Peter Stumpp’s Journal: The Werewolf Curse "Diary Of A Werewolf"

0:05 Speaker 1: It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway to nightmare.

0:25 Speaker 2: Nightmare.

0:37 Speaker 1: Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. The origin of the term witch hunt can be traced back to the 11th century, when attitudes toward witchcraft and sorcery began to change and associate them with heresy and the devil. The term was first used in the literal sense in 1853, meaning the hunting and killing of people accused of being witches. It was later used in an extended sense to describe any unjustified persecution of a group of people or person.

1:29 Speaker 3: Yes, you are a killer!

1:32 Speaker 4: Confess!

1:34 Speaker 5: Herman, you know me. I'm your... your... at least I thought I was your friend.

1:42 Speaker 1: Confess, Peter.

1:44 Speaker 3: Confess to what you have done and what you are.

1:51 Speaker 1: All right.

1:52 Speaker 5: I am what you say. I have done everything.

1:56 Speaker 2: I am.

1:56 Speaker 6: a.

1:59 Speaker 5: Werewolf.

2:05 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Diary of a Werewolf, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Mick Davis, Raven Adams, Dave Archibald, and Winslow Swan. I'll be back shortly with Act One.

2:40 Speaker 1: Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolf's bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. The verse that ushers in a story of werewolves. An ancient curse you say? An old German poem. Well, the whole thing falls apart anyway, when the truth is the poem was actually written by Kurt Sodomac, the writer of the movie The Wolfman in 1941. So the question remains, is there really such a thing as a werewolf?

3:25 Speaker 6: Alistair Weinsberg, glad you could make it. Welcome, and please, pour yourself something to drink.

3:32 Speaker 4: Well, you sounded so excited on the phone, naturally I rushed over. Should I pour you one as well, Edward?

3:39 Speaker 6: Oh, no thank you. Yes, excited doesn't begin to describe what I feel. You won't believe it.

3:47 Speaker 4: Sounds as if you've just found the Holy Grail.

3:50 Speaker 6: Well, not as important as that, but I have found something incredible.

3:57 Speaker 1: Here, take a look.

4:03 Speaker 4: Looks like some sort of diary.

4:06 Speaker 6: It is, it is, but look at the name on the first page.

4:12 Speaker 4: Peter Stump.

4:14 Speaker 3: Hmm.

4:15 Speaker 4: Is that name supposed to mean something?

4:18 Speaker 6: Of course it is. You mean you don't recognize the name Peter Stump?

4:26 Speaker 4: Edward, I came over here as your friend, not as your publisher. It's late and I've had a very long day. I think I shall go home now.

4:38 Speaker 6: The Bedburg Werewolf.

4:43 Speaker 4: What did you say?

4:44 Speaker 6: The diary of Peter Stump. Otherwise known as the Bedburg Werewolf.

4:55 Speaker 4: But that's impossible.

4:57 Speaker 1: I know.

4:58 Speaker 6: I've been authenticating it for the past few days. Everything is in it. It is all real.

5:11 Speaker 4: These may be the last words that I pen, for tomorrow they will execute me along with my daughter and Catherine. I can only pray that their deaths will be quick.

5:23 Speaker 6: Yes, which they were not.

5:25 Speaker 4: The diary is even dated. October 30th, 1589. And he was executed the next day.

5:33 Speaker 6: Halloween, 1589.

5:37 Speaker 4: Where did you find this?

5:39 Speaker 6: Oh, I was at an estate sale outside of Boston last week. There was a trunk filled with old books that I bought. The owner told me that it belonged to the family of Hermann von Weinsberg.

5:52 Speaker 1: Remarkable.

5:54 Speaker 4: Isn't he the one that gave much of the information about... Peter Stubb from his own diary?

6:01 Speaker 6: Yes, yes. I went online and I found a copy of his diary and I have been comparing the two.

6:07 Speaker 4: What have you found?

6:09 Speaker 6: Alistair, if this account doesn't become a bestseller, then I shall give up writing and research and work cleaning toilets.

6:18 Speaker 4: Well, come on. You have me here, so give.

6:22 Speaker 1: All right, all right.

6:24 Speaker 6: As you know, Peter was a very wealthy landowner in Germany Not much is known about him. He was born near Bedburg, Germany, around 1530. Scholars think he was given the name Stump because his left hand was severed in an accident.

6:43 Speaker 4: Yes, and that was one piece of evidence they used against him.

6:48 Speaker 6: Exactly. The wolf had a severed paw, so naturally, Peter had to be the werewolf.

6:56 Speaker 4: Rather ghastly affair.

6:59 Speaker 6: Well, this diary may prove that Hermann von Weinsberg was the real werewolf.

7:14 Speaker 3: As the prosecutor in this case, I have preferred charges against Peter Stubb. for the crimes of murder, cannibalism, sorcery, and having an incestuous affair with his daughter.

7:29 Speaker 7: You liar!

7:31 Speaker 5: Herman, what are you doing? Is my land so important to you?

7:40 Speaker 3: I beg the court to indulge me and give me permission to extract a confession from the witness.

7:47 Speaker 7: No, you can't.

7:49 Speaker 5: Please, Herman... I beg of you, do not do this.

7:54 Speaker 3: Peter Stump, you will confess to these crimes by the end of the week.

7:59 Speaker 6: God, take him.

8:01 Speaker 2: Secure him to the rack.

8:11 Speaker 1: Oh yes, the rack was used as a form to extract confessions from its victims. Believe me, The mere mention of the word sends shivers down my spine. I'll return shortly with Act Two. Eduardo Galeano once said, The purpose of torture is not getting information. It is spreading fear.

8:58 Speaker 4: The rack, a rather ugly form of torture.

9:01 Speaker 6: Oh, and the things that Peter confessed to.

9:05 Speaker 4: I believe under those circumstances, a person would confess to any and everything.

9:11 Speaker 6: Oh, I agree with you. From what I've been able to find out, Hermon was not only wanting Peter's land, but his daughter Sybil as well.

9:21 Speaker 4: Wasn't there something about a mistress?

9:24 Speaker 6: Yes, Catherine was her name, although her last name isn't known.

9:29 Speaker 4: Wasn't that the normal way to get someone else's land in those days?

9:33 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, it was.

9:36 Speaker 6: You know, even in America, people were accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake or hanged.

9:52 Speaker 4: Confess!

9:53 Speaker 2: Confess!

9:55 Speaker 5: You know that you are a serial killer!

9:58 Speaker 2: A werewolf!

10:00 Speaker 3: Confess!

10:01 Speaker 5: Herman, I'm begging you. Stop this madness. I'll give you my land, but please stop.

10:13 Speaker 3: Is that the extent of your puny little imagination?

10:16 Speaker 2: I warned you, Peter.

10:19 Speaker 6: Remember?

10:27 Speaker 5: Ah, Herman, my friend. What brings you to my humble home?

10:32 Speaker 3: Peter, I have come with a proposition for you.

10:36 Speaker 5: Now, look, I've told you once that I'm not selling you my home.

10:42 Speaker 1: Oh, no, nothing like that.

10:45 Speaker 3: I wish to ask your permission for your daughter's hand in marriage.

10:51 Speaker 5: But, Herman, she's only 15 years old. You are almost 60.

10:57 Speaker 2: 60?

10:58 Speaker 5: Ah, but she has bewitched me. She smiles at me each time we meet in the village.

11:05 Speaker 1: Come now, Peter. Do you wish her to be an old maid?

11:10 Speaker 5: Herman, I hope that you are only saying this in jest.

11:14 Speaker 1: No, Peter.

11:16 Speaker 7: I am truly sincere.

11:18 Speaker 3: I wish to have your daughter.

11:21 Speaker 6: As my wife.

11:22 Speaker 5: I'm sorry, Herman, but my answer is no. You may live to regret your answer.

11:49 Speaker 6: Confess.

11:50 Speaker 5: Confess that you are a cannibal, a killer, a werewolf.

11:56 Speaker 2: All right, all right.

11:59 Speaker 5: I confess. I confess. Everything, please, no more.

12:04 Speaker 6: And what is it that you confess, Peter Stump? I....

12:12 Speaker 5: I have been practicing black magic since I was 14. I mean, 12. He, the devil, he gave me a belt that would turn me into a.

12:24 Speaker 6: A greedy... devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cool teeth, a huge body, and mighty paws. Gives you the chills, doesn't it?

12:51 Speaker 4: Peter had a way with words.

12:54 Speaker 6: After his capture, he told the magistrate that this belt was hidden in a, quote, certain valley, end quote. They never did find it.

13:06 Speaker 4: How can you find something that doesn't exist?

13:10 Speaker 6: Ah, but it did exist.

13:14 Speaker 4: Oh, come on, Edward. This is the 21st century, not 1580.

13:20 Speaker 6: Remember the trunk of books from Germany I found the diary in? That was not all I found inside. There was a belt made of fur skin. I had it analyzed.

13:36 Speaker 4: And what was the result?

13:38 Speaker 6: The belt and the fur were made from the hide.

13:45 Speaker 1: Of a wolf. The actor Warner Olin once said, The werewolf is neither man nor wolf, but a satanic creature with the worst qualities of both. I'll return shortly with Act 3. The author Patricia Briggs once said, Some people will tell you werewolves can only shape change under a full moon. But people also say there's no such things as ghosts.

14:54 Speaker 3: Tell the court, Peter Stubb, what you confessed to me.

14:58 Speaker 5: It is true. I am an insatiable.

15:06 Speaker 4: Bloodsucker.

15:15 Speaker 3: Did you not indeed murder your son?

15:18 Speaker 5: Yes, you bastard. I didn't mean to. We were hunting, together, when my bloodlust overcame me. I put the belt on and turned into the monster.

15:35 Speaker 1: I ate.

15:37 Speaker 5: His brain.

15:38 Speaker 3: This court finds you guilty as charged!

15:49 Speaker 4: Wasn't there something about other children being killed?

15:54 Speaker 1: Oh, yes.

15:55 Speaker 6: Fourteen in all, and two pregnant women. According to Hermann's diary, Peter confessed that he ate their hearts, panting hot and raw, and later described them as dainty morsels.

16:15 Speaker 4: As if my nightmares were not bad enough.

16:32 Speaker 1: Peter? Peter? Are you awake?

16:38 Speaker 5: What do you want, Herman? You have my land. You were murdering my daughter along with me tomorrow and... Poor dear Catherine. What more do you want of me?

16:52 Speaker 3: Do you wish to know the form of your execution?

17:00 Speaker 5: Does it matter?

17:02 Speaker 1: You will be tied to the wheel.

17:06 Speaker 2: Red heart pincers will tear your flesh.

17:09 Speaker 3: Your arms and legs will be broken with the blunt side of an axe. You will scream in pain before you are finally beheaded. And finally, your body will be burned.

17:27 Speaker 7: Then, if I am in league with the devil... May he find you. May he give you pain far worse than I could. I curse you, Herman von Weinsberg. I curse you and your family.

18:09 Speaker 4: And you are absolutely sure that this diary is authentic?

18:14 Speaker 6: Everything in it is real. Would you like to see the belt that I found?

18:22 Speaker 4: Oh, of course I would. Well then, Mr.

18:25 Speaker 6: Weinsberg, behold.

18:28 Speaker 2: Here it is, around my waist.

18:33 Speaker 4: Edward, your eyes, they seem to be.

18:39 Speaker 6: Glowing yes Mr. Weinsberg they do.

18:46 Speaker 1: Don't they.

18:50 Speaker 2: What's happening Peter's curse are you not a direct descendant of Hermann von Weinsberg the man who accused tortured And murdered?

19:11 Speaker 1: Peter Stubb?

19:13 Speaker 4: Edward, for God's sake!

19:15 Speaker 1: No! For the sake of... The devil!

19:23 Speaker 6: No!

19:38 Speaker 1: Oh! Alistair Winesburg stares in frozen terror as the werewolf lunges towards him. I'll be back with a final word.

20:22 Speaker 1: On October 31st, 1589, Peter Stump, alongside his daughter Sybil and mistress Catherine, who each had been flayed and strangled, was executed. As a warning against similar behavior, local authorities erected a poll with a torture wheel and the figure of a wolf on it. And at the very top, they placed Stump's severed head. Our cast included Dave Arkapoff, Mick Davis, Raven Adams, and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

21:16 Speaker 6: I watched her change. I stalked her. She was nothing more than an animal to me.

21:26 Speaker 4: But you didn't do anything, did you, Caleb? But I did.

21:35 Speaker 6: I had the knife, holding it tightly, watching her walk down the street.

21:44 Speaker 1: Yes, Jake, I could have. This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the terrifying world of your own imaginations. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.