Speaker 1: The following episode includes graphic scenes of murder and torture
Speaker 1: that some may find disturbing. Parental discretion is advised. Welcome
Speaker 1: to Unexplained Extra with Me Richard mclin Smith, where for
Speaker 1: the weeks in between episodes to look at stories and
Speaker 1: ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it
Speaker 1: into the previous show. In last week's episode, An American
Speaker 1: Werewolf in America, we covered the intriguing tale of the
Speaker 1: Beast of Brave Road, a strange, apparent dog like humanoid
Speaker 1: that is said to stalk a quiet stretch of road
Speaker 1: just outside of Elkhorn in Wisconsin, USA. Linda Godfrey, who
Speaker 1: first brought the tale to the world, was reluctant to
Speaker 1: use the term werewolf to describe the supposed creature, since
Speaker 1: she considered it to be more of a cryptis than
Speaker 1: a human wolf hybrid. The clue is in the name.
Speaker 1: The term werewolf in most languages is comprised at the
Speaker 1: cognate of man and wolf, where is the Old Teutonic
Speaker 1: for man and wolf is well wolf. The Greek term leacanthropis,
Speaker 1: from which is derived the termlycanthropy, the psychiatric disorder in
Speaker 1: which an individual believes they are a wolf is likewise
Speaker 1: taken from the Greek words for wolf and man. Some
Speaker 1: argue that the notion of a werewolf was first explored
Speaker 1: in the ancient poem the Epic of Gilgamesh from twenty
Speaker 1: one hundred BCE, in which the titular Gilgamesh spurns a
Speaker 1: woman after learning that she'd previously turned a lover into
Speaker 1: a wolf. However, generally speaking, the idea of the werewolf
Speaker 1: was born from much darker beginnings, much of it to
Speaker 1: do with cannabi. From ancient Greek mythology comes the story
Speaker 1: of lie Chaon, one of the first kings of Arcadia.
Speaker 1: In an effort to gain favour from the god Zeus,
Speaker 1: like Chaon made a series of increasingly extreme offerings in
Speaker 1: his honour, culminating in the sacrificing of people, a practice
Speaker 1: that by then had been long rejected by the gods.
Speaker 1: When Zeus decided to visit lye Chaon in disguise to
Speaker 1: try and uncover the truth, he was invited to participate
Speaker 1: in a banquet that included human flesh. In anger and disgust,
Speaker 1: Zeus turned like Chaon and his son into wolves as
Speaker 1: a punishment for what they'd done. It's a short step
Speaker 1: from here to the mythology of the werewolf as it
Speaker 1: would later evolve. Crucially, despite the human having turned wolf,
Speaker 1: it is always maintained that the creature retains something of
Speaker 1: the human it. As such, when a werewolf kills and
Speaker 1: eats a human, it is ultimately a cannibalistic act. There
Speaker 1: have been surprisingly many supposedly true tales of werewolves over
Speaker 1: the years, though perhaps none are more infamous, more wicked,
Speaker 1: or more disturbing than that which appeared in a pamphlet
Speaker 1: in London in June fifteen ninety. The story was brought
Speaker 1: over by one George Bores, of which there is little known,
Speaker 1: who is said to have translated it from its original
Speaker 1: German text, titled The Damnable Life and Death of stub Peter.
Speaker 1: It is not for the faint hearted. It was out
Speaker 1: in the quiet countryside of West Germany, close to what
Speaker 1: was then the Electorate of Cologne, where it all began.
Speaker 1: A slain and mutilated sheep carcass is found out in
Speaker 1: the fields surrounding Eprath, a small community on the outskirts
Speaker 1: of Bedburg, with its flesh ripped by sharp claws and
Speaker 1: its meat torn from the bones by ravenous, sharp toothed jaws.
Speaker 1: It was clear that a wolf was now in their mist.
Speaker 1: Then the sheep became a cow, but not just one,
Speaker 1: multiple all with the same violent injuries. Evidently the wolf
Speaker 1: was a big one. Then one day, a farmer, while
Speaker 1: out scything wheat, made a horrifying discovery a small child's pale,
Speaker 1: lifeless body staring up at him from the dirt, its
Speaker 1: throat and stomach torn open, and its entrails showing the
Speaker 1: signs of having been feasted on. Some time later, three
Speaker 1: friends went missing in a nearby forest. As the story goes,
Speaker 1: two men and a woman were said to have been
Speaker 1: taking a walk together when one of the men was
Speaker 1: distracted by someone whispering his name from deep inside the woods.
Speaker 1: After peeling off from the group to investigate, the man
Speaker 1: failed to return. When the other man went looking for him,
Speaker 1: he too failed to return. Suddenly, fearing for her life,
Speaker 1: the woman turned to run, only to find herself being
Speaker 1: chased by a large fur creature with snarling jaws. Before
Speaker 1: she could raise the alarm, the creature is said to
Speaker 1: have pinned her to the ground before raping her and
Speaker 1: making off with her. Body. The bodies of the men
Speaker 1: were later found, each with their heads bashed in, but
Speaker 1: the woman's body was now found. Another time, some children
Speaker 1: were playing in a field close to a herd of
Speaker 1: cattle when a huge wolf like creature burst out suddenly
Speaker 1: from some nearby bushes and grabbed one of the children
Speaker 1: by the neck. As the creature tore wildly at the
Speaker 1: child's throat, Thankfully, her stiff and high collar gave her
Speaker 1: enough time to scream for help. The sound of her
Speaker 1: screams caused a stampede of the cattle, who inadvertently chased
Speaker 1: the creature away. As news of the terrifying attacks spread
Speaker 1: through the area, people became more vigilant. Patrols even began
Speaker 1: scaring the countryside with packs of dogs on the hunt
Speaker 1: for the mysterious merciless creature that was terrorizing their community.
Speaker 1: It was all autumn in fifteen eighty nine when one
Speaker 1: such patrol spotted a huge wolf like creature moving through
Speaker 1: a distant field. As the dogs chased after it, the
Speaker 1: men raced to catch up, only to see the strange
Speaker 1: creature suddenly transform into a man right in front of
Speaker 1: their eyes. The man was promptly arrested and taken immediately
Speaker 1: to a prison cell, where he was shortly after placed
Speaker 1: on the rack with his feet and hands bound. The
Speaker 1: rack was then steadily turned, stretching every sinew in the
Speaker 1: man's limbs, until finally he confessed. The man was thirty
Speaker 1: seven year old Peter Stubb, though others have suggested he
Speaker 1: may in fact have been named Abel Grizzled. Some have
Speaker 1: also suggested his name was in fact Stump, the German
Speaker 1: word for stump. However, it's possible this was merely a
Speaker 1: nickname given to him on account of him apparently only
Speaker 1: having one hand. Stubb was known to be a relatively
Speaker 1: wealthy farmer and a widower with two adolescent children. It
Speaker 1: had all begun when he was twelve years old, he said,
Speaker 1: having fantasized about meeting the devil. One day, he was
Speaker 1: granted his wish, and in return was given a belt
Speaker 1: made of wolf fur. From that day on, whenever he
Speaker 1: put on the belt, he was transformed instantly into a greedy,
Speaker 1: devouring wolf with a great, wide mouth full of sharp
Speaker 1: and cruel teeth. His body became strong and mighty, and
Speaker 1: his eyes sparkled as though they were made of fire.
Speaker 1: The moment he removed the belt, he said he became
Speaker 1: a man again. His reign of terror had started modestly
Speaker 1: with lambs and calm, before graduating to young children and
Speaker 1: then adults. He did not discriminate. He even confessed to
Speaker 1: murdering and eating two pregnant women, ripping their fetuses out
Speaker 1: with his bare hands before devouring them to eating their
Speaker 1: hearts as he panted with heat and exhaustion. He confessed
Speaker 1: also to raping most of his victims and his own daughter.
Speaker 1: His son was led out to the forest one morning,
Speaker 1: where Stub then claimed to have bludgeoned him to death
Speaker 1: before eating the brains right out of his head. All
Speaker 1: in all, it was said that Starb killed sixteen people,
Speaker 1: and on October twenty eighth, fifteen eighty nine, he was
Speaker 1: convicted of his crimes. Both his daughter and his girlfriend
Speaker 1: at the time, a woman named Catharine Trompin, were also
Speaker 1: convicted alongside him, accused of being accessories to his heinous crimes.
Speaker 1: They were all sentenced to death on October thirty first
Speaker 1: all Hallow's eve, Trompin, and Stubb's daughter were burned alive.
Speaker 1: For his punishment, Stubb had his body tied to a
Speaker 1: large wooden wagon wheel. Next, a heavy set of iron
Speaker 1: pincers were heated up in a fire before being used
Speaker 1: to deafly tear ten hunks of flesh from his bones,
Speaker 1: piece by piece. But this was only the beginning. Careful
Speaker 1: not to do so much that he would die or
Speaker 1: bleed to death, Stubb's torturers then moved on to the axe,
Speaker 1: not to cut him up, but to use the head
Speaker 1: of it to break every one of his limbs. With
Speaker 1: Stubb still clinging on to life, he was then finally
Speaker 1: beheaded and his body thrown onto the fire and burned
Speaker 1: to ash. In the days following his execution, a strange
Speaker 1: monument was constructed, comprised of the wheel that Stubb was
Speaker 1: executed on, as well as sixteen yard long pieces of
Speaker 1: wood to signify each of the sixteen victims he murdered,
Speaker 1: and in the middle was a large pole on which
Speaker 1: Stubb's head was placed a little warning to anyone else
Speaker 1: who might be planning to make a pact with the devil,
Speaker 1: or so George Bow's fifteen ninety pamphlet says. At least today,
Speaker 1: researchers have speculated that though Peter Stubb may have been
Speaker 1: real and his execution was real. It's possible his true
Speaker 1: crime was simply being a Protestant at a time of
Speaker 1: intense religious rivalry between local Catholic and Protestant factions. Perhaps,
Speaker 1: as has been suggested, his crimes were simply made up
Speaker 1: to make an example of him. Others have suggested that
Speaker 1: Stubb was indeed a murderer, but one of a more
Speaker 1: distinctly human variety whose crimes were later portrayed as being
Speaker 1: the result of some wicked supernatural act because they were
Speaker 1: just too appalling to be comprehended in any other way.
Speaker 1: Or maybe it really was all true. This episode was
Speaker 1: written by Richard McLain Smith Unexplained as an AV Club
Speaker 1: Productions podcast created by Richard McLain Smith. All other elements
Speaker 1: of the podcast, including the music, are also produced by
Speaker 1: Richard McLain Smith Unexplained. The book and audiobook, featuring stories
Speaker 1: that have never before been featured on the show, is
Speaker 1: now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes,
Speaker 1: and Noble Waterstones, among other bookstores. Please subscribe and rate
Speaker 1: the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free
Speaker 1: to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding
Speaker 1: the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have
Speaker 1: an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You
Speaker 1: can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or
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