The Beast of Blackwood Forest

A modern-day mother rewards her children with a rare bedtime story, one bound in a dark cover and said to be rooted in truth. Within its pages lies the legend of the Beast of Blackwood Forest, a towering, wolf-headed creature that terrorized a quiet English shire five centuries ago. The tale unfolds through chilling encounters: a lone watchman facing glowing amber eyes on a foggy road, a mill family besieged through the night by something scratching at their doors and climbing their roof, and a band of armed men outmaneuvered and humiliated in the depths of the forest. The Beast reveals itself most clearly on a fog-shrouded bridge, standing massive and unchallenged before vanishing into the mist, leaving behind clawed stone and monstrous tracks.

As the parish record closes the account, the story returns to the children’s bedroom, where the shadows seem just a little darker, and a faint scrape outside leaves them wondering whether the Beast’s legend ever truly ended.