them, and while the rest escaped by flight, he would be sure to lay hold of one, and after his filthy lust fulfilled, he would murder her presently. Beside, if he had liked or known any of them, look who he had a mind unto, her he would pursue, whether she were before or behind, and take her from the rest, for such was his swiftness of foot while he continued a wolf that he would outrun the swiftest greyhound in that country; and so much he had practiced this wickedness that the whole province was feared by the cruelty of this bloody and devouring wolf.”
A 1517 illustration from a German book depicts how people of the time really believed werewolves existed to menace the innocent.
Bores then spelled out the sickening history of Stuube’s mad and murderous actions: “Thus continuing his devilish and damnable deeds within the compass of a few years, he had murdered thirteen young children, and two goodly young women big with child, tearing the children out of their wombs, in most bloody and savage sort, and after ate their hearts panting hot and raw, which he accounted dainty morsels and best agreeing to his appetite.”
Eventually, and thankfully, however, Peter Stuube’s abominable reign was brought to a close, as Bores revealed:
“Thus being apprehended, he was shortly after put to the rack in the town of Bedbur, but fearing the torture, he voluntarily confessed his whole life, and made known the villainies which he had committed for the space of 25 years; also he confessed how by sorcery he procured of the Devil a girdle, which being put on, he forthwith became a wolf, which girdle at his apprehension he confessed he cast it off in a certain valley and there left it, which, when the magistrates heard, they sent to the valley for it, but at their coming found nothing at all, for it may be supposed that it was gone to the Devil from whence it came, so that it was not to be found. For the Devil having brought the wretch to all the shame he could, left him to endure the torments which his deeds deserved.”
Having spilled his guts as a result of “fearing the torture,” Stuube had far more to say, as Bores duly noted in his extensive study of Stuube and his rampaging:
“After he had some space been imprisoned, the magistrates found out through due examination of the matter, that his daughter Stubbe Beell and his gossip Katherine Trompin were both accessory to diverse murders committed, who for the same as also for their lewd life otherwise committed, was arraigned, and with Stubbe Peeter condemned, and their several judgments pronounced the 28 of October 1589, in this manner, that is to say: Stubbe Peeter as principal malefactor, was judged first to have his body laid on a wheel, and with red hot burning pincers in ten several places to have the flesh pulled off from the bones, after that, his legs and arms to be broken with a wooden ax or hatchet, afterward to have his head struck from his body, then to have his carcass burned to ashes. Also his daughter and his gossip were judged to be burned quick to ashes, the same time and day with the carcass of the aforesaid Stubbe Peeter. And on the 31st of the same month, they suffered death accordingly in the town of Bedbur in the presence of many peers and princes of Germany.”
The execution of Peter Stubbe was carried out on a “breaking wheel,” and his violent demise (all three men on the wheels are Stubbe in different phases of the torture) for being a werewolf (depicted at top, left). His mistress and daughter (in the background at right) were burned.
Peter Stuube’s reign of lycanthropic terror was finally over.
Equally as horrific as the actions of Stumpp were those of an unnamed man who, in the final years of the sixteenth century, became known as the Werewolf of Chalons. A Parisian tailor who killed, dismembered, and ate the flesh of numerous children he had lured into his shop, the man was brought to trial for his crimes on December 14, 1598. Notably, during the trial, it was claimed that on occasion the man also roamed nearby woods in the form of a huge, predatory wolf, where he further sought innocent souls to slaughter and consume. As was the case with Stumpp, the Werewolf of Chalons was sentenced to death and was burned at the stake.
As I have noted in previous entries in the pages of this book, some reports of werewolves do appear to involve monstrous creatures of unknown origin. But, as the above clearly shows, sometimes the exact opposite is true. And sometimes, regrettably, one of the worst monsters is one of us, the human race.
SUPERNATURAL HOUNDS OF SOUTH AMERICA
Few people who have read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles can forget those immortal words uttered by Dr. James Mortimer to the world’s most famous fictional detective: “Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!”
It may come as a surprise to some people to learn that Conan Doyle’s novel was actually based upon real legends of giant, devilish hounds that were said to haunt Britain’s villages and countryside, bringing doom, tragedy, and death in their spectral and demonic wake. Yes, Britain has a long, rich, and varied history of encounters with what have generally become known as “Phantom Black Dogs.”
Usually much larger than normal dogs, they are said to possess a pair of large, glowing eyes (very often red); they frequent graveyards, old roadways, crossroads, and bridges; and are almost unanimously associated with the realm of the dead. In some cases, the beasts appear to be demonstrably evil; while in other reports evidence is exhibited of a helpful—perhaps even concerned—nature. But whatever these critters are, they are not your average flesh and blood animal. Not at all. They might just be your worst nightmare.
While the image of the Phantom Black Dog is most associated with the British Isles and mainland Europe, the beast has been seen in many other locations, too—including throughout Latin America. The leading researcher in this field is Simon Burchell, the author of Phantom Black Dogs in Latin America. Running at thirty-eight pages, Burchell’s work is obviously very much a booklet rather than a full-length book. But that doesn’t detract from the most important thing of all: its pages are packed with case after case, each offering the reader little-known and seldom-seen information on the definitive Latin American cousin to Britain’s more famous counterpart.
The supernatural dogs of South America possess glowing eyes, according to those who have reported seeing them.
Notably, Burchell’s publication details the truly startling wealth of similarities between those creatures seen centuries ago in England, and those reported throughout Latin America in the last 100 years. Namely, the diabolical, glowing eyes; the association that the phantom hound has with life after death; how seeing the beast may be a precursor to doom and tragedy; its occasional helpful and guiding qualities; the fact that the animal is usually witnessed in the vicinity of bridges, crossroads, and cemeteries; its ability to shape-shift and change in size; and not forgetting the most important thing, of course: its perceived paranormal origins.
Burchell also reveals how the legends of the phantom black dog of some Latin American nations—such as Guatemala—have been exploited by those with draconian and outdated morals. For example, there are widespread tales of people who enjoy having a drink or several, incurring the dire wrath of the phantom black dog—which, as Burchell says, “was certainly popularized by the Catholic Church which used this legend and others as moralizing tales.”
Winged
