Night of the Werewolf

The second time The Colonel and I visited Sainte Genevieve, Missouri (that was when we first met Ron and Justine from YouTube) was in October of 2023. Because we had been watching Ron and Justine's YouTube channels, we heard, through them, about a very interesting event being presented by The Centre for French Colonial Life. When we heard about the event, we knew we had to attend.

The event was called Nuit de Loup-Garou or Night of the Werewolf. It was held on the third Saturday of October and the weather was perfect. The event is an annual, family-friendly one designed to share the lore of the early French settlers and their love of fun social family gatherings while offering some educational activities before Halloween approached.

While staying in Ste. Gen., we lodged in a very beautiful log cabin. It had been a former corn crib built c. 1840.

The upstairs bedroom.

The downstairs bed, right off the front door and across from the sitting room.

There was a microwave hidden in a cupboard along the wall, perpendicular to the sink.

There was a television hidden behind the quilt on the wall of the sitting room.

Such a darling place and Kandye who owns and runs the Air B&B (Sassafras Creek Cabin) was so very friendly. It felt as if we had known her forever. 

Evening was approaching and it was time to head to The Centre for French Colonial Life and the Nuit de Loup-Garou. Ron and Justine are associated with the Centre and would be key players in the night's program. We briefly spoke with them before the program began.

A little history about werewolves...The word werewolf literally means man-wolf. Werewolves are thought to have been purposely placed under a curse or affliction from a bite or scratch of another werewolf. Their transformations happen on a night of a full moon and they return to their human form by day.

By the Middle Ages, many Europeans believed wolves were instruments of the devil and so they were hunted. Trials of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaked in the 17th and subsided in the 18th century.

When hunting werewolves, the French did not want to kill them, they regarded them as a human gone astray and believed that there was a possibility that they could be redeemed. 

It was time for the night's program to begin. The Colonel and I joined the others around a roaring fire. An 18th Century French priest told tales of the werewolf.

The town's Militia were on duty, awaiting the call to arms and to patrol the nearby streets to protect us from possible werewolves.

Suddenly, Justine ran into the Militia's camp and told us that she and her fiancé Ron had been walking together when all of he sudden an animal attacked Ron. She believed it was a werewolf. Soon the call rang out. A werewolf had been sighted and Ron was missing. It was feared the werewolf had bitten him and he was now in danger of becoming one himself. Ron, must be found. The Colonel and I, as well as others, joined the Militia and Justine as they walked the shadowy, dark streets of historical Ste. Gen. by lantern light. We all called out Ron's name as we searched for him by street and alleyway. The Militia's boot steps rang out and echoed against the homes that were clustered along the streets.  All of the sudden, one of the Militia men shouted he had spotted the werewolf on the porch of one of the old houses.

A shot rang out and the Sulphur smell of the riffle's smoke filled the air around us. The shot missed its mark and the werewolf escaped. Our search for Ron continued. Finally, Justine spotted Ron standing on a wooden fence. It was as we had suspected, he had been bitten and was now a werewolf himself.

Justine pleaded with Ron to come to her so that she could help him. The Militia shot at the beast that was Ron and he disappeared only to reappear along the fence he had been standing on moments before.

Justine was able to coax the beastly Ron to come closer to her. When he was close enough to her, he grabbed her and tried to carry her off. The Militia fired their guns in order to scare him away from Justine. He released her and then the Militia surrounded him, fell upon him and subdued him.

They carried him to the Militia camp and tied him to the fence.

If it were possible, the Militia wanted to save poor Ron by shooting him, not to kill, but to wound him. Only special silver bullets that have been blessed with holy water and marked with the holy cross could be used. When the werewolf's blood comes in contact with the blessed silver bullet and holy water, the curse is broken and the werewolf returns to his original human form.

It was a success! Ron was once again returned to his human form.

Justine ran to be by her fiancé's side. After Ron's redemption, there were tours of the Bolduc House, s'mores and apple cider for those who wanted them.

But where did the werewolf go that attacked Ron? It was not seen again that evening. Perhaps the Militia's gunfire scared it away? Or maybe not...

The Colonel and I loved participating in the werewolf event. What fun! We always enjoy our time while in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri.