Now have you seen a Rougarou?
I admit, I am pretty delusional, but delusional enough to dream this up? I don’t think so!
Mawin sha! How ya slept? Good I hope. Me? I slept like a baby! When I first started Sunday Brunch, it was because I finally decided I wanted to take writing as a career seriously; and the only way to really do that was to practice writing. So If you’ve been here since the beginning then you know at one point I experimented with writing short stories. They’ve been removed because life as a writer is working out well for me, and one should always protect their intellectual property. Anyway, today is not a story today, at least from me.
When I was planning out my post for this week, I figured it was the most perfect time to talk about the Rougarou! You know, what it being Halloween time and all. See a lot of folks, at least outside of Louisiana don’t know about the Rougarou. Obviously, differnet regions have their own”boogeyman”, right? There’s Big Foot, The Yeti, hell, in Appalachia there’s the Moth Man.
The Rougarou has been a part of Cajun folklore for generations on genarations, with its origins tracing back to French Canadian myths. The legend came over with French settlers who made their way to Louisiana in the 18th century, bringing with them the tale of the loup-garou, the French version of the werewolf.
The name “Rougarou” comes from a mash-up of the French words loup (wolf) and garou (werewolf). But down south, it’s more than just another werewolf story. According to the legend, the Rougarou is a person cursed for breaking a Lenten vow, doomed to transform into a creature that’s part human, part wolf (or dog, depending on who’s telling the story). The curse supposedly lasts for 101 days, with only one way out: someone has to draw blood to break it. Chile that’s crazy!
Now nobody really knows what one looks like but the common theme is that it’s nothing you’d want to meet on a dark night in the swamp. Most versions paint it as a huge, muscular creature covered in dark usually black or charcoal gray fur. Its eyes glow in the night, and it’s got long, sharp teeth and claws to match. Some stories say it has a human face with a wolf-like snout, while others claim it’s got the full head of a wolf perched on a man’s body. Either way, it’s the stuff of nightmares.
The Rougarou isn’t just something to be afraid of because of how it looks. Some folks say it preys on livestock, and sometimes even humans, with a vicious hunger. And if you’re unlucky enough to see one, baby run the other way, because not only are you in physical danger, the creature can allegedly curse you with bad luck and misfortune for the rest of your life. The only way to fend it off, they say, is to carry a piece of silver, which supposedly repels the creature.
For as long as anyone can remember, sightings of the Rougarou have been reported across Louisiana. Some chalk them up to wild animals, or even hoaxes, but others take the stories a little more seriously. In recent years, there have been several notable sightings, including one in 2016 from Houma, Louisiana. A video surfaced online showing what appeared to be a tall, dark figure with glowing eyes stalking through a residential area.
Whether it’s just a scary story or there’s something more to it, one thing’s for sure the Rougarou is woven into the fabric of deep Acadian folklore. Its origins stretch back to old French myths, but it’s become something unique to Louisiana, keeping locals on edge for generations. With every sighting and whispered story, the legend of the Rougarou stays alive, lurking just beyond the edges of what we know. That’s enough spookiness for me suge! You want some more Rougarou content? I already know, here’s one of my favorite videos on it. If I was you though? I’d be mighty careful to not get cursed! Take care sha and I’ll see yall next week!