Howler (race)

Howler, Banshee, Wampus, Devil-Cat, Hell-Cat, Black Howler

For the Howler in the Dark (and similar epithets for an Avatar of Nyarlathotep), see instead Nyarlathotep.

Origin: American Folklore

Description

According to legend, the Howler usually takes the form of a large, bear-sized cat with glowing red eyes, horns, shaggy hair, sturdy legs, and an unearthly howl similar to that of a wolf, crossed with a screaming woman, trailing into an eerie laughter like the sound of a hyena; though typically encountered deep in the woods, the Howler is known to sometimes emerge from the wilderness into territory closer to humans, where those who hear the beast's howling are doomed to die shortly afterward, not so much because the Howler has caused the death, as because the Howler can predict when someone is about to die, and has come to announce that death. According to some accounts, the Howler is a shape-shifter,and can take other forms, including that of a human, or humanoid being.

The Howler's legend is very similar to that of the Irish Banshee (perhaps introduced to local Ozark legends by Scots-Irish settlers), the Banshee being a Faerie creature which might be more likely to resemble a ghostly woman, but is otherwise identical to the Howler, as an unnatural creature whose wailing signals the imminent death of those who hear it. The cat-like form of the Howler may hint at a common origin with that of the Wampus Cat (or Faerie Cat), a large, fierce, supernatural, shape-shifting black cat with a strange cry, said to have once been human, cursed to walk the earth in the form of the Wampus Cat for breaking some nameless taboo (such as witnessing a forbidden cult ceremony). These legends suggest a common ancestry with more general Faerie lore.

Associated Mythos Elements

• setting: Folk Mythos
• story:
• deity: Not to be accidentally confused with The Howler in the Dark (and other epithets), an Avatar of Nyarlathotep (though that conflation might perhaps suggest an interesting twist to this legend!)
• race: Wampus Cat
• race: Faeries
• race: Ghosts and Elementals