SOURCE: "Running Wolf" by Algernon Blackwood  (The Century, August 1920)

DESCRIPTION: "The bit of pitch-pine fell in a shower of sparks that lit the dry grass this side of the animal, flared up a moment, then died quickly down again. But in that instant of bright illumination he saw clearly what his unwelcome visitor was. A big timber wolf sat on its hindquarters, staring steadily at him through the firelight. He saw its legs and shoulders, he saw its hair, he saw also the big hemlock trunks lit up behind it, and the willow scrub on each side. It formed a vivid, clear-cut picture shown in clear detail by the momentary blaze. To his amazement, however, the wolf did not turn and bolt away from the burning log, but withdrew a few yards only, and sat there again on its haunches, staring, staring as before. Heavens, how it stared! He 'shoo-ed' it, but without effect; it did not budge. He did not waste another good log on it, for his fear was dissipated now; a timber wolf was a timber wolf, and it might sit there as long as it pleased, provided it did not try to steal his catch. No alarm was in him any more. He knew that wolves were harmless in the summer and autumn, and even when 'packed' in the winter they would attack a man only when suffering desperate hunger. So he lay and watched the beast, threw bits of stick in its direction, even talked to it, wondering only that it never moved." ("Running Wolf" by Algernon Blackwood)

NOTES: The possessed wolf has the ghost of an Native Indian inside it, controlling the animal's movements. It wants someone to find his murdered bones and bury them properly. It is the opposite of the Ectoplasmic Werewolf, a man possessed by a wolf-like spirit.

HISTORY: Blackwood wrote several werewolf stories, but this one seems to get reprinted the most. Probably because it isn't soaked in the usually Spiritualist jargon.

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