See sidebar for transmogrification options!

After voting, drop us a line and tell us why you’ve chosen your monster manifestation…

Wendigo as featured in Supernatural

What is a wendigo?

A wendigo is essentially a cannibalistic supernatural entity. It is typically found in the woods in North America and attacks and eats hikers and campers.

How do wendigos come about?

In some legends a wendigo is a malicious flesh-eating spirit, but in other legends wendigos were once human. It is said that a human that succumbs to cannibalism can be transformed into a wendigo, and is then cursed to haunt the woods eating flesh but never feeling satisfied.

How do I know a wendigo when I see one?

Wendigos possess super-human strength and speed to catch their prey, so you probably won’t have time to identify their features at leisure. However, wendigos are often depicted as emaciated, starving beings – always hungry, yet no matter how much they eat, their hunger cannot be satisfied. If you see a really skinny entity drooling in the woods – run away.

How do I kill it?

Advice varies from the standard use of silver to the more obscure shattering of the heart (some variations of the story involve the wendigo having a heart made of ice). Fire is said to ward it off, but it is uncertain whether burning alive would cause true death. I’d go with burning and shooting with silver bullets followed by dismemberment and further burning – but I’m a cautious sort.

I want to know more!

Algernon Blackwood’s story ‘The Wendigo’ (1910) is a great place to start (but he’s one of my favourite authors so of course I’m going to say that!)

Also check out the 2001 film Wendigo (which merges the myth somewhat with werewold legends)

Wendigos also turn up as an X-File and one is hunted by Sam and Dean in Supernatural.

Marvel comics feature wendigos which comply with some elements of the folklore.

–

The bunch of flowers arrived on our doorstep the day of the funeral. The old ones always sent flowers, or chocolates, or made little oatcakes. Sometimes surviving family did the sending, sometimes the ‘thank-you’ tokens were organised as part of the ‘arrangements’. I couldn’t for the life of me see what they were thankful for.

Not everyone sent gifts though. Younger people often didn’t even realise what had happened, or put no faith in the ‘silly local superstition”. Lucky them. I wished the calling in my blood could fade away like the old beliefs – a silly folktale that no longer served any purpose. But it didn’t work like that.

“Sabine! Come and put these in some water!”

I had long since learned it did no good to mope about and refuse the gifts. Mum would just make sure they ended up in my room, and do her best to make me feel like I was somehow offending the dead. Like they cared anymore.

The flowers were purple irises. Pretty. I set them on my desk and tried to ignore them and finish my biology homework. It wasn’t difficult; I was naturally good at biology. Must have something to do with the full-colour, no-gory-detail-spared visions of how people were going to die.

I had my first vision when I was 13. I was washing the dog out in the yard and started to feel a kind of pressure in my head, not a headache exactly, that came afterwards, this was more like someone blowing up a balloon in my skull.  Then I could just see it – the artery closing, the heart struggling to pump the blood out, but filling up instead. And then my view changed and I saw Mrs McNaulty from down the road gasp and clutch her chest. It was all over in a few seconds. I ran inside terrified. Mum tried to comfort me but she was obviously pleased. Not that she was happy Mrs McNaulty was going to have a heart attack, but the genes were only passed on to girls, and usually to only one girl per banshee family, per generation. Mum’s sister had been a ‘wailer’ but she’d only had sons. I got the impression that mum had always been a bit jealous of her sister’s ‘gift’ and was proud her daughter would be next. Lucky me.

I’d gone to stay with Aunty Cora for a few weeks afterwards to learn how it all worked. She took me out to Mrs McMaulty’s house that night and sat with me until the time came.  She held my hand when the scream tore out of my throat, and gave me icecream when I could barely speak the next day. Aunty Cora tried very hard to make me feel like I was special, like I’d been chosen to take over the family business. I just wish we owned a fish and chip shop instead.

I cried when I heard Mrs McNaulty had passed away. Exactly one week after Aunty Cora and I had sat below her window and I wailed for the first time. It always happened a week after the vision but I guess it just wasn’t really ‘real’ to me until I saw the ambulance in her driveway. I’d taken to walking past her house every day on the way home from school, and every day I saw her in her garden or sitting on the verandah I’d thought that it was all just a silly mistake. She’d smile at me and nod her head, like we had some kind of secret. Then she was gone, and a packet of oatcakes arrived with a thank-you card.

Mum and Aunty Cora called it ‘the gift’. I called it ‘the curse’. Banshees see death, but they can’t stop it. What’s the point of an early-warning system if you can’t change anything? If the person is just going to die anyway? I asked Aunty Cora and she said that a Banshee’s job is to allow people to make their peace with the world before they pass on, to tie up loose ends, or set anything right that needed fixing.

“But that only works if they know that they’ve been warned!” I’d argued.

“Surely the old stories are going to die out, once all the old people have passed on, and none of the young ones will even know what the wail means, so what’s the point?”

Aunty Cora had just smiled. “You’d be surprised how many folks around here still believe in the old ways.”

That much was unfortunately true. I’d caught my best friend Molly tying a lock of her hair in a knot and slipping it into Bryon’s school bag last week. When I confronted her she just grinned and said, “well grandma said it worked on grandpa – it’s worth a shot!”

I don’t know why they even bother teaching science at our school.

And thus I discovered Gameshed’s collections of ‘scary games’. With over 100 horror-themed flash games to choose from you need never go in need of monster-killing catharsis again. Some of them are purely hand-eye coordination based (like Zombie Baseball), others require you to work through a narrative to solve a mystery (like Ghostscape 2: The Cabin). Regardless of whether you need two minutes to let off steam or want to while away an afternoon, you’ll definitely find something to suit.

Anyway, my zombies are hungry so I’d best go invade Old McDonnell’s Farm… have fun!

But I just can’t help but lament the lack of new, original stories in an era of remakes, reloads and sequels – not to mention the fact that while the mash-ups obey the letter of copyright law I’m not convinced they’re really in the spirit of the law… though I must admit to a fascination with Android Karenina…

Anyway, I digress…

In an effort to come to grips with the whole mash-up thing I thought I’d have a go at the genre – but using nursery rhymes.

Mary Had A Little Zombie

Mary had a little zombie, little zombie, little zombie,
Mary had a little zombie, its flesh was grey as stone.

And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went,
Everywhere that Mary went the blood was soon to flow.

It followed her to school one day, school one day, school one day,
It followed her to school one day – breaking quarantine.

It made the children run away, run away, run away.
It made the children run away, to protect their brains.

Any nursery rhymes you’d like to see invaded by zombies (or vampires, werewolves or other nasty bitey thing?) Let me know for future Friday Fictions!

What’s your take on the mash-up phenomenon?

Sam: They were just doing their job.

Dean: No, they were doing our job, only they don’t know it so they suck at it.

Premise:

Hunting down supernatural creatures, and rescuing people terrorised by them, is the Winchester family business.  Brothers Sam and Dean Winchester grew up moving from hunt to hunt with their father John, but eventually Sam goes off to college, leaving Dean and their father to work jobs alone. When John goes missing during a hunt Dean turns to Sam for help. Reluctant to return to the life of a hunter, Sam grudgingly agrees to search for a few days. They can’t find John so Sam returns to college, just in time to see his girlfriend Jessica killed by the same demon that killed their mother. Enraged, Sam quits college and he and Dean take to the road, hunting down their father, Jessica’s killer and anything else nasty that gets in their way.

Main Characters:

Sam Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki): the youngest of the Winchester boys, studying to be a lawyer. Sam is a trained fighter but is also a skilled researcher, who doesn’t relish hunting, but sees it as a means to an end.

Dean Winchester (played by Jensen Ackles): takes his role as a big brother seriously and hates that he can’t protect Sam from everything. He follows his father without question, always putting himself last. Dean is popular with women and comfortable with the subterfuge hunting requires. He is also very, very fond of his 1967 Chevy Impala and drives his brother crazy playing classic rock.

Themes:.

Family, the bonds of brotherhood, and the tensions between family duty and individuality.

The reality inherent in supernatural and urban legends.

Why you should watch it:

Supernatural manages a great mix between monsters of the week and a larger story arc about the Winchester family. The banter between the two very different yet very similar brothers is hilarious, and creates a clever dichotomy between their humour and the day-to-day horror in the life of a hunter. The classic rock soundtrack compliments the action and the brother’s approaches to life.

Weaknesses:

Supernatural can be subjected so some of the same criticisms as horror narratives in general: a tendency to depict women as either victims, villains or a temporary distraction, few characters of racial minority, and a generally cavalier approach to violence.

Ongoing Influence:

Supernatural is still a relatively new show so its long range influence is still to be determined, however it has revived interest in classic rock, which is perhaps unfortunate…

What’s your favourite Supernatural moment? Your favourite Winchester? Let us know!

***

The yellow eyes glared at me accusingly. I huddled down further into the dirt below the windowsill, but it was no use. The eyes kept staring – a wordless protest at my intrusion into their territory. My foot was falling asleep. I tried to wiggle it gently, without disturbing the plants that hemmed me in, but stealth is really not my thing and my shoe crunched down on a small pile of dead leaves, sending a crackling chorus out into the night. The eyes blinked in disdain, and crept away. Obviously I was ruining the evening hunt.

But the eyes were back again a few minutes later. Evidently a 16 year old girl hiding in a garden in the dead of night while the old man inside watched television was more interesting than chasing already tail-less lizards. Believe me, given the choice I’d pick lizards all the way. I was cold, bored and had a pile of unfinished homework. Yep, give me lizards or homework any day.

The eyes moved closer, and now I could see the outline of two little triangle-shaped ears flattened against the cat’s head. It seemed more agitated now, sniffing the air, sniffing at me. I tried to shoo it away without making too much noise but it simply dodged out of reach, and I fell sideways, off balance, my hand coming down heavily on the ground beside me, right on top of a stick that split in two with a sharp ‘snap’.

I started to rub my palm, mumbling something unrepeatable to the cat who stood off to the side, wide eyes mocking. Too caught up with my unwanted companion, I didn’t realise until the last moment that the time had come.

The clock inside the house struck 2:00am and my chest seethed with a sudden, burning pain. My tormentor forgotten, I clenched my teeth against the coming tide, trying to hold it down, to stop it from spilling upwards, but it was no use: the pain moved up my throat, wave after wave of boiling air, and I gave in like I always do.

Eyes streaming in pain and embarrassment, I opened my mouth and wailed.

The cat hissed and fled into the night.

Premise:

FBI Agent Fox Mulder, traumatised by witnessing his younger sister being abducted by aliens when they were children, seeks out cases involving strange or paranormal activity. When he discovers the X-Files, cases that, because of their unusual natures have never been solved, Agent Mulder is assigned to solving these cases, and new ones as they occur. He is partnered with Agent Dana Scully, a medical doctor, who is skeptical of anything that cannot be explained by science. Her job is to try to find logical, scientific reasons for the occurrences in the cases they investigate.

Main Characters:

Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny): FBI agent, Oxford educated psychologist, believer in aliens and paranormal phenomena, and conspiracy theorist. Referred to behind his back as ‘Spooky’.

Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson): doctor, scientist, skeptic and, somewhat paradoxically, a Roman Catholic. Scully gave up a career in medicine to join the FBI, a decision her military father and friends don’t really support. She is initially assigned as Mulder’s partner to debunk his work on the X-Files, but finds herself being drawn in to the strange world Mulder inhabits.

The Cigarette Smoking Man / Cancer Man (played by William B Davis): the leader of a group of men (The Syndicate) who are collaborating with aliens in order to orchestrate the future colonisation of the Earth. Their task is to engineer a human/alien hybrid, but some factions within the group are also trying to secretly develop a vaccine to resist colonisation.

In Season 8, Mulder goes missing and former New York cop Agent John Dogget (Robert Patrick) is brought in to investigate. He ends up assigned as Scully’s new partner. They are later joined by Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), an expert in cults and religious crimes.

Themes:

That the government keeps secrets from its citizens.

That aliens are among us, but humans conspiring with them may pose a greater threat.

That paranormal and supernatural events occur, that can only partially be explained by current science.

Why you should watch it:

The relationship between Mulder and Scully ranges from fascinating, to funny, to downright frustrating. Through the 9 seasons their relationship develops and their roles change but the underlying chemistry is there from the very first episode.

The minor recurring characters tend to steal the show, such as Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mulder and Scully’s boss at the FBI), and The Lone Gunmen (a trio of nerd conspiracy theorists who are friends with Mulder and help out in obtaining data through ‘alternative’ channels). The Lone Gunmen even got their own spin-off series in 2001.

The ‘monsters of the week’ are varied, unusual and cleverly executed. The show puts new spins on existing paranormal events and creatures but its real strength is in creating a whole host of new ones (for example the now infamous Fluke Man).

Weaknesses:

The underlying story arc of the alien conspiracy, and what happened to Mulder’s sister becomes unbelievably complicated. Some ideas are established that are just never dealt with again. And no government department would ever bear the enormous costs of what Mulder and Scully do and be satisfied with their reports.

Ongoing influence:

The X-Files has had an enormous impact on popular culture – from renewed interest in conspiracy theory themes, to the popularisation and updating of the figure of the paranormal investigator in films and literature. But probably the biggest legacy is the kind of ‘cultural shorthand’ the names Mulder and Scully now evoke, for example phrases such as  ‘it’s aliens Mulder!’ to refer to someone distorting the facts to suit their own beliefs, or ‘don’t Scully me!’ to refer to someone who is annoyingly rational.

Any of you have favourite X-Files moments? Share them with us!

The word ‘poltergeist’ is German and means ‘noisy ghost’.  Essentially it is a ghost (the spirit of a dead human) that can affect things in the world of the living, usually by moving objects and making noise. Poltergeists are typically destructive in nature, throwing objects, making irritating or very loud noises and generally being unpleasant. The phenomena associated with poltergeist activity usually starts and stops abruptly, making it difficult to anticipate.

Where do you find them?

Poltergeists inhabit homes, but they usually fixate on a person, called a ‘focus’ or ‘agent’ and the activity generally only occurs when that person is present in the house.

What causes poltergeist activity?

In many reported cases the ‘agents’ of poltergeist activity are female children or female teenagers. In the early part of the 20th century attempts were therefore made to explain poltergeist activity as the unconscious psychokinetic (moving objects with the power of the mind) activity of people suffering from intense stress, or repressed anger or sexual frustration. Because of the gendered associations of these issues in early psychological theory, women were blamed for poltergeist activity and underwent therapy to suppress their latent psychokinesis. Like many gendered aspects of early psychology, this explanation has since been discredited in many circles but many parapsychologists still consider unconscious psychokinesis (by any member of he household) to be an explanation. Others see poltergeist activity as the manifestation of an angry or annoying spirit trying to get attention or make mischief.

How do you get rid of a poltergeist?

You could move away, but there have been reported cases of a poltergeist following an ‘agent’ from place to place. Alternatively, depending on which ‘causal’ theory you prefer, you can try and ensure all members of the household deal with any unresolved psychological issues (not an easy task!) or have an exorcism performed. Often poltergeists simply go away on their own once they’ve had their fun, but if a spirit is trying to communicate it may not go away until it is sure its message has been heard. In that case, instead of an exorcism you could try a séance. In both cases, exorcisms or séances should only be performed by trained professionals, to avoid unpleasant side-effects like headaches or possession.

I want more information!

Lots of books exist on the subject. Recent texts include:

Michael Clarkson,  Poltergeists: Examining Mysteries of the Paranormal (2006)

William G Roll,  Poltergeist (2004)

The film series Poltergeist is also a good introduction to the phenomenon.