My name is Ben Carter, and for the past 10 years I've been a
Ranger in Blackwater Marsh. This place is one of the biggest
swamps in the whole country. It's filled with all sorts of
animals, deer, Bobcats, and even the occasional moose.
But I quickly learned that the marsh has other secrets too,
things that aren't exactly animals or humans.
When I first started as a Ranger, I was pretty nervous.
I was 22 and still learning the ropes.
At first they only let me do easy tasks like cleaning up the
park and helping tourists find their way.
But after a while I got good enough to go on patrols by
myself. They even gave me the keys to
one of the fan boats we used to get into the hard to reach parts
of the swampy park. That's when I had my first
scare. It was getting dark when some
hikers came into the station. They were panicking because they
had lost one of their friends in the swamp.
It wasn't unusual for people to get lost out here.
If you take a wrong turn, you can end up in a maze of water
and trees. I grabbed a big flashlight, the
boat keys and headed out to look for the missing hiker.
The hiker said they were in the western part of the swamp where
it's really dense and floods a lot.
Not the best place to be, especially since a thunderstorm
was rolling in. The moon kept hiding behind the
clouds, making everything around me super dark and creepy.
The trees cast strange shadows and every little noise made me
jump. The worst part was the bugs.
They were everywhere, swarming around the flashlight beam.
It was hard to see through them, and they made shadows that look
like they were moving. After about two hours of
searching, the rain started to fall and Thunder rumbled in the
distance. I shined my flashlight around
and that's when I first saw them.
At first I thought they were people standing behind the
trees, but something was off. Some were really tall and others
were covered in dirt or mold. I caught a glimpse of a hand,
long and Bony, before it disappeared behind a tree.
A few minutes later, I saw something else.
It was 1/2 decayed body, mostly bones and bits of rotten flesh.
It stood there submerged in the water up to its waist, staring
at me. Then it fell back into the water
and vanished. I tried to called my partner
Kate, but the walkie-talkie wasn't working.
I finally got to the area where they said the hiker went
missing. I started calling out for him,
trying to ignore how scared I was.
I kept telling myself it was just my imagination, but the
swamp felt more alive than ever. Then I saw a clearing up.
A head in the middle of the pond stood a figure.
It looked like a person wearing torn clothes, but there was no
flesh on its body, just bones. It reached up to the moon like
it was pleading for something. As I watched, other skeletons
rose from the water surrounding the bride.
They grabbed her and pulled her back into the swamp,
disappearing without a trace. I turned and ran back to the
boat. We found the lost hiker the next
day, safe but very confused. When I told Kate what I had
seen, she just looked at me like I was crazy.
Maybe I was, or maybe the marsh just hide secrets that none of
us are ready to understand. Two years after my first strange
encounter in Blackwater Marsh, something even worse happened. 1
morning, the body of a young man was found floating in one of the
tourist areas. The really weird part was that
he had been completely torn apart.
This wasn't like anything we'd seen before.
So the State Bureau of Investigations sent out a
detective named Ryan Birch. Ryan was a serious guy, but he
was nice enough. We got along well, which was
good because we were going to spend a lot of time together
trying to figure out what happened.
We started by searching the entire swamp, looking for clues.
It was slow work, but we had to be thorough.
After a couple of weeks, we found something really
disturbing. Deep in the marsh, we stumbled
upon a hidden clearing surrounded by thick trees.
There we found a pile of bodies, all in different stages of
decay. Every single one had been torn
apart, just like the first person we found.
Some looked like they'd been there for months, while others
seemed pretty fresh. It was a horrible sight, and the
smell was even worse. We decided to keep an eye on
this area, hoping to catch whatever was doing this.
We stayed nearby, hiding out in an old Ranger outpost that was
falling apart. The place was small and stinky,
with no power and a single light bulb that didn't even work.
We took turns keeping watch, using Ryan's night vision
goggles to look out over the clearing.
For a long time, nothing happened.
I even fell asleep at one point. But then, just after midnight,
something showed up. I was on watch when I saw it,
This giant creature standing in the clearing.
It must have been at least nine feet tall and had long, sharp
arms. It was holding another body.
I grabbed Ryan and we both stared at the thing through the
goggles. It threw the body onto the pile
like it was nothing. We decided it was time to act.
We both had our guns with us, since the authorities had given
us permission to carry them for protection.
We also had some old flares we found in the outpost, just in
case. We crept closer, trying to get a
better look. The creature was feeding on the
body it had just thrown aside, using some kind of sharp beak to
Pierce the skin. It was the most terrifying thing
I'd ever seen. Ryan took the first shot,
hitting it in the arm. The creature screamed and took
off into the air. We fired at it, making it fall.
I managed to hit it in the lower jaw, knocking off part of its
face, but before we could do anything else, it charged at us,
knocking Ryan into the water. I tried to reload, but I fumble
with the clip, dropping it into the swamp.
With no other choice, I grabbed one of the flares and threw it
at the creature. It started to burn, letting out
an awful scream as flames engulfed it.
Ryan and I ran back to the outpost, locking ourselves in as
the creature thrashed around outside.
We thought we were safe, but then it crashed against the
door, breaking it apart. We scrambled out through a
window, setting the outpost on fire behind us.
The creature fell into the burning building, finally going
silent. But as we looked back at the
clearing, we saw more of them, smaller versions of the monster
coming up from the pile of bodies.
Ryan and I used the last of our flares to set the whole clearing
on fire, burning everything to the ground.
We destroyed the nest, but the thought of more of those
creatures out there still haunts me.
Two years had passed since the night Ryan and I fought that
mosquito like creature in Blackwater Marsh.
After that, I mostly stayed in the Ranger station doing desk
work. I thought I'd seen the worst the
marsh had to offer, but I was wrong.
Recently, some of the younger Rangers started telling stories
about a giant beast wandering the swamp at night.
They heard strange howls and saw huge footprints in the mud.
I thought they were just exaggerating until the day I saw
it for myself. It was a bright sunny day and I
was out doing a simple land survey near one of the nicer
outposts. I decided to take a break for
lunch, enjoying the peace and quiet.
I sat on the platform, eating my sandwich and watching the
alligators lazily float by in the water.
Everything seemed so calm and normal, but then I noticed
something moving in the trees across the way.
At first I thought it was just a big moose, but as it came
closer, I realized this was no moose.
This creature was massive, at least 10 feet tall and covered
in matted, dark fur. It had long, sharp claws and
huge curved fangs that hung out of its mouth.
It moved through the trees with ease, using its powerful limbs
to hop from bank to bank. My heart pounded in my chest.
I couldn't move, couldn't even breathe as it stopped and turned
its head toward me. Its eyes were small and beady,
but they seemed to glow with a terrifying intelligence.
For a moment we just stared at each other.
Then it let out a bone chilling howl and charged straight at me.
I ran inside the outpost as fast as I could, slamming the door
behind me. The whole building shook as the
beast rammed into it, trying to get inside.
I locked the door and backed away, grabbing a shotgun from
the gun locker. My hands were shaking so badly I
could barely load the shells, but I knew this was my only
chance. The creature kept pounding on
the door, snarling and growling like a wild animal.
I knew it wouldn't hold for long.
I aimed the shotgun at the door, waiting for it to breakthrough.
Suddenly it stopped and walked around the platform, looking for
another way in. I watched as its shadow passed
in front of the window. It was now or never.
Just as it started to climb through the window, I fired the
shotgun, hitting it in the shoulder.
The beast howled in pain, but kept coming.
I fired again, this time hitting it in the face.
Part of its skin tore away, revealing a bloody, angry mess
underneath. It finally turned and ran off
into the swamp, leaving me shaking and gasping for breath.
I thought that was the end of it.
I was wrong. Later that night, while I was
back at the main station, we heard howls echoing through the
marsh. Not just one, but many.
We looked out into the darkness and saw them.
Glowing yellow eyes, dozens of them, watching us from the
trees. Panic filled the station as we
realized this beast wasn't alone.
There was a whole pack of them, and they were getting closer.
We barricaded the doors and windows, grabbing every weapon
we could find. My heart was racing, I knew we
were in serious trouble. The last thing I heard before
everything went dark was the sound of breaking glass and the
terrible howls of the creatures. We were trapped, and there was
nowhere left to run. The marsh had shown its true
face, and it was more terrifying than anything I could have ever
imagined. The station was chaos.
The howls outside grew louder and the walls shook as the
creature slammed against them. We could hear their claws
scraping the wood, trying to get in.
My heart was pounding in my ears and I felt a cold sweat on my
forehead. We were trapped, and I didn't
know how much longer we could hold them off.
Barricade the doors. I shouted, but we had already
done all we could. Tables, chairs, and filing
cabinets were piled up against every entrance.
The other Rangers grabbed anything they could use as a
weapon. Shotguns, flares, even axes.
Through the small windows I could see them, dozens of
glowing yellow eyes peering at us from the darkness.
The biggest one, the beast I had seen earlier, stood at the
front, watching us with those cold beady eyes.
It was like it was waiting for the right moment to attack.
Suddenly there was a loud crash. The creatures had broken through
one of the back windows. Shards of glass flew everywhere
and we could hear them climbing inside.
The Rangers fired their guns, trying to hold them back, but
there were too many. One of the younger Rangers
screamed as a clawed hand grabbed him and dragged him out
into the night. We couldn't help him, I had to
get out of there, we all did, but the creatures were
surrounding us, closing in. My mind was racing.
We needed a distraction, something to draw them away,
even if just for a few seconds. Then it hit me.
The flare gun. It was our only chance.
I grabbed the flare gun from the supply shelf and loaded it, my
hands shaking so much I almost dropped it.
Cover me. I yelled to the others.
I ran to the front door, throwing aside the barricade.
The beasts roared outside, ready to charge in now.
I fired the flare gun into the air, the bright red light
shooting up into the sky. For a moment the creature
stopped, staring at the flare. It was just the distraction we
needed. Run.
I screamed, and we all bolted out the back door into the dark
swamp. The night was pitch black, the
only light coming from the fading flare.
We ran through the marsh, our feet splashing in the water and
tripping over roots. The howls behind us grew louder
as the creatures realized we were escaping.
I could hear them crashing through the trees, getting
closer. We were heading for the boats.
If we could make it there, we might have a chance.
But the swamp was a maze in the dark, and I wasn't sure we were
going the right way. I kept glancing back, seeing the
glowing eyes gaining on us. Then I saw it.
The biggest beast leading the pack.
It was faster than the others, and it was almost on top of us.
My legs were burning, but I pushed myself harder.
I had to make it. We all did.
Finally, the boats came into view, tied up to the dock just
ahead. Go, go, go.
I yelled. The others jumped into the
boats, starting the engines. I was the last one, just a few
steps away, when I felt something grabbed my ankle.
I fell hard, the breath knocked out of me.
I looked back and saw the beast's claw wrapped around my
leg, its sharp teeth bared as it pulled me back.
I kicked and struggled, reaching for anything I could use.
My hand found a fallen branch, and I swung it with all my
might, hitting the creature in the face.
It let go for just a second, but it was enough.
I scrambled to my feet and dove into the boat.
Go. I shouted, and the engine roared
to life. We speed away, the creatures
howling in rage as we escaped into the dark waters.
My heart was racing, my hands trembling.
We were alive, but just barely. As we speed through the swamp, I
looked back and saw the glowing eyes still watching us from the
shore. They didn't follow, but I knew
they were still there, lurking in the darkness.
We made it back to the Ranger station on the other side of the
swamp, safe for now. But as we sat there, catching
our breath, I realized something.
The creatures weren't just monsters in the swamp.
They were the swamp, and they would always be there, waiting
for the next unlucky person who wandered too deep into their
territory. The marsh had secrets, dark and
terrifying ones, and tonight we had only just survived its
worst. My name is Alex, and I've lived
in Montana my whole life. My grandparents love the
outdoors, and ever since I was little, they've taken me camping
all over the state. My older brother Jake and I
always went with them, and we loved exploring the forests and
hiking up trails to watch the sunset.
One of our favorite spots was a place called Glacier Falls.
It had this icy river that never froze, even in the winter.
We went there a lot and it always felt kind of magical to
me. One evening, Jake and I decided
to go on a hike. It was a path we hadn't tried
before, and we were excited to see where it LED.
As we walked, we found this old tunnel carved through a
mountain. It looked like it might have
been a train tunnel a long time ago, but now it was dark and
kind of creepy. The entrance was covered in Moss
and there were pieces of wood scattered around, like maybe a
door had been there once. Jake, being the brave older
brother, said we should go through it.
I wasn't so sure, but I didn't want to seem like a scared
little kid, so I agreed. We started walking into the
tunnel. The walls were cold and wet, and
our footsteps echoed with every step.
The light from the entrance got smaller and smaller as we went
further inside. I tried to talk to Jake to make
myself feel better, but my voice just bounced off the walls and
made everything seem even creepier.
We were about 2/3 of the way through when it happened.
A loud screeching noise came from behind us back at the
entrance we had come through. It wasn't like anything I'd ever
heard before. It wasn't an animal, not even
like those scary animal cries you hear sometimes at night.
It sounded metallic and grinding, like nails on a
chalkboard, but 100 times worse. My heart stopped and I swear I
jumped 5 feet in the air. Jake grabbed my arm, his face as
pale as I've ever seen it. We need to keep moving.
He whispered, his voice shaky. He was trying to be calm, but I
could tell he was scared too. We hurried to the other end of
the tunnel, our footsteps echoing like a drum beat in my
ears. I kept looking back, expecting
to see something horrible behind us, but there was nothing.
Just darkness. When we finally got out of the
tunnel, I felt like I could breathe again.
Jake looked around and then at me.
We're not going back through there.
He said, trying to smile, but I could see he was still scared.
We took a longer path back to our campsite, staying as far
away from that tunnel as we could.
The whole time I kept thinking about that screech, how it
didn't sound like it came from anything natural.
That night, I couldn't sleep. I lay there in my sleeping bag,
listening to every little noise around the campsite.
I heard rustling, whispers, things I couldn't explain.
I woke Jacob a few times, but he just told me it was probably
other campers or animals. He tried to calm me down, but I
could tell he was still on edge too.
Eventually I just stared at the ceiling of the tent, my eyes
wide open, until morning came. We packed up and left the next
day, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't
right about that place. I tried to tell myself it was
just my imagination, but deep down I knew I had heard
something real, something unnatural in that tunnel.
I didn't know it then, but that was just the beginning of the
nightmares. A few weeks after that creepy
hike at Glacier Falls, my family went to Ridgewood Lodge for our
annual family reunion. Ridgewood Lodge is this old ski
resort tucked away in the mountains, and we go there every
summer. It's surrounded by thick forests
and it's the perfect spot for me and my cousins to play our
favorite games at night. We always played hide and seek,
ghosts in the graveyard, and other spooky games.
I used to love it, but after what happened in that tunnel, I
felt a little uneasy. One night we all gathered
outside to play hide and seek. Since I was one of the younger
kids, I got to be the seeker this time and they even gave me
a flashlight as an advantage. The older cousins like to hide
farther away, usually in the trees or near the base of the
mountain. It was pretty dark, but the
moonlight helped a bit, casting eerie shadows on everything
around us. I counted to 50 while everyone
scattered to find their hiding spots.
As I started looking, I heard one of our usual signals, a
whistle. It was our way of hinting where
we were hiding. This whistle sounded like it
came from up the mountain near a place we called the Totem Tree.
It was this old twisted tree where we'd hung a bunch of stuff
over the years. I figured my cousin Sam was
hiding up there. He was one of the older kids.
And he always liked to pick tricky spots.
I pointed my flashlight toward the tree and started walking up
the slope. The forest was quiet.
Way too quiet. Normally you could hear the
adults back at the lodge laughing and talking, but now it
was like everything had gone silent all at once.
I told myself it was just because we were far away, but it
still made me nervous. My heart started to race a bit,
and I had to remind myself to breathe.
As I got closer to the totem tree, I called out.
I found you, Sam, Come on down with me.
There was no answer, just more silence.
I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I turned to head back down the path, but then I heard it.
A voice, quiet and distant. You almost had me.
It sounded like Sam, but something was off about it.
The voice was too flat, too empty.
I swung my flashlight up into the branches of the tree, my
hand shaking. The light caught something.
A figure crouched among the limbs.
At first I thought it was Sam, but then I realized it was all
wrong. It was too thin, too long, like
a stick figure come to life. Its skin looked stretched and
torn, and its eyes were just empty holes.
My breath caught in my throat, and I felt like my heart was
going to explode out of my chest.
I screamed and dropped the flashlight, stumbling backward.
The creature moved, shifting like it was getting ready to
jump down. I turned and ran as fast as I
could, my legs barely keeping up with my fear.
The whole way down. I could smell this awful,
rotting stench, and I could hear it behind me, crashing through
the trees. When I finally reached the
bottom, some of my cousins were waiting there, looking at me
like I'd lost my mind. I was crying and shaking all
over, trying to tell them what I saw, but the words just wouldn't
come out right. They looked up into the trees,
but they said they didn't see anything following me.
My dad came over, worried and brought me inside.
The adults kept everyone inside the lodge for the rest of the
night, and I stayed close to my parents, feeling like I'd never
be safe again. I couldn't sleep that night.
Every sound from outside made me jump.
I kept thinking I'd see that creature's face at the window,
those hollow eyes staring in at me.
After that, I never played night games again.
The woods, the lodge, all of it. It didn't feel fun or exciting
anymore. It felt wrong, like something
was out there, watching, waiting, and I knew I'd seen it.
I just hoped I'd never see it again.
When I got back to the lodge that night, I was a complete
mess. My cousins had to practically
drag me inside because I was shaking so much.
I tried to tell them about the thing I saw in the tree, but
they just looked at me like I was speaking another language.
My words were all jumbled and I was so scared that I couldn't
make any sense. They kept saying calm down Alex,
but how could I? I knew what I saw.
My dad came over and pulled me aside.
What happened? He asked, his voice calm but
serious. I took a deep breath and tried
to explain everything. How I heard the whistle, climbed
up to the totem tree and then saw that horrible creature.
His face stayed the same the whole time I talked, but I could
tell he didn't really believe me.
I mean, how could he? It sounded crazy even to me.
After I finished, my dad patted my shoulder and said, You
probably just imagined it, Alex. Maybe it was a trick of the
light, or a shadow. It's dark out there.
I wanted to argue, to make him understand, but I couldn't find
the words. What if he was right?
What if it was just my imagination?
But deep down I knew it wasn't. The adults decided we shouldn't
go outside for the rest of the night.
They said it was just to be safe, but I knew it was really
because of me. They probably thought I was just
a scared little kid who got spooked in the dark, but I saw
the way they glanced at the windows.
They were uneasy, even if they wouldn't admit it.
I tried to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes I saw that
thing's face again, those hollow eyes and the way it's skin
looked like it was being pulled tight from behind.
I kept hearing things too, rustling sounds like something
was moving around outside. Every now and then I'd hear a
faint whisper, but I couldn't make out the words.
It was like the forest itself was trying to talk to me.
A few of my cousin's tried to cheer me up the next morning,
saying things like you just scared yourself, Alex, and it
was probably just a deer or something, but none of them went
near the totem tree for the rest of the trip.
They didn't say anything about it, but I noticed even Sam, who
always liked to hide in the toughest spots, stayed close to
the lodge. We didn't play night games again
for the rest of our time at Ridgewood Lodge, which was fine
by me. I wasn't going anywhere near
those woods at night. I couldn't shake the feeling
that something was out there, waiting, watching the way it had
chased me down the mountain, the smell of rot following me, It
was like it wanted to make sure I never forgot it.
After we went back home, things kind of went back to normal, but
I never felt the same. I didn't want to play outside
alone, and I stayed away from the woods as much as possible.
I even told my friends at school about what happened, but they
just laughed it off. You've been watching too many
scary movies, they said. But I knew the truth.
I knew what I saw was real. That night at Ridgewood Lodge
changed everything for me. The mountains, the woods.
They didn't feel like a playground anymore.
They felt dangerous, like they were hiding something terrible
just beneath the surface. And even though the adults tried
to act like everything was fine, I could tell they were a little
spooked too. They just didn't want to admit
it. I tried to move on, to forget
about what happened, but I couldn't.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that creature again, its
face twisted and horrible, and I couldn't shake the feeling that
this wasn't over. It felt like it was just the
beginning of something much worse, something I didn't
understand. But one thing was for sure, I
wasn't ever going back into those woods alone again.
Years went by, but I never forgot what happened at
Ridgewood Lodge. The memory of that night stayed
with me, haunting my dreams and creeping into my thoughts when I
least expected it. I kept trying to make sense of
what I saw, but it just didn't fit with anything I knew.
I started reading about monsters and legends, trying to find
something, anything that could explain it.
That's when I found out about the Wendigo.
The Wendigo was a creature from old Native American stories, and
the descriptions matched what I saw almost exactly.
It was this emaciated, twisted thing with hollow eyes and
stretched skin. Said it was once a person who
turned into a monster after eating human flesh to survive in
the wild. Just thinking about it made me
shiver. Could that really be what I saw?
Was there some kind of ancient creature living out in the
mountains? The more I read, the more I
started to connect the dots. The screech in the tunnel at
Glacier Falls, the creature at Ridgewood Lodge, it all seemed
to point to the same thing. It was like this thing was
following me, haunting me. The thought made my skin crawl,
but I couldn't shake it. I needed to know for sure if I
was right, even if it scared me to death.
One day I finally decided I had to go back.
I needed to face it, to find out what was really out there.
I talked to Jake about it and he agreed to come with me.
He didn't really believe in the Wendigo stuff, but he could tell
how much it was eating me up inside.
So we packed up some gear and headed back to Glacier Falls.
The drive up was quiet. Jake tried to make small talk,
but I was too nervous to really respond.
My mind kept racing with what we might find.
What if it was still there? What if it was waiting for us?
By the time we got to the trail, my heart was pounding so hard I
could barely hear anything else. We started walking toward the
tunnel, our footsteps crunching on the gravel path.
The closer we got, the colder the air seemed to become.
It was like stepping into a giant freezer and every hair on
my body stood on end. The tunnel entrance loomed
ahead, a dark hole in the side of the mountain.
I swallowed hard, gripping my flashlight tight.
Inside the tunnel, it was pitch black and dead silent.
Our footsteps echoed off the walls and the air was thick with
the smell of damp earth. We made it about halfway through
when I heard it again. The screech, Only this time it
was louder and even more terrifying than before.
It echoed through the tunnel, a mix of metal grinding and an
animal's roar. I froze, every muscle in my body
tensing up. Run.
Jake shouted, but I couldn't move.
I was too scared to even breathe.
That's when I saw it. A shadow moving at the end of
the tunnel, coming toward us fast.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
It was the same creature from Ridgewood Lodge, only now it was
even more terrifying with its bones sticking out and eyes like
black holes. Finally, my legs started working
and I turned to run. Jake was right behind me,
yelling for me to hurry. I could hear the creature
chasing us, its feet scraping against the tunnel floor.
The screeching sound filled my ears, and I felt like I was
going to pass out from fear. We burst out of the tunnel and
into the open air, but I didn't stop running until we got to the
car. Jake fumble with the keys and we
jumped in, slamming the doors behind us.
As we drove away, I looked back at the tunnel entrance.
There it was, standing in the shadows, watching us with those
dead, empty eyes. Even after we got home, I
couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't over.
I kept hearing that screech in my nightmares, and sometimes
when I was alone at night, I thought I heard whispers outside
my window. The worst part was, I knew it
was real. This thing, whatever it was,
wasn't just a story. It was out there, lurking in the
mountains, and I had a feeling it wasn't going to leave me
alone. A few nights later, as I lay in
bed trying to convince myself it was all in my head, I heard it
again, a faint screech coming from outside.
My blood ran cold and I knew then that it had found me again.
The creature was still out there and it wasn't done with me yet.
I lay there too scared to move, knowing that the nightmare was
far from over. When we first moved to our new
house in the mountains, I thought it was the most perfect
place in the world. It was a big ranch style house
with a huge yard surrounded by tall trees and a Creek that made
a soothing sound as it flowed by.
After years of living in a noisy city, this place felt like a
dream come true. My parents, especially dad, were
tired of city life and wanted a fresh start.
Mom thought it would be the perfect spot for her painting
and my little brother Andy and I couldn't wait to explore the
woods with our dogs, Max and Luna.
The house was a bit old and had been empty for a while.
We got it at a good price because the people who lived
here before had just left one day and never came back.
I overheard Mom and Dad talking about it, but they said it was
nothing to worry about. They thought it might have been
because of money problems or something.
To me, that just made the place seem more mysterious and
interesting. For the first few weeks,
everything was great. We spent our days unpacking,
setting up our rooms, and exploring the property.
The backyard was huge and backed right up to the woods.
Dad and I even built a little tree house with a perfect view
of the Creek. Andy and I would play outside
with Max and Luna, who loved having so much space to run
around at night. We'd sit by the fireplace and
listen to the crickets and the sound of the Creek.
It was so quiet and peaceful, nothing like the city.
But then little things started happening.
That didn't seem like a big deal at first.
One night when we were watching TV, the motion sensor lights in
the backyard turned on. Dad said it was probably a deer
or a raccoon. It made sense.
We were in the middle of the woods after all.
But it kept happening night after night.
Sometimes I'd wake up and see the lights flicker through my
window. I tried to tell myself it was
just animals, but it still gave me the creeps.
Mom noticed some strange carvings on the trees near the
edge of the yard. They looked like symbols or
something. She thought maybe some kids from
town had done it, but I never saw anyone else around.
The dog started acting weird too.
Sometimes Max would stand at the edge of the woods and growl,
staring into the darkness. Luna, who was usually the brave
one, wouldn't go near the Creek anymore.
Dad said they were just getting used to the new place, but I
wasn't so sure. One day Andy and I went
exploring deeper into the woods. We found this old rusty fence
that seemed to go on forever. It had signs on it that said no
trespassing in danger. I wanted to go see what was on
the other side, but Andy got scared and begged me to go back.
I tried to act tough but something about that fence gave
me a weird feeling so we headed back to the house.
The weather started to change and winter was coming fast.
The days got shorter and the nights seemed darker and colder.
I still loved our new house, but a part of me was starting to
feel uneasy, like we were being watched.
I didn't want to tell mom and dad because I knew they'd just
say I was imagining things, but deep down I knew something
wasn't right. This house wasn't as perfect as
it seemed. As the days got shorter and
colder, things around the house started getting even weirder.
The woods that used to seem so peaceful now felt like they were
closing in on us. Every time I looked out the
window, it felt like someone or something was watching.
I tried to ignore it, but it was hard when the strange noises
began at night. One night, I was just about to
fall asleep when I heard what sounded like footsteps outside
my window. I froze, my heart pounding in my
chest. It was probably just an animal,
I told myself. After all, we lived in the
woods. But the footsteps sounded too
heavy for a deer or a raccoon. They sounded like a person
walking slowly around the house. I wanted to call out to mom or
dad, but I was too scared to make a sound.
After what felt like forever, the footsteps finally stopped.
I stayed awake for hours listening, but there was nothing
else. The next morning I told dad what
I heard. He checked outside and found
some tracks in the dirt, but they were all smudged and hard
to make out. He said it was probably just a
bear or something and that we shouldn't worry, but I could
tell he was a little freaked out too.
Things got worse after that. The motion sensor lights started
going off almost every night. Every time they did, I'd look
out the window, half expecting to see someone standing there,
but there was never anything. One night the lights went off
and I heard Max growling at the back door.
He was scratching at it like he wanted to go outside.
I went to the door and tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't
stop. He just kept growling, his fur
standing on end. Dad decided to go check it out.
He grabbed a flashlight and opened the door.
Max bolted outside, barking like crazy.
Dad yelled for him to come back, but Max was already gone,
running into the woods. Dad went after him, leaving the
door wide open. Mom, Andy, and I stood there,
staring into the dark forest, waiting.
I don't know how long we stood there, but it felt like forever.
Finally, Dad came back, soaking wet and covered in mud.
He didn't have Max with him. He looked really shaken up, like
he had seen a ghost. Mom asked him what happened, but
he just shook his head and said he couldn't find Max.
Dad didn't say much after that. He just sat by the fireplace,
staring into the flames. I could tell something had
scared him, something bad. I tried to ask him about it
later, but he wouldn't talk. He just kept saying everything
was fine, but I knew he was lying.
That night, none of us slept. We all stayed in the living
room, huddled together. I kept looking out the window,
expecting to see Max come running back, but he never did.
The motion sensor lights flickered on and off all night,
but we were too scared to go outside and check.
The next morning, Mom found Max's collar near the Creek, but
there was no sign of him. It was like he had just
vanished. I wanted to cry, but I felt too
numb. Something was out there and it
had scared my dad, taken our dog and made our once perfect home
feel like a prison. As winter closed in, I couldn't
shake the feeling that this was just the beginning, that
whatever was out there wasn't going to leave us alone.
The house that we had all been so excited about now felt like a
place we couldn't escape from, and the woods, which once seemed
so beautiful, had turned into a place of nightmares.
After Max disappeared, everything felt different.
The whole house was on edge, we kept the doors locked all the
time and nobody went outside after dark.
Even Luna, who used to love running around the yard, just
stayed close to us now. It was like she knew something
we didn't. Then one night, things got even
worse. It started with Sarah screaming.
I was in the living room when I heard it, a high pitched shriek
that made my blood run cold. I ran to her room and she was
sitting up in bed, her eyes wide with terror.
There was something outside my window.
She cried, pointing with a shaking hand.
I rushed to the window and looked out, but there was
nothing there, just the dark shapes of the trees.
I tried to tell her it was probably just a shadow, maybe a
branch moving in the wind, but she shook her head.
It wasn't a shadow, she insisted.
It had eyes. Yellow eyes.
Her words sent a chill down my spine.
I wanted to tell her it was just her imagination, but deep down I
knew she wasn't making it up. Dad came in and looked out the
window too. He stayed there for a long time,
just staring out into the darkness.
Finally, he turned to us and said we should all stay together
in the living room for the night.
That night, Dad didn't sleep at all.
He sat in the chair near the window with the flashlight in
his hand, his eyes scanning the yard.
Mom tried to get him to come to bed, but he refused.
I think he was scared that whatever Sarah saw might come
back, and he wanted to be ready. The next day, Dad told us to
stay inside. He went out to look around the
property, but he didn't find anything.
When he came back, he seemed more nervous than ever.
That evening, he finally told us what he saw the night Max
disappeared. I don't know what it was, he
said, his voice shaking. But it wasn't human.
It was tall and. Decayed.
It had these long fingers like claws and its eyes, they glowed
yellow in the light. We all sat there in silence,
trying to process what he was saying.
I wanted to believe he was just seeing things, maybe because he
was scared or stressed, but the look on his face told me he was
telling the truth. He wasn't making this up.
It called out to me. Dad continued.
It mimicked your voices, trying to lure me deeper into the
woods, but I knew it wasn't you. I ran back as fast as I could.
Mom looked terrified. She started searching online for
any information about the house and the land it was on.
That's when we learned about the previous owners.
They had left. Suddenly, just like us, they
started experiencing strange things.
Voices in the night, shadows in the woods.
The more we dug, the more we found stories about this place.
Stories that went back hundreds of years.
There were legends about an entity in these woods, something
that mimicked the voices of loved ones to lure people away
from safety. It was said to be an ancient
creature, something that had lived here long before anyone
else. As we read, I felt this creeping
sense of horror. All those stories, they were
just like what we were experiencing.
The noises, the lights, the figure Dad saw.
It was like everything was happening all over again.
We spent the rest of the day in silence, each of us lost in our
thoughts. I could see the fear in
everyone's eyes, even Dad's. The house that had once felt
like a new beginning now felt like a trap.
And whatever was out there, it wasn't going to stop until it
got what it wanted. The day after Dad told us about
the creature, the house felt like it was holding its breath.
None of us talked much. We just stayed in the living
room, trying to act normal even though we were all terrified.
Outside, the sky was a dull Gray and it felt like the sun was
setting earlier than usual. The whole place was wrapped in
this thick, cold silence. As night started to fall, I
noticed Dad kept looking out the window, his face pale and tense.
Mom tried to distract us by playing board games, but none of
us could focus. Every little sound made us jump.
The only one who seemed calm was Luna, but even she stayed close,
her ears twitching at every Creek of the house.
Then the motion sensor lights in the backyard came on, one after
the other, as if something was moving toward the house.
We all froze. Dad grabbed the flashlight and
turned it on, shining it out the window, but we couldn't see
anything. The lights stayed on, glowing in
the dark, like they were warning us about something.
That's when we heard it. The scratching at the back door.
It was slow at first, then louder, more frantic.
It was like something was trying to get in.
My heart pounded in my chest as I watched Dad walk slowly to the
door. He put his finger to his lips,
telling us to stay quiet. Then we heard a voice.
Let me in. It whispered, sounding exactly
like Mom. I felt a cold shiver run down my
spine. Mom's eyes went wide and she
shook her head. It wasn't her voice, but it was.
It sounded just like her, but with something wrong about it,
like it was being played back on an old, broken tape recorder.
Dad stepped back from the door and we heard it again, this time
sounding like Andy. Please, I'm scared, let me in.
Andy clung to Mom, his face pale.
That's not me. He whispered, his voice
trembling. I knew he was right, but it was
still terrifying to hear his voice outside like there were
two of him now. We huddled together, our eyes
fixed on the back door. The voice changed again,
sounding like me. This time.
It was saying things that I would say, things that only I
knew, trying to get us to open the door.
I felt my stomach twist with fear.
How did it know so much about us?
The lights flickered and we heard a loud bang on the door,
then silence. I held my breath, waiting for
something to happen. The air was so thick with
tension that I thought I was going to choke on it.
Then, just when I thought it was over, Dad's flashlight caught
something moving just beyond the window.
It was the creature standing at the edge of the woods, it's
tall, twisted body half hidden in the shadows.
Its eyes glowed that sickly yellow color, and it was
watching us. I could see its mouth moving,
but I couldn't hear what it was saying.
Dad motioned for us to stay quiet.
We slowly backed away from the door, moving toward the front of
the house where the car was parked.
We have to leave, Dad whispered. Now.
We grabbed our coats and shoes, trying not to make a sound.
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely tie my laces.
We moved toward the front door, but before we could reach it,
the creature let out this horrible guttural growl.
It was like the sound of metal scraping against metal mixed
with a low rumbling moan. It shook the walls of the house,
making everything tremble. We ran to the car, but it
wouldn't start. Dad turned the key over and
over, but the engine just sputtered and died.
We were trapped. I looked out the window and saw
the creature moving closer, its eyes locked on us.
It was so close now that I could see its decayed skin and those
long Bony fingers reaching out toward the car.
Mom screamed, and I felt like I was going to pass out from fear.
The creature was right outside the window now, its face just
inches away, staring in at us. It opened its mouth, showing a
row of sharp, jagged teeth, and then everything went dark as the
power went out. The last thing I heard before I
blacked out was the sound of glass shattering and the
creatures horrible voice mimicking all of ours at once,
echoing in the darkness. Ever since I can remember, I've
been fascinated with the supernatural.
My friends Jasmine and Dave felt the same way.
We'd always get together to talk about ghosts, monsters, and
anything else that was strange and creepy.
But out of all the things we discussed, there was one
creature that intrigued us the most.
The Wendigo. We heard so many stories about
it, especially from my grandpa. He grew up near the northern
forests where the Wendigo was said to live.
Grandpa would always tell us about how it was a creature you
should never try to find. It's a beast that hungers for
flesh, he'd say, his eyes going wide for effect.
It can mimic voices and lure you in.
Once you hear it, it's already too late.
I used to think he was just trying to scare us, but the way
he talked about it like it was a real thing he had seen, made me
wonder. Still, Jasmine, Dave, and I
couldn't resist the mystery. We read everything we could
about the Wendigo, looking up stories and even talking to
people who claimed they knew someone who had seen it.
The more we learned, the more we wanted to find it.
There was just something about the idea of a creature lurking
in the woods, waiting for the right moment to strike, that
pulled us in. We had to know if it was real.
One day we decided it was time to go on a hunt.
We planned everything out carefully, packing a map,
compass, and a new tracker Dave had gotten for his birthday.
We figured if we were going to find the Wendigo, we had to be
smart about it. I felt nervous as we prepared,
remembering all of Grandpa's warnings.
He'd always tell me, don't go into those woods, not unless you
want to never come back. But I shook off the feeling.
This was just going to be an adventure, a way to prove to
ourselves that we were brave enough to face whatever was out
there. The day we set off, the weather
was perfect, the sun was shining, and there was a cool
breeze that made it feel like a perfect fall day.
We laughed and joked as we walked into the forest, feeling
like we were on some kind of grand quest.
The trees were tall and close together, and soon we couldn't
even see the road we had come from.
It was just us and the forest, the sound of our footsteps
mixing with the rustle of leaves.
But as we went deeper, the mood changed.
It got quieter, like the forest was holding its breath.
We stopped hearing birds or the rustling of small animals.
It was just silent. I started feeling uneasy again,
like something was watching us. I wanted to say something to
Jasmine and Dave, but they looked so focused, their eyes
scanning the trees like they were expecting to see the
Wendigo at any moment. We kept walking, our excitement
turning into a kind of tense anticipation.
I couldn't shake the feeling that we were making a mistake,
that maybe Grandpa was right all along.
But we had come this far, and there was no turning back now.
We were going to find out if the Wendigo was real, whether we
were ready for it or not. As we walked deeper into the
forest, everything around us felt off.
The trees grew thicker, their branches tangling above us and
blocking out the sunlight. It was getting harder to see
where we were going, and the air felt colder, like we had stepped
into a different world. I glanced at Jasmine and Dave.
They looked uneasy too, but none of us said anything.
We had set out to find the Wendigo, and there was no way we
were turning back now. After a while, we noticed
something strange. The forest was quiet, too quiet.
There were no birds chirping, no rustling leaves, nothing.
It was like all the animals had left or were hiding from
something. I felt a chill run down my
spine. We kept walking, trying to
ignore the creeping fear that something was very wrong.
Then we stumbled upon it. At first, I thought it was just
a pile of leaves, or maybe some broken branches.
But as we got closer, I realized what it was.
It was the body of an animal, or what was left of it.
The sight made my stomach turn. It was torn apart, pieces of it
scattered around like something had ripped it to shreds.
Blood stained the ground and the air was thick with the metallic
smell of it. Jasmine gasped and covered her
mouth. Dave turned pale, his eyes wide
with shock. I couldn't take my eyes off the
scene. It was like nothing I had ever
seen before, and all I could think was that we needed to get
out of there. What could have done this?
Jasmine whispered, her voice shaky.
I don't know. Dave replied.
But we all knew what we were thinking.
The Wendigo. The air around us seemed to grow
colder, and a heavy silence fell over the forest.
It was like the trees were watching us, holding their
breath. I felt the hair on the back of
my neck stand up. We weren't alone.
Suddenly, we heard a sound. It was faint at first, like the
cracking of branches. Then it got louder, closer,
until it was right in front of us.
My heart pounded in my chest. I turned slowly, and that's when
I saw them. Two glowing eyes, staring at us
from the darkness. I froze, unable to move or
speak. The eyes were icy blue, like
they were looking right through me.
Then a shape began to emerge from the shadows.
It was tall, towering over us, with skin stretched tight over
its bones. It was holding something in its
mouth, and in its Bony hand it held a human head.
My blood ran cold. It was the Wendigo.
For a moment, none of us moved. We were too scared to even
breathe. Then all at once, it was like a
switch flipped in our heads. We turned and ran as fast as we
could, crashing through the trees, not caring where we were
going as long as it was away from that creature.
I could hear the Wendigo behind us, its footsteps heavy and
fast. It was chasing us, getting
closer and closer. My lungs burned and my legs felt
like they were going to give out, but I didn't stop.
I couldn't. I had to get away, had to
survive. Somehow we managed to put some
distance between US and the creature.
We ducked into a thick patch of bushes, trying to catch our
breath. My heart was pounding so hard I
thought it might burst out of my chest.
We were hiding, but I knew it was only a matter of time before
the Wendigo found us. And when it did, I didn't know
if we'd be able to escape again. Hiding in the bushes, I tried to
keep my breathing quiet. My chest was tight and my whole
body was shaking. Next to me, Jasmine and Dave
crouched low, their eyes wide with fear.
We could still hear the Wendigo out there, moving through the
trees. Every time a branch snapped, I
felt a jolt of panic. We were in its territory now,
and it knew we were here. We stayed as still as we could,
hardly daring to breathe. I kept my eyes fixed on the
forest around us, expecting the Wendigo to leap out at any
moment. I didn't know what we would do
if it found us. I couldn't stop thinking about
what Grandpa had said, about the Wendigo being able to mimic
voices. It could sound like anyone to
lure you in, to trick you into thinking you were safe.
I hope that wasn't true, but deep down I knew it was.
Suddenly, we heard something that made my blood run cold.
A voice. Help, Please help me.
It was the voice of a little boy crying out from somewhere in the
trees. My heart sank.
It sounded so real, so scared. I looked at Jasmine and Dave.
They were just as confused as I was.
There was no way a kid could be out here alone, not this deep in
the forest. But the voice kept calling,
sounding more desperate with every second.
Please, somebody help me. Dave grabbed my arm.
We can't go out there, it's trying to trick us, he
whispered. I nodded, my mind racing.
This had to be the Wendigo. Grandpa's Stories about its
mimicry flashed through my head, warning me to stay put.
But then I saw Jasmine's face. She looked torn, her eyes
darting between US and the direction of the voice.
What if it's real? She whispered back.
What if there's really a kid out there?
Jasmine, no, I hissed, but it was too late.
She was already moving, pushing through the bushes, heading
toward the voice. Jasmine, wait.
Dave tried to grab her, but she was too fast.
She ran off, disappearing into the trees.
I wanted to shout, to call her back, but I was too scared to
make a sound. Dave and I stayed hidden, our
hearts pounding in our chests. Then we heard it.
A scream. It was Jasmine's scream.
It cut through the silence of the forest like a knife, and
then it was gone, swallowed up by the trees.
I felt like I was going to be sick.
No, no, no. Dave muttered next to me, his
voice shaking. We knew what had happened, but
neither of us could bring ourselves to say it out loud.
Jasmine was gone. The Wendigo had her.
We stayed there, frozen in fear, not daring to move.
Then we heard her voice again. Guys, where are you?
Help me, please. It was Jasmine's voice, calling
out to us, sounding just like she had a few minutes ago.
But we knew it wasn't her. It was the Wendigo, using her
voice to try to lure us out. My stomach twisted in knots.
This was worse than anything I could have imagined.
Dave and I huddled together, trying to stay as quiet as
possible. The Wendigo moved through the
trees, its heavy footsteps crunching the leaves.
It was searching for us, trying to draw us out with Jasmine's
voice. Come on, it's not funny, where
are you? It called again.
It was horrifying hearing Jasmine's voice like that,
knowing it was really the creature trying to trick us.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing it would just go away.
For what felt like hours, we stayed there, listening to the
Wendigo call out to us in Jasmine's voice, each word a
twisted reminder of what it had done.
Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.
The forest was silent again, and we didn't dare move.
I opened my eyes slowly and glanced at Dave.
His face was pale and he was staring off into the trees,
looking like he was about to cry.
I wanted to say something to comfort him, but there were no
words. All we could do was wait, hoping
the Wendigo would lose interest and leave.
We needed to get out of here, but I didn't know how.
The creature was still out there, and it was only a matter
of time before it found us. And then what would we do?
I didn't want to think about it. All I knew was that we had to
survive, no matter what. We stayed hidden in the bushes,
not daring to move or make a sound.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst.
The Wendigo was still out there, prowling around, trying to find
us. It was using Jasmine's voice to
call out each word, twisting the knife of fear deeper into me.
I wanted to run, to get as far away from this place as
possible, but I knew we had to stay still if we wanted to
survive. Then something changed.
We heard a noise in the distance, laughter and the sound
of voices. It was faint, but it was there.
I had no idea what it was or where it was coming from, but it
seemed to catch the wendigo's attention.
It stopped moving, its footsteps suddenly silent.
I held my breath, listening as it slowly turned and began
moving toward the sound. This was our chance.
I glanced at Dave and he looked back at me, his eyes wide and
scared. We both knew we had to move now,
while the Wendigo was distracted.
I nodded and he nodded back, his face set with determination.
We slowly crawled out of our hiding spot, every muscle in my
body tense. My heart was racing, my ears
straining to catch any sound that might mean the Wendigo was
coming back. But it was still heading away
from us, drawn to the noise in the distance.
I didn't know what was out there, but I hoped it was enough
to keep the creature away from us.
Once we were clear of the bushes, we got to our feet and
started running. We didn't look back, we didn't
say a word, we just ran. The forest blurred around us as
we sprinted through the trees, our only thought being to get
away from the Wendigo. My lungs burned and my legs felt
like they were going to give out, but I pushed on.
We had to make it. We had to survive.
Branches whipped against my face and the ground was uneven under
my feet, but I kept going. The sound of laughter and voices
faded behind us, but I didn't dare slow down.
We were getting closer to the edge of the forest, I could feel
it. We just had to keep moving.
Finally, after what felt like hours, we burst out of the trees
and into the open. I could see the lights of the
town in the distance. A sight that filled me with a
mix of relief and terror. We were almost there.
We kept running, our feet pounding against the ground
until we reached the safety of the familiar lights.
We collapsed onto the grass, gasping for breath.
I felt like I was going to throw up.
Dave was lying next to me, his face pale and covered in sweat.
We had made it. We were alive, but as the
adrenaline started to fade, the reality of what had happened
sank in. Jasmine was gone, the Wendigo
had her, and we couldn't do anything to save her.
The horrible guilt settled over me, but before I could say
anything, I heard it again. Jasmine's voice.
It was faint, but it was there, coming from the direction of the
forest. I froze, my heart stopping in my
chest. Dave looked at me, his eyes wide
with terror. We slowly turned to look back at
the trees. Standing at the edge of the
forest, partially hidden in the shadows, was the Wendigo.
It was watching us. Its eyes were glowing in the
darkness, and it raised a hand in a slow, mocking wave.
I felt a shiver run down my spine.
It was like it was telling us that this wasn't over, that it
could come for us at any time. We stared at it, too scared to
move, until it finally turned and vanished back into the
woods. I let out a shaky breath, my
whole body trembling. We were safe for now, but the
Wendigo was still out there, and I knew deep down that it would
never stop hunting. The horror of that night would
stay with us forever, a constant reminder of the creature lurking
in the dark, waiting to strike again.