. Screw it,

778
01:00:23.199 --> 01:00:27.320
she said, in an attempt to convince herself, But when

779
01:00:27.360 --> 01:00:31.039
she went to jump, she couldn't do it. She was

780
01:00:31.079 --> 01:00:36.199
too scared jump. David yelled as Miss Gould turned him

781
01:00:36.199 --> 01:00:41.360
around and opened her mouth wide to bite him. This

782
01:00:41.639 --> 01:00:47.480
bite you won't run away from, Miss Goole said, Let

783
01:00:47.519 --> 01:00:51.280
go of my brother, Margaret yelled as she ran towards

784
01:00:51.320 --> 01:00:54.239
Miss Goule. In her hand was the knife she had

785
01:00:54.239 --> 01:00:59.440
pulled from her brother's shoulder earlier. She slashed Miss Gould's face,

786
01:01:00.119 --> 01:01:04.840
creating a large gash through her mouth and nose. Blood

787
01:01:04.920 --> 01:01:08.639
flowed down from her wound at a rate that alarmed

788
01:01:08.719 --> 01:01:12.320
Miss Ghoul. She dropped David so she would have both

789
01:01:12.400 --> 01:01:17.480
hands to inspect her sliced open face. I guess you

790
01:01:17.559 --> 01:01:21.159
have more of a face for radio now, Margaret said.

791
01:01:21.960 --> 01:01:25.960
David ran to his sister and hugged her. You saved

792
01:01:25.960 --> 01:01:29.280
my life, he said, and then grabbed her by the

793
01:01:29.360 --> 01:01:33.440
hand and ran towards the window. He was leaving this

794
01:01:33.599 --> 01:01:37.239
all up to faith as he leapt out, pulling his

795
01:01:37.360 --> 01:01:42.719
sister behind. They both disappeared into the heavy snow that

796
01:01:42.880 --> 01:01:50.159
was coming down in sheets, Hoping for survival. The sounds

797
01:01:50.199 --> 01:01:54.199
they made when they hit the ground, made Miss Goul smile.

798
01:01:55.400 --> 01:01:59.960
There was a thud. Then they both bellowed in agger.

799
01:02:01.639 --> 01:02:06.280
But you can't bellow if you're dead. In the fall,

800
01:02:06.880 --> 01:02:10.800
Margo broke her right arm and David twisted his ankle.

801
01:02:11.800 --> 01:02:15.480
They writhed in pain as Miss Goul looked down from

802
01:02:15.559 --> 01:02:20.199
the broken window with her now thanks to Margaret, much

803
01:02:20.440 --> 01:02:25.440
larger smile. They both got quiet when they heard someone

804
01:02:25.880 --> 01:02:32.119
slogging through the snow in their direction. Margaret, is that you, David?

805
01:02:32.760 --> 01:02:37.719
A woman's voice said, it's them. It's really them, another

806
01:02:37.840 --> 01:02:42.840
voice said. Margaret and David were both relieved to see

807
01:02:43.280 --> 01:02:48.360
it was their parents. How did you get here, Margaret asked,

808
01:02:49.079 --> 01:02:52.400
Originally in a taxi, but it got stuck and we

809
01:02:52.480 --> 01:02:55.960
walked the rest of the way. Mom said, we were

810
01:02:56.000 --> 01:02:59.679
so afraid you were somewhere freezing to death. Their father said,

811
01:03:00.199 --> 01:03:02.880
all right, come on quick, get up. We have to

812
01:03:02.880 --> 01:03:06.719
get you somewhere warm. I don't think I can walk,

813
01:03:07.360 --> 01:03:12.440
David said, I think my arm is broken. Margaret cried.

814
01:03:13.440 --> 01:03:18.079
A sound of laughter came from above. Margaret, David and

815
01:03:18.159 --> 01:03:24.039
their parents looked up, but Miss Goul was gone. Did

816
01:03:24.079 --> 01:03:28.519
you jump out of that window? Why? Their father asked,

817
01:03:29.920 --> 01:03:32.880
let's not worry about that now, we need to get

818
01:03:32.920 --> 01:03:36.800
them out of this cold. Doesn't your aunt live around here?

819
01:03:37.280 --> 01:03:42.079
The father asked, Oh, yes, she does, the mother said.

820
01:03:43.000 --> 01:03:46.960
With that, the father picked up David and the mother

821
01:03:47.039 --> 01:03:49.960
helped Margaret up, and they made their way to their

822
01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:53.760
aunts to warm up and figure out what the next

823
01:03:53.800 --> 01:03:59.199
step would be. That night, the last episode of Miss

824
01:03:59.239 --> 01:04:04.159
Ghul's out Hower of Madness aired. However, with all the

825
01:04:04.280 --> 01:04:14.280
power outages around town, almost nobody saw it. Weeks later,

826
01:04:14.719 --> 01:04:17.920
after what became known as the Blizzard of fifty eight

827
01:04:18.440 --> 01:04:24.519
had come and gone, the family sat watching television. Margaret's

828
01:04:24.639 --> 01:04:27.920
arm was still in a cast, but was healing nicely.

829
01:04:29.119 --> 01:04:33.039
On the news, they announced that Miss Gould's House of

830
01:04:33.119 --> 01:04:38.440
Madness was no more and that Lenor Shelley Gulcraft had

831
01:04:38.480 --> 01:04:44.480
not been seen since the snowstorm. Oh I'm sorry, dear.

832
01:04:45.119 --> 01:04:51.599
Hopefully she's okay, her mother said. Margaret and David shared

833
01:04:51.639 --> 01:04:56.480
a glance. You won't get to meet her now, her

834
01:04:56.519 --> 01:05:00.920
mother added, it's all right, Mama, I don't want to

835
01:05:01.039 --> 01:05:05.039
meet her. What if she was awful. It's like people say,

836
01:05:05.840 --> 01:05:15.320
never meet your idols. I was stalked by a monster

837
01:05:15.480 --> 01:05:21.880
from the Woods by Michael Kelso. I used to love

838
01:05:22.079 --> 01:05:25.920
sitting on my front porch gazing at the mountain full

839
01:05:25.960 --> 01:05:30.280
of trees spread out before me. Each season gave me

840
01:05:30.320 --> 01:05:35.079
a new appreciation for the beauty of nature. Even winter,

841
01:05:35.599 --> 01:05:39.360
which I hate, would color my trees in the most

842
01:05:39.760 --> 01:05:44.599
pristine white, making them look like a crowd of bridesmaids

843
01:05:44.719 --> 01:05:50.880
dressed in their spotless gowns, waiting for their bride. My

844
01:05:51.000 --> 01:05:56.639
favorite season was fall. The explosions of colors laid out

845
01:05:56.679 --> 01:06:00.440
like a gigantic quilt that changed from one day to

846
01:06:00.519 --> 01:06:04.719
the next until the last leaf floated to the ground

847
01:06:05.239 --> 01:06:10.920
and surrendered to winter. I could sit there for hours watching.

848
01:06:12.400 --> 01:06:16.119
Time would slip away as I admired my trees in

849
01:06:16.239 --> 01:06:23.320
total contentment. That was before I haven't looked at my

850
01:06:23.519 --> 01:06:29.079
trees in a long time ever since. It was a

851
01:06:29.079 --> 01:06:33.079
beautiful spring day. The blossoms on the trees were full

852
01:06:33.119 --> 01:06:38.119
of color right before the leaves unfurled. They're brilliant spring green.

853
01:06:39.679 --> 01:06:43.360
There was a stillness in the air. Usually the wind

854
01:06:43.400 --> 01:06:47.360
blows non stop down the mountain to varying degrees of strength,

855
01:06:48.079 --> 01:06:53.920
but it's always there. On this day, there wasn't even

856
01:06:53.960 --> 01:06:58.960
a puff of a breeze. It felt good, since the

857
01:06:59.000 --> 01:07:03.119
temperatures were all only in the lower seventies, but something

858
01:07:03.199 --> 01:07:10.559
about it seemed off. My trees stood silent, unmoving, as

859
01:07:10.599 --> 01:07:14.559
if they had also noticed the stillness and were awaiting

860
01:07:14.679 --> 01:07:21.440
some unseen harbinger of ill tidings. As usual, I took

861
01:07:21.519 --> 01:07:26.559
solace from such thoughts by admiring my trees. As I

862
01:07:26.719 --> 01:07:31.119
panned through the colorful buds about to emerge, I saw

863
01:07:31.199 --> 01:07:37.639
something I didn't expect. One of the trees moved. It

864
01:07:37.880 --> 01:07:42.199
wasn't much of a movement, just a subtle twitch of

865
01:07:42.239 --> 01:07:46.559
a branch. I shrugged it off as a rogue breeze,

866
01:07:46.679 --> 01:07:51.480
but it was only in that one spot. None of

867
01:07:51.519 --> 01:07:55.840
the trees around it had moved. This drew my attention

868
01:07:56.039 --> 01:07:59.840
and I focused on the offending spot. It was a

869
01:08:00.119 --> 01:08:05.159
round fifty yards away, just into the treeline near a field.

870
01:08:06.400 --> 01:08:09.960
I picked up my binoculars, which are my constant companion

871
01:08:10.400 --> 01:08:14.079
when I sit on my porch to spot various birds

872
01:08:14.119 --> 01:08:19.680
and other oddities. I focused on this oddity to see

873
01:08:19.680 --> 01:08:24.600
if it was merely my imagination zooming in on the

874
01:08:24.640 --> 01:08:28.399
offending branch. It seemed to be nothing out of order

875
01:08:28.439 --> 01:08:32.520
at first, but as I gave it my full attention.

876
01:08:33.520 --> 01:08:39.960
I noticed something odd. There were no buds on the branch.

877
01:08:41.279 --> 01:08:44.840
As strange as that was. The next observation I made

878
01:08:45.479 --> 01:08:50.000
was the branch was straight as an arrow, intriguing but

879
01:08:50.680 --> 01:08:55.840
hardly conclusive. But there were several other small branches growing

880
01:08:55.880 --> 01:08:58.840
straight up out of it. None of these had any

881
01:08:58.880 --> 01:09:05.079
buds either. These facts swirled through my mind, creating half

882
01:09:05.119 --> 01:09:13.279
baked conclusions. When, without warning, the branch moved, I watched

883
01:09:13.359 --> 01:09:19.319
with rapt fascination as the branch moved straight up. It

884
01:09:19.439 --> 01:09:22.760
wasn't like a breeze had caught it and waved it around,

885
01:09:22.840 --> 01:09:26.960
as branches are wont to do. It went straight up,

886
01:09:27.720 --> 01:09:35.720
staying completely level as it was before. This curiosity captured

887
01:09:35.800 --> 01:09:40.439
my total attention, as everything around me ceased to exist

888
01:09:41.199 --> 01:09:46.760
until I solved the riddle of the moving branch. Fanciful

889
01:09:46.880 --> 01:09:50.880
thoughts of ents sprang from the favorite stories of my

890
01:09:51.000 --> 01:09:55.199
youth and well into my adulthood. I smiled at the

891
01:09:55.199 --> 01:10:00.039
foolishness of such machinations. I knew my mind was having

892
01:10:00.079 --> 01:10:02.680
a bit of fun with me. It was the only

893
01:10:02.800 --> 01:10:07.359
conclusion that made any sense. This entire foray had been

894
01:10:07.439 --> 01:10:12.760
my mind playing tricks on me. If only that were

895
01:10:12.800 --> 01:10:16.399
the case, I would tell this story with the mirth

896
01:10:16.439 --> 01:10:21.399
of an old man spreading flights of fancy. I was

897
01:10:21.439 --> 01:10:24.880
about to put down my binoculars and take my mind

898
01:10:25.000 --> 01:10:29.199
inside for a nap where it could venture out into

899
01:10:29.239 --> 01:10:36.039
a proper dream, when the branch did the impossible. It

900
01:10:36.159 --> 01:10:40.680
moved sideways. It was like I was watching a time

901
01:10:40.800 --> 01:10:44.520
lapse of the branch in its growing cycle. Only none

902
01:10:44.600 --> 01:10:48.199
of the smaller points on the branch grew, It only

903
01:10:48.239 --> 01:10:54.720
got longer. And then I saw it. At the end

904
01:10:54.760 --> 01:11:01.039
of the branch, there was a head. I'd seen lots

905
01:11:01.039 --> 01:11:05.720
of animals during my time sitting on my porch, bears,

906
01:11:06.319 --> 01:11:12.159
mountain lions, skunks, coyotes, but I'd never seen anything like this.

907
01:11:13.359 --> 01:11:19.760
It looked like the bare skull of a deer. There

908
01:11:19.920 --> 01:11:24.000
wasn't an ounce of skin on it. It was several

909
01:11:24.079 --> 01:11:27.560
sizes bigger than the largest deer skull I had ever seen.

910
01:11:28.840 --> 01:11:33.840
It peaked around the corner and its hand grasped the tree.

911
01:11:34.079 --> 01:11:38.520
It was skeletal as well. But the worst part was

912
01:11:39.680 --> 01:11:45.800
it was looking right at me with its empty eye sockets.

913
01:11:46.399 --> 01:11:51.600
There weren't any eyes that I could see. My mind

914
01:11:51.720 --> 01:11:54.560
didn't give me a minute to ponder if this was

915
01:11:54.600 --> 01:11:58.319
a figment of my imagination. I was out of my

916
01:11:58.479 --> 01:12:03.359
chair inside and locking the door behind me before I

917
01:12:03.520 --> 01:12:08.000
knew i'd even gotten up. The last thing I remembered

918
01:12:08.720 --> 01:12:11.920
was how high up on the tree the head was.

919
01:12:13.640 --> 01:12:17.560
It must have been close to eight feet tall. I

920
01:12:17.720 --> 01:12:21.520
ran through the house, locking all the doors and windows,

921
01:12:22.079 --> 01:12:25.720
wondering how much good it would do if that thing

922
01:12:26.479 --> 01:12:31.920
decided it wanted in. My closest neighbor was a mile away,

923
01:12:32.960 --> 01:12:35.760
and I began wondering if this wouldn't be a good

924
01:12:35.920 --> 01:12:41.000
time for a visit. While I stood in the middle

925
01:12:41.039 --> 01:12:45.439
of my kitchen, panicked and indecisive, trying to figure out

926
01:12:45.520 --> 01:12:51.039
what to do next, I realized, to my horror that

927
01:12:51.159 --> 01:12:56.159
I had left my binoculars on the porch. The thought

928
01:12:56.319 --> 01:12:59.359
that this nightmare of a monster would run up and

929
01:12:59.600 --> 01:13:05.479
steal my binoculars was totally ludicrous, But if I wanted

930
01:13:05.479 --> 01:13:08.319
to check through the window to see if it was

931
01:13:08.359 --> 01:13:14.600
still there, they would be quite invaluable. Convincing myself to

932
01:13:14.680 --> 01:13:28.199
retrieve them, though, was another matter Entirely. I slowly approached

933
01:13:28.239 --> 01:13:32.279
the window that looked out onto the front porch as

934
01:13:32.319 --> 01:13:36.199
if it were the monster, waiting to grab me and

935
01:13:36.399 --> 01:13:41.279
drag me to its layer. With great trepidation and using

936
01:13:41.359 --> 01:13:45.680
more than my fair share of courage, I stepped to

937
01:13:45.760 --> 01:13:50.600
the window and peeked out through the curtain. My initial

938
01:13:50.640 --> 01:13:54.319
reaction was pure joy. As I no longer saw the

939
01:13:54.359 --> 01:13:59.359
monster in the tree line. I began chuckling to myself

940
01:13:59.399 --> 01:14:02.239
for the prank my mind had played on me, and

941
01:14:02.319 --> 01:14:05.960
making all sorts of excuses for what the apparition was.

942
01:14:08.159 --> 01:14:11.800
The smile fell from my face when I saw it

943
01:14:11.960 --> 01:14:16.000
standing in the middle of the field. Not only was

944
01:14:16.039 --> 01:14:21.560
it far beyond the horror my imagination had presented, but

945
01:14:21.680 --> 01:14:25.439
it was a good twenty yards closer to my house.

946
01:14:26.760 --> 01:14:31.439
The nightmare stood easily eight feet tall and had a

947
01:14:31.520 --> 01:14:35.119
massive rack of horns that went straight out in either

948
01:14:35.239 --> 01:14:40.119
direction at least three feet. What I could see of

949
01:14:40.159 --> 01:14:45.279
it was skeletal. There was no skin at all, except

950
01:14:45.319 --> 01:14:48.600
for the cloak that was draped over its shoulders and

951
01:14:48.720 --> 01:14:53.319
fell to mid calf. The cloak looked rough, like it

952
01:14:53.359 --> 01:14:59.840
had been made from the skins of other animals, those unholy.

953
01:15:00.000 --> 01:15:05.000
The empty eye sockets were staring straight at me. I

954
01:15:05.199 --> 01:15:09.640
froze as terror gripped me and managed to squeeze every

955
01:15:09.680 --> 01:15:14.399
ounce of fluid out of my bladder. It took a

956
01:15:14.439 --> 01:15:20.079
step towards me, then another. I knew there was no

957
01:15:20.159 --> 01:15:22.800
way I'd make it across the driveway to my car

958
01:15:23.159 --> 01:15:27.640
before it caught me and tore me to pieces. My

959
01:15:27.840 --> 01:15:32.920
mind started throwing out anything and everything it could. Call

960
01:15:33.039 --> 01:15:37.520
someone was the most plausible. I pulled out my phone

961
01:15:37.560 --> 01:15:41.960
from my pocket and dialed nine one one, nine one one,

962
01:15:42.000 --> 01:15:47.840
what's your emergency? Came the wonderful sound of rescue. I

963
01:15:47.840 --> 01:15:53.520
I'm being stalked by something, I said, Do you mean someone? No,

964
01:15:53.800 --> 01:16:01.279
it's definitely something. Okay, describe this something for me. I

965
01:16:01.359 --> 01:16:05.159
gave the best description I could of the monster, not

966
01:16:05.399 --> 01:16:09.720
daring to look out the window for confirmation of my details.

967
01:16:10.640 --> 01:16:15.880
Uh huh. The operator said, well, give me your address

968
01:16:16.039 --> 01:16:20.039
and I'll send over a cryptid hunter as soon as possible.

969
01:16:21.319 --> 01:16:30.479
Oh okay, my addresses. The line disconnected. Hello, I said, desperately.

970
01:16:31.479 --> 01:16:37.119
I tried calling back, but it just kept ringing. Hiding

971
01:16:37.159 --> 01:16:40.479
didn't seem to be an option. It was obvious from

972
01:16:40.520 --> 01:16:44.800
the animal skins it wore that this thing was a

973
01:16:45.039 --> 01:16:49.760
very proficient hunter. I assumed that meant it had a

974
01:16:49.760 --> 01:16:53.199
good sense of smell and would be able to sniff

975
01:16:53.239 --> 01:16:58.680
me out of any hiding place in my home. My

976
01:16:58.840 --> 01:17:03.439
next option was to leave. I went to the kitchen

977
01:17:03.479 --> 01:17:07.640
and grabbed my car keys, hoping to slip out unnoticed.

978
01:17:09.000 --> 01:17:12.760
Those hopes were dashed when I looked out and saw

979
01:17:12.800 --> 01:17:18.520
the monster walking up my driveway. I ducked behind the door,

980
01:17:19.039 --> 01:17:24.880
eyes darting around, looking for anywhere to hide. To this day,

981
01:17:25.640 --> 01:17:29.239
I don't know why, but I ran to the drawers

982
01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:33.920
and grabbed a butcher knife. What good it was going

983
01:17:34.000 --> 01:17:39.279
to do against a monster that was entirely bones was

984
01:17:39.359 --> 01:17:45.520
beyond me. But I wasn't exactly calmly considering my options

985
01:17:46.039 --> 01:17:51.159
at that moment. The first crash splintered my outside door.

986
01:17:52.439 --> 01:17:56.880
The second crash destroyed it. The monster ducked its head

987
01:17:56.920 --> 01:18:02.199
and stepped inside my mudroom, staring right at me. I

988
01:18:02.279 --> 01:18:06.760
had three options. Run to the living room, go upstairs,

989
01:18:07.119 --> 01:18:12.520
or down to the basement. I have no idea why

990
01:18:12.560 --> 01:18:16.319
I sprinted toward the basement door. I shut and locked

991
01:18:16.319 --> 01:18:19.439
it behind me as the inside door broke into pieces.

992
01:18:20.079 --> 01:18:23.600
Making my way down the steps as quickly and quietly

993
01:18:23.640 --> 01:18:28.920
as possible, I listened to the floorboards creak above me,

994
01:18:30.279 --> 01:18:34.760
looking around the semi finished basement, with just enough room

995
01:18:34.840 --> 01:18:39.319
to stand if I ducked my head. I quickly discovered

996
01:18:40.079 --> 01:18:44.720
that there was no clear cut hiding places. The footsteps

997
01:18:44.760 --> 01:18:48.920
above slowly made their way back to the living room,

998
01:18:50.239 --> 01:18:56.840
then up the stairs. For a brief, fleeting moment, I

999
01:18:56.960 --> 01:19:00.560
thought about going back up to the kitchen when the

1000
01:19:00.600 --> 01:19:05.359
basement door flung open. The steps groaned under the weight

1001
01:19:05.399 --> 01:19:09.439
of the monster, and I was overwhelmed by the stench

1002
01:19:09.560 --> 01:19:13.640
of death. I ran back to the short hallway toward

1003
01:19:13.720 --> 01:19:17.359
the outside cellar door, but I knew it was too

1004
01:19:17.479 --> 01:19:22.560
heavy for me to open it from the inside. Standing

1005
01:19:22.600 --> 01:19:28.319
there helpless like a deer in headlights, the oil furnace

1006
01:19:28.479 --> 01:19:32.119
kicked on. It had been a nice day, but the

1007
01:19:32.159 --> 01:19:35.920
furnace still kicked on from time to time to keep

1008
01:19:35.960 --> 01:19:40.159
the temperature where it was set. It didn't run for

1009
01:19:40.199 --> 01:19:44.920
more than a minute before turning off. The oil tank

1010
01:19:45.039 --> 01:19:49.039
sat beside the furnace, with both of them set a

1011
01:19:49.079 --> 01:19:53.960
short space away from the wall. I dashed over behind

1012
01:19:54.000 --> 01:19:57.720
the furnace and tried to stuff myself between it and

1013
01:19:57.800 --> 01:20:02.439
the wall, making my self as small as possible in

1014
01:20:02.560 --> 01:20:09.000
hopes that it might somehow not see me. It wasn't

1015
01:20:09.039 --> 01:20:12.119
long before I heard the scrape of bone on the

1016
01:20:12.199 --> 01:20:21.399
concrete floor getting closer and closer. My life expectancy had

1017
01:20:21.439 --> 01:20:25.239
shrunk to a matter of seconds. I wondered if anyone

1018
01:20:25.279 --> 01:20:29.199
would ever know how I met my gruesome end, or

1019
01:20:29.920 --> 01:20:34.239
would my story be a mystery, an urban legend, like

1020
01:20:34.560 --> 01:20:39.840
so many others that lived near forested areas and suddenly disappear,

1021
01:20:40.960 --> 01:20:48.239
never to be seen or heard from again. The sniffing

1022
01:20:48.680 --> 01:20:53.319
was my death knell. It drew closer as the horns

1023
01:20:53.399 --> 01:20:58.000
appeared in front of me. My only advantage was the

1024
01:20:58.119 --> 01:21:02.119
horns couldn't fit between the oil tank and the furnace.

1025
01:21:03.560 --> 01:21:08.119
I celebrated a small victory that this hellish monster would

1026
01:21:08.159 --> 01:21:11.880
at least have to put forth some effort in order

1027
01:21:11.920 --> 01:21:16.600
to get me. It struggled to reach behind the furnace,

1028
01:21:17.199 --> 01:21:21.640
almost to me. The only thing that stopped it was

1029
01:21:21.760 --> 01:21:25.000
leaning against the furnace and drawing back as it cried

1030
01:21:25.039 --> 01:21:30.000
out in pain from the heat. Realizing my hiding space

1031
01:21:30.199 --> 01:21:34.720
was compromised, I darted behind the oil tank, hoping the

1032
01:21:34.720 --> 01:21:38.880
bulk of the tank would hinder it. I scooched as

1033
01:21:38.960 --> 01:21:43.239
far as I could into the corner. There was only

1034
01:21:43.279 --> 01:21:47.720
a small clearance between the tank and the wall maybe

1035
01:21:47.760 --> 01:21:52.000
a foot. I knew it couldn't get in here, but

1036
01:21:52.079 --> 01:21:55.840
that didn't mean it couldn't reach me. Its arms were

1037
01:21:56.760 --> 01:22:01.920
incredibly long. I watched does It seemed to be confused

1038
01:22:01.960 --> 01:22:06.039
as to where I'd gone. The sniffing started again as

1039
01:22:06.079 --> 01:22:09.319
it tried to locate me, but it seemed to be

1040
01:22:09.399 --> 01:22:13.399
having problems. The fill pipe for the oil tank had

1041
01:22:13.399 --> 01:22:17.720
a small leak. I'd wrapped rags around it, but there

1042
01:22:17.800 --> 01:22:21.560
was still some oil in the rags. It seemed like

1043
01:22:21.720 --> 01:22:27.359
the smell was throwing it off. For one brief moment,

1044
01:22:27.560 --> 01:22:30.079
I saw it take a few steps away from me

1045
01:22:30.479 --> 01:22:35.039
and my hiding place. It seemed like, by some miracle,

1046
01:22:35.960 --> 01:22:40.399
I might be saved. It turned back toward the steps

1047
01:22:41.279 --> 01:22:45.560
and seemed like it was leaving. I breathed a sigh

1048
01:22:45.720 --> 01:22:53.039
of relief. Just then it stopped, turned and came straight

1049
01:22:53.199 --> 01:22:57.479
toward the oil tank. It slammed its bulk against the tank,

1050
01:22:57.840 --> 01:23:01.920
making the metal groan from the stretch us It backed

1051
01:23:02.000 --> 01:23:06.119
up and slammed into it again. This time I could

1052
01:23:06.119 --> 01:23:09.680
see the metal bracket that was bolted into cement to

1053
01:23:09.760 --> 01:23:13.640
keep the tank in place. It was starting to bend.

1054
01:23:14.880 --> 01:23:18.279
I didn't think such a thing was possible, But after

1055
01:23:18.319 --> 01:23:23.479
the third slam, the bolt broke. The tank teetered precariously

1056
01:23:23.560 --> 01:23:27.920
toward the furnace. One more slam and the front bracket broke.

1057
01:23:28.800 --> 01:23:32.720
The tank listed on its side, falling in slow motion

1058
01:23:33.439 --> 01:23:38.920
toward the furnace. As the tank fell, the intake pipe

1059
01:23:38.960 --> 01:23:42.520
broke loose. There was now an opening at the top

1060
01:23:42.560 --> 01:23:46.239
of the tank that was slowly falling toward the furnace.

1061
01:23:47.760 --> 01:23:52.199
Halfway down, heating oil began splashing out of the opening.

1062
01:23:53.319 --> 01:23:56.800
The monster didn't seem to care. It had caught sight

1063
01:23:56.840 --> 01:23:59.720
of me and was pushing the tank down to get

1064
01:23:59.760 --> 01:24:03.600
to me. I had to stand, or the tank would

1065
01:24:03.640 --> 01:24:08.079
have crushed my leg. As soon as I did, it

1066
01:24:08.199 --> 01:24:13.399
let out the most ungodly roar. If I hadn't soiled

1067
01:24:13.399 --> 01:24:18.479
myself earlier, I would have Just then I was stuck.

1068
01:24:19.319 --> 01:24:22.880
It was checkmate. I was trapped in a corner with

1069
01:24:22.960 --> 01:24:27.039
an oil tank and furnace blocking my way on one side,

1070
01:24:27.079 --> 01:24:32.520
and a murderous, unholy abomination on the other. As the

1071
01:24:32.600 --> 01:24:36.159
tank came to rest against the furnace, it ripped off

1072
01:24:36.159 --> 01:24:42.039
the side, exposing part of the firebox. Somehow I discovered

1073
01:24:42.319 --> 01:24:47.159
another horrible way to die. The oil was dripping down

1074
01:24:47.199 --> 01:24:51.640
the side of the furnace and into the firebox. The

1075
01:24:51.680 --> 01:24:55.520
intermittent nature of the oil furnace had kept me safe

1076
01:24:55.520 --> 01:25:00.239
for the moment, as it wasn't currently running, but it

1077
01:25:00.279 --> 01:25:03.920
was only a matter of time. The oil dripping out

1078
01:25:03.920 --> 01:25:07.119
of the tank was making an ever expanding puddle on

1079
01:25:07.159 --> 01:25:11.760
the floor. I tiptoed further into the corner to stay

1080
01:25:11.760 --> 01:25:15.279
away from it, but the monster was climbing over the

1081
01:25:15.319 --> 01:25:20.079
tank and was almost able to reach me. It didn't

1082
01:25:20.119 --> 01:25:25.039
matter what I did. I was about to die. Its

1083
01:25:25.079 --> 01:25:29.520
skeletal fingers brushed my shoulder trying to get a grip.

1084
01:25:30.439 --> 01:25:35.439
In sheer panic and desperation, I did the strangest thing

1085
01:25:35.680 --> 01:25:39.399
I think I've ever done. I took the knife that

1086
01:25:39.520 --> 01:25:43.000
I'd carried with me from the kitchen, shoved it through

1087
01:25:43.039 --> 01:25:46.760
the armbones of the monster, and then straight up, with

1088
01:25:46.920 --> 01:25:51.640
every ounce of strength, right into the ceiling. To my

1089
01:25:51.760 --> 01:25:55.479
great joy, the knife buried itself in the space between

1090
01:25:55.560 --> 01:26:01.359
the wooden boards and stuck. The monstered and pulled back

1091
01:26:01.439 --> 01:26:07.439
on the offending appendage, causing more damage but not breaking free.

1092
01:26:07.640 --> 01:26:11.560
In my moment of triumph, the most unexpected and wonderful

1093
01:26:11.640 --> 01:26:18.079
thing happened, the oil furnace kicked on. I watched in

1094
01:26:18.239 --> 01:26:22.600
fascination as the oil that the monster was standing and ignited.

1095
01:26:23.159 --> 01:26:27.079
The flames quickly engulfed it as it squealed in pain.

1096
01:26:27.920 --> 01:26:31.359
I scrambled over the down tank as the fire came

1097
01:26:31.439 --> 01:26:36.479
towards me. Just before I hit the concrete floor, the

1098
01:26:36.520 --> 01:26:41.119
monster reached out to grab me. My side was instantly

1099
01:26:41.199 --> 01:26:45.840
on fire, and for the briefest of moments, I thought

1100
01:26:45.880 --> 01:26:49.560
it had me, but instead it tore a gash in

1101
01:26:49.680 --> 01:26:54.000
my side. I didn't bother to look down at the damage,

1102
01:26:54.760 --> 01:26:57.640
just ran up the stairs and out the door, not

1103
01:26:57.880 --> 01:27:01.279
stopping until I was in the car and speeding down

1104
01:27:01.279 --> 01:27:06.000
the road. When I finally got my breathing under control,

1105
01:27:06.960 --> 01:27:11.600
I pondered where exactly I was going, aside from away

1106
01:27:11.640 --> 01:27:16.159
from certain death. I reached down and touched my side,

1107
01:27:16.479 --> 01:27:20.680
pulling away with a hand covered in blood. It seemed

1108
01:27:20.680 --> 01:27:26.159
to me like my destination was indeed set the hospital

1109
01:27:26.199 --> 01:27:30.279
it was, being twenty minutes away from the nearest town.

1110
01:27:31.000 --> 01:27:34.159
I wondered if the monster had managed to kill me anyway,

1111
01:27:35.119 --> 01:27:38.399
Bleeding to death would be better than being eaten, but

1112
01:27:39.520 --> 01:27:45.199
I'd still be just as dead. Around ten minutes into

1113
01:27:45.199 --> 01:27:50.239
my trip, I saw flashing lights headed towards me and

1114
01:27:50.319 --> 01:27:53.920
heard the siren of the fire truck as it sped past,

1115
01:27:54.479 --> 01:27:58.960
heading up hill. I assumed they were going to extinguish

1116
01:27:59.000 --> 01:28:04.479
my house and hoped that that monster was already dead.

1117
01:28:05.800 --> 01:28:09.600
The thought of it killing unsuspecting firemen almost made me

1118
01:28:09.680 --> 01:28:13.479
turn around to go warn them, but I'd never catch

1119
01:28:13.560 --> 01:28:17.640
up with them, and if I tried, it would possibly

1120
01:28:17.680 --> 01:28:22.159
be the last thing I ever did. The thought of

1121
01:28:22.239 --> 01:28:25.760
losing all the things I'd collected over the course of

1122
01:28:25.800 --> 01:28:31.880
my life saddened me, but being alive to feel the

1123
01:28:31.960 --> 01:28:37.880
sadness was its own reward. The worst part of knowing

1124
01:28:38.600 --> 01:28:41.800
that I would never go near that house again was

1125
01:28:43.640 --> 01:28:49.319
I'd miss my trees deep in the frozen wilderness. The

1126
01:28:49.439 --> 01:28:52.960
legend of the Wendigo haunts those who dare to listen.

1127
01:28:53.359 --> 01:28:58.000
From Algonquin folklore to real life horror, this terrifying creature

1128
01:28:58.119 --> 01:29:04.640
symbolizes greed, starvation, and the darkest depths of human nature. Tonight,

1129
01:29:04.720 --> 01:29:07.720
we dive into the origins of the Wendigo, myth, true

1130
01:29:07.840 --> 01:29:12.199
caces of Wendigo psychosis, and how this monstrous legend continues

1131
01:29:12.239 --> 01:29:15.840
to terrify.

1132
01:29:14.439 --> 01:29:18.680
What you were about to pit the spur to Benne.

1133
01:29:20.279 --> 01:29:31.199
Based on witness accounts, testimonies, and public record, this is terrifying, and.

1134
01:29:39.399 --> 01:29:44.319
As winter comes and the weather turns frigid, human imagination

1135
01:29:44.760 --> 01:29:50.319
tends to wander to dark depths, where the trees whisper secrets,

1136
01:29:50.760 --> 01:29:55.039
and the wind howls like a starving beast. That's where

1137
01:29:55.039 --> 01:29:59.600
a legend begins to lurk. It's older than the first

1138
01:29:59.640 --> 01:30:03.039
snow fall, older than the bones buried beneath the ice.

1139
01:30:03.720 --> 01:30:07.880
The Algonquin tribes spoke of it in hushed tones, a

1140
01:30:07.960 --> 01:30:13.039
cursed creature with an insatiable hunger, a monster that was

1141
01:30:13.079 --> 01:30:16.439
once a man. They say, if you hear your name

1142
01:30:17.319 --> 01:30:22.000
carried on the wind, it's already to Landry. Well, that's

1143
01:30:22.000 --> 01:30:25.199
not a good sign. After this break, we're gonna dive

1144
01:30:25.279 --> 01:30:27.760
deep into the story of what happens when greed takes

1145
01:30:27.760 --> 01:30:43.960
hold and hunger never ends. In the vast, snow covered

1146
01:30:44.000 --> 01:30:49.000
wilderness of North America, a dark and haunting legend took

1147
01:30:49.159 --> 01:30:55.159
shape among the Algonquians speaking peoples. The Wendigo, a creature

1148
01:30:55.319 --> 01:31:00.239
born from greed and insatiable hunger, served as both the

1149
01:31:00.279 --> 01:31:05.520
warning and a reflection of humanity's darkest impulses. With its

1150
01:31:05.520 --> 01:31:10.079
emaciated frame and ravenous appetite, The Wendigo was said to

1151
01:31:10.119 --> 01:31:14.720
consume not only flesh, but the very essence of balance

1152
01:31:15.199 --> 01:31:21.359
and harmony, leaving destruction in its wake. But the Wendigo

1153
01:31:21.520 --> 01:31:26.119
is more than just a monstrous figure of folklore. Over time,

1154
01:31:26.560 --> 01:31:32.319
it is transformed into a powerful metaphor representing individuals, ideology,

1155
01:31:32.680 --> 01:31:39.119
and forces corrupted by unrestrained greed and selfishness. Its shadow

1156
01:31:39.239 --> 01:31:45.319
looms large in stories of colonialism, environmental degradation, and even

1157
01:31:45.359 --> 01:31:51.520
the exploitation of communities for personal gain. From traditional indigenous

1158
01:31:51.560 --> 01:31:56.880
tales to modern interpretations in literature, film, and gaming, the

1159
01:31:56.920 --> 01:32:02.640
Wendigo continues to captivate and tear verify. Its symbolic resonance

1160
01:32:02.760 --> 01:32:07.359
persists a chilling reminder of what can happen when humanity's

1161
01:32:07.439 --> 01:32:13.000
desires grow unchecked. The Wendigo's story forces us to confront

1162
01:32:13.119 --> 01:32:18.800
uncomfortable truths about human nature, asking the question where does

1163
01:32:18.840 --> 01:32:24.720
the line between survival and greed blur and what happens

1164
01:32:25.359 --> 01:32:30.840
when that line is crossed. The word wendigo has its

1165
01:32:30.960 --> 01:32:35.840
roots in Algonquin languages and translates to terms such as

1166
01:32:36.319 --> 01:32:42.399
evil spirit or solely for self. This term is significant

1167
01:32:42.399 --> 01:32:48.640
across several Native American languages, including Audibe, Cree, and Salto.

1168
01:32:49.279 --> 01:32:53.640
The wendigo is a supernatural being central to the spiritual

1169
01:32:53.680 --> 01:32:59.159
traditions of Algonquin speaking First nations in North America. Described

1170
01:32:59.199 --> 01:33:03.000
as a powerful and malevolent creature, the wendigo is infamous

1171
01:33:03.039 --> 01:33:08.800
for its unquenchable desire to kill and devour human beings.

1172
01:33:09.520 --> 01:33:14.680
Legends suggest that humans can transform into wendigoes, typically due

1173
01:33:14.680 --> 01:33:20.479
to greed, weakness, or moral corruption. This transformation underscores the

1174
01:33:20.520 --> 01:33:24.600
cautionary aspect of the wendigo as a symbol of what

1175
01:33:24.760 --> 01:33:31.680
happens when individuals prioritize selfish desires over communal values. The

1176
01:33:31.720 --> 01:33:36.520
Wendigo's existence within these stories highlights the dangers of greed

1177
01:33:37.039 --> 01:33:40.960
and the devastating consequences it can bring to individuals and

1178
01:33:41.159 --> 01:33:46.079
communities alike. It is a vivid metaphor for the destruction

1179
01:33:46.319 --> 01:33:53.199
wrought by unrestrained human flaws. The wendigo is universally regarded

1180
01:33:53.560 --> 01:33:58.920
as a dangerous and sinister force within Algonquin cultures. Indigenous

1181
01:33:58.960 --> 01:34:03.199
traditions describe it as not only a threat to individual lives,

1182
01:34:03.600 --> 01:34:08.199
but also to the moral and spiritual health of entire communities.

1183
01:34:09.079 --> 01:34:11.880
The creature is said to have a thirst for blood

1184
01:34:12.439 --> 01:34:17.000
and an ability to corrupt those it encounters, spreading evil

1185
01:34:17.479 --> 01:34:22.359
and destruction. Its presence serves as a potent warning about

1186
01:34:22.359 --> 01:34:26.800
the consequences of isolation and the loss of humanity when

1187
01:34:26.880 --> 01:34:31.840
greed and selfishness are allowed to take hold. Embedded within

1188
01:34:31.960 --> 01:34:36.720
Wendigo legends is the theme of caution against isolation and

1189
01:34:36.840 --> 01:34:41.279
the breakdown of community. These tales emphasize the importance of

1190
01:34:41.399 --> 01:34:46.840
unity and collective well being, warning against behaviors that disrupt

1191
01:34:46.960 --> 01:34:53.039
social harmony. By embodying the extreme consequences of selfishness, the

1192
01:34:53.079 --> 01:34:59.119
wendigo reinforces the need for balance and mutual support. The

1193
01:34:59.159 --> 01:35:02.960
wendigo is prominent figure in the belief systems of various

1194
01:35:03.000 --> 01:35:09.239
Algonquins speaking groups. While cultural nuances in the creature's description exist,

1195
01:35:10.039 --> 01:35:13.399
there is a shared understanding of the wendigo as a

1196
01:35:13.439 --> 01:35:19.840
malevolent and cannibalistic supernatural being. This shared depiction reflects common

1197
01:35:19.960 --> 01:35:25.319
values and moral principles across these diverse cultures, uniting them

1198
01:35:25.359 --> 01:35:31.199
through the universal warnings embedded in the folklore. Often associated

1199
01:35:31.239 --> 01:35:37.960
with harsh conditions, The wendigo is closely tied to the north, winter, cold, famine,

1200
01:35:38.520 --> 01:35:44.279
and starvation. These elements highlight the environmental challenges faced by

1201
01:35:44.319 --> 01:35:48.720
the communities where the legend originated, adding another layer of

1202
01:35:48.840 --> 01:35:54.159
meaning to the fable. The wendigo becomes a symbol of

1203
01:35:54.279 --> 01:36:01.319
desperation and survival in extreme circumstances, intertwining natural and supernatural

1204
01:36:01.359 --> 01:36:07.119
elements to create a powerful narrative. Basal H. Johnson, an

1205
01:36:07.159 --> 01:36:12.920
Ojibwe teacher and scholar from Ontario, Canada, vividly described the wendigo.

1206
01:36:13.880 --> 01:36:18.840
According to Johnson, the creature's appearance reflects its monstrous nature.

1207
01:36:19.560 --> 01:36:24.439
It is gaunt and emaciated, with ash gray skin stretched

1208
01:36:24.479 --> 01:36:29.560
tightly over its bones, and deeply sunken eyes. Despite its

1209
01:36:29.600 --> 01:36:35.319
skeletal and starvation like form, the wendigo possesses an unrelenting appetite.

1210
01:36:35.880 --> 01:36:40.279
Every time it consumes a victim, it grows larger in size,

1211
01:36:40.520 --> 01:36:46.159
ensuring its hunger is never satisfied. This haunting combination of

1212
01:36:46.159 --> 01:36:52.000
insatiable hunger and perpetual thinness illustrates the destructive nature of

1213
01:36:52.119 --> 01:36:57.640
greed and excess. In various Native accounts, wendigoes are often

1214
01:36:57.720 --> 01:37:04.159
depicted as giants vastly larger than human beings. These legends

1215
01:37:04.199 --> 01:37:09.079
emphasize the creature's terrifying scale, which grows in proportion to

1216
01:37:09.119 --> 01:37:15.800
the people it devours. This trait, unique to certain Algonquin traditions,

1217
01:37:16.199 --> 01:37:20.880
symbolizes the endless cycle of greed. The more it consumes,

1218
01:37:21.439 --> 01:37:26.159
the greater its need for sustenance. The wendigo is a

1219
01:37:26.199 --> 01:37:31.560
relentless predator, forever seeking new victims and embodying an eternal

1220
01:37:31.640 --> 01:37:37.079
state of gluttony and starvation. The wendigo's connection to greed

1221
01:37:37.239 --> 01:37:41.399
extends beyond its physical form. It is a creature that

1222
01:37:41.520 --> 01:37:47.279
communicates and in some depictions retains human like cognition and speech.

1223
01:37:48.279 --> 01:37:51.960
This ability allows it to taunt or threaten its victims,

1224
01:37:52.680 --> 01:37:58.960
adding an eerie psychological element to its predatory nature. These stories,

1225
01:37:59.039 --> 01:38:03.880
rooted in Algona Quinn oral history, predate European colonization and

1226
01:38:04.039 --> 01:38:09.000
revealed the depth of belief in supernatural beings among indigenous cultures.

1227
01:38:09.800 --> 01:38:12.680
The first written account of the wendigo by a European

1228
01:38:13.119 --> 01:38:17.680
came from Jesuit missionary Jean Lejeune in sixteen thirty six

1229
01:38:18.199 --> 01:38:22.079
in what is now Quebec. In his report, Lejeune described

1230
01:38:22.119 --> 01:38:25.439
tales of a wendigo that had killed and eaten several

1231
01:38:25.520 --> 01:38:31.199
people and was believed to have plans to devour many more.

1232
01:38:38.399 --> 01:38:43.720
Lejeune's account highlights the shared belief in supernatural spirits between

1233
01:38:43.840 --> 01:38:49.960
seventeenth century Europeans and First Nations peoples. Interestingly, his report,

1234
01:38:50.319 --> 01:38:55.039
written decades before the Salem Witch Trials, underscores how deeply

1235
01:38:55.079 --> 01:38:59.000
embedded these beliefs were in both cultures at the time.

1236
01:39:00.000 --> 01:39:04.640
Mistiononaries in Canada continued to document Wendigo legends well into

1237
01:39:04.720 --> 01:39:09.079
the twentieth century, demonstrating the enduring presence of these tales

1238
01:39:09.399 --> 01:39:14.439
within indigenous and colonial narratives. The Wendigo legend remained a

1239
01:39:14.479 --> 01:39:21.680
focal point for discussions of morality, spirituality, and survival across centuries.

1240
01:39:22.600 --> 01:39:26.279
In the nineteenth century, tales of the Wendigo spread to

1241
01:39:26.359 --> 01:39:31.840
the Western Frontier, where planes, indigenous peoples and Hudson's Bay

1242
01:39:31.960 --> 01:39:38.760
Company employees encountered the legend. HBC records recount indigenous spiritual

1243
01:39:38.840 --> 01:39:43.760
leaders who fell into states of intense religious fervor, leading

1244
01:39:43.800 --> 01:39:51.000
to accusations of being wendigoes. Community members often reacted with fear,

1245
01:39:51.640 --> 01:39:58.479
and in extreme cases, took drastic measures. Suspected Wendigoes were

1246
01:39:58.520 --> 01:40:04.119
sometimes killed as a precaution reflecting the seriousness with which

1247
01:40:04.199 --> 01:40:09.720
these beliefs were held. One notable example involved the Kree

1248
01:40:09.880 --> 01:40:14.319
spiritual leader, a Bishopus, who was killed by three men

1249
01:40:14.880 --> 01:40:19.920
after he became greedy and murdered an indigenous family. This

1250
01:40:20.039 --> 01:40:24.199
act led his community to believe he had transformed into

1251
01:40:24.239 --> 01:40:29.760
a wendigo. Such stories highlight the intersection of spiritual beliefs

1252
01:40:29.920 --> 01:40:34.840
and real life consequences, demonstrating the profound influence of the

1253
01:40:34.840 --> 01:40:41.760
wendigo legend and shaping cultural practices and community dynamics. One

1254
01:40:41.760 --> 01:40:45.600
of the most haunting tales of the wendigo, documented by

1255
01:40:45.720 --> 01:40:50.520
Lottie Chicagua Marsden, an ethnographer of the Chippewas of Rama

1256
01:40:50.600 --> 01:40:54.359
First Nation, tells of a young boy abducted by this

1257
01:40:54.520 --> 01:41:00.119
fearsome creature, the wendigo, driven by its insatiable hunger and

1258
01:41:00.319 --> 01:41:06.600
to fatten the boy up before devouring him. Using a knife,

1259
01:41:06.760 --> 01:41:10.520
the wendigo cruelly cut the boy's hand to test if

1260
01:41:10.560 --> 01:41:15.159
he had gained enough fat, but constant travel kept the

1261
01:41:15.199 --> 01:41:19.640
boy thin. When they stumbled upon a nearby village, the

1262
01:41:19.640 --> 01:41:23.359
boy seized his chance to warn the locals about the

1263
01:41:23.399 --> 01:41:28.720
monster lurking in the woods. The villagers, guided by the

1264
01:41:28.760 --> 01:41:35.479
boy's courage confronted the wendigo, cutting off its legs. However,

1265
01:41:35.600 --> 01:41:40.439
the creature's horrifying resilience was revealed as it began consuming

1266
01:41:40.520 --> 01:41:45.039
the marrow from its own severed limbs in order to

1267
01:41:45.039 --> 01:41:51.159
sustain itself. The villagers returned and ultimately destroyed the wendigo,

1268
01:41:51.960 --> 01:41:56.399
ending its terror, but leaving behind a tail of morbid

1269
01:41:56.479 --> 01:42:03.960
endurance and a truly unyielded hunger. Some Algonquin traditions claim

1270
01:42:04.039 --> 01:42:07.960
that a person consumed by greed or who resorts to

1271
01:42:08.039 --> 01:42:13.279
cannibalism transforms into a wendigo, while others suggest that mere

1272
01:42:13.399 --> 01:42:18.039
prolonged exposure to a wendigo's influence can cause the same

1273
01:42:18.520 --> 01:42:25.039
horrific fate. These stories go beyond supernatural folklore. They serve

1274
01:42:25.119 --> 01:42:30.840
as moral lessons, emphasizing the importance of balance, community and

1275
01:42:31.000 --> 01:42:37.960
resisting the darker impulses of humanity, especially in times of hardship.

1276
01:42:38.880 --> 01:42:43.039
Rituals and ceremonies played a significant role in addressing the

1277
01:42:43.039 --> 01:42:47.600
fear of the wendigo among certain indigenous communities. For the

1278
01:42:47.640 --> 01:42:53.520
asin Ibuane, Cree, and Ojibwe peoples, the Wendigoo khan Zimoen,

1279
01:42:54.079 --> 01:42:58.359
a ceremonial dance performed during times of famine was a

1280
01:42:58.399 --> 01:43:04.279
striking display of cult resilience. Dancers would down masks and

1281
01:43:04.399 --> 01:43:09.439
move backward around a drum, creating an eerie yet symbolic

1282
01:43:09.560 --> 01:43:15.439
representation of the Wendigos taboo. These performances served as both

1283
01:43:15.479 --> 01:43:22.000
a reminder and a communal reinforcement of survival strategies during

1284
01:43:22.199 --> 01:43:27.840
dire circumstances. The last recorded ceremony took place at Lake

1285
01:43:27.880 --> 01:43:32.760
Wendigo on Star Island within Minnesota's Leech Lake Indian Reservation,

1286
01:43:33.600 --> 01:43:38.319
representing the enduring presence of this myth in Algonquin culture.

1287
01:43:39.880 --> 01:43:44.720
The phenomenon of wendigo psychosis bridges the realm of folklore

1288
01:43:44.760 --> 01:43:51.520
and historical accounts. Allegedly, during extreme starvation, individuals could succumb

1289
01:43:51.560 --> 01:43:56.279
to a condition that drove them to crave human flesh.

1290
01:43:56.960 --> 01:44:01.319
A famous Jesuit account from the seventeenth sei century describes

1291
01:44:01.399 --> 01:44:06.800
individuals overtaken by this ravenous hunger, attacking and consuming others

1292
01:44:06.800 --> 01:44:10.880
in their community. The only solution, as understood by those

1293
01:44:11.000 --> 01:44:16.560
witnessing such events, was often execution to stop the spreading

1294
01:44:17.279 --> 01:44:22.800
of madness. Cree traditions, however, recount efforts to treat the

1295
01:44:22.840 --> 01:44:28.159
condition involving rituals using fatty animal meats, and a symbolic

1296
01:44:28.279 --> 01:44:33.680
purging process where afflicted individuals would expel ice, believed to

1297
01:44:33.760 --> 01:44:39.720
signify the wendigo's icy grip, leaving their bodies. One of

1298
01:44:39.760 --> 01:44:45.359
the most infamous true cases tied to wendigo psychosis is

1299
01:44:45.439 --> 01:44:50.439
that of swift Runner, a cree trapper in Alberta. During

1300
01:44:50.439 --> 01:44:55.359
the winter of eighteen seventy eight, as his family faced starvation,

1301
01:44:56.039 --> 01:45:01.880
swift Runner's eldest son died. Rather than seeking help from

1302
01:45:01.920 --> 01:45:06.159
a food supply post just twenty five miles away, he

1303
01:45:06.319 --> 01:45:12.760
succumbed to cannibalism, killing and consuming his wife and remaining children.

1304
01:45:13.720 --> 01:45:19.159
Authorities determined this was not mere survival cannibalism, but evidence

1305
01:45:19.199 --> 01:45:25.560
of a man consumed by wendigo psychosis. Swift Runner confessed

1306
01:45:25.560 --> 01:45:30.119
to his crimes and was executed at Fort Saskatchewan. His

1307
01:45:30.239 --> 01:45:33.640
story remains one of the most harrowing intersections of myth

1308
01:45:34.079 --> 01:45:39.199
and documented history. The concept of wendigo psychosis has sparked

1309
01:45:39.239 --> 01:45:43.279
heated debates among scholars and researchers. Some view it as

1310
01:45:43.319 --> 01:45:48.359
a product of cultural misunderstanding by early anthropologists, while others

1311
01:45:48.479 --> 01:45:54.319
argue it reflects genuine historical events shaped by extreme conditions. Today,

1312
01:45:54.359 --> 01:46:00.119
the International Statistical Classification of Diseases or ICD, recognizes wendy

1313
01:46:00.680 --> 01:46:04.640
as a culture specific syndrome, describing it as a rare

1314
01:46:04.680 --> 01:46:11.159
obsession with cannibalism, marked by delusions and uncontrollable hunger. Modern

1315
01:46:11.239 --> 01:46:15.359
studies suggest it could be linked to starvation induced mental disorders,

1316
01:46:15.760 --> 01:46:21.800
nutrient deficiencies, or social isolation. Ojibwe. Scholar Brady D. Santi

1317
01:46:22.239 --> 01:46:27.439
suggests the wendigo represents a person disconnected from harmony, causing

1318
01:46:27.520 --> 01:46:33.199
harm to their environment and relationships. Luis Eerdrich's novel The

1319
01:46:33.319 --> 01:46:39.079
Roundhouse exemplifies this concept, depicting a rapist whose actions endanger

1320
01:46:39.119 --> 01:46:43.479
his community as a Wendigo like figure who must be stopped.

1321
01:46:44.760 --> 01:46:49.800
This concept extends to movements as well as ideologies. Professor

1322
01:46:49.880 --> 01:46:55.520
Chris Schidler compares the wendigo to colonialism, emphasizing how expansionism

1323
01:46:55.600 --> 01:47:01.199
devastated indigenous lands and disrupted natural balance. The nineteen ninety

1324
01:47:01.319 --> 01:47:06.560
nine film Ravenous illustrates this, linking the Wendigo to manifest destiny,

1325
01:47:07.079 --> 01:47:12.680
where unmitigated hunger for land and resources led to widespread destruction.

1326
01:47:13.439 --> 01:47:17.279
In this context, the wendigo becomes a symbol for forces

1327
01:47:17.600 --> 01:47:22.000
that exploit and harm others under the guise of progress.

1328
01:47:22.800 --> 01:47:27.840
The metaphor also applies universally, addressing broader patterns of greed

1329
01:47:27.880 --> 01:47:33.159
and exploitation. Joe Lockhart, an English professor, describes the Wendigo

1330
01:47:33.199 --> 01:47:38.239
as a manifestation of social cannibalism, where self interest overrides

1331
01:47:38.279 --> 01:47:43.920
communal values. Romantic scholar Emily Zarka ties the Wendigo to

1332
01:47:44.000 --> 01:47:50.600
winter hunger and selfishness, themes central to survival in harsh climates.

1333
01:47:51.399 --> 01:47:55.560
The creature embodies the consequences of succumbing to selfish instincts,

1334
01:47:55.960 --> 01:48:01.439
reflecting the struggles of maintaining balance and adversity. In popular culture,

1335
01:48:01.880 --> 01:48:06.439
the Wendigo has been reshaped, often losing its cultural context.

1336
01:48:07.079 --> 01:48:11.840
Algernon Blackwood's nineteen ten novella The Wendigo introduced it to

1337
01:48:11.920 --> 01:48:17.520
Western audiences but altered its meaning, portraying it through colonial stereotypes.

1338
01:48:17.880 --> 01:48:22.640
Subsequent works like Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and August Derrilith's

1339
01:48:22.840 --> 01:48:28.319
Ithiqui further disconnected it from Indigenous roots, focusing on horror

1340
01:48:28.920 --> 01:48:34.079
over tradition. In recent years, Indigenous creators have reclaimed the

1341
01:48:34.119 --> 01:48:38.640
Wendigo's narrative, using it to address themes of colonialism, greed,

1342
01:48:38.760 --> 01:48:44.000
and identity. Works like Linda Hogan's Solar Storms and Nathan

1343
01:48:44.039 --> 01:48:49.920
Adler's Wrist integrate the legend into critiques of exploitation and loss.

1344
01:48:50.560 --> 01:48:54.840
In media like Antlers and Fallout seventy six, the Wendigo

1345
01:48:54.960 --> 01:48:59.800
appears as a monstrous antagonist, often divorced from its deeper meaning.

1346
01:49:00.600 --> 01:49:05.479
Despite this evolution, the Wendigo remains a powerful symbol, reminding

1347
01:49:05.560 --> 01:49:10.079
us of the consequences of our actions, even when we're desperate.

1348
01:49:11.199 --> 01:49:14.880
The legend of the Wendigo leaves behind a haunting legacy

1349
01:49:15.399 --> 01:49:21.279
of fear and introspection. While its roots lie in indigenous folklore,

1350
01:49:21.680 --> 01:49:25.800
the Wendigo has grown to symbolize so much more. Its

1351
01:49:25.840 --> 01:49:31.279
haunting presence has transcended its mythical origins, becoming a metaphor

1352
01:49:31.960 --> 01:49:36.199
for all of the darkest aspects of human nature and

1353
01:49:36.319 --> 01:49:41.359
societal exploitation. The Wendigo serves as a stark reminder of

1354
01:49:41.399 --> 01:49:45.760
the cost of consuming more than we need and disrupting

1355
01:49:45.840 --> 01:49:50.880
the harmony of the world around us. The enduring fascination

1356
01:49:51.039 --> 01:49:55.479
with the Wendigo in popular culture reflects our collective struggle

1357
01:49:55.880 --> 01:50:00.960
to understand and confront these darker impulses. But even as

1358
01:50:01.000 --> 01:50:06.039
the creature continues to terrify and intrigue, it forces us

1359
01:50:06.159 --> 01:50:11.920
to ask uncomfortable questions. What happens when greed consumes us?

1360
01:50:12.720 --> 01:50:16.600
How far can we push the boundaries before the balance

1361
01:50:16.720 --> 01:50:21.720
is broken forever? The story of the Wendigo remains a

1362
01:50:21.840 --> 01:50:26.640
powerful warning, a symbol of the monsters that can emerge

1363
01:50:27.159 --> 01:50:33.000
not only in the shadows of legend, but from within ourselves.

1364
01:50:33.760 --> 01:50:39.399
And that's the storm my spookies, four trips into the cold,

1365
01:50:40.039 --> 01:50:43.119
and every one of them left tracks you're not going

1366
01:50:43.159 --> 01:50:48.760
to like finding later. But here's the thing about winter horror.

1367
01:50:49.560 --> 01:50:53.720
Sometimes the monster is claws and teeth in the tree line,

1368
01:50:53.800 --> 01:50:59.119
and sometimes it's the part that feels real, the hunger,

1369
01:50:59.560 --> 01:51:04.359
the greed, the terrible decisions people make when the world

1370
01:51:04.520 --> 01:51:09.399
turns white and silent. That's why we close this Best

1371
01:51:09.399 --> 01:51:12.640
of twenty twenty five with an episode of terrifying and

1372
01:51:12.720 --> 01:51:17.960
true to make sure you understand the reality behind the

1373
01:51:18.760 --> 01:51:25.199
hungry shape wandering in the winds. If you manage to

1374
01:51:25.239 --> 01:51:29.760
survive the cold and are still with us, well make

1375
01:51:29.800 --> 01:51:34.640
sure you're subscribed. But first lock the door, check the

1376
01:51:34.680 --> 01:51:39.399
porch light, and let me know which story hits you

1377
01:51:39.479 --> 01:51:46.720
the hardest. Until next time, stay warm, stay safe, and

1378
01:51:46.840 --> 01:51:49.399
stay spooky, of course,