Torchwood House

"Terror From the Sky!"

The date: October 6th, 1540. The place: The Glen of Saint Catherine, Scotland.

"In the year of our Lord 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth... an almighty fire did burn in the pit."

In October, 1540, the monks at the Glen of Saint Catherine Monastery were going about their daily business. A simple diet of haggis and water, prayers, a vow of silence, charity work. Little did they know that their lives were about to change forever! Nobody knows for certain what fell to Earth on that fateful night. Was it a meteorite or something... worse?

Locals reported a burning light, falling with an unearthly glow into a nearby field. The next morning, when an inquisitive farmer went to investigate, he discovered that the earth was scorched blacker than the blackest night but of the falling star there was no sign. Word among the glens was that the monks had taken the star back to their monastery. Certainly the order seems to have become reclusive from this date. What had they discovered?

The falling star also heralded three hundred years of terror for local families. Called The Howling, tales abounded of a strange and unearthly cry echoing out across the valley. The following morning, livestock would be found torn open and devoured! But that wasn't the worst! Once every generation, a young boy would go missing! Snatched from the loving embrace of their family, they would be spirited away, never to be seen again!

Typically, the stories appear to die out at the turn of the twentieth century, with the coming of electric lighting. There is little talk of The Howling after the visit of Queen Victoria. Perhaps her civilising heart ended the curse?

Perhaps we'll never solve the Howling In The Glens, but there's one thing I haven't yet mentioned. On the night of October 6th, 1540... there was a full moon.

Extract from "It's A Mystery!" by T. Wilcox
Published by Alec Tom Publishing, 1997

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