 Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. You might think of werewolf stories as something only told for fun around the campfire, but that hasn't always been the case. Historically, many slayings, crimes and generally horrific incidents have been attributed to werewolves. People truly believed in the existence of these creatures. In fact, in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, werewolf trials accompanied witch trials and sometimes they were even one in the same. It's even more surprising to note the number of people who confessed to being werewolves or lycanthropes. Some were likely tortured into confession, but others believed themselves to be real werewolves. The idea that someone could transform into an animal was a popular one and people thought they could make a deal with the devil in order to obtain that power. Is there any truth behind the enduring legend of the werewolf or were these creatures just convenient scapegoats for mysterious misdeeds? Whatever you think, there's no denying that these historical encounters with werewolves are fascinating and downright spooky. Keep listening if you dare, but be warned, these real-life werewolf stories might have you worried about the next full moon. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, weirdos. This is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode of Weird Darkness On a barren field in the U.S. state of Georgia, five granite slabs rise in a star pattern. Each of them weighs over 20 tons and on top of them there's a capstone. Nobody knows who built it or why they were placed there, but one popular opinion is that their purpose is to guide humanity after a predicted post-apocalyptic event that will come in the not so distant future. When you think fairies, what comes to mind? You probably picture an adorable and sparkly creature akin to Disney's Tinkerbell, a lovely and above all friendly presence. You may even want to make contact with them. Unfortunately, glittering humanoids with butterfly wings are the stuff of children's books. Retrace fairy folklore and you'll discover their secret scary origins. In the summer of 1949, a geologist named Vadom Kolpakov discovered a strange feature on the surface of the earth in the Bodaibo-Erkutsk region of southeastern Siberia. Encircled by a largely treed area, this anomaly is oval with a conical crater that contains a small ball-like mound in its middle. The geologic mystery has baffled scientists who are uncertain of what caused this weird formation. But first, is there any truth behind the enduring legend of the werewolf? We begin there. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the weird darkness. In the 1500s, a French tailor was convicted of luring in, torturing and slaying his victims before cooking and eating them for supper. He was also accused of turning into a werewolf to terrorize the town by night. Although there was no exact victim count, he was believed to have slain dozens. As the story goes, the tailor made no attempt to defend himself. Instead, he cursed until his last breath when he was burned at the stake. The court was apparently so shocked by his evil acts that the court documents were burned as well. Peter Stubb was one of many self-confessed werewolves. In 1589, he claimed that his wolfskin belt allowed him to transform, and he also said he had slain over a dozen victims. As one story went, the devil transformed him into the likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which, in the night, sparkled like unto brands of fire, a mouth great and wide with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body and mighty paws. Stubb's tale should be taken with a large grain of salt. He confessed after prolonged torture. He was ultimately decapitated on Halloween 1589, and his body was burned at the stake. In 1685, the people of Ansbach were angry and scared as their livestock was attacked by a wolf, and that was before it started taking lives. The locals were convinced it was their deceased mayor back to torment them by returning in wolf form. The townspeople eventually slew the wolf. They then dressed it as the mayor and put the carcass on display before moving it to a local museum. Estonia held a number of werewolf trials in the 17th century, including that of Hans the werewolf. Many accused werewolves claimed to have made a deal with the devil to gain their shape-shifting powers. But 18-year-old Hans said that a man in black had bitten him. He confessed that he had hunted as a werewolf for the past two years. Although Hans didn't claim to have made an actual pact with the devil, the court still considered him guilty of sorcery and sentenced him to be executed. The French seemed to be obsessed with werewolves, and one of their most famous cases was the werewolf of Dole. Diles Garnier was a hermit who lived out on the outskirts of his town with his wife. When children in the town started to go missing and turned up mutilated, the townspeople set off on a wolf hunt. They eventually decided Garnier was to blame. He confessed to being given an ointment by a demon that allowed him to turn into a wolf and said that he had slain and eaten at least four children. He was burned at the stake. A mutilated boy was found in the French woods in 1598, with the unfortunate Jacques Roulet discovered nearby. Roulet, hurt and disrobed, was detained and confessed to the murder of the boy and others before him. Roulet claimed he had an ointment that could transform him into a wolf. Unlike many cases of lycanthropy, he wasn't executed. On an appeal, he was proclaimed insane and put in an asylum. With a long trail of gore behind them, Pierre Bergault and Michael Verdun confessed to being werewolves in 1521. Their deeds were gruesome as records indicate. They killed a woman who was gathering peas, also seized a little girl of four years old and ate the palpitation flesh, all save one arm. Other persons were murdered by them in this way, for they loved to lap up the warm flowing blood. One chilling American werewolf legend comes from the state of Georgia. As the story goes, the widowed Mildred Burt lived in a rural part of the country in the mid-19th century. One of her daughters, Emily Isabella Burt, had trouble sleeping at night and she had extra hair and sharp teeth. When a local man, William Gorman, told the Burt's that someone had been killing his sheep, Mrs. Burt feared that Emily had something to do with the attacks. When Mrs. Burt went out to investigate one night, an animal lunged at her. Mrs. Burt fired at it, but the animal escaped. The next day, Emily was missing her left hand. She was sent away to Paris to be treated for lycanthropy and the attacks stopped. She passed away in 1911. Vazeslav was the very real ruler of Poletsk in what's now known as Bolaris. Known as Vazeslav the Sorcerer for his rumored magical prowess, he was also believed to take the form of a wolf. He passed in 1101, but the legend didn't stop there. In fact, even a 2005 commemorative coin in Bolaris showed a wolf behind Veslav's portrait. The tale of the Beast of Gavadin is once surrounded by mystery and a whole lot of bloodshed. Between 1764 and 1767, the French province of Gavadin suffered a series of attacks and slayings in which the throats of victims were ripped out. Theories abounded as to who or what was responsible, but most believed it to be a giant wolf. Locals fired at the Beast and attempted to poison it with no noticeable effects. It vanished in 1767 and its fate remains unknown. And finally, beliefs differ on what exactly turned someone into a werewolf. In ancient Greece, apparently people believed that someone could be transformed by eating the meat of a wolf and a human mixed together. This story is similar to the tale of King Lycan. He attempted to trick the god Zeus into eating human flesh. Zeus wasn't pleased and turned the king into a wolf as punishment. His name is likely the root of the word Lycanthropy. On a barren field in the state of Georgia, five granite slabs rise in a star pattern. Each of them weighs over 20 tons and on top of them, there's a capstone. Nobody knows who built it or why they were placed there, but one popular opinion is that their purpose is to guide humanity after a predicted post-apocalyptic event that will come in the not-so-distant future. The huge blocks send a message out to the world in eight different current languages, as well as four extinct ones, Ancient Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphs, for example. The set of ten guidelines has baffled people around the world, with descriptions ranging from perfect and utopian to satanic or quirky. But no matter what the case, these ten commandments should definitely get you thinking. 1. Maintain humanity under 500 million in perpetual balance with nature. 2. Guide reproduction wisely, improving fitness and diversity. 3. Unite humanity with a living new language. 4. Rule passion, faith, tradition and all things with tempered reason. 5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts. 6. Let all nations rule internally, resolving external disputes in a world court. 7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials. 8. Balance personal rights with social duties. 9. Prize truth, beauty, love, seeking harmony with the infinite. 10. Be not a cancer on the earth. Leave room for nature. Leave room for nature. While some of them are clearly noble and laudable, like having fair laws and avoiding petty ones, some of them have stirred controversy. Especially maintain humanity under 500 million in perpetual balance with nature. And guide reproduction wisely, improving fitness and diversity. If we were to apply these laws now, we would have to kill over 90% of the planet. However, this is a perfect example of a misinterpretation because it has to be kept in mind that these commandments have to be applied after the alleged apocalyptic event. It is not clear why they settled on 500 million, but the bottom line is that many believe the world to be overpopulated right now. We are indeed finding better and better ways to manage our resources and use sustainable or renewable forces, but in just the last 50 years, the population of the earth has more than doubled, and if we were to keep that up, the prognosis could be dire indeed. But back to our Georgia stones. Whoever built them definitely knew what they were doing. The slabs stand proud and sturdy and will endure through the centuries with minimal damage. They also have a remarkable set of other features. For example, they feature a built-in channel that indicates the celestial pole, a horizontal slot that shows the annual travel of the sun, as well as a system that marks noontime throughout the year. But why they have these features and lack others that would apparently be more useful for dazed survivors is still a mystery. It all started on a Friday in June 1979. An elegantly dressed gray-haired man showed up in Elbert County and introduced himself as R. C. Christian, a reference to Christian Rosencruz, or Christian Rose Cross in English, and said he represents a small group of loyal Americans. Rosencruz is a legendary character that founded the Order of the Rose Cross. He quickly became one of the most important and mysterious figures of the time by blending Christianity with some teachings of Arab and Persian sages. R. C. Christian admitted this is not his real name but refused to reveal anything about his identity. Joe Fenley, president of the company that specializes in granite construction, didn't care too much about this, that is until he found out what monument R. C. Christian had in mind. He explained that it would be a compass, calendar, and clock, and also be engraved with a set of guides written in eight of the world's languages. Fenley believed he was dealing with a crazy man and wanted to get rid of him, so he explained that a large number of tools and machines would be required. But Christian just nodded. He then quoted a price several times greater than the real one. But again, Christian seemed indifferent. So Fenley sent him to Wyatt Martin, president of the granite city bank. Martin is probably one of the people who have seen and spoken to the mystery man the most. The astrological specifications were incredibly complex, so the construction company had to employ the help of an astronomer from the University of Georgia. The complex indicates the day of the year, equinoxes and solstices among others. But the main feature is the ten guides engraved in the several languages. The mission statement raises the first few question marks, let these be guide stones to an age of reason. But controversy started even before the monument was finished, many claiming it to be the devil's work. By 1980, when they started building the monument, Martin remembers that people started telling him to stop and accused him of being part of an occult movement. The main problem is that the commandments engraved on the stones are quite eccentric to say the least. It didn't take a lot to compare the first two commandments to the practices of Nazis among others. But again, this doesn't mean that a large part of mankind has to disappear. The guides apply in a post-apocalyptic event, where the population is undoubtedly very small. This can be very hard to digest, but seeing things from their point of view is quite interesting, and any comparison with the Nazis or far-right ideology is unreasonable. I mean if a horrendous tragedy happens, and somehow the world population is reduced to just a few hundred million, then yes, it would be a good idea to have some care regarding the number of humans. Guide number three instructed people to use a common language, which would of course greatly reduce numerous difficulties throughout today's world. Achieving such a task is however impossible at the moment due to evident practical reasons. This is the part that bothered and annoyed the Christians, who quoted the Bible saying that a common tongue is the mark of the Antichrist. Yeah, makes a lot of sense for me too. Same thing with the rule passion, faith, tradition, and all things with tempered reason. For some, faith has to be the alpha and omega with nothing else in between. For others, truly included, finding a sustainable balance is a much nobler goal. The structure, sometimes referred to as an American Stonehenge, sure stirred a lot of controversies, but it got us to thinking, which means that at least a part of its objective was achieved. Even ignoring the more controversial commandments, the final six should definitely be worth achieving. After all, what's wrong with avoiding unnecessary officials and prizing truth? Prize truth, beauty, love, seeking harmony with the infinite, and be not a cancer on the earth, leave room for nature, leave room for nature. There's a really powerful vibe in here. When Weird Darkness returns, we'll look at the dark side of fairies. Tinkerbell is far from a true representation. Plus, what caused the Potomsky Crater in Siberia? Scientists don't know. October is the anniversary of Weird Darkness, and we celebrate by raising funds to help people who suffer from depression. Chantel wrote in, saying, I had fairly aggressive postpartum depression three years ago. I work as a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces and full-time as a correctional officer. I didn't know about the Weird Darkness podcast when I was dealing with my postpartum. However, due to my past medical history and my two jobs that almost guarantee me to have some type of mental illness in the future, I am glad that there is a soft place to fall other than the usual government-funded sites. Chantel is right. The organizations that we're raising funds for this month, Seven Cups, iFRED and the National Suiciding Crisis Lifeline, are all funded by donors like you and me who understand the importance of these resources being available. You can make a donation now of any amount by visiting WeirdDarkness.com slash Overcoming. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Overcoming or click the link in the show notes. When you think fairies, what comes to mind? You probably picture an adorable and sparkly creature akin to Disney's Tinkerbell, a lovely and above all friendly presence. You may even want to make contact with them. Unfortunately, glittering humanoids with butterfly wings are the stuff of children's books. Retrace fairy folklore, and you'll discover their secret scary origins. Cultures all over the world put their own disturbing spin on the fairy folk. In Wales, fairy folk take away babies and leave their own twisted offspring in their place. Scottish Kelpies, meanwhile, are known for their taste for human flesh. As for Icelandic Holdafolk and Filipino Barbaroka, you'll have to keep listening to discover just what makes them so chilling. Just because they're mythological doesn't mean that fairies are any less frightening. Here are a few of their darkest attributes. Just remember to shut your windows tight before going to sleep tonight. The Banshee, also known as Woman Fairy, originated in Ireland and is said to be most active at night before a passing. In some folklore, she even comes to the door of those who are expected to pass. She looks like a full-sized human female and though her appearance varies by region, her hair is always stringy and she always wears a white gown or shroud. She frequently appears covered in moss as well. The Banshee is recognized by her loud morning wails which are said to be a harbinger of someone's demise. Being Pheon Fairies are also known as Drowning Fairies. They're said to pull children to their underwater doom. If you're searching for a Pheon Pheon Fairy, you're advised to look around dark waters where drownings have occurred. These creatures were likely devised by parents looking to keep their kids from playing in the water but that doesn't make them any less creepy. Utbirds are fairies that are believed to be the revived spirits of babies who passed during harsh winters. They tend to haunt anyone who hangs around the sites of their demise. Misery is their mission. Utbirds are even known to transform into large and terrifying owls that prey on night travelers. Varricas gather outside the homes of dying people while happily chatting to each other. These 18-inch tall harbingers of doom are instantly recognizable thanks to their vivid red color and blood-stained teeth. According to folklore, they can be appeased but it isn't easy. Varricas require a shrine filled with daily burned offerings of flowers and spices to leave you alone. Fairies aren't just menaces to humans. They can be a threat to their own kind, too. Consider Kelpies, a kind of human-eating fey. Small, ugly, and bulbous, Kelpies are known for their foul tempers. They were once said to crop up everywhere in Scottish locks on the North Sea but fell into decline thanks to their appetite for other fairies. But Kelpies don't discriminate when it comes to slaying. They love to eat deer that wander too near to the locks and they are able to shape-shift to lure in human prey. There are even folktales about Kelpies who take the appearance of seahorses luring young maidens who they then submerge and devour. According to Irish folklore, the sloth are fairies thought to be the souls of evil people. These fairies travel in a swarm at night, often appearing like black birds. Their preferred prey are dying people who have yet to be given their last rites. Some stories, however, say that you can call them by feeling deep sadness or simply by saying their name. Once the sloth have you in their sights, the only way to be rid of them is to offer another person in your place. But they're easy to spot. In their humanoid form, the sloth look like malnourished people with leathery wings. According to Filipino folklore, Barbaroka are highly dangerous fairies that inhabit rivers and swamps. They're said to prey upon fishermen by ingesting large volumes of water, thereby bringing up fish. Once the fishers make their way to that specific spot, the Barbaroka regurgitates the water to capsize their boats. Ultimately, the helpless fishers are dragged underwater and eaten. Bendith, a clan of Welsh fairies, are notorious baby nappers. They nab human babies and replace them with their own deformed offspring known as crimbles. Sometimes the bendith will return the baby after teaching it about music, but more often than not, parents require the assistance of a witch to get their child back. When they're not taking children, the bendith get their kicks riding horses and tangling up their mains. Mischievous will of the Wisps haunt marshy ground and love playing practical jokes. However, their jokes consist of leading travelers astray with their flickering lights, sometimes leading people straight to their doom in the bogs. It's believed that steering clear of the will of the Wisps footpaths is the best way to avoid them, although they are known to sometimes help people who are kind to them and offer them money. A threatening but solitary creature, the Feychan Fairy lives in the Highland Mountains. The Feychan's brooding nature is due to its appearance as it has only one of everything, one ear, one arm, one leg, one toe, and one eye. All of these features are centered directly down the middle of its body which is both hairy and feathery. These creatures are said to be so hideous that the mere sight of them can stop a person's heart. The Feychan is sensitive about not having wings or the gift of flight, so it waves a spiked club at all living things that cross its path. The blue man of the Minch, or Sea Kelpies, prey on sailors. They sport green beards and hair and are pretty buff. Some say that these creatures live in caves under water and that they can control the weather and the seas. If you ever plan on sailing the High Seas, make sure you have what it takes to defeat the Sea Kelpies. According to folklore, captains have escaped disaster on the water simply with their sharp tongues. However, the blue man of the Minch can only be beaten in rhyming duels. Hldvok are Icelandic fairies that are somewhat neutral. Some people believe them to be beneficial and they build tiny wooden homes for the fairies to live in. Hldvok aren't typically malicious, but they do have a strict moral code. These human-like creatures are known to attempt to seduce people. Those who resist are rewarded, while anyone who surrenders is punished. I actually went more in-depth regarding the Hldvok, or Iceland Elves, in a previous episode. I'll place a link to it in the show notes. The Callicanceroi fairies are always without clothes. While that might make you uncomfortable, the creep factor comes with their feet. They're usually shaped like those of different animals. Callicanceroi fairies tend to ride around on chickens and are blind, so they are typically found in groups. Sometimes they even recruit outcast fairies to be their guides. Finally, brownies. They are typically garden fairies who do chores and help around the house. While that might sound sweet and endearing, folklore says that they are hideous to look at. In some regions of Scotland, brownies have no separated toes or fingers. In other areas, they have a hole in their face where their nose should be. In the summer of 1949, a geologist named Vadom Kolpakov discovered a strange feature on the surface of the earth in the Badibo-Erkutk region of southeastern Siberia. Encircled by a largely treed area, this anomaly is oval with a conical crater that contains a small, ball-like mound in its middle. The entire structure consists of broken gray limestone. Its width is between 130 and 160 meters, while the cone is up to 80 meters high. Oddly, few trees grow on the formation, however, the surrounding conifers have experienced rapid growth. Named the Potomsky Crater, the Kolpakov Cone, and the Fire Eagle Nest, the geological mystery has baffled scientists who are uncertain of what caused this weird formation. Named for the river that runs near the anomaly, the Potomsky Crater has spawned many interesting theories. Wild ideas speculated that it was a secret Stalin-era uranium mine that used gulag labor forces. Ancient astronaut theorists chimed that it was the landing site of an alien UFO. Other popular theories include an underground uranium or natural gas explosion, a dust-sized meteorite that burrowed through the planet and left the crater as an exit wound, a cylindrical metallic object of unknown origin, and the Tunguska event. The uranium theory may sound unlikely, however, this area is known to be rich in naturally occurring radioactive elements. A precise series of events would need to take place in order to create the circumstances for an explosion, but it lies within the realm of possibility. However, the trees do not indicate large explosions from uranium or the Tunguska event which would have leveled the conifers. By far, the theory most out of this world involves some kind of external or alien body that long ago embedded itself in the Potomsky Crater, causing the unique shape. The unremarkable radiation levels seem to contradict this, though, as an object from space would leave far higher radioactive levels than the typical levels on Earth. Of course, one could counter this by saying that the spacecraft landed so long ago that by now high levels have returned to nominal. This is supported by the increased size of the vegetation surrounding the site. The two most reasonable theories that initially arose stated that the origin is volcanic or meteoric. The problem is that scientists have not found any evidence of either scenario on the slopes of the Siberian crater yet. There is no volcanic rock, no meteor debris anywhere. Nonetheless, the site reminded scientists of the meteor impact marks on the Moon and believed that evidence lay deeper in the Earth where the meteor would have exploded. By now, the majority of the evidence has ruled out a meteor and most scientists have abandoned this theory. Although remote, the Irkutsk region has an indigenous population called the Yakut. These people consider the crater a bad place and they insist that large animals do not go into the area. One theory about this superstition suggests that perhaps their ancestors were present at a time when the area had a far higher radiation level. These ancestors may have become ill and died from this radiation. Over time, the legend was synthesized into oral tribal stories that became a part of the Yakut culture. In fact, the Yakut gave the crater the name Fire Eagle's Nest because of its shape. Although discovered in 1949, the first scientific expedition committed to properly investigating the Potomsky crater wasn't launched until 2005. There were a number of reasons for this delay, whereas in many other countries, an anomaly of this magnitude would have been a scientific focus. Until the Soviet Union fell, expenditure on scientific activity focused on military development. Consequently, the study of the crater was postponed. The initial expedition in 2005 met with a major setback when not long after embarking for their target, the lead researcher Eugeniy Vorobyev died on the trail. When officials recovered his body, an autopsy showed a massive heart attack. Nonetheless, a bad omen or not, the group pressed on. Although scientists studied the area thoroughly, it only provided more possibilities. At that time, they were unable to make conclusive determination about its cause. Interestingly, though, a number of anomalies were discovered in the surrounding area. Because it was around the beginning of the Cold War, the Russian government was originally concerned this could be the site of a nuclear test by another nation. After all, the Americans had only made their nuclear debut over Japan three years prior, and it was an open secret that the Russians were attempting to create the same technology. Subsequently, one of the first things officials searched for at the site was increased levels of radiation. However, the results were unremarkable, although fractionally above nominal, the amount in no way indicated a nuclear blast. What is perplexing, though, is that the surrounding vegetation experienced a sharp increase in size for over a century before its discovery. Whilst sounding benign, this anomaly is common in instances of nuclear contact. The mutagenic properties of radiation affect the size of flora, often dramatically increasing at over time. This was also the cause in the vegetation around Chernobyl. Magnetic anomalies are also present on and in the surrounding vicinity of the odd Potomsky crater. However, of course, there are other causes of tree growth spurts. Modern geomorphologists believe the fire eagle's nest may be a very rare gas volcano, acting as a vent for vast stores of underground gases. The odd rock formations may also be indicative of chemical reactions between elements on the surface and those leaking through deep in the earth. Dmitry Domezko, Institute of Geophysics, Eukaterinburg, proposes that the crater formed in two phases. First, the tectonic actions in the area created a type of channel similar to mud volcanism. Then, over time, repeated freezing and thawing caused the rock to break up. One of the most recent studies published in 2015 in a paper by V. S. Antepin, B. G. Pokrovsky, and A. M. Fedorov concludes that the formation occurred from one or more explosions of steam as magma moved up through water and rock or when fissures released pressurized water trapped in the rock. Little by little, experts are getting closer to conclusively solving this puzzling mystery once and for all, if they haven't already. Something all scientists appear to agree on is that there is nothing like the Potomsky crater anywhere else on the planet. Do you have a dark tale to tell of your own? Click on Tell Your Story at WeirdDarkness.com and I might use it in a future episode. Also on the website, you can find the paranormal and horror audiobooks I've narrated, The Weird Darkness Store, plus you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression, anxiety, or thoughts of suicide. All stories in this episode are purported to be true and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. Planet Werewolf is by Lee Rose Emory for Graveyard Shift. The Dark Side of Fairies is by Amber Foix for Ranker. The American Stonehenge was written by Mihay Andre for ZME Science. And What Caused the Potomsky Crater is by Lachlan McClelland for Historic Mysteries. Weird Darkness theme by Alibi Music. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little night. First Thessalonians 4, verse 14, We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. At a final thought, sometimes we pray for God to change a situation when God wants the situation to change us. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.