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Wendigo


cryptidexpert100

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Is wendigo part of native american culture? i was reading pet sematary and i am pretty sure they made that connection i just wanted to double check, not that i doubt stephen king's knowledge i just wanted to make sure

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first of all never have read that book but maybe this will help you. the wendigo is a creature that appears in legends of the algonquian people of north america. there are many variants of the wendigo, ranging from that of a human owl to that of bigfoot. in almost all tribes of the algonquian people it is thought of as a malevolent, cannibalistic creature. it serves as a waring to those that indulged in cannibalism. I believe that the ojibwe, saulteaux, cree, naskapi and the innu tribes also associated the wendigo with the winter, north, coldness, famine, gluttony, greed, and excess. the wendigo for those tribes also served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. over all the wendigo is not a friendly creature, one that a person would not want to encounter in a dark ally lol. hope this helps explain things.

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  • 3 weeks later...

How I was told of it first from my aunt (who lived on the white earth ojibwe-suix res) was that it (a wendigo) was a normal person (usually a male, very rarely a female) who was consumed by the "wendigo spirit". It was that act of possession that caused the victim to turn into the windigo that the stories are made of...

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first of all never have read that book but maybe this will help you. the wendigo is a creature that appears in legends of the algonquian people of north america. there are many variants of the wendigo, ranging from that of a human owl to that of bigfoot. in almost all tribes of the algonquian people it is thought of as a malevolent, cannibalistic creature. it serves as a waring to those that indulged in cannibalism. I believe that the ojibwe, saulteaux, cree, naskapi and the innu tribes also associated the wendigo with the winter, north, coldness, famine, gluttony, greed, and excess. the wendigo for those tribes also served as a method of encouraging cooperation and moderation. over all the wendigo is not a friendly creature, one that a person would not want to encounter in a dark ally lol. hope this helps explain things.

This is a pretty good summery of what I've heard. I think the most common description of the Wendigo, is basically a cannibalistic spirit that possesses someone who eats human flesh.

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Iv read the book, good book but in my opinion it wasnt Stephen Kings best, Misery or Cujo were my favorite by him, Side not Stephen King doesnt even remember writing Cujo

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Iv read the book, good book but in my opinion it wasnt Stephen Kings best, Misery or Cujo were my favorite by him, Side not Stephen King doesnt even remember writing Cujo

Wait, what?

He seriously doesn't rembember writing it?

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Iv read the book, good book but in my opinion it wasnt Stephen Kings best, Misery or Cujo were my favorite by him, Side not Stephen King doesnt even remember writing Cujo

Iv read the book, good book but in my opinion it wasnt Stephen Kings best, Misery or Cujo were my favorite by him, Side not Stephen King doesnt even remember writing Cujo

He was actually scared to publish Pet Sematary since he thought it was so scary, reason he doesnt rmemeber writing Cujo is from his drug/ alcohol addicition

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He was actually scared to publish Pet Sematary since he thought it was so scary, reason he doesnt rmemeber writing Cujo is from his drug/ alcohol addicition

Has he ever written a novel on addiction? Now that would be scary as hell. Are any of his "monsters" actually addiction in the flesh?

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Has he ever written a novel on addiction? Now that would be scary as hell. Are any of his "monsters" actually addiction in the flesh?

I think he did talk about addiction in one of his books, was it "The Tommyknockers"?

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A wendigo is, I think, supposedly a creature like a werewolf that is changed by the bite of another such creature. Haven't seen one lately, myself. B)

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A

Has he ever written a novel on addiction? Now that would be scary as hell. Are any of his "monsters" actually addiction in the flesh?

He wrote a book on alcoholism, The Shining, in which one of the protagonist Jack Torrance, is a recovering alcoholic who suffers cabin fever, madness, and becomes a pawn to malevolent forces while winter caretaking with his family in the Colorado Rockies at the Overlook Hotel. A place with a rich history of scandal, corruption, and death. IMO, Stephen King really slammed this one outta the ballpark.

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A

He wrote a book on alcoholism, The Shining, in which one of the protagonist Jack Torrance, is a recovering alcoholic who suffers cabin fever, madness, and becomes a pawn to malevolent forces while winter caretaking with his family in the Colorado Rockies at the Overlook Hotel. A place with a rich history of scandal, corruption, and death. IMO, Stephen King really slammed this one outta the ballpark.

Oh yeah! Who could forget that one! According to wiki it seems more about how angry he was capable of feeling toward his children, and the thoughts he had

"... the story evolved into a five-act novel that also included many of King's own personal demons."

" I was horrified by my occasional feelings of real antagonism toward my children."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_(novel)

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Oh yeah! Who could forget that one! According to wiki it seems more about how angry he was capable of feeling toward his children, and the thoughts he had

"... the story evolved into a five-act novel that also included many of King's own personal demons."

" I was horrified by my occasional feelings of real antagonism toward my children."

http://en.wikipedia...._Shining_(novel)

Yes, Jack Torrance was abused and has a history of black out rages one in which his son Danny suffered a broken arm and the other by which Jack lost his academic job for assaulting a student. These circumstances are what drives him desperately to accept the winter caretaker job in order to provide for his family which he gets through none other than his now sober drinking pal from the academic days. But the core theme is alcoholism yet as the novel progresses, as Jack becomes increasingly antagonistic towards his wife and son he begins to rub his upper lip bloody and raw in his subconscious desire to hit the bottle again.

I find the Torrances some of the most sympathetic characters Stephen King ever penned. Jack Torrance simply wants to redeem himself (man up) while on the verge of hard times but discovers evil lying in wait for him and the family up in the snowbound Rockies. In the movie, we dont ever truly get a glimpse of the redeemable qualities of Jack Torrance before the madness. Jack Nicholson is simply too creepy right off the bat. In the movie, everyone just does their own thing. Danny is constantly alone on his big wheel talking to his finger friend Tony whereas in the book Danny actually goes under in a trance when Tony contacts him there's a gulf between them and Tony appears to speak across this distance like a teenaged Guardian Angel. In the book, the Torrances are an attractive couple just attempting to bury their pasts and plow full steam ahead to rebuild their once prestigious lives. Jack Torrance really has something to prove here. Jack was an ex school ballplayer. Wendy is not this meek and insecure mouse of a woman like Shelley Duvall in the movie. Kubrick changed too many dynamics and by this really failed to flesh out these characters.

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Yes, Jack Torrance was abused and has a history of black out rages one in which his son Danny suffered a broken arm and the other by which Jack lost his academic job for assaulting a student. These circumstances are what drives him desperately to accept the winter caretaker job in order to provide for his family which he gets through none other than his now sober drinking pal from the academic days. But the core theme is alcoholism yet as the novel progresses, as Jack becomes increasingly antagonistic towards his wife and son he begins to rub his upper lip bloody and raw in his subconscious desire to hit the bottle again.

I find the Torrances some of the most sympathetic characters Stephen King ever penned. Jack Torrance simply wants to redeem himself (man up) while on the verge of hard times but discovers evil lying in wait for him and the family up in the snowbound Rockies. In the movie, we dont ever truly get a glimpse of the redeemable qualities of Jack Torrance before the madness. Jack Nicholson is simply too creepy right off the bat. In the movie, everyone just does their own thing. Danny is constantly alone on his big wheel talking to his finger friend Tony whereas in the book Danny actually goes under in a trance when Tony contacts him there's a gulf between them and Tony appears to speak across this distance like a teenaged Guardian Angel. In the book, the Torrances are an attractive couple just attempting to bury their pasts and plow full steam ahead to rebuild their once prestigious lives. Jack Torrance really has something to prove here. Jack was an ex school ballplayer. Wendy is not this meek and insecure mouse of a woman like Shelley Duvall in the movie. Kubrick changed too many dynamics and by this really failed to flesh out these characters.

I agree, a movie from a novel rarely cuts it, imo. I never read the book.

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Did you know Stephen King did not like Jack Nicholson as Jack in the movie The Shining

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The first modern fictional treatment of this creature was the short story "The Wendigo" by Algernon Blackwood, written in 1910, which you can read here.

A more modern version appeared in 1973 in The Incredible Hulk #162. The following year, the first fight a funny little chap called Wolverine ever had was with the Wendigo and the Hulk at the same time. By the way, he lost. Anyway, in case you're wondering, a Wendigo looks like this:

2007-06-07_163324_1866_4_000162.jpg

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Doesn't cannibalism come into it? I remember reading something saying there was the belief that men who consumed human flesh would turn into a Wendigo. Sounds like it was an effort by Canadian Indians (Native Americans w/e) at discouraging any practices of cannibalism?

Edited by TheSpoonyOne
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