THE KENNEL OF THE WISH HOUNDS
Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor, Devon
Situated amidst the bleak terrain of Dartmoor’s wildest reaches, Wistman’s Wood is an ancient and haunting copse of wind-gnarled oaks that ooze malevolence from every pore of their knotted trunks.
It known locally that, beneath its gloomy canopy, the feared and fearsome Wish Hounds are kennelled
When the wild storms of winter, howl with demented fury across the moor, these spectral black hounds come baying from the depths of the wood to join the devil as he hunts the souls of un-baptised infants, or chases lone wayfarers into the mires and bogs that litter the moor.
A farmer was once riding home from Widdecombe Fair, when the pack of spectral hounds, urged on by a dark huntsman flew past him.
He called out asking how the hunt had gone and wondering if he might share some of the game. "Take that," boomed a sinister voice, and tossed him a bundle.
Picking up the gift, the farmer hurried home, only to discover that it contained the body of his own infant son.
