The Wendigo

 The Wendigo is a creature depicted as being very tall, with razor-like talons, pale gray skin, and glowing yellow eyes. In some instances it is said to have antlers.  


Perhaps its most defining trait is its insatiable desire to consume human flesh. The Wendigo is said to possess enhanced senses, speed, and strength. It is thought to hibernate for months to even years at a time, it will awake from its sleep to feed on any and every human it crosses paths with. Once it has had its fill, it will retreat to its lair to once again hibernate. The Wendigo is thought to possess a person, that person then transforms into the creature. The best known way to kill a Wendigo is to decapitation, preferably with silver, followed by salting and burning.

In early 1907, an Indian shaman by the name of Jack Fiddler, and his brother Joseph, were arrested by Canadian Mounties. Jack Fiddler was arrested because he claimed he had killed 14 people on the verge of turning into Wendigoes. Just Before the trial, Jack Fiddler escaped during a walk outside. He hanged himself nearby and was found dead later that day. His brother Joseph was charged with murder and sentenced to death. Many people plead that Joseph be released because those he killed where in deep pain and incurably ill. It was ordered that Joseph Fiddler would be released, however, the news came three days after his execution in 1909. Jack Fiddler would later come to be known as “The Last Wendigo Hunter.”

On July 30, 2008, a man named Vince Li was on board a Grayhound bus, on his way to Winnipeg, Canada, when suddenly he began to violently stab the passenger next to him. The passengers name was Tim Mclean. Tim had fallen asleep in the back row of the bus. The other passengers fled the bus leaving Mclean to be decapitated. Li then calmly paraded Mclean’s head up and down the aisles of the bus. According to passengers, LI began to eat some of the body. Li later stated that he did it because a voice in his head told him to.

Li was deemed mentally unfit for trial and was sent to a high security mental health facility. Although, Li never had any history of mental illness or a criminal record, he continues to hear voices and hallucinate. Just a week before Li had been delivering a newspaper with an extensive article profiling the behavior of none other than the Wendigo. It was later discovered that that Li disappeared two days prior to the incident. Many have noted Li behavior is strikingly similar to that of someone about to turn into a Wendigo.

What is the Wendigo? Is it just a legend? Or perhaps its hysteria. Or is it something more? Was Vince Li mentally ill or was he on the verge of becoming a Wendigo. You decide!

And if you ever see a Wendigo, tell us all about it…after your done salting and burning it…