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| - This is a horror story, taking place in the Sleeping Bear Dunes in the northern region of Michigan.
A series of strange disappearances in the small, tourist town of Sleeping Bear has many puzzled. Could they have been kidnapped, or murdered? The police are so mystified that they are about to give up on finding out when another series of attacks is reported: several cars have been crushed flat or torn up, and no one can explain how.
A descendent of the Native Americans who lived in that area tries to convince everyone that it is the vengeful Black Spirit, come to wreak its vengeance on the town for its levelling of several dunes. But biologist Joe Crane is convinced that they have a freak-of-nature on their hands. He heads his own expedition into the dunes to try to find out what is causing the damage.
He comes upon several broken trees, smashed fencing and an old, dead farmhouse that was apparently burned down years ago. However, as he ventures in he finds out that it is not so dead as he imagined; it was the recent home of ex-military scientist Ted Bowser, who was evicted by the government for his dangerous, almost psychopathic experiments, so Crane is told. And now, apparently, this madman is on the loose. Could he be responsible?
No. The man is found dead in a corner of his makeshift lab, his neck and back snapped like twigs. Furthermore, a monster hole has been ripped in the roof, raising suspicions. Joe thinks he may have the answer: something from this man's own lab escaped and is on the loose. In fact, he is almost certain as he finds empty barrels of mutagenic chemicals standing in one corner.
Now the hunt is on. Joe Crane, accompanied by the local Sleeping Bear Dunes park ranger Christopher Montgomery and several members of the National Guard, track whatever it is deep into the pine woods, where they find evidence of It's presence; torn down trees, animal skeletons that have been torn to pieces and remains of an old truck, ripped in half. And they come face-to-face with the most terrifying scientific find that was ever known to man.
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| abstract
| - Autumn had arrived in northern Michigan, autumn with its crisp, chilly air, cold moonlit nights and bright, dazzling red, orange and yellow leaves that decorated the trees like Christmas trees and covered the ground like a thick carpet. The sky was clear blue, the sun shining brightly down through the beautiful foliage and casting an almost magical appearance on the road. The sun was beginning to slowly drift downwards toward the western horizon, casting lazy shadows across the farm as a tractor, just finished shucking the cornfield, was on its way in. In an apple tree, a cicada was chirping. The insects, not so long ago very plentiful, now were very few and far between as many had died or gone into hibernating. However, the one that sat in the apple tree was late, comparable to a teenager who stays out too late and only comes home after one o' clock. The tractor pulled into the barn, and its driver turned off the motor and climbed out. Walking to the doorway, he took a moment to survey the field he had just gone through. Before the corn had been six feet tall, and the plants had been bent over from the weight of the ears. Now the stalks were barely five inches high, and you could now see from one end of the field to the other. At the far end was the woods, which was mostly pine. Bill Mason opened the front door of his house and walked in, catching the scent of a delicious pot roast. "Mmmm, smells good!" he remarked to his wife, who was mashing potatoes. "Well, got all the blasted corn done, so now we gotta mash it up for the cattle, while it's fresh." "Couple of them's missing," said his wife, taking the bowl of potatoes to the table. "I went outside today to slop the pigs, an' I noticed there weren't fifteen cows like there's s'posed t'be." Bill was shocked. "You sure? Like maybe they was all gettin' ahead of one. That'un's been sick lately, y'know." "I looked all 'round the pasture, couldn't find any trace of 'em. They might've broken through the fence!" "Naw, that fence is such high voltage they wouldn't even try!" Bill scoffed, sitting down and piling up beef and steamed vegetables on his plate. "They're probably hidin' out near the woods somewhere's and'll come back 'afore dark." His wife didn't look very sure, but said nothing and proceeded to spoon potatoes onto her plate. As the sun sank beneath the horizon, everything suddenly went silent. The buzzing of crickets hushed, and the night owl abruptly halted its hooting. For a moment, there was no noise at all, except for the wind blowing through the trees and rustling the foliage. But it didn't last long. Abruptly, the stillness was broken by a noise, seemingly coming from deep within the forest. It was a low moan, or perhaps a howl; it was indiscernable. Nonetheless, it was sufficient to wake Bill Mason. The farmer sat up with a start, then his gaze shifted to the window. Had he heard something? Yes, he had. But was it just his dream? He couldn't tell, but something had awoken him. It came again; that low, deep throaty howl-moan, riding on the wind right up to the house. He shook his wife, who groaned and sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it, William?" she asked. "I just heard somethin'," Bill answered, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "It sounded like a screechin' jet. Didn't you hear?" "You must've been dreaming," said Mrs. Mason. "Go back to sleep." She turned over and closed her eyes again. Bill sighed, slipped out of bed and pulled on his overalls. "I know I heard somethin'," he kept saying to himself. "There's a coyote out there. It'll be after the cattle!" He grabbed his hunting rifle and hurried down the stairs, pulled on his boots at the front door and went out. The night air was unusually still. There was no buzz from the crickets and not even the hoot of an owl could be heard. "It's way too darn quiet," the farmer muttered as he strode out to the cattle fence. Several cows were lying down, barely moving except for the occasional twitch of the ear. "Strange," Bill said to himself, frowning. "They only act like that when there's something here that shouldn't be. Must be a coyote!" Shouldering his gun, he went into the barn, opened the gate and stepped into the pasture. Then he began walking very slowly and silently towards the back, nearer the woods. Something suddenly flashed in his vision; he stepped back abruptly and nearly fell over. Too shocked to move, he simply stood still for a moment, as if to take in what he had just seen. Had the tree in front of him mo ved? He looked carefully at it, and it looked just like an ordinary tree. "That coyote's near around!" he finally hissed. "Time to pump it full of™" He stopped instantly as something caught his vision. Back in the woods, where the moonlight shone through the empty spots between the leaves, he could see the cattle fence. But what had happened? It looked as if the fencing had been ripped straight in half and tossed aside. Perplexed, he creeped slowly forward to see it more closely. It was as if a wave of intense heat had passed in front of him, distorting the images in front of him. Mason shook his head and aimed his gun. "What the heck is goin' on here??" he demanded of the woods, which again stood as still as posts. Then, looking ahead, Mason could see that a stake had been ripped out of the ground, and was lying in two pieces alongside the piece of fencing, which were lying in bits all over the ground. "That's some coyote!" the farmer finally gasped as he took in the scene. "Tore up the fence...snapped that post like a twig...that's no coyote. I guess this explains the disappearance of those cattle!" He had no time to contemplate further, however, as something suddenly appeared in front of him that caught his attention. Two little lights, about five feet apart, seemed to suddenly pop out of the trees. They expanded, until they were about five inches around. At the center of each was a single slit. Bill stared at the glowing objects, until abruptly the thought was forced into his mind. "Eyes?" he said hoarsely. "EYES? What the blue blazes could..." The eyes blinked. Bill stared up, frozen still. Something huge was standing in front of him, and now he knew he didn't want to face it. The eyes drew nearer, and Bill's control snapped. Dropping his gun, he exploded into a sprint, dashing out of the woods and back into the pasture, but before he even passed the last tree he was suddenly grabbed from behind. He slapped at his pursuer, but suddenly was tossed into the air, and then landed on the ground with a loud thump, and everything went black for him.
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