The Brothers' Revenge: From Ghost Stories at Americanfolklore.net

A Wisconsin Ghost Story

Retold by S.E. Schlosser

The blizzard was raging fiercely around them as the brothers stumbled down the long road. they were miles from any farm, and knew they had to seek shelter or freeze to death. So it was with gratitude that the two brothers spotted a saloon and pushed their way through the door.
Every eye in the room turned upon them, as the boys ordered coffee with the last of their money. As the bartender went to fetch the hot drink, most of the regulars returned to their conversations. But one man continued to stare; a massive butcher with a mop of red hair and a long red beard who was the worse for drink.

“You’re looking at me funny,” the butcher slurred, looming over the two boys.

“We weren’t looking at you,” said the older boy. “We were just warming ourselves by the fire.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” he shouted. Around the room crowd grinned; they loved a good fight.

“We didn’t say that,” said the older boy quickly, waving his hands and accidentally striking the butcher on the arm. That did it. The butcher grabbed the boy by the collar. “No one hits me and gets away with it,” he roared and threw the boy headfirst into the huge fire raging in the hearth.
There was a moment of stunned silence in the saloon, and then the elder boy screamed in agony as the flames engulfed him from head to toe. The younger lad shouted in terror. The older boy stumbled out of the fireplace, as the little brother tried to beat out the fire with his small hands.
The butcher loomed above them, grinning sadistically as the flaming boy lost consciousness, his screams dying away.

“Your turn,” the butcher said to his brother. The younger boy gasped in fear and fled for his life out into the raging snow. The boy’s little frozen body was not found until the spring.

One evening, a decade after the death of the two young boys, a burly man with a long red beard came strolling down the road one taken by the brothers. The butcher had heard rumors of a ghost but had discarded them as so much poppycock and tavern talk.

As he meandered down the road, he became aware that a silence had fallen. In the odd silence, he heard the footsteps of a large animal. They walked when he walked and stopped when he stopped. Pulse pounding madly, the butcher turned. Behind him, large as an ox, stood a black dog with blazing blue eyes and sharp teeth. The butcher had seen those blue eyes once before, gazing at him from the face of a young boy trying to save his burning brother.

The black dog growled softly and took a step forward. The butcher whirled around to flee and found himself face to face with tall figure covered from head to toe in flames. The burning boy reached out toward the butcher with hands withered and blackened by fire. The butcher gave a terrified scream and fell, blood gushing from eyes and nose. He was dead before he hit the ground.

To this day, the black dog and the flaming figure still appeared in that vicinity to harass travelers and speed them on their way.

Comments

this stroy is the best

Posted by: starburst | October 13, 2009 03:06 PM

Wow i didnt get the beggining until i read the end!!!!it was alright but you could have done better!!!!!cum on i have read way better stories!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Mayra | October 14, 2009 08:15 AM

How did ht hapend

Posted by: Anonymous | October 14, 2009 06:33 PM

i loved it

Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 08:53 AM

cool
ha ha
awesome

Posted by: Sara | October 18, 2009 04:40 PM

omg this is the awesomest scary halloween storie i have read in a longtime

Posted by: amber | October 21, 2009 06:03 PM

I don't exactly think that its that scary
Do You?

Posted by: Jeanelle | October 26, 2009 12:48 PM

this one was ok...

Posted by: ashlle | October 29, 2009 07:49 PM

Harassing travelers you got to be kiding.

Posted by: 7 years old | October 31, 2009 01:51 AM

You can do better

Posted by: Keila | October 31, 2009 02:42 PM

compared wiv da uvver stories, that was poor :(

Posted by: sumone hoo likes commenting stuff | November 1, 2009 12:45 PM

i am not saying it was bad, but it could have been better. :(

Posted by: f*ckin-up-chuckin | January 11, 2010 05:05 PM

This story was suckish
i didn't like it, it was boring

Posted by: Lourie Nills | January 15, 2010 04:18 PM

kinda creepy not scary

Posted by: Anonymous | January 22, 2010 07:04 PM

that was a really good story and that butcher was really really stupid

Posted by: iwonttellol | March 20, 2010 02:33 PM

Well it is pretty scary.. The Butcher got what he deserved>....

Posted by: Amy | April 25, 2010 03:25 PM

CREEEEPPPYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: jordan | June 23, 2010 09:40 AM

that was kida creepy

Posted by: Anonymous | August 8, 2010 07:21 PM

try reading some filipino ghost stories guys...it might catch your interest too...

Posted by: pinoyfreak | August 10, 2010 08:55 PM

Oh my god, that butcher totally lost it to a tiny little whack on the arm? Oh and I was horrified when he threw him in the fire, I almost cried! I also find it cool how the little brother was a dog! BIG thumbs up guys!

Posted by: #1 Bieber | August 14, 2010 07:35 PM

this is the ........................ BEST STORY OF ALL ETERNITY LOVE IT MILLION THUMBS UP !!!!

Posted by: jeddy diah | August 19, 2010 08:53 PM

aaaaaaaaaaaaa that was the best but i think turn off the light was better

Posted by: sara | August 21, 2010 10:49 PM

that was awsome

Posted by: Anonymous | August 27, 2010 11:28 AM

hmm if the younger boy froze to death, Why did he come back as a Dog? The older brother makes sense, He burned, Came back chared,it makes sense. Fozen, and a dog? I guess is was like the fur was supposed to keep him warm after freezing? Not a very good story.

Posted by: Andrew | August 28, 2010 11:58 AM

-.- wtf harras travelers now thats dumb they should atleast eat them or burn them but harras c,mon

Posted by: Spooky | August 31, 2010 04:21 PM

this was a really great story i liked it loved reading it

Posted by: bubbles | September 7, 2010 09:45 PM

No, I don't believe this one was scary. I've read to many frightening, bizarre ghost stories in my life to see this one as a scary one.

Posted by: Chaiseni | September 11, 2010 12:23 AM

really not scary

Posted by: bidishapanja | September 11, 2010 11:32 PM

3 letter: O.M.G!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: nadeshiko daidouji | September 15, 2010 12:55 AM

i felt this story was great and very scray seem true in i live in wisconson cool

Posted by: teia | September 15, 2010 09:38 AM

*gasp!* i dropped my soda! jk it was guuud:)

Posted by: Nekromantix90 | September 15, 2010 01:45 PM

i loved it i peed my pants

Posted by: chicken | September 23, 2010 02:02 PM

thats a really sad story.
not scary just tear jerking for two innocent boys to be killed that way

Posted by: noelle | September 30, 2010 05:25 AM

Decent story, as for in Britain we dont get stories lyk this its not fair :(

Posted by: Loserman | September 30, 2010 08:46 AM

i am going to have nightmares 4 a month!

Posted by: just a girl | October 5, 2010 03:56 PM

The spectral black dog has a long tradition in the UK. It's often associated with death and the afterlife. In some of the legends the soul of an evil person is condemned to take the shape of a black dog and is doomed to roam certain areas.
Dogs are associated with death and the afterlife in many cultures of the Earth.

Posted by: Herne the Hunter | October 12, 2010 01:17 PM

thats not scary actually its pretty awesome

Posted by: Anonymous | October 14, 2010 10:28 PM

why a dog?

Posted by: Anonymous | October 18, 2010 02:19 PM

this is good but not impecable or incredibly scary

Posted by: Matt | October 18, 2010 10:25 PM

woah. AWESOME...

Posted by: Hot Sauce... | October 20, 2010 09:08 PM

it was okay

Posted by: nani | October 24, 2010 09:03 PM

wasn't as scary as Don't Turn Out the Light. still good, though.

Posted by: Kitzu Nikita | October 25, 2010 07:57 PM

not really disturbing at all
*shudder*

Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 12:17 AM

WHAT KIND OF PERSON KILLS SOMEONE CUZ OF AN ACCIDENTAL PUNCH!?!? THT BUTCHER DESERVES WHAT HE GOT!!!

Posted by: Holly | October 30, 2010 05:19 PM

I thuoght it was gross at the end but it was pretty good.

Posted by: TDD lover | November 4, 2010 12:23 PM

that was awsome it kinda scared me

Posted by: Richard | November 15, 2010 11:05 AM

The bros should be nice to travelers. If they lay a hand on someone to harm, they should die again.

Posted by: Joe | November 25, 2010 02:27 AM

Omg i live there!!!

Posted by: Hunterman | November 26, 2010 11:37 AM

I like the story i just don't get why the boy would harass other people

Posted by: Rachel | December 4, 2010 03:34 PM

thats offensive to butchers everywhere!!! jk liked the story

Posted by: Anonymous | December 8, 2010 08:10 PM

this story was cool but so predidctable

Posted by: cris | December 24, 2010 03:40 AM

i liked it. very creepy!

Posted by: rachel | December 24, 2010 04:21 PM

I thank my parents that i we did not live there

Posted by: Ace | December 29, 2010 01:41 AM

why was the young brother a dog?

Posted by: Hannah | January 5, 2011 01:49 PM

The butcher deserved it. Those poor boys were not doing a thing.

Posted by: Anonymous | January 13, 2011 04:10 PM

i think the younger brother might have really liked dogs, or he might have been killed by a dog?? i liked the story but i have heard another similar, but i like this one better.

Posted by: Anonymous | January 14, 2011 03:25 PM

Thats good!! I liked that story, i did not think it was bring at all!!

Posted by: Zoe | January 23, 2011 04:42 AM

classic revenge story. Good one

Posted by: linko | January 23, 2011 10:03 PM

i didn't find this story to be scary, but it was very bone chilling. good story, but not scary. :)

Posted by: sydnie | January 28, 2011 09:55 AM

Awkward story i like it :P

Posted by: Anonymous | January 29, 2011 12:53 PM

That was only the beginnng for the butcher's suffering, for the devil has something much worse in store for him.

Posted by: Anonymous | February 2, 2011 11:22 PM

Best story i've read. The Butcher gets what he deserves. He shoulde've known Karma was real.