The Tale Of The Wolfman-As Told By Shawn Crump

It was a night much like tonight.The wind and rain were blowing hard against the tin of the nearby campers making an awful rapping noise.Against the advice of my wife I decided to venture out into the wild unknown that is Grayson Lake Campground in the midst of what some have called the biggest storm to ever hit the area. If only I had listened to her. After I had set up the camper,unloaded all my gear and checked the cleanliness of the bathhouse(because after all that's the most important part of a campground)I decided I would wait out the storm. The rain was still pouring down in buckets and the stinging wind felt like needles against my skin.I decided it would be my best option to wait out the great storm in the comforts of my camper.I locked the door up tight,opened a bag of chips and settled in for what I assumed would be a long night. Boy was I right. It was around 2 A.M. when I heard the first scream. It was shrill,almost animal like. I assumed it was a deer or some other wilderness creature that had just met its fate. Whatever it was it was definitely not something I wanted to see at 2 A.M. I tried to lay down and catch some sleep,because I knew I would need it.But the wind had died down and the rain had slacked off considerably.I decided I would make a glorious fire and sit and have a hobo pie or two.I gathered my firewood carefully from the bed of my truck and laid it all out neatly in a pile in the fire pit. A good fire is something I don't take for granted and I wanted this one to last me all the way up through dawn.I had downed three cans of Mt Dew while waiting for the storm to die down and I felt like I could chop down the whole forest if I needed to.I never really did react well to caffeine.After several attempts and two bottles of Coleman Lighter fluid I had myself a roaring fire. It was a warm blazing towering inferno and it was the best in all of the campground.Of course I was the only one staying there at the time but it was still pretty good.I was proud of this searing wonder and sat down in my camping chair to admire my handiwork.The wind had died down to an almost complete standstill and an almost eerie quiet crept over the campground.Everything was pitch black except for the area around my campsite,which I'm sure NASA astronauts were seeing from space.It was then that I heard the sound that I will never forget.It started out slow,almost at a whisper. hooooowwll.... then it progressively got louder until it was an almost unbearable screeching cry. HOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLL!!!!! After I checked my underpants,i decided I had to investigate.What could possibly make that terrible noise.As I walked towards the woods where it was coming from it got louder and louder until i was holding my ears just to bear it. What was it? I squinted hard into the night making my bifocles work overtime trying to catch a glimpse of just what was making this noise. Suddenly there was a scatter in the tall grass in front of me then it appeared.I had never seen anything like it in all my life.It had to be at least 7 foot tall and 300 pounds.It was covered in wispy curls of dark brown fur,matted all over a muscular body.It definitely was not human.Its head was that of a man,with a giant nappy beard covering its chin.The teeth were something out of a monster movie,glaring brightly against the night sky just waiting to chomp into my flesh. It was half man,half wolf,and half dog!!! It roared ferociously and charged at me with an unbelievable speed.I used the only defense mechanism I know how to use and turned around and ran for my life. As I was running I could feel the creatures hot,stinky breath against the back of my neck.Every hair on my body was standing at full attention.I knew I couldn't outrun such a great beast so as I approached the safety of the campground I dove headfirst into the bathhouse.Luckily the soft cushion of toilet water broke my fall as I landed head first in the handicap stall. I was terrified.That night i slept in the bathhouse,using only toilet paper and toilet seat covers for warmth.It was terrible.As morning hit and the sun began to glare upon the campground I finally convinced myself to leave that bathhouse. I went straight to the ranger station to tell them about the horrible creature that was loose in their woods.I considered the fact that they might think I was crazy,but then i realized most people do anyway so I might as well give it a try.I knocked on the door of the ranger station still terrified from my ordeal and still very much soaking wet from landing in the toilet.A friendly old man opened the door and greeted me with a smile.He said " Son, you look like you spent the night in a toilet." instead of indulging him I began to tell my story about the creature. "Sir there's a terrible creature in these woods!It chased me into the bathhouse,It was half man,half wolf,and half dog" He looked at me lovingly and said " Sir three halves cant make one whole,maybe it was just 1/4 dog. Could that be possible?" I told him that I guess it could have been as I was just trying to get away from it. The old man told me that there has been a longstanding legend at Grayson Lake about a creature that roams the woods at night looking for innocent campers to feast on. He had once been a camper himself. His parents had brought him to the campground when he was just a baby,But they lost him somewhere in the woods on a hike.The legend has it that the boy was discovered by wolves who raised him as thier own. As he grew up he began to take on the qualities of a wolf and seeked vengence for his parents act of leaving him on that cold stormy night. They say every dark and stormy night he patrols the edges of the campground looking for campers to take out his gruesome revenge.I left the old man,went back to my campsite and started packing up. I was leaving. So if youre ever at Grayson campground on a dark and stormy night,keep a close watch for he could be out there.Are you his next victim?