For over half a decade the story of the Hounds of the Baskervilles has dominated modern folklore as one of the few ghost stories to inhabit supernatural creatures in the form of dogs. However, this is no longer the case. It looks like Sherlock Holmes may be getting a run for his money in a town called East Anglia located near the Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk coastline. There are several variations within the story but the main story has held true for centuries among the inhabitants of this subtle yet haunted coastline. The tale is almost all always of the same a black hound with red eyes that are the size of saucers. The size always varies but never is it smaller than a large hell hound. What makes this ghostly story different? It has been around since the time of the Vikings. That’s right. It is very possible that old Erik the Red even knew of dear old “Black Shuck”.
Hell Hound
So why on earth, or at least a dimension of it, does this poor old tired dog roam the shores? No one really knows. The story is simply that he, for whatever reason, gets bored and goes hunting. He roams about scaring the heck out of anything that will stand still long enough to catch the glimpse then goes on his merry way. Poor old thing seems to get his jollies of the mere appearance to someone. Okay, so there are several old stories that he may or may not have killed a few to a few hundred church goers one particular Sunday. Has this been proven? No not at all. In fact it is the only story of Black Shuck, meaning Black Demon, that even remotely places the animal at the scene of any murderous rampage of crime. For the most part this pup tends to roam around appearing headless a time or two and getting his kicks from screams of young children, old women, and the few and far between writers that feel the need to pen their horrific encounter for others to read and pass along.
In truth there is no evidence that shows Black Shuck ever existed. There is nothing in the stories that states where he comes from. Nothing in the stories tells of why he does the things he does. Maybe he didn’t get a good dinner one night. Perhaps the old pup was chucked from a Viking war ship on the way to anywhere but where they were actually headed. Then again maybe it was the story made up by a lonely housewife who was tired and just for once wanted her to children to be scared enough to stay in their beds fast asleep and let her have a peaceful evening. No one knows. However, it is a great story that legend says paved the way for a certain crime story novelist and a few hundred haunted ghost stories to come.
