The following article was written by Tim Gadzinski, the Programming Coordinator at the Manitowoc Public Library.
As is the case with any scary story worth its salt, this one starts on a dark and stormy night.
My mom and dad had been married for a relatively short period of time—somewhere between six months to a year—when the following events transpired. It was definitely during the Pre-Tim Era. And it was, indeed, a blustery, rainy-soaked autumn night. I don’t know for certain, but my bet is that if they had been able to see it, the moon would’ve probably been full.
My parents had turned in early and for all intents-and-purposes, everything pointed to it being an uneventful, snooze-filled evening. However, that’s when the my mother got caught-up in a dream.
In it, she became aware that she was about to transform into a werewolf. As she described it, the whole thing played out much in the manner of a classic Hammer Studios horror film, with her residing in a manor house in a remote, pastoral, yet gloomy locale and decked-out in a lovely turn-of-the 20th-Century gown. But, something wasn’t right in her dream. And she knew that the “something” was her.
Her hand was perched on the parlor’s mantle and through the window, she could see that the clouds had parted. As a result, a bright, huge, full moon beamed-down into the house. And as it did, she could see her arm-and-hand combo begin to transform. She was classic-cheesy-horror-movie-stop-motion-action turning into a hairy, wicked beast. She was becoming a loup-garou—a werewolf.
She knew that she needed to warn her husband that he needed to flee. That soon she wouldn’t be a loving wife, but a ravenous monster unable to contain her desire to feast upon human flesh. He needed to go and to go now! So, in her desperate state, she tried to speak this warning, but instead could only emit a mournful howl. What a terrible turn of events.
Meanwhile back in the real world of South 14th Street in Manitowoc, my mom had apparently assumed a kneeling position atop their sheets with her hands held paw-like to her bosom and was howling away. She awakened, somewhat in a disoriented state, by the thudding sounds of my dad throwing open the door to their second floor apartment and beating a hasty retreat down the stairs, out the front door, and into the night.
Not because he was afraid that my mother was becoming a werewolf, mind you, but because unbeknownst to her, my father was deathly afraid of dogs. He had been awakened by her howls and he never even saw her kneeling on the bed. All he heard was the howls and his flee-mentality kicked into high gear. Because it was obvious to him that somehow a dog had broken into their apartment and that dog was coming to get him!
You may wonder why I’m telling this weird slice of family history. Primarily, it’s to illustrate that not every scary story has to be exclusively terrifying—it can be pretty dang funny, as well. Also, I’m passing this insidious tale along to illustrate that practically everyone has some sort of scary story to tell. And that’s precisely what we’re looking to have people do at the next Tales From the Taproom 4: A Scary Storyslam for Adults (21+) at PetSkull Brewing Company—What Was That?!? taking place from 6-8 PM on Thursday, October 30—All-Hallows Eve Eve!—sponsored by Seehafer News.
In fact, the story that I just told couldn’t be told by me at PetSkull on October 30 because it didn’t happen to me—it would be my dad’s tale to tell if he was still around to tell it. We’re looking for people to tell their true terrifying stories, things that actually happened to them that left them shocked and troubled, perhaps even questioning reality itself! It doesn’t even have to be something that ultimately made sense—just something that gave them the creeps!
As this is an Adults-Only event, nothing is off limits—if you’re willing to tell it, it’s a story worth hearing. Keep in mind that this is an evening for people to get together to share their true stories. It’s a true story zone—no props and no notes. Just five minutes and a true, personal favorite spooky story. And once again, this installment of “Tales from the Taproom” is going to be cohosted by Distressing Steph Peters, Director of Community Engagement at the YMCA.
You don’t have to come to “The Taproom” to tell a story—you can come to just listen, enjoy, and, potentially, cower in fear for a bit. However, should you want to step up to the mic to share an unnerving story, sign-up begins at 5:30 PM and we’ll fit in as many stories as possible during the allotted time. We’ll have a timekeeper who will cut people off at five minutes, so knowing your story well is a necessity.
We can’t wait to hear your disturbing story at our Halloween installment of “Tales from the Taproom!” It’s going to be a terrifyingly good time!!!