And THE WOLFMAN Contest Winner Is...
GeekTyrant and Universal are proud to announce that Ian Cleghorn is the winner for The Wolfman contest! The Wolfman is out in theaters this Friday, February 12th.
After reading through all of the cool entries I decided that Ian's story just stood out a little more. All of the stories were great and blended the gothic style and monsters we asked for but Ian's monster story just really fit in with the contest itself and the releasing of The Wolfman this week! Well written and very imaginative, Ian got my attention from the very beginning and kept me there until the end. I could visualize the characters and the monster itself.
Enjoy Ian's short story!
The Edge of Edinshire
by Ian Cleghorn
The forest was immense; it lined the entirety of the east side of town. It had been known across England as ‘the forest of widows’, because men went there to hunt big game or trek through its wilderness, only to never be seen again. Its label as a brave man’s conquest had unintentionally led many to their deaths. For years, the town was unaware of what was in the forest. They thought that the lives it claimed were due to starvation or dehydration from its explorers ‘falling between the cracks’. Or perhaps the pioneers even made it out the other side! Bodies were never found, so it had been a possibility. However the years of unexplained deaths had come to an end. The town was finally able to put a face behind the deaths. Or at least what could be called a face.
The first man to make it out of the forest alive called it ‘mort noir’, and although he was from France, a local tavern keeper translated it to ‘black death’.
Some people called him a lunatic, feeding the furnace about the forest causing insanity. Others said he had mistaken what he had seen; possibly a large dog, or one last wolf that had escaped capture. One thing for certain was that he had seen four of his accomplices, friends even, killed in front of him. Whatever this man saw definitely shook him, both mentally and physically. He had three large gashes across his face, one below the eye and two above. His right arm was injured as well; puncture marks down to the bone. He managed to survive the injuries, but remained silent about what he had seen until his departure back to France several weeks later.
The attack on the Frenchman led to many questions about what he had seen. There were several talks of getting a group together, a hunting party, to search for the beast. Even an elderly self proclaimed war hero was stockpiling weapons and ammunition. He had fought and survived through many skirmishes, including the Boer war, the Ashanti wars, and the Zulu war. He gave his weapons to the members of the town brave enough to venture into the forest. Brandishing breech-loading rifles, and Webley revolvers, they left.
The party consisted of five gentlemen. Mr. Kettler and his son Edmond were leading the party. They were followed by a wealthy older man named Easton Thatcher, the doctor from the town apothecary, Henry Blake, and a large fellow who didn’t speak much, but went by the name of Magnus.
This search party was planning on scouting the forest until they reached the Aspen River. Even in the late December snow, the expedition was only supposed to take one night, so the men figured their chances of seeing anything were slim.
The group was walking in silence for a few hours, waiting to hear something out of the ordinary. The only sounds in the forest were the crunching of ice laced twigs and snow covered leaves. A faint flickering of their lantern was also audible as it echoed off of the massive oak trees that surrounded them. The first person to break their silence was Henry Blake.
“We’ve been at it for hours; I think it’s about time for a rest.” He proposed.
“We’ll stop when we get to the river.” Magnus said. His say was usually final, so the group agreed to keep travelling, despite the doctor’s wishes. They continued on, walking with their guns at ready, knowing at any moment, the dull lifeless walk through the forest could become the most exciting, or terrifying night of their lives.
The party finally heard a sound, although it was one of relief. The rolling sound of the river was only minutes away. This meant that they would finally be able to rest for the night. Surprisingly, none of the men in the group had seen or heard anything in their miles long journey. So far, the night was dull, their search only sparked from years of disappearances, and the words of a single injured man.
“I’ll set up the tents and you get the fire going.” Kettler said to his son. His tone was stern, it reflected the fact that he was still not at ease with their situation. As Kettler and his son began working on the camp site, Blake was the first one to sit down
“Well I guess we came out here for nothing! What a waste of time this was!” He said loudly, although his voice betrayed his façade of confidence. “I can’t wait to get back to town. We shouldn’t even have bothered combing these woods for – whatever it is we’re looking for.”
“Keep your voice down; I’m not going to risk myself over your stupidity.” Magnus said, harshly but with all seriousness. Blake looked down in annoyance.
“Well fellows, I guess our arrival to the river means that the town is completely safe. Anything that would be stalking these woods with harmful intent surely wouldn’t have let us get this far.” Thatcher said boldly. “I’m actually looking forward to some nice time outdoors now. This forest isn’t as bad as I had presumed.”
The tent was set, and the fire was burning. The group was actually surprised that Edmond was able to light a fire so quickly with such frozen timber. They sat in their shelter, telling stories to pass the time. But Magnus wasn’t busy playing cards or telling stories. He was leaning on a tree just out of the firelights reach, waiting for sunlight to peer through the dense forest branches. He was gripping his rifle tightly, knowing that whatever happened to that Frenchman was not going to happen to him. He was ready for anything.
It was midnight, maybe later. The moon was shining its light on the water of the river flowing behind them, its rapids glistening almost as brightly as the fire.
“I think it’s safe to say we can sleep.” Blake posited, “I sure could use a couple hours.”
“I agree, however, we should still have a watch.” Kettler said, flicking his eyes over towards Magnus.
Magnus’ brow furrowed, he was thinking it over. He wasn’t fond of closing his eyes, even for a second, but he knew the others would have a hard time staying awake.
“Alright” he finally said hesitantly, “I’ll watch first, then you Henry, Kettler, Edmond, and you Easton.” Magnus pointed them out in order.
“So it’s settled.” Blake said enthusiastically, “Off to bed then.” Blake went back to the tent, as did the rest of them. Magnus was the only one who stayed behind, listening to the sounds of the forest. The noise of the torrential river served almost as a distraction to him. During his watch, he didn’t hear anything too suspicious. But he was so cautious he could have sworn he saw a black figure in the woods. He figured that it was just his imagination, something as large as the shadow he saw would make a noise of some kind. After the hour was up, he reluctantly resigned to the tent, to get at least a few hours of sleep.
It was then Blake’s turn to stand watch. He took the precautions very lightly. With the river to his back, he felt confident he was safe.
“Nothing’s in these woods. We’re a bunch of fools for wasting our time coming out here.” He thought to himself. He nestled into the crook of the tree stump he had been leaning against. His eyes were so heavy; he thought closing them for a minute couldn’t hurt. “What could go wrong?”
Blake heard the sound first. A low resonant tone was coming from the darkness an arms length in front of him. He heard the pounding of feet across the snow, snarling breathing accompanied it. He didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he jumped to his feet as quickly as possible. He then reached to his side for his revolver.
The men in the tent heard a shot. They erupted out of their slumber immediately, almost ripping the tent down when they were getting out. When they finally were out of the tent, they saw Blake firing his pistol into the darkness. Suddenly, his pistol shots were drowned out by a roar unlike any they had ever heard. It dwarfed the noise of the river in comparison. Its deep bellowing sounded like thunder claps going off around them.
The source of the noise came into view. It was a colossal beast, larger than anything they could have imagined. It stood at least 10 feet tall, it was massive and muscular. The animal was completely black, even its eyes looked like sunken pieces of coal. Its hands ended with long claws sharp enough to pierce steel. Its fur was coarse and short, although it got longer around its neck. The one thing on its body that wasn’t black was its yellow teeth, gleaming in rows along its enormous jaws.
The creature slammed into Blake, he was smashed into the tree behind him. The sickening thud sent shivers down the other men’s spines. Blake didn’t even have time to scream, the air in his lungs was crushed out of him. The animal then grabbed Blake’s lifeless and limp body and ran back into the darkness.
This all happened within seconds. The creature was gone before the men even had their guns ready.
“What did we just see!?” screamed Thatcher, obviously in shock.
“Who knows what it was, just be prepared for when it comes back.” said Magnus in an alarmed but reassuring tone. He knew that this beast is the reason no one came back from this forest.
“Why did we even come here?” said Edmond, in a despairingly somber voice, his blank stare focused on the pine needle infused snow. His eyes slowly moved up, following a trickling path of blood next to the tree Blake had been at moments before. “We’re not going to make it out of here alive.”
“Don’t talk that way Eddie” his father said, looking at his son, “We’re going to kill this thing and get back to the town.”
As soon as Kettler uttered those words, the noise happened again, startling everyone. Their guns made a rattle in their shaking hands, but no one faltered. The black creature then shot out of the darkness again, its sides slamming into trees, snapping frozen bark off of their trunks. The four survivors began shooting, but in two strides, the beast had already attacked Thatcher. Its claws grabbed him, wrapping around his entire body, and the creature’s momentum took them both into the river.
“I know I hit it,” stated Magnus, “but apparently it didn’t do much.”
“We’ve got to go – now!” said Edmond, who took off running back down their path. Even running, it would take several hours to get back to Edinshire. He shut out all other noises while running, only focusing on when to jump over a fallen log, or when to duck under a low hanging branch. He didn’t even hear his father yelling for him to wait. He just kept running.
Magnus and Kettler began following him, running with their rifles in one hand and their pistols in the other. Their mission was completely abandoned. The goal was only to make it out of the forest alive. After running for what seemed like ages, the group finally stopped to wait for daylight. They didn’t hear another noise until dawn.
The following weeks were ones of great distress for Edinshire. The citizens stayed in their houses almost all the day, fearing the beast followed the survivors back to camp. A few days would go by relatively normal, and then someone’s child would go missing, or someone’s brother would venture into the woods on a dare, but would not return. Some families even moved away, taking their businesses with them. The town became quite desolate, with only a few houses still being occupied. And although so many of the townspeople were leaving, the creature never showed itself in town. However, it did make its presence known.
==
It was a late January dusk in Edinshire. The town sat in still silence, almost in a state of suspended animation. The buzzing of factories, the racketing of carriage wheels on cobblestones, even the typical cacophony of the town was completely absent from the air. There was even a winter fog, something unique to Edinshire because of its strange situation in a valley between two mountains. At night, the cold mountain air flooded the valley, the moist snow causing a dense fog. The fog was usually taken as a bad omen by the people of Edinshire; however it was not the cause of the desolate streets.
On the town hall window, a yellowed piece of paper had been glued in place, brilliantly illuminated by a single candle flickering in the room behind it. Wind had whipped at the poster, and over time, degraded it into leathery weathered parchment. The message scribed on it however, was just as vital as the day it was posted. The words, barely legible, read ‘locked doors save lives’. This was a phrase that all the citizens of Edinshire were now forced to live by. The days of leaving windows open during the cool summer nights, or having visitors come and go for late night get-togethers, were over. Anyone outside at night was at risk.
Magnus peered out of his window. He was sick of hiding, cowering in fear from something they had only seen once. He thought it was time to act. He began thinking of a plan, perhaps one that could rid the forest of this beast.
He then proposed it to some of the remaining townspeople.
“Are you sick of this burden on our town?” he asked, “I have a plan of action, a way for us to kill the beast once and for all. No one that goes into those woods will ever have to fear for themselves.” Magnus went on in detail. He wanted to entice the beast to the edge of town, and then fill it with bullets. “I’ve shot the beast more than once. It had a thick skin, but I think enough rounds will do the trick.”
The town was in agreement. Edinshire was going to defend itself. Magnus told the crowd he would be the one to risk bringing the beast to the edge of town. A net was even placed in the trees above. Nightfall was something Magnus wasn’t looking forward to, but at least he would protect the town that was his home. A few hours before midnight, Magnus went into the woods. Two townsmen perched themselves in the trees, ready to cut the ties holding up the net. Magnus began shouting, thinking his voice would lure the creature to the trap. After an hour, he became hoarse.
Finally, Magnus heard a noise, more subtle than his first encounter with the creature. A low rumble came from the woods. He saw flashes of the animal between the oak trees surrounding him. Magnus turned around and started sprinting. He looked up into the treetops to make sure he was heading towards the net. He could almost feel the creature’s breath on the nape of his neck; he could almost hear the beat of its heart behind him. He darted beneath the net right as it was cut. It fell through the tree branches and landed perfectly on target.
The beast was caught in the net, the force of its running stopped instantly. It slid across the forest floor before coming to a rest at the base of a tree. It writhed in the net, desperately trying to free itself. The two townsmen then began shooting, instantly causing the creature to howl in pain. The men shot, while in a cautious amazement. They couldn’t believe their plan had worked, but they warily kept their distance.
As they shot, the creature continued struggling to free itself. The men had emptied their rifles into the animal, yet it was still alive.
“It’s not working!” shouted one of the townsmen. Terrified, he started running back towards the town.
The other man followed. Magnus couldn’t believe that the net didn’t hold. He began walking backwards in shock and bewilderment, before his slow walk turned into a run. He ran back to town, hearing the tears of the netting and the growl of the animal as he went. He replayed the events over and over, not understanding why even bullets didn’t kill the beast.
He got to town just after the others. They had already taken the liberty of telling the village what happened. Everyone was in a state of panic, some closing their doors and barricading, some running towards the other exit out of town. Magnus looked back to see the animal running down the hill from the forest, bloodied, but otherwise as violent and dangerous as before. It let out a howl louder than any before; he could tell it was in agony. Magnus had to think of a plan, quickly. He ran to Kettler’s house nearby, pushing the door open in importance.
“Our plan didn’t work!” Magnus shouted.
“Well what do we do now?” Kettler responded, jumping to his feet and shouting for Edmond to come downstairs. They both heard screams from outside, and they saw the beast dash by the windows. Gunfire was also discernable through the shouting crowd.
“It’s attacking the city!” Edmond shouted at Magnus, “Hurry! Think of something.” Magnus stared in concentration; he was visibly disturbed, but tried to stay calm. Suddenly, he hatched an idea. He told both Kettler and Edmond to go with him to the general store.
They scanned the outside of their house, seeing the creature at the end of the street. It slammed its arm into the town mayor, crushing him against the foundation of a brick house. It then turned and crashed its upper body through another house’s windows. The carnage the beast was wreaking had to be stopped. The three then dashed out the door and headed towards the town center. Bodies littered the streets; the havoc was almost unimaginable to Magnus. Neighbors and friends, killed in one swift attack.
They made it to the general store, and Magnus ordered them what to do.
“Stack all the gunpowder and kerosene together. We have to finish this.” He said, almost in disbelief of his own agenda.
“Are you mad? It’ll take out the whole town.” Kettler said. Magnus stared at him fervently before replying.
“Yeah it will.” He declared. “But it’s the only way.”
Kettler and Magnus gathered the gunpowder, barrels of it laid against the storefront. Kettler told Edmond to set and light the fuse, and they all took off running. They bolted towards the carriages in the travel station at the edge of town. They knew that the creature wouldn’t be occupied for long.
They arrived at the carriages, and Kettler grabbed the reigns of the nearest carriage. Magnus and Edmond jumped in the back, shouting at Kettler urgently.
“GO!!” Edmond said. The carriage took off, the horses neighing loudly in the night air. Just as the wheels started rolling, an enormous explosion came from the town. Edmond saw half of his city engulfed in flame, sparks from the burst reaching far into the sky. He also saw the beast, his body completely lit on fire, dragging its front arms on the ground before falling to the cobblestones, its monstrous body becoming a thrashing burning heap. He found it amazing, yet depressing, that this one animal could cause such chaos.
Magnus looked over his shoulder, while Kettler furiously whipped the reigns of the carriage. He could see the radiant glow of what was previously a city. It had been his home forever, but was now a blazing inferno. It lit up the heavens, turning the clear night sky into a black and smoky twilight. As he rode in the carriage, over the stomping of the horse’s hooves, he heard the same noise he had heard in the woods. A screaming blood-curdling growl that brought forth the memories of seeing Blake and Thatcher die. He knew vengeance was being had, although in the back of his mind, he pitied the animal. The forest was once the beast’s home, just as Edinshire was once his. Magnus looked one last time, almost expecting to see the creature running from the fire, streaking off into the darkness to live in the forest again. But all he saw was Edinshire, burning to the ground.
Congratulations again Ian and what a great story, here's what you win!
The Winner Receives:
THE WOLFMAN
PRIZE PACK which includes:
(1) Original, 1941 Wolf Man 2 disc DVD
(1) THE WOLFMAN Soundtrack
(1) THE WOLFMAN Poster
(1) Hat - Black, 100% Cotton hat with brass fastener. THE WOLFMAN title treatment is embroidered in white glow-in-the-dark thread on the front panel
(1) T-Shirt - 100% Cotton t-shirt with THE WOLFMAN teaser face image screened large on the front of the shirt and THE WOLFMAN title treatment screened large across the back
(1) Coaster - 4" round disposable drink coaster with full moon image, title, release date, and web address printed in black
(1) T-Shirt - 100% Cotton t-shirt with THE WOLFMAN teaser face image screened large on the front of the shirt and THE WOLFMAN title treatment screened large across the back
(1) Coaster - 4" round disposable drink coaster with full moon image, title, release date, and web address printed in black
(1) Cup - Disposable plastic 22oz cup with custom full color WOLFMAN art