Another of my recent work-in-progress short fiction pieces, has been a dark fiction story inspired by wendigo psychosis an unusual form of ‘cultural psychosis’ specific to First Nations peoples of Canadian-North American Great Lakes regions where belief in a supernatural being, the wendigo, provides a unique cultural framework for a psychosis. This psychosis has specific disease symptoms which like the cultural belief – is unique – and found nowhere else in the world.
What is a wendigo then? It is a legendary being originating from northern Algonquian First Nations oral folktales and legends (recently popularised in supernatural fiction and movies), described in varying ways but, almost always, as a ravenous cannibalistic monster with an insatiable hunger. Historically, the First Nations peoples including the Algonquian, Cree and Ojibwa attributed wendigo possession to those driven mad in the harsh winter months of isolation and deprivation who resorted to cannibalism, often without a famine present.
In this short story, I was interested to take wendigo folklore and wendigo psychosis deliberately outside its necessary cultural context to explore the shadowy boundary between reality and insanity, and the inherent horror of uncertainty: a human monster or monstrous possession? This story was written through a single character’s point of view, exploring the darker, unintentional psychological motivations of a declining mental state and attempts to rationalise violent, aberrant behaviour.
[…] This dark speculative fiction anthology is inspired by the theme of gluttony, an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires. My short story “The Monster”, explores the folklore of the Algonquian First Nations peoples in Canada and North America, the cannibalistic wendigo monster and a rare cultural psychosis. If you are interested in the legend of the wendigo, wendigo psychosis and my research for “The Monster”, you can read more here. […]
[…] My horror story “The Monster”, inspired by wendigo folklore of the northern Algonquin First Nations of North America and Canada combines elements of the culturally specific ‘wendigo psychosis’ during an alpine hiking expedition. A case of a violent mind unravelling or monstrous possession? You can learn more about my research writing “The Monster” here. […]