February 2020 Group Read #1: The Wendigo

[Rachel]

Canavan wrote: "Based on what I know about the Blackwood story, that is almost certainly not the case. Instead, I would assert that the camp tale that was circulating in the first half of the 20th century and heard by Ives was a garbled version of the earlier Blackwood story."

That's about what I guessed. Thanks for the extra info!

The Wendigo as told in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was one of my favorites so I really enjoyed reading the full story.
(view spoiler)[One thing I wasn't so sure on, toward the end when DeFago came back to the camp, was it actually him or was it supposed to be the wendigo masquerading as him? I was confused as I was reading it and became even more confused when he showed up looking relatively normal at the home camp later. Not sure how to interpret that. (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly B]

Rachel, I interpreted it as (view spoiler)[ the Wendigo impersonating DeFago. I think it mentions the other characters hearing the "real" Defago running overhead and yelling as the fake was sitting with them by the fire. Plus something about his voice changing to a lower tone at one point, and not sounding like DeFago. (hide spoiler)].

[Kelly B]

I finished it tonight, and really enjoyed it. Very atmospheric. Blackwood really nailed how eerie and lonesome it would be in the wilderness back then.

[Rachel]

Kelly B wrote: "Rachel, I interpreted it as [spoilers removed]."

Yeah, (view spoiler)[that's why I figured it must've been the wendigo. I guess I'm just confused as to what it's motives were too, ha ha. (hide spoiler)]

[Chandler]

It started slow but then it picked up. Great tension and detail! This is my first Blackwood story but I'm curious as to what else he has written. He certainly knows how to write tension.

Also, I agree with the above that (view spoiler)[ Defago's return to the camp was the wendigo in disguise. (hide spoiler)]

[Opal]

This is my second time reading this book, and I am still confused on this point: why does Hank call the Wendigo a moss eater? (There's another scene referencing moss-eating at the end as well, but I can't add spoiler tags on my mobile app so I won't get into it). Isn't the Wendigo supposed to be a cannibal? Or was Hank trying to mock it because he was afraid?

[Kelly B]

Opal wrote: "This is my second time reading this book, and I am still confused on this point: why does Hank call the Wendigo a moss eater? (There's another scene referencing moss-eating at the end as well, but ..."

At one point, a character (view spoiler)[ mentions that the Wendigo only eats moss. I don't think the Wendigo was a cannibal; I think he hauled his victims around (up in the sky much of the time) until they went crazy. At least that was my interpretation of it. (hide spoiler)]

[Tina]

Feli wrote: "Jannik wrote: "Jon wrote: "I enjoy Blackwood's stories. Definitely a talented horror author. But sometimes he exhibits bias/stereotypes in the way he characterizes people who he perceives as "other..."

I'm from the states and I know what a Wendigo is, but I read a lot of horror, and watch it.

[Feli]

I've finished the story now. I agree on what was said before (view spoiler)[in that it was the Wendigo who returned to camp and not Defago (hide spoiler)].
Over all, it was a good and atmospheric story and I gave it 3.5 stars. Maybe it would have been even better, if it weren't for the Willows. I've read that Blackwood story last year (I think) and although it was really slow in the beginning, it was one of the best short stories I've read so far. Blackwood is definitely a great writer and I will try to read more by him.

[Vanessa]

(view spoiler)[I've always interpreted it as being Defago himself that returned to the camp, but everything that made him Defago (his memories and soul) were still with the Wendigo. He was only what was left after the Wendigo was done with him at the end with the frostbitten feet. I do think that when they see him right before that with his feet in darkness that the Wendigo is still with him. (hide spoiler)]

I think the race element brings it down because Blackwood uses it as the main method of conveying characterization. He's able to skimp on that part of the story because he's relying on stereotypes about how civilized people were thought to be back then. I'm more of a fan of The Willows. This one was difficult for me to rate because I like it much more in collections with other stories.

[Alastor]

Just starting this story for the first time.
'Warm your dirty, red skin'
Seriously? I know there's casual racism in a lot of writing from those times but, seriously?

[Michael]

Glad to be joining in on this one. I'll start reading right after I receive my copy.

[Jen from Quebec :0)]

Got the audible for 3$ to follow along with the free kindle public domain version. I'm intrigued right from the get-go, as this is like a Canadian historical plot-- voyageurs, les canadiens, natives, and quebecers like....ME! --Jen from Quebec :0)

[Jon]

Feli wrote: "Jannik wrote: "But I have one question to all from the US: is the wendigo common folklore or is it merely from a part of the US?"

I grew up in California, weaned on horror and the supernatural, but I never heard of a wendigo until I moved to Canada and read Blackwood's story two years ago. Wendigo folklore seems specific to the Great Lakes/Eastern Canada region, so I suppose it makes sense that I wouldn't be familiar with it (as I was with the Pacific Northwest's Sasquatch). The wendigo needs a better publicist!

[Jon]

Canavan wrote: "I’m not an expert, but I might phrase that a little differently — that “The Wendigo” (and other Blackwood works) embodied the author’s own version of Romanticism.."

That seems accurate to me. There was a side of Romanticism that exulted in the supernatural in nature, such as the wolf glen, witches' sabbaths, the Gothic, etc. This and Blackwood's writing harkens back to an older attitude, where nature is frightening and capricious, filled with dangerous beasts and robbers stalking dark forests.

[jamako]

Jon wrote: "Feli wrote: "Jannik wrote: "But I have one question to all from the US: is the wendigo common folklore or is it merely from a part of the US?"

I grew up in California, weaned on horror and the sup..."

Interesting. As I said before, I'm from Germany and the Wendigo has been a creature I've been aware of for almost as long as I can remember. It was definitely the first creature from Native American folklore I've heard about (probably from reading a certain Stephen King book) and I always thought of it being quite well-known in most Western countries (I mean it shows up in Supernatural and Until Dawn just to name two bigger names from the entertainment realm). I also know others like Coyote and the Naagloshii/Skinwalkers but after them, it does seem there aren't many figures from this particular mythology that get used regularly in pop-culture.
The first book in a while that introduced me to some new figures from Native American folklore I hadn't heard about before is Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.

[Lloyd]

The wendigo made me want to go camping. It's the perfect campfire story told by a pioneer of American gothic horror. This was my second time reading Blackwood after reading the willows on project Gutenberg and it renewed my interest in Algernon's work. Directors of 'scary' movies could learn how to establish gradually intense dread and suspense from Blackwood's fiction.

[Michael]

Michael wrote: "I enjoyed reading "The Wendigo." Blackwood reminds me of Poe and Lovecraft due to his setting up an atmosphere of tension and slowly amping it up throughout the story. He takes the Wendigo legend o..."

That says a lot about this story, and why it remains a favorite to this day. Very well put. I've only heard this on a podcast, I think on Tales To Terrify. I'm looking forward to reading the story. Just started today.

[Michael]

Rachel wrote: "Excited to read this with everybody! I haven't read anything by Blackwood yet so this'll be a treat. I've heard other stories about the Wendigo before though and thought it was terrifying."

My first introduction to The Wendigo was in the pages of Wolverine comics during my high school years. What a difference the actual story is! So much more than just a foe for a superhero to fight.

[Michael]

Jon wrote: "I enjoy Blackwood's stories. Definitely a talented horror author. But sometimes he exhibits bias/stereotypes in the way he characterizes people who he perceives as "other" (meaning non-Brits--e.g.,..."
Yes, I picked up on that bias within the first few pages. It's something that is a part of the times in which it was written. I've learned to forgive it, as part of a group-mind ignorance that is part of history, in order to enjoy the story.

[Ed]

Long time lurker, first time as a member/commenter, lol.

The Wendigo story motivated me to join because I have been listening to iterations of this story for years. In central Indiana we have a place called Conner Prairie, each October they have a festival with rides, pioneer style games, etc. The reason the wife and I go almost every year is to enjoy the headless horseman hayride and the storyteller in a cabin that tells a version of the Wendigo story. It's a great way to enjoy the spirit of the scare every year.

As I read the comments, there is a common thread of the racial bias/stereotyping in the written word. My opinion of the obvious racism of the story is that; albeit heinous in nature, it is often a cultural reflection of the time when it was written. I tend to find that if you follow that cultural string of yarn throughout time in literature, there appears a gradual decline in the racial overtones of human to human characterizations. Is this directly related to societies real racial progression? There are clear exceptions to this rule; however, I like to fantasize that books have contributed to the overall improvement of racial relations through the years by being honest to the time. At least until the somewhat recent fad of writing whitewashed historical fiction that eliminates the common racial tension of the era in which the story was set. Again, there are exceptions to this rule, for example Stephen King’s “It” certainly did not whitewash racial or hate crimes, but I feel like there was intent to expose these contrasting time periods and the differences in the social tensions between the differing times in the book despite being an equally embarrassing highlight of human nature in both periods. As a highly segmented group, professional writers of this current era seem more likely to skip over accusations of cultural appropriation and just write what will be published in this particular climate rather than starve because publishers asses are too tight to accept that the world of humans is an ugly place. The Wendigo story has obvious racial elements, but for a mature reader, I think it is just old hat if you have read anything that was written prior to the 1980’s. It feels like society fixed it’s eye on political correctness in the 80’s and has permeated literary culture since. Current historical fiction that I have read tends to shy from the racial nature of the time in which it was set, this makes it easier to read, but life isn’t easy, and people are still racist, albeit more carefully racist. I certainly wouldn’t want to distract from an event or events in someone’s life in which they were harmed or experienced a horrible situation due to race or for any social reason, but being blind to the world or turning our heads because it is ugly, is not a solution. It only promotes doing these horrible things in confidence with others who have the same social ethics.

From a technical standpoint, this piece is a lesson in tension as it builds throughout. This may be too slow of a built for modern publishing. I like that somewhere in the middle I thought about my own writing. I tend to write nature in its fertile green form, I rarely write anything in the hibernating form of nature. I wonder if this is some psychological thing, I never go in the woods in winter, so I never want to write about it? Either way, I enjoyed the writing, the story already has a slot in my memory but now it seems to occupy a larger spot in my brain with a little more hashing out of my feelings toward the piece so I thank the group for that.

Hope this was both somewhat provocative and productive.

[Michael]

I agree with your main points. The story is a bit wordy and written in that elongated, formal style that was typical of the times in which it was written (along with the racial stereotypes). However, the slow build of tension and anxiety is masterful and that's what I remember best about this story.

[Ricardo]

I finish it in one day...I really like it.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I liked it.

[Stephanie]

Not really read any Blackwood before, I think I may have read something in a gothic collection but can't for the life of me remember what. The story felt a bit slow at the start as all the characters were introduced, but once this was out of the way, I loved the setting and atmosphere. The remoteness and isolation really bolstered the tension and fear factor. I paid no attention to the racist element. Whilst it jars to our ears and is uncomfortable, the language was of it's time.
The thing that puzzles me is why does the wendigo take someone? If they are moss-eaters, what is the purpose behind them? Being from the UK, the wendigo is not something which features on our monster radar.

[Canavan]

Stephanie said (in part):

The thing that puzzles me is why does the wendigo take someone? If they are moss-eaters, what is the purpose behind them? Being from the UK, the wendigo is not something which features on our monster radar.

Perhaps the answer lies at least partially in how one conceptualizes the Wendigo. You (and other posters earlier in the thread) refer to the Wendigo as a “monster” (in much the same way as we often classify werewolves and vampires as monsters), implying that it has some fixed purpose or agenda that is somehow knowable and comprehensible. But that’s not how Blackwood conceived of the Wendigo. He saw it as more of an air spirit than a physical being; it was Nature personified. As such, asking why the the Wendigo “takes someone” may be like asking why someone gets struck by lightning. It may just be a case of bad luck.

[Jon Recluse]

The original creature of Algonquian mythology is a man-eating creature/spirit connected to cannibalism, forever hungry.

[Rafael]

I liked it. I had never read any Blackwood before. He built up a good atmosphere. The fearsome part is not what we see but what we did not see. It's fantastic. And when we finally see it's even scarier.

[Canavan]

As the end of the month draws near I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for all of their thoughtful posts. They made re-reading this classic much more enjoyable.

[Jon Recluse]

Canavan wrote: "As the end of the month draws near I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for all of their thoughtful posts. They made re-reading this classic much more enjoyable."

I'll second that, and I enjoyed your thoughtful input, Canavan.