A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story: The Curse of the Manitou by Stephen B. King ~ #Horror #Fri13thStories #Blog

I am wickedly delighted to share the second of thirteen creepy tales of murder and mayhem on Friday the 13th…

The Curse of the Manitou by Stephen B. King

Recently, I visited the US, and during my travels, I visited the Native American Indian Museum in Washington. To say this was a sobering and informative experience is one of the great understatements. Being Australian, pretty much the only things I knew about native Indians  I’d learned from Hollywood movies, and let’s be honest, they have mostly been unkind.

I have always been interested in the spiritual world, witches, warlocks, black magic ceremonies, and the like. I’ve also read every book my more famous namesake has published and love a good horror tale. So, I wanted to link the two topics: a respectful tale mentioning the plight of the Indian Nation in past times and a horror story for the Friday the 13th series I love so much. 

Many years ago, I watched a movie called The Manitou. A tale based on a fantastic book by Graham Masterton about a Native Indian demonic spirit reincarnated every few years to wreak havoc on the Western World one assumes for the sins against his people. He is reborn through a lump on a woman’s shoulder, which contains his fetus. It really was an interesting, thought-provoking, and scary movie starring a great cast, including Tony Curtis. So, while mulling over my US trip, trying to come up with an idea for my contribution to the fabulous Friday the 13th series, I remembered that film. I googled Manitou to get the real story and am so glad I did.

My story features a Great Manitou of a Lake, which, in recent times, has become Lake Manitou. It turns out there are several in America called so, but none as scary as my fictitious one, set in NY State, in the Great Lakes area. The Manitou of the Lake was called on by a seer of a Native American Indian village located on its banks when the cavalry massacred the women and children in an attempt to force them to move West and give up their lands. The Colonel and all his future children are cursed to die by The Manitou’s hand in water. 

When Robert Hartford, a direct descendant of Colonel Ramsey Hartford, inherits a house perched over the lake,  he believes it is his lucky day. But he has no idea what horror will be unleashed on him and his family when he visits The House on Lake Manitou.