Michigan Monsters- Excerpt

Anaconda about to add Devon to its dinner collection!

Here is an excerpt from my “Michigan Monsters” book. This is from the story titled “The Campsite Chameleon.”

When out camping in Michigan it isn’t just the snakes and raccoons you need to keep an eye out for, or bears if you are farther north in our wildlife abundant state, there are other creatures out there looking to harm us. And, no, I am not talking about the cougars in Kalamazoo, which are no longer being considered the figment of someones imagination run wild. These chameleon like creatures I am talking about are even more ferocious than a mother cougar protecting her newborn cubs. The Asin only have one goal, to devour humans.

The Asin are always female, though that doesn’t affect who they want to kill, they are happy with any human, male or female, child or adult. They can change colors to blend in with their surrounding and they find campgrounds to be the perfect hunting grounds. They are attracted to campfires and the lovely smell of smoke and humans. They hide in the trees and lure unsuspecting victims away with their sweet, singing voice. Once their prey roams into the trees they pounce and devour.

The Asin can also roam among us without us knowing, as they appear in human form. So if a stranger comes up to your campsite at night to chat they may just be an Asin scoping out their dinner for the evening. Let all in your party know to be wherry of this sly woman and to not go roaming into the trees at night, no matter what or who they think they hear out there. She may appear a beautiful woman on the outside, but when you are deep in the woods with her you will see her true colors. She is like a Medusa; snakes for hair, reptile eyes, split tongue and a tail for miles.

One early Autumn a family was camping at Sleeper State Park, between Caseville and Port Austin, in Michigan’s thumb area, by Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron). There were probably ten people total crammed within about three campers. They camped here every year. Every year they came back because they enjoyed the atmosphere and it was always a fun and safe place for kids and families to spend some time away.

It wouldn’t always stay such a fun and safe place though….

One night while the adults and young children slept, the three teenagers in the family decided to stay up and watch the campfire as it burnt out. They were rebellious and thought an all-nighter while on vacation would be the perfect idea for a fun time. They enjoyed marshmallows and kept their voices hushed as to not wake anyone else up. After a couple hours the fire started to die down, but they decided they weren’t really ready to give in to sleep quite yet, so they added just one more log. It was only moments after this that they heard someone in the woods. It called each of their names. The teens thought maybe it was a group of kids they had met earlier that day so they quickly called for them to come out

to the fire. They watched as a young girl came out of the woods and beckoned them to follow her. She said her friends were waiting at another campsite expecting her to bring some more people back along with her.

The teens decided they would like to have some more fun and maybe they could be a little louder at this other campsite, so they went into the woods following the young girl. It wasn’t long after they strolled out into the woods that the smaller children, a boy and a girl around eight years of age, woke up. They went outside and found the bigger kids gone, but heard footsteps in the trees so they ran after them, not wanting to miss out. Once in the woods all of the children, teens and all, were lost forever. As soon as they were far enough away from their campsite that their screams wouldn’t easily be heard the Asin turned around, showing her true self to the children before she gobbled them up!

All that remained were some tattered pieces of clothing form the humans and a scale or two from the Asin’s reptile skin. Many believed a giant Anaconda was loose in the woods… which is more believable?