The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves (18 page)

 

The weirdness surrounding Prince Vseslav seems to have originated on the day of his birth, which is believed to have been sometime between 1031 and 1039 C.E. (A number of sources vary on this detail.) Apparently, the word somehow got out that little baby Vseslav had emerged from his mother’s womb with a
caul
(which simply means a part of the placenta membrane) wrapped around his noggin. At first glance, this would not seem like a big deal to most of us today. However, according to the longstanding local folklore of that time, such a birth was seen as irrefutable evidence that the child had been conceived through some enchantment or other form of sorcery. Many also believed that such a child would grow up to bear the Mark of the Beast, believed at the time to be a sign of a werewolf.

The sorcerers who were in the service of Prince Bryachislav Izyaslavich (Vseslav’s father) at the time, however, insisted the caul was actually a positive omen, one that meant the boy’s life was going to be blessed with good fortune. Apparently, Prince Izyaslavich liked their theory better and dismissed any talk that his son was born from any method of sorcery.

When the reigning prince died in 1044, the young/possibly teenaged (depending on when he was actually born) Vseslav had to take the throne in order to secure his family’s hold on the region of Polotsk. It would appear that many of those who had served Prince Bryachislav remained loyal to the throne and now devoted themselves to the service of their late lord’s son. Despite being fairly young upon assuming his title of lordship, Vseslav grew up educated and proved to be a fairly competent ruler. He later commissioned the construction of a grand cathedral, dubbed the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, which was finished in 1066. The structure stands in Polotsk to this very day, seen by many historians as a monument to Vseslav’s reign, which would last until 1101 C.E.

Despite being a good ruler, the rumors surrounding Vseslav’s involvement with sorcery seem never to have subsided among the people or his rivals. To the people of Polotsk, however, his rumored knowledge of sorcery doesn’t seem to have been that big an issue (probably because he was a fair and just ruler). Many of the neighboring Russian rulers, on the other hand, often tried to use it against him. Some feared him because of it, while others just considered such practices blasphemy.

 

The werewolf association with Vseslav reached a peak when he became father to his seventh and final son. (As you might remember, many cultures considered seventh sons to be werewolves.) Were he not a sorcerer and a werewolf, many of his rivals argued, then why would he allow himself to conceive no more or less than seven sons? Of course, these rivals often failed to mention that he also had a daughter somewhere in there. This detail would have meant Vseslav’s last son was actually his eighth child (which meant he had not chosen to have only seven).

 

No matter what rumors were spread about Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, they appear to have been impotent in shaking him. Many of his descendents would perform great works for the empire. For her compassion and service to the church, one of Vseslav’s granddaughters would even be deemed the patron saint of Polotsk.

The official police case regarding Bill Ramsey began on July 22, 1987, though his experiences with werewolflike behavior are thought to have begun long before this initial incident. Ramsey had for many years worked as a carpenter in the Southend area of London, England. It is important to note that, before this incident, the 40-something Ramsey was considered a respectable member of his community, with no history of violence or even a criminal record to speak of. But on one eventful July evening, something wild was unleashed from inside Bill Ramsey.

 

That evening, Ramsey presented himself to the Southend police station. Once there, he encountered some officers in the parking lot. When they asked Ramsey why he was there, he told them he could not remember but that he thought he really needed to be locked up. While speaking to the officers, who at first thought the man was just having a laugh, Ramsey suddenly went on a rampage.

 

First Ramsey began to growl and bare his teeth at the officers. Then he attacked. According to reports, the nearly middle-aged man lifted one officer (who was said to have been much larger than Ramsey) over his head and tossed him to the tarmac. The officer received serious injuries as a result. Soon other officers saw the commotion and came to assist in subduing the snarling man. When all was said and done, it took about six officers to hold Ramsey down and restrain him in both wrist and leg irons.

 

The officers dragged Ramsey into a holding cell, which did little to calm him down. Reports claim that he began trying to shove himself through the cell’s dinner tray slot. He managed to succeed in getting one arm and his head through the slot before becoming trapped. Not phased a bit by this, Ramsey continued to snarl and growl and would claw and bite at anyone who tried to come near.

 

The officers, fearing that Ramsey would further harm himself if left stuck in the tray slot as he was, decided to call in the local fire department to find a way to free him. One look at the enraged Ramsey, however, and the firemen refused to go anywhere near him. A local doctor was then called to sedate Ramsey with drugs. It took another group of policemen to hold the wild man’s arm still long enough for the doctor to inject the sedative. The reports indicate that it took more than triple the average dose for the sedative to have an effect on him.

 

The following day, when Ramsey recovered from the sedative, he claimed to have no memory of the event. He was referred to a mental health facility for evaluation. At first the doctors diagnosed the man with clinical lycanthropy (see Chapter 18) and placed him on a treatment of antipsychotic drugs. However, unlike in other cases of the condition, the drugs seemed to have no effect on Ramsey’s bouts of wolflike behavior.

 

Some years later, news of Bill Ramsey’s case came to the attention of the demonology/paranormal research team of Ed Warren and wife/ partner Lorraine Warren. The Warrens had made a name for themselves with their involvement in the well-known 1977 haunting case referred to as the “Amityville Horror.” The pair traveled to London and, after a few dead ends and being laughed out of a few police stations, managed to track down the Southend detective in charge of the initial case, who arranged for them to meet with Bill Ramsey. The detective himself was convinced that, whatever was wrong with the man, it was something beyond the scope of the many doctors who’d attempted to treat him. Ever since, when Ramsey would come to the police station on occasion, the officers would immediately lock him up in a confinement cell. Some of the residents had come to call Ramsey (much to the man’s humiliation) the “Werewolf of Southend” or the “Werewolf of London.” The detective hoped that perhaps the Warrens could do something.

 

The Warrens conducted an initial interview with Ramsey, who informed them that he’d had bouts of wolf behavior since his childhood but until recently had not feared that he might try to harm anyone.

 

Ramsey conveyed to the Warrens the tale of a childhood experience that he believed was the origin of his condition, and which he’d tried to keep a secret for most of his life. Ramsey told the Warrens that one Saturday afternoon when he was 10 years old he was playing in his backyard after helping his mother with chores. Earlier that day, his parents had taken him to see a movie about fighter pilots in World War II. Still electrified by the film, he ran around the backyard and imagined that he was a fighter pilot.

 

Suddenly, the young Ramsey was struck by a surge of cold all over his body. However, the day had been warm and the sun had not yet gone down. His skin felt frozen, he felt immobilized, and his every muscle shook in fear. He then smelled a strange and terrible odor, and felt as if he might throw up. Suddenly, the mysterious stench and cold sensation faded. The boy had no idea what had just happened, but Ramsey reported that he never felt the same again. He said that this experience was the last time in his life that he would feel like a little boy. He couldn’t even play make believe anymore, which had long been his favorite playtime activity.

 

As days passed, Ramsey reported that his mind was frequently bombarded with images and thoughts about him becoming a wolf. One day, as he tried to play in the backyard, his mind was saturated by such thoughts and images. When his mother called the boy to come inside for the night, Ramsey suddenly felt overcome by a severe and uncontrollable rage. He turned at his mother and growled. He reached for a nearby fencepost and tore it right out of the ground. His mother was terrified and screamed for her husband. Ramsey’s father came out and saw his enraged son swinging the enormous fencepost and howling loudly.

 

As his father tried to talk some sense into Bill, the boy yanked a string of metal fencing wire into his mouth and bit down on it. He launched away the heavy post and crouched, still chewing on the wire. To his parents’ horror, he even managed to rip the strong wire with his teeth. Bill’s father tried to get the boy to his feet, but found that his son’s physical strength was now incredibly greater than his own. He later tried to pull a fencepost as his son had, and could not. He eventually discovered that what his little boy had done with such apparent ease was actually extremely difficult, even when he had two other grown men helping him.

 

Bill’s mother began to cry, and he said that this was what brought him out of his fit. Hearing her sobs made him realize the pain and fear he was causing. The young boy felt the rage fade from him, and ran to his frightened parents for comfort. For a moment, they barred the door. Realizing that their boy had now returned to normal, however, they let him inside. The three of them cried and embraced each other. They never again spoke of the incident.