Tuesday 17 May 2016

Werewolf spotted in Hull

Reports have emerged that a werewolf has been sighted in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. Four independent witnesses have come forward claiming to have seen the supernatural beast on the banks of a drainage channel called the Beverley and Barnstorm Drain. The creature is described as a half-man half-wolf, about eight feet high and capable of moving on both two legs like a human and four like a wolf. The first witness reports that the animal jumped over the entire channel, thirty feet wide, and vanished into some allotments. The second and third witnesses were a couple who saw it eating something that they claim was a German Shepherd dog. This jumped a fence as tall as itself to escape. Lycanthropy, a condition where humans metamorphose into dogs or canine-human amalgams, is known all over the world and dates back to prehistoric times. As with zombies and vampires, lycanthropy is reputed to be contagious and survivors of a werewolf attack become werewolves themselves soon afterwards; this is the plot of the film An American Werewolf in London. The time of the full moon traditionally triggers the transformation. This is not the first time werewolves have emerged in Yorkshire, in fact there is a legend of one known as "Old Stinker" that goes back many centuries. If this is Old Stinker, then this is the first time it's been reported since the 1960's. Local paranormal investigators are arranging a hunt for the being at the next full moon; which at the time of writing is this Saturday coming. The concern and interest in the local area has risen so much that the people have persuaded a local councillor, Steve Wilson, to take the matter seriously. He is keeping a diary of sightings and plans to write a report for the local authorities, see: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/mystery-werewolf-creature-terrifying-families-7979525 (Thanks to Pippa King for bringing this to my attention). I've heard of other cryptids and/or paranormal zooform phenomena from many places. In fact I've just been covering the "Scot-Squatch", a bigfoot-like primate that is said to live in Scotland and I interviewed somebody who had encountered it, Charmaine Fraser, on HPANWO Radio, see: http://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/programme-187-podcast-charmaine-fraser.html. From the testimony so far received, the creature in Hull does not appear to be one of these. Its walking on all-fours is distinctly unlike Bigfoot descriptions. Also I've not heard of Bigfoot ever preying on dogs. Cryptids, almost by definition in a densely populated region, make a positive effort to avoid human contact. It's very rare to hear of one in a large settlement like Hull.

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