As you may know I’m currently working on a book about the Canadian/American Indian monster known as the wendigo. I'm very interested in finding modern accounts (20th Century/21st Century) of the creature.
I recall reading an account in one of Elliott O'Donnell's ghost books of an encounter with a creature that sounds very like a wendigo, though it is not referred to in the text. The story is set in one of the northern states, but I can't recall which one. The witness saw the creature one night near an abandoned mine that had a reputation for being haunted. The thing had grey skin and was about ten feet tall. It had an emaciated, skull-like face. This sounds very like some of the descriptions of the wendigo.
Does anyone know where I can find this account? I can't recall which of O'Donnell's many books it is in. Someone on the Fortean Times message board said it was in A Casebook of Ghosts but a look through that book revealed nothing.
Anyone familiar with this?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Hi,
Sounds like a book I want to read! I have about 40 O' Donnell titles at home, all 1st editions, beginning with his very first one, going all the way to the 1950's... contact me through mail and I will start digging for you.
Any leads as to which possible title or year would be greatly appreciated, of course:) For instance, where was this mine located?
Jon has my e-mail address.
Kind regards,
Theo Paijmans
Just a suggestion, Jon, but I wonder if what you're looking for is from O'Donnell's book "Werwolves." Methuen. London. 1912. pp.65-67
Hi Kithra,
Just checked your reference in Werwolves, but the part you are referring to is in Montenegro, involves a haunted valley (not a mine), and describes how a local named Kniaz turns into a werewolf - not an extremely tall, greyish creature with a skull like face, but rather: 'a thing with a man's body and an animal's head...' - with no emphasis on any special size (page 66).
Earlier on, on page 63, Kniaz explains that the haunted valley is '... under the spell of grey ghosts...'
I doubt though that this is the haunted mine acount.
Sincere regards,
Theo
Sorry, Theo. I tracked down the info that I posted from doing a Google search, and finding that in some places a Werewolf is called (or is very similar to) a Wendigo.
The title, and pages, I mentioned were what I found on a site about O'Donnell's books. But I visit so many sites each day that I can't now recall which one I found it on :)
Anyway, I hope the "hunt" goes well, and the information that Jon is looking for does turn up.
Best wishes,
Liz
Post a Comment