THE CAMP DECORAH WEREWOLF
Modified by John H. Leisgang From a story by a former Camp Chaplain
   Before this land was part of Camp Decorah it was a farm.  The original owner of this farm built a two story house where the camp maintainance building is now.  This house had a stone cellar like any other house would likely have.  This cellar was very different in one respect.  The windows had steel bars and the trapdoor and ceiling were reinforced with steel.  What follows is the reason for the bars and steel.
    Years ago there was a farmer named Fred who lived here with his wife, three sons and four daughters.  As he entered puberty one son, Herman, started to get wierd whenever the moon was full.  His canine teeth would grow longer, his face would become more hairy and his fingernails would look like claws.  His parents didn't think much about this and did nothing.  All he would do was stare at the moon and howl like a wolf.
    Soon this situation began to change.  He would now go out during the full moon and run through the woods, pausing occasionally to howl at the moon.  Come morning he was always home and would have returned to his normal appearance.  People who went into the woods after the full moon began finding deer, raccoons, squirrels and other animals savagely slaughtered.  They were never eaten and there was never much blood left.  It looked like whatever had done this was only after their blood.
    Soon the game in the area was getting scarce.  Then the creature started to attack horses, cows, sheep or cats but never a dog.  The other farmers began to wonder what was going on and began to suspect that there was a werewolf living in the area.  All things pointed to Herman for several reasons.  First, all the killing was centered on Fred's farm.  Second, Fred's animals were never touched.  Third, reports were circulating that Herman got 'weird' during the full moon.
    A committee was formed and they went and talked to Fred.  Fred agreed that something must be done but disagreed that Herman was the problem.  In order to show them that they were wrong, Fred said that he would keep Herman home during the next full moon.  The next full moon proved Fred wrong.  There was no slaughter that time.
    So the neighbor's committee again came to Fred and asked him to protect them from Herman.  Fred agreed and said that he would lock Herman in the cellar each time the moon was full.
    This worked for several months.  Each month, however, Herman would raise a terrible ruckus and try to get out of the cellar. After 6 months Herman managed to escape and ran howling into the woods.  He disappeared before Fred could catch him.  The next morning Herman was sleeping peacefully in his bed and the neighbor's committee was reporting that Bill's prize bull had been savagely slaughtered.  Fred agreed to reinforce the cellar and continue to lock Herman up during the full moon.
    Once again there were no slaughtered animals found until Herman managed to escape about a year later. This time Herman didn't return home the next day.  Fred went to his neighbor's farm and asked if they had seen Herman.  No one had seen him or had any problems either there or at any of the other farms that he usually bothered.  When Fred got home, the sheriff was waiting for him.  It seems that a farmer near Galesville had lost his best cow.  It had been viciously slaughtered with most of the blood missing. Fred told the sherif that Herman was not home.
    About a week later the sheriff brought Herman home.  He had been found living in a cave near Galesville and couldn't remember anything that had happened during the full moon.  Fred promised the sheriff that he would not let Herman out during the full moon again.  Fred had bars put on the cellar windows and reinforced the trap door to better prevent Herman from escaping.
    Everyone allowed Herman to stay home because no one understood that he was a werewolf.  They also didn't know that a werewolf was extremely dangerous when in his blood lust and thought that locking him up would take care of everything.  Little did they know that each experience vastly increased the strength of a werewolf and that Herman was now strong enough to shatter any wood door like it was paper.
    When the next full moon came Fred again locked Herman in the cellar before the transformation had started.  When he was fully transformed Herman took one swing at the trapdoor and it shattered into a pile of toothpick size pieces.  He then bounded out of the cellar and ran off running like a wolf on all fours.  Fred grabbed his shotgun and fired both barrels at his rapidly disappearing son.  Herman let out a blood-curdling yell but didn't even slow down. 
    The next morning Fred asked Herman if he could examine his back.  Herman turned and lifted his shirt.  Fred could see the scars where the pellets had hit Herman.  As he watched the pellets fell out of the marks and the scars disappeared so that there was no trace of being shot.  Fred was petrified by fear when he saw this.  Just then the neighbor's committee came to see Fred.  They told him that last night had been the worst so far with three different farm having been raided and a total of 10 animals brutally slaughtered.  Fred assured them that he would solve the problem one way or another.
    Not knowing where to turn Fred went to see the parish priest.  The priest was an educated man who had come from Hungary.  When Fred explained his dilema the priest told him how the Hungarians solved similar problems dealing with Vampires.  He further explained that, since he was active during the day, Herman was not a Vampire.  He went and got a book from his library and paging through it, stopping every once in a while, came to a conclusion that Herman must be a werewolf.  He then advised Fred to strengthen the cellar by putting steel over all the exposed wood and then lock Herman in there during the period of transition.  If Herman became too much of a problem or started killing people he must be killed. Only a silver bullet fired by one who loved him would kill him.
    So Fred, still loving his son, hired a blacksmith to cover all exposed wood in the cellar with quarter inch steel plates.  The next full moon came and Herman was successfully locked in the cellar.  There was a fearsome howling and pounding on thr trap door.  Fortunatly it held and another transition passed without any loss of livestock.  The next 3 full moons also passed without incident.
    Fred was starting to relax and think that he had solved the problem without having to kill his son when the worst event happened.  Herman had been secretly weakening the steel on the trap door.  This full moon he was able to break out again.  This time he went to the nearest farm and savagely slaughtered the entire family.
    A couple of days later the tragedy was discovered and the neighbors came to Fred's farm and demanded that a final solution be found.  Fred promised that he would end this menace once and for all before the next full moon.  He travelled to La Crosse and had a jeweler cast 2 silver bullets for him. 
    When he got home he took two cartridges for his rifle and replaced the lead slugs with the silver bullets.  He waited until night and while every one else slept he went to Herman's room and said "Son, I am doing this because I love you so much".  He then raised his rifle and shot Herman twice in the chest.
Herman woke up and immediately started transfoming into a werewolf.  However, the silver was too powerful and he died before fully transforming.  After death he returned to his fully human form as his weeping father prayed for his son's soul and died of a broken heart.
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