The Storytelling Podcast - Ep 61 - “THE DANCING WOLFEMAN”

Today’s episode is an immersive reading from a book called The Dancing Wolfeman, written by Rick London, who reached out and asked if I could bring part of his story to life here on the podcast.

Get the Book: https://amzn.to/4sGiwxT 

Meet the author: https://dancingwolfeman.com/

Excerpt of the book: The Dancing Wolfeman, written by Rick London, all content copyrighted by the author. The content was provided by the author. 

Visual Episode: https://youtu.be/NFT0yE-TP2s
Spotify episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6rBFoiCMvSpCtXsTmdOtNi?si=f880fc4d4c7b4603

Available on all Podcast platforms.

----------

Music by: 

Sound Effect by freesound_community from Pixabay

Images credits: AI-generated

Thank you to our Sponsor: Spotlight Creative Agency https://spotlightcreativeagency.com/

----------

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back guys to the storytelling podcast, your cozy corner for Captivating Tales. I'm your host Alejandra, and I'm very sorry that I have been ill for the next the past days because hay fever attacked really hard this time and I didn't have my voice and I'm still recovering from it. But this episode is going to be a little bit different, but some you know very special actually. And honestly, I'm very excited to share this with you today because this episode is not just another story that I normally do. This is a story written by one of you. It's a listener of this podcast and someone who has been part of this community and decided to create something of his own. He's a writer, of course, he created this book, and he has this dark, immersive, emotional, and honestly very cinematic. And I'm going to explain why. But today's episode is an immersive reading from the book called The Dancing Wolfman, written by Rick London, who reached out and asked if I could bring part of his story to life here on the podcast. And of course, after reading it, I can tell you. This is the kind of story that pulls you and it doesn't let go. You it keeps on your mind. It's like, when can I have like 10 minutes just to read a little bit more? And he has this eerie atmosphere, you know, this psychological tension, and the enough humor to make everything feel unsettling in the best possible way. So, this is going to be an immersive uh episode. And when I say cinematic, is because if you are watching this on YouTube on the visual um edition, you are going to see a couple of videos and images that I created, and you know, it was so simple to create it because it was on my mind because I read the book and I had to explain everything, and you know, I love to create the cinematics for this. So dim the lights, get comfortable, and let yourself drift into the world of the Dancing Wolfman by Rick London. Because this is not the story of a man, this is a story of what would happen when something inside of you begins to change. Titus Wolf was a man who lived between worlds. By day, he was a music teacher at San Rafael High, standing in front of students who loved the sound of his lessons, but not the man himself. They adored the way he played with rhythms and melodies, how he effortlessly turned the classroom into a place of music. But they didn't understand the man behind the notes. It was easier for them to see him as a figure who existed only within the confines of the school. He was a teacher who was never truly there, caught between the desk and the piano keys, always with his head slightly turned towards something beyond the classroom walls. And when the final bell rang, he slipped into the shadows of another world. One where the only sounds were beats, scratches, and vinyl spinning in the dark corners of a club. DJ by night, a lonely wander by the day. The crowds would cheer, the lights would flash, but he never quite felt alive in it. It was always the same, late nights, endless mixes, the energy of the crowd echoing against a hollow part of him that no one ever saw. Music was his refuge, but it never seemed to feel the emptiness that curled at the edges of his thoughts. Tonight, though, the drive home felt different. The roads of Sonoma County, familiar and unchanging, stretched endlessly in front of him. He could almost predict every bend, every sharp curve in the mist. But tonight, there was a chill in the air that wasn't just a fog. It seeped into him, slowing his breath as he steered his Subaru down the winding path. The fog clung to the trees like ghosts, and the moon, shrouded by the mist, cast a pale, eerie glow over the road. The fog crept closer, thickening around him like a shroud. And Titus glanced in the rearview mirror, half expecting something to be lurking behind him. The headlights cut through the mist, but the darkness beyond seemed to breathe back at him, pressing in on all sides. It was a stretch of road he'd driven a thousand times, and yet tonight it felt like a different world. And then it emerged. A shape, taller than any man he has ever seen, its massive form partially obscured by the swirling mist. Its eyes, yellow, glowing like molten gold, pierced through the gloom, locking into him with a chilling intensity. The creature's fur was made and coarse, gleaming faintly under the pane moonlight, and its figure was that of something both human and not. Towering and monstrous, a nightmare made of flesh. Titus' breath hitched in his throat, and he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. His mind scrambled to make any sense of this absurdity. Was he hallucinating? Had the exhaustion finally caught up to him? The creature paused, as if considering him. Titus, still in disbelief, couldn't help himself. What in the name of God are you? Cheese. A werewolf? I must be hallucinating or something. He rubbed his eyes, but the creature remained. Titus, despite the pounding fear in his chest, shook his head. Please, Mr. Wolfman, don't bite or kill me. And if you do bite me and I live, I'll have another personality to deal with. And I've got enough of those already. Pegrimoist. Also, Mr. Wolfman, you are Artus. So that means when you are not savagely killing people, you are licking your balls in your head. So that means if you bite me in a later become Wolfman, when I'm not savagely killing people, I will be licking my balls in my ass. Or both. If my friends and family find out about that, they will disown me in a heartbeat. Before Titus could even process what he had just said, the creature lunged. The pain was instant, excruciating. A sharp, searing bite sank deep into his left arm, its teeth slicing through flesh and bone. He screamed, his mind unable to process the flood of sensations. The world around him spun as his vision blurred, the adrenaline firing through his bloodstream in a way he'd never felt before. With a desperate wrench of his body, he tore away from the Wolfman, slamming his foot on the gas again, speeding away, the blood pulling beneath him. He could feel the wet warmth of it on his skin, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his pulse roaring in his ears. What had just happened? His mind raced to piece the fragments of the scene together, but everything felt wrong, like a nightmare that wouldn't end. He had just been attacked by what? A wolf? A man? Some hybrid of both? Titus' thoughts spun in circles. A fog heavier than the one surrounding his car settling into his brain. This wasn't possible, this wasn't real. He was just a man driving home from a gig. There was no such thing as a werewolf. This was some bizarre twisted hallucination, or maybe he stumbled into some sick, twisted prank. But the pain in his arm was real. The wound on his arm burned with a ferocity that felt that fire beneath the skin. And worse, the creature's bite had left something more than a wound. A pulse of dread began to spread through his veins, deeper than the blood that had begun to drip from his arm. It was as if the bite had marked him with something more, something that could never be erased. As the fog thickened around him, Titus looked out in the window, eyes wide in disbelief. The creature's glowing eyes burned in his mind, a haunting image that refused to leave. And somewhere deep inside, a terrifying thought began to form. What if this wasn't an hallucination? What if it was real? Titan's hands trembled on the steering wheel as his Subaru raced through the fog-choked road, the tires creeping against the slick asphalt. His arm, still bleeding heavily from the Wolfman bite, felt like it was on fire. The pain surged with every beat of his heart, each throb, a cruel reminder that something was horribly, unnervingly wrong. His breath came in shallow gasps, the sharp scent of gasoline, of blood mixing in the cramped car. What the hell has just happened? The creature's eyes burned through his mind, and the memory of its massive fur-covered form sent another jolt of fear coursing through him. It couldn't be real. He had to be imagining it. His mind was playing tricks on him, right? The fog, the isolation, the exhaustion, maybe it had all conspired to conjure up a nightmare. But no. The blood on his shirt was real. The jagged pain where the creature's teeth had sunk into his arm was real. And Titus glanced down at the deep wound that was still bleeding, the skin around it already beginning to swell, angry red lines spreading outwards. But the lie cracked the moment it left his lips. He knew better. Dogs didn't carry that kind of weight in their bite, didn't burn like fire in the veins, didn't leave a wound that pulsed with something more than pain. This was different, something worse. The panic began to claw at him. His heart was pounding too fast, too hard. Every second seemed to stretch, and the world around him felt both too sharp and too muffled, like he was watching everything through a thick fog. The headlights pierced the darkness ahead, but the road was endless, and the weight of the unknown seemed to stretch farther with each passing mile. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, trying to block out the images, the glowing eyes, the savage force of the attack, the inhuman strength of the creature. Could that really have been a werewolf? No, no way. It was a monster. And that didn't fit into his worlds. Monsters didn't exist. People didn't get attacked by werewolves. He was some character in a twisted horror movie. And then his arm throbbed again. And the blood, sticky and warm, soaked through his jacket. His head swum with dizziness, and he had to focus, had to stay on the road. He wasn't sure how long he'd been driving, but he was losing track of time, his mind too preoccupied with the burning sensation that crawled up his arms, and he couldn't stop shaking. Come on, think! Titus hissed, his voice a jagged whisper in the dark. He couldn't afford to fall apart. There had to be a logical explanation, a logical explanation. But as his foot pressed harder on the gas pedal, his thoughts scattered again. The pain from his arms kept rising, and he could feel it deep down, a strange, unrelenting power coursing through him. The muscles in his arm were tightening. His vision was blurring, and he could hear the faint hum of the engine, the sound of his own breathing growing louder. His pulse was fast, his body too hot, and the world was becoming too vivid. Was he going crazy? Was he changing? And before we finish today's episode, I just want to take a moment to talk about this story and about Rick's work. And of course, giving the disclaimer that this is part of The Dancing Wolfman by Rick London. And it's of course copyrighted to the author. And Rick, if you are listening, this was honestly such a great read. The atmosphere, the pacing, the way you balance tension with moments of humor, it reminded me of that style that sometimes we can find in Stephen King, where the ordinary slowly becomes something deeply unsettling, or even a bit of Blake Crouch with that fast-pasted psychological pull that keeps you hooked. What really stood out to me is that how the book actually feels immersive. And you don't just read the story, it feels like you are inside of Titus' mind, experiencing everything with him, the confusion, the fear, the transformation. And I could honestly see in my mind what was happening. It was so very that's why I was saying it's cinematic. So truly congratulations on the book, Rick. And everyone to listening, if you enjoyed this accept, the the link to Rick's book will be in the description, and you can continue the story and support this amazing independent author. And this was today's episode, guys. I hope you liked it. Comment below and share your thoughts. It's always nice to hear from you guys. And I promise that I have more episodes ready for you here weekly at the Storytelling Podcast. And just to remind you that this channel is made for you to binge, and many more episodes are waiting for you. And if you prefer a visual experience, you can also find the episodes on YouTube where you can watch and listen at the same time. Thank you for listening. And please remember that if you'd like to send your stories or special topics to be shared in the next episodes, please send them to the storytelling podcast80 at gmail.com or follow me on social media at the storytelling podcast official. But before you go, if you haven't done that already, I would love for you to click on the follow or subscribe button and see you on the next episode.