Werewolf's Bride: From Scary stories at Americanfolklore.net

A Michigan Ghost Story

retold by

S. E. Schlosser

There once was a beautiful girl engaged to a soldier who caught the eye of an evil woodsman who had sold his soul for the ability to turn himself into a wolf at will. He lay in wait for the girl when she was walking home one day and accosted her, begging her to elope with him. The maiden refused, spurning his love and crying out to her love to save her from his advances.

The girl's cries were heard by her eager fiancé, who had come searching for her when she was late returning to her parent's home. The soldier drove the woodsman away, threatening him with dire consequences if he ever approached the maiden again.

The furious woodsman lay low for a few days, waiting for his chance. It came on the girl's wedding day. She was dancing happily at her wedding reception with a group of her friends when the woodsman, in the form of a wolf, leapt upon her and dragged her away with him.

The enraged bridegroom gave chase, but the wolf and his bride had disappeared into the thick forest and were not seen again. For many days, the distraught soldier and his friends, armed with silver bullets, scoured the woods, searching for the maiden and her captor. Once the soldier thought he saw the wolf and shot at it. Upon reaching the location, he found a piece of a wolf's tail lying upon the ground. But of the wolf to which it belonged there was no sign.

After months of searching, his friends begged him to let the girl go and get on with living. But the soldier was half-mad with grief and refused to give up. And that very day, he found the cave where the werewolf lived. Within it lay the preserved body of his beloved wife. The girl had refused the werewolf's advances to the very end, and had died for it. After his murderous fury had died away, the werewolf had tenderly laid the body of the girl he had loved and had killed into a wooden coffin, where it would be safe from predators, and he came to visit her grave every day. Lying in wait for him, the soldier shot the werewolf several times as he entered the cavern, chasing him down until the maddened and dying werewolf leapt into the lake and disappeared from view. The soldier sat by the lake with his gun, staring into the rippling waters for hours as the catfish ate the bloody bits of the wolf that were floating on the surface of the water.

When his friends found him, the soldier's mind was gone. He babbled insanely about a werewolf that had been eaten by a catfish when it leapt into the water, and he sobered only long enough to lead the men to the body of his beloved before he collapsed forevermore into insanity. He died a few days later, and was buried beside his bride in a little glen where they had planned to build there house. Their grave is long forgotten, and the place where it stands is covered with daisies in the spring. But to this day, the people of the area have a prejudice against eating catfish, though no one remember why.

You can read more Michigan folklore and ghost stories in Spooky Michigan by S.E. Schlosser.

Comments

whoa, i live in indiana i'm close!! B)

Posted by: sophie mare | July 23, 2010 12:08 PM

wow

Posted by: Anonymous | August 2, 2010 08:27 AM

wow im not goin there i promise you

Posted by: Anonymous | August 3, 2010 12:14 PM

nice story

Posted by: none yo buisness | August 5, 2010 11:27 AM

wow i liked it

Posted by: Anonymous | August 13, 2010 09:54 PM

Wow if i go there i would eat a catfish just to seas if i would turn into a werewolf

Posted by: Anonymous | August 21, 2010 04:04 PM

was that supposed to be scary

Posted by: Zack | September 9, 2010 08:24 AM

No, I didn't like it. It wasn't scary. And the thing I had hardest understanding was: Why was the werewolf eaten by catfish, and why did the soldier turn insane because of that? ;>

Posted by: Chaiseni | September 11, 2010 01:08 AM

O.O I'll never look at a catfish the same way again

Posted by: Anonymous | September 12, 2010 12:05 PM

that was LAME!!

Posted by: angela | September 19, 2010 03:36 PM

If you must know, Chaiseni, catfish are most definitely cannibals. They'll eat themselves if they feel the need. "There's always a bigger fish" is a common term. Now, why the soldier was insane, it was probably the observer. If someone were to see their counterpart lying dead in a coffin, they're not going to be right in the head, I know I wouldn't, then to find out that their counterpart was killed by a man who could willingly turn himself into a wolf? yeah, that's going to be a crazy story to hear, much less LIVE.

hence, you have your answers. As far as this actually happening, plausible. There's a lot of things that we can't explain.

Posted by: swedenGir | September 20, 2010 02:16 AM

spookyyyy!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Anonymous | September 29, 2010 02:01 PM

i liked it im gonnas go there some time... tho it was weird >.<

Posted by: bob | September 30, 2010 08:43 AM

that was sooo cool but a little gross! d:D

Posted by: Anonymous | October 12, 2010 12:19 PM

EVIL CATFISH! Lol. But seriously that was a good story! ^U^

Posted by: Loldog | October 16, 2010 11:15 AM

that was WIERD!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2010 01:20 PM