Following in the footsteps of the Pied Piper series, I wrote my own story based off a dream I had: Neverwas is trapped in an abusive relationship with her mother. When she meets the Pied Piper, a beautiful hero who calls to her with his silver whistle, she transforms into the very essence of beauty and freedom. She follows the Pied Piper into the forest where he shows her the deep, dark secrets of his cave. You can read this story in https://www.amazon.com/SHAPESHIFTERS-Horror-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00OWMY36E/ref=sr_1_1?crid=288EVZEO3ZJD3andkeywords=shapeshifters+by+mav+skyeandqid=1655751293andsprefix=shapeshifters%2Caps%2C605andsr=8-1 (Three Tales to Chill Your Bones, Volume 3: Shapeshifters.) Music: Dark Streets by Ambient Soundscapes Website: www.darksoftlypodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

Though written several hundred years after the event, Robert Browning's poem catches the eerie mystery of when 130 children were led away by a magician over Koppleburgh hill, never to be seen again. The Pied Piper of Hemalin by Robert Browning. Music: Mystique from pixabay.com Website: www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

In the year 1284, a hundred and thirty children went missing from a small German town. This has been a historically documented event that actually happened. Tonight we will be straying from our regular structure. I’m going to narrate the Grimm brother’s version of The Pied Piper called The Children of Hamelin and then we we will lightly discuss the story and it's history. The following two weeks I will be narrating a Robert Brown's Poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" followed by own take on the pied piper called "Neverwas of Koppleburg Hill." Find the Astonishing Legends podcast by clicking https://www.astonishinglegends.com/al-podcasts/2020/2/16/ep-168-the-pied-piper-of-hamelin-part-1 (HERE). Also links to the texts I referred to in the program are: https://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/390/383 (The Legend of the Pied Piper in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Grimm, Browning, and Skurzynski by Mary Troxclair Adamson )(this article will automatically download!) Music: Dark Piano Websites: www.darksoftlytalepodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

A quick reminder we are on break the next two weeks as I continue to put material together on the Pied Piper and for the Summer Bites series. I hope everyone has a great week! <3

This week brings us to the conclusion of Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo where reality and the hauntingly fantastic meet at the tipping point of sanity... I will be taking two weeks off before we launch into the brief history and stories of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and then the summer bite series. Music: Cello in a Dream by Liron www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

We continue on this week with part five of Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo, where Simpson meets up with Hank and Dr. Cathcart. The two hunters struggle with Simpson’s story…trying to argue it away with logic and emotion. The mirror of reality has been shattered. And when it shatters, the mind, body and emotions struggle to put it back together again… but we all know what happened in the story of Humpty Dumpty. Music: Cello in a Dream by Liron www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

Simpson performs an investigation to find clues to where the guide disappeared. He makes a startling revelation when he finds not one but two sets of footprints in the snow. One set is 18 feet long, the other set obviously human...eventually the human prints disappear leaving only the monstrous prints behind. Join Dark Softly Tales in Part Four of The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. Music: Cello in a Dream by Liron www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

Huddled in the tiny tent amongst the smothering trees, there are not two shadows, but three...two of human form and one very distinctly not human. Join Dark Softly Tales in Part Three of The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. Music: Cello in a Dream by Liron www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

Hunter and guide set out by themselves deep into the heart of the vast unknown. The beauty is unfathomable, yet impersonal. Still, late into the evening, the guide catches the scent of something that has definitely taken notice...and it shakes him to his very core. This week is part two of The Wendigo by Alergnon Blackwood. Music: Cello in a Dream by Liron www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com

In the the wilds of Canada, an ancient evil taunts a group of hunters, creating such madness that is sure to send goose bumps down your spine and cause you to double think going out into the woods alone... For the next few weeks, we will be reading The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. Music: Cello in a Dream by Liron www.darksoftlytalespodcast.com www.darksoftlytales.com