My current phase of research for
The Great Fright North involves tales of the
Windigo, which is now often written as
wendigo. This cannibalistic creature, of
Algonquian legend, has taken on many forms including that of a demon, devil, or a supernatural spirit that possesses human beings. (It has since become a popular monster menace in films and on television.)
Many early writings are collected in
John Robert Colombo's excellent
Windigo: An Anthology of Fact and Fantastic Fiction (1982), which covers three centuries of works from the 1630s-1970s. Long out of print, this tome is a preeminent work on the subject.
