The official Wendigo thread for Wendigo chat

Comments

• Tachyon

  2015-07-29 13:34:56

  ^{i will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch}
  

  Y'know i barely ever hear about the Wendigo
  
  Monstropedia claims it's a stock horror character like the vampire or the werewolf, but outside the internet i never hear or see anyone or anything referencing them
  
  i'm wondering if maybe the monsters that are iconic over here are ones that interested the victorians for the most part
  
• Obā-san

  2015-07-29 13:37:00

  
  

  the wendigo is an algonquian legend so it kinda makes sense that you would not hear about it as much over there
• Tachyon

  2015-07-29 13:46:11

  ^{i will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch}
  

  well that was my thinking
  
  but it doesn't necessarily follow, there's all kinds of iconic Greek monsters that are famous here, plus there's the whole zombie thing which is definitely a more recent import via American pop culture
  
• Odradek

  2015-07-29 14:51:22

  My dreams exceed my real life

  Well part of the appeal of the Wendigo is that it's a homegrown monster, and there's enough vagueness and difference in the legends due to it being part of the mythology of several distinct tribes that you can just sort of do whatever with it.

  
  

  Sort of like the ever-present Indian Burial Ground as a justification for weird shit.
• Odradek

  2015-07-29 14:51:42

  My dreams exceed my real life

  It's not at vampire or werewolf levels of popular though.
• Tachyon

  2015-07-29 15:10:03

  ^{i will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch}
  

  the Indian burial ground is more iconic over here but i feel like that's more a fear from the psyche of the colonizer than the colonized
  
  no offence
  
  which, actually, would explain why it's better known over here, perhaps
  
• Odradek

  2015-07-29 15:17:33

  My dreams exceed my real life

  In the book version of Pet Sematary, a Wendigo was said to have cursed the land where the titular Pet Sematary was.

  
  

  Thus giving us both at once.
• Odradek

  2015-07-29 16:00:05

  My dreams exceed my real life

  • A Wendigo is often referred to and hinted at in Twin Peaks, but we never see it clearly.

  Speaking of.
  
  TvTropes, I have seen every episode of Twin Peaks, and at no point does anyone use the word "Wendigo". Furthermore, the series takes place in the Pacific Northwest, which makes it literally the width of a continent away from the Native American tribes that believed in the Wendigo.
• Tachyon

  2015-07-29 16:02:21

  ^{i will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch}
  

  delete it then
  
• Odradek

  2015-07-29 16:04:44

  My dreams exceed my real life

  the login system is down.

  
  I was going to otherwise
• Tachyon

  2015-07-29 16:05:06

  ^{i will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch}
  

  fair
• Tre

  2015-07-30 06:17:32

  
  

  
  
  This is a Wendigo.
• Anonus

  2015-07-30 06:21:51

  I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat

  My mind goes to the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic conception of Wendigoes (manifestations of anger and hatred, horses made of cold air that turn things to ice)
• Corvina

  2015-07-30 06:25:12

  Vampire Lady of Corvidia
  
  (The other Jane)
  

  Odradek said:

  Well part of the appeal of the Wendigo is that it's a homegrown monster, and there's enough vagueness and difference in the legends due to it being part of the mythology of several distinct tribes that you can just sort of do whatever with it.

  
  

  Sort of like the ever-present Indian Burial Ground as a justification for weird shit.

  Speaking of the IBG, Pike Place Market was built upon a Duwamish graveyard