The Werewolves of Quend-Plage

In the small beach town of Quend-Plage, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, there’s a chilling tale that has echoed through the centuries. Dating back to the 1700s, locals whisper about the ‘Werewolves of Quend-Plage’, the area’s eerie and bone-chilling myth. The telling of this story is often attributed to the animosity between local farmers and hunters, living in constant fear of predators that might harm their livestock and livelihood. One year, in the thick of a harsh winter, livestock began to disappear. Mauled bodies of cattle were discovered with the dawn, and the locals immediately suspected wolves. A prolific hunter in the village promised to track down the killer. The huntsman ventured into the snowy forest, and when he failed to return, a search party looking for him discovered a shocking scene—a savage creature consuming his remains. The creature bore a frightful resemblance to a wolf but walked on two legs like a man. Overwhelmed with fear, they fled back to their homes, and the legend of the Werewolves of Quend-Plage was born. This folk tale has stuck to Quend-Plage to date, often shared around the fireside on chilly nights. Some even say that the howls heard deep in the forest are the eternal spirits of the werewolves, forever haunting the small beach town. The legend left a profound imprint on the inhabitants and even influenced local traditions and celebrations like the annual ‘Festival of Werewolves,’ where the townsfolk engage in dances and parades dressed as werewolves to pay a cheeky tribute to the legend— a mix of fear and fun, myth and reality.