Werewolf of Northumberland, Pennsylvania

Near the turn of the 20th century in the sparsely populated county of Northumberland Pennsylvania, a young girl was about to form a bond with an isolated older man that would alter their lives forever.

Young May Paul lived on a modest farm with her reserved family. May's major responsibilities on the farm included herding and tending to the family's sheep. The young lady was very well liked throughout the tiny community and had no trouble making friends. However she quietly caught the attention of an elder gentleman whom everyone was fearful of. He would often be seen following the young lady around town, as well as watching her from afar as she tended to the flocks. Their kinship seemed strange and disturbing to many individuals, though never seemed to cross any boundaries.

As strange occurrences began to happen on surrounding farms, the Paul family farm seemed to stay safe. Wolf attacks on the surrounding sheep herds were becoming common place. Onslaughts were being reported in broad daylight, yet the Paul family stayed safe from any encounters and didn't suffer one casualty.

Due to all the recent attacks on the docile creatures, bounties were being paid out for hunters who could produce a dead corpse. Late one evening a nearby neighbor spotted the glowing eyes of a wolf being lit by the full moon. The man quickly retrieved his rifle and let off a fiery blast. The yelp and cries from the wolf echoed for acres. Feeling content that the predator was taken care of, the man retired for the evening. The following day, early dawn the man trudged through his land until he found a trail of blood. Through the thicket of trees he followed the crimson trail until he came upon the body of the elder gentleman. The man laid dead from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. Many arousing suspicions claimed the frightening old man was in reality a werewolf.

Strangely enough May Paul never had a single sheep perish due to a wolf attack, even though quite often a large gray wolf would be seen menacing about the perimeters of her property, staring so ominously at the woman from afar.

Hooded Grave Cemetery Pennsylvania

So what do vampires, werewolves, grave robbers and the wealthy all have in common? No, this isn't a joke. They're all part of the mystery of the Hooded Grave Cemetery. Two of the gravestones in this rural resting place are encaged in what resemble large Victorian era birdcages. But why you may ask?

That's a question that holds much speculation. A few believe those buried in these graves may be vampires. Originally the cages had locks on them, leading to the assumption they weren't trying to keep people out but to keep the dead from escaping. Some believe these cages were installed to keep out werewolves. A few of the locals believed they were in the area, killing their livestock. They thought by caging the graves they would keep the wolves from desecrating the deceased bodies.

Most believe that the cages were built as a show of wealth. The cages are quite elaborately designed and quite ornate. The family members of the deceased in these caged graves were active in the iron ore business, a very lucrative business during the 19th century. But the most logical reason these cages exist is to keep out grave robbers. During the mid 19th century young corpses were in high demand. The city of Philadelphia at this time was the epicenter of medical science and studies. With well over 1,000 medical students a good corpse was often difficult to find. It became nearly a rite of passage for young medical students to rob graves of their corpses.

So what's the truth? I'll leave that up to you to speculate on, or you could read more in volume 20 of Outta the Way. Whatever your conclusion, you can be sure author Anne Rice would be greatly inspired by these mysterious graves from a past century!

Video of Hooded Grave Cemetery, click here!