Here are the character profiles of the main characters and monsters from Tales of Horror: Macabre Monsters of Michigan. These should give you a better idea of whom the characters are and tell you more about the monsters from each story.
RE: Encounter
Rawlin Jones
“I was matched with you through US Pen Pals. I thought I’d take the initiative and introduce myself.”
Age: 27
Date of Birth: 2/2/1973
Location: BFE, MI
Description: 6’3″ with brown hair and blue eyes
Life: Rawlin was born in Detroit, MI in 1973 to wealthy, socialite parents. Taking more of an interest in their personal lives than in him, Rawlin more or less raised himself, spending a lot of time camping and hiking while he was growing up. Taking a keen interest in wolves, he decided to study veterinary sciences at Wayne State University, but dropped out after his parents died in a car crash.
Possessing a great love for the outdoors, he moved out into the middle of the country and became a sheep farmer. He would go on to become an avid outdoorsman and hunt all over the US. Therefore, he felt well-prepared to deal with a strange animal that started appearing near his property and hunting his sheep.
Kelly
Age: 25
Date of Birth: 7/10/1975
Location: Texas
Description: Tall and beautiful–specifics unknown
Life: Nothing is known about Kelly other than what can be gleaned from her email exchanges with Rawlin. She lives in Texas and enjoys the outdoors just as much as he does, being a hunter and fisherwoman in her own right.
She did her undergrad in English and was working on her post grad in Nursing. She met Rawlin through US Pen Pals, an email-based pen pal service. Despite being initially flirty with Rawlin, she seemed to grow distant the stranger and stranger his emails became. She is religious, but what denomination she belongs to is unknown. Her last name is unknown as well.
The Dogman
“And somewhere in the north woods darkness, a creature walks upright. And the best advice you may ever get…is don’t go out at night.”
“The Legend ’97” by Steve Cook
Location: Sightings of the Dogman occur worldwide, but the beast is most famous for stalking the woods of Wisconsin and Michigan; known as “The Beast of Bray Road” and the “Michigan Dogman” in those areas, respectively.
Description: Several variants are said to exist–some look like a werewolf and others look like a sasquatch with a canine head. They can be up to ten feet tall, walk on all fours or on two legs, and are said to be very muscular and terrifying to behold.
Lore: The Dogman was originally brought to the public’s attention by journalist Linda Godfrey in her article “The Beast of Bray Road”. Since then she has written many books about the Dogman and come up with several theories as to its origin. Some say the Dogman is a trickster or shapeshifter from old Native American lore, while some Dogman sightings have been linked to locations haunted by evil spirits. More recently, however, the newest theory is that the Dogman is actually a guardian entity that serves to protect humanity from a creature dubbed the “Rake”. Despite this, a few individuals have gone bad, hence the negative experiences had by some eyewitnesses. It is heavily implied the US government and military are involved.
In the Book: Although the creature’s origins are briefly discussed, it is never referred to as “the Dogman”. (It was however in previous versions.) So, it can speculated, therefore, that the creature that tussled with Rawlin wasn’t actually the Dogman, but a similar cryptid. However, that might change as more Tales of Horror books are written. I may continue Rawlin’s story further down the road.
Further Research: Linda Godfrey’s books, Dogman Encounters Radio, Monster Quest
The Serpent
Dr. James Dorian
“Hell, I don’t believe in human psychics. And I don’t believe in sea monsters.”
Age: 27
Date of Birth: 1/1/2033
Description: 6’1″
Life: Dorian was born and grew up in Florida. Despite being a native, he is actually a thalassophobe, which is someone who has a fear of deep or expansive bodies of water. While attending the University of Miami, he met Cordelia who was wild about the ocean and everything in it. She revealed its mysteries to him and even taught him how to swim. Thanks to her passion and knowledge, Dorian overcame his fear and the two started going out, even deciding to both go for their doctorates in marine biology.
Sometime after acquiring their degrees, they were both on a paleontological dig in Chile that discovered a possibly unknown, extinct marine reptile that looked very dragon-like. The discovery made headlines and the possibility of a unique, undiscovered species helped them both get a nomination for the Deep Sea Research project. This helped launch their careers and saw them on many different projects, including one that tested the psychic abilities of marine life.
Unfortunately, the two of them wouldn’t be together for much longer as while swimming off the coast of Florida, Cordelia would die under mysterious circumstances. The incident destroyed Dorian and his love for marine zoology, sending him into a spiraling depression. Cordelia was cremated and while most of her ashes were spread at sea, Dorian held onto a locket that contained a small amount of them, unwilling to let her go.
Despite Dorian’s feelings, he decided to remain a marine zoologist as a means of honoring Cordelia’s memory. Hoping to hold onto his nomination for the Deep Sea Research project and further his career, he agreed to join Burke on the expedition to search for the Superior Serpent.
Paul Burke
“We’re here on a search for truth and adventure, the likes of which may alter the course of world and zoological history.”
Age: 55
Date of Birth: 3/30/2005
Description: 5’8″ man with black hair and beard with wide, round rimmed glasses.
Life: Before his interest in cryptozoology, Burke was a respectable wildlife photographer. His life would change however when he saw something he dubbed the “dragon of light”. He photographed it and pursued the truth behind it, but no one knew anything about it. It would slowly turn into an obsession for him, driving his friends away. But by being ostracized by his former friends and colleagues, he was ripe to join the cryptozoology community. He would rebuild his career through paranormal investigations and gain back some of his respectability. However, he became increasingly frustrated with his lack of evidence for the “dragon of light” and hoped that Hicks’ serpent sighting might lead to a clue about it. But, Burke would find no clues about the “dragon of light”, and even began to resent Hicks as his sea monster seemed to be real.
Michael Hicks
“But, you must have some interest in the subject. Look where you are. And by your own free will.”
Age: 29
Date of Birth: 7/31/2030
Location: Ontonagon, MI
Description: 6’0″ with a slender and scrappy build.
Life: Hicks was born in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and would go on to become a historian. He decided to focus on local history, which led to him being retained indefinitely by the Ontonagon Historical Society. While digging up some Ojibwe artifacts that were discovered accidentally by some kids in the Porcupine Mountains, he and his team discovered a strange box that didn’t seem to match the other artifacts. After coming into contact with the box, the team would have a sea monster sighting that would leave them all chilled to the bone. This sighting would be the catalyst for the Superior Serpent expedition.
Lance Fox
“There are no eels in Lake Superior. The sturgeon do get mighty big, though.”
Age: 67
Date of Birth: 5/5/1993
Location: Ontonagon, MI
Description: 5’10” fisherman who is known for being soft-spoken and polite.
Life: Like Hicks, Lance is a Michigan native, also born and raised in the Upper Peninsula. He was especially close to his father who brought him up to be an outdoorsman, camper, hiker, and fisherman. Often times, his father would test his skills and knowledge by taking him on hikes through the Porcupine Mountains National Park and then telling Lance to lead them back to camp. Thanks to his wealth of knowledge about Michigan’s wildlife, especially the fish that inhabit Lake Superior, Burke asked Lance to join their expedition as their regional wildlife expert.
William “Billy” Hudson
“I get a feeling I’ve never had when I look at that sky.”
Age: 31
Date of Birth: 5/17/2029
Description: 6’0″ with a pale, round face and doesn’t come off as intelligent.
Life: Hudson is a former employee of NOAA–the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, and conducting deep sea exploration, among other things. While working for NOAA, Hudson became familiar with the “Bloop”, an ultra-low-frequency and very powerful sound recorded back in 1997 somewhere in the south Pacific Ocean. Originally hypothesized to be the call of a marine animal bigger than a Blue Whale, NOAA eventually changed their findings to that of an undersea icequake, despite the sound waves not looking similar. Thanks to Hudson’s experience with NOAA, Burke asked him to operate their hydrophone and underwater camera for the expedition.
Mark Drake
“I’ve heard that before.”
Age: 29
Date of Birth: 12/7/2030
Description: 5’11” male with a blunt attitude and a straight-edged presentation.
Life: Drake is a former Petty Officer of the United States Navy. During his time in the Service, he would come across multiple instances of unexplainable phenomena. As a result, he grew used to hearing “If I told you, I would have to kill you” from superior officers when he inquired about the phenomena. Thanks to his experiences and his own desire to know what’s actually out there, Drake agreed to be Burke’s sonar operator for the Superior Serpent expedition.
Robert Quint
“I only respond to two names aboard my ship: Captain or Quint. Call me anything else, and you’ll be swimming home.”
Age: 47
Date of Birth: 8/9/2012
Description: 5’10” man with a direct attitude and graying moustache and mutton chops.
Life: Not much is known about the life of Robert Quint. What is known is that he is a freelance boatman and possibly a fisherman. He was hired by Burke to be their boat for the expedition, during which Quint would fare better than most of the others. Unfortunately, the expedition would remind him of a time when he was known by a different name and experienced something similar off the coast of South America.
Cordelia Thurston
“You have to move on. This is where I belong. ‘The dead belong with the dead’–at least that much is true.”
Age: 24
Date of Birth: 4/5/2036
Date of Death: 5/2/2060
Description: 5’4″ female with a loving smile, big brown eyes, and reddish-brown, curly hair.
Life: Cordelia was a beautiful, young woman with a warm and genuine personality who loved the sea. She grew up in Florida and ended up going to the University of Miami. There, she met Dorian and shared her love of the sea with him, inspiring him to become a marine zoologist. The two started dating and became serious, even taking assignments together such as the dig in Chile and the study testing psychic abilities of aquatic life. They were both nominated for the Deep Sea Research project, but a month before the Superior Serpent expedition was to begin, Cordelia would lose her life while swimming off the coast of Florida due to mysterious circumstances.
The Serpent
“Sanity rent by madness pure.”
Location: Lake Superior
Description: A sea serpent with two horns on its head. Known as a “horned serpent” or “misiginebig”.
Lore: The misiginebig is an underwater horned serpent most often found in Algonquian legends. It’s said to lurk in lakes and eat people. It is natural enemies with the Thunder Birds which can kill it with bolts of lightning. Its name literally means “great serpent”.
In the Book: There are tales aplenty about sea monsters all over the world. Almost every large, fresh water lake seems to have its own resident sea serpent, from Loch Ness to Lake Champlain, and Lake Superior is no exception. Although, I want to say I wasn’t the first one who came up with the “Superior Serpent”, I unfortunately don’t remember where the idea originally came from as the story has been rewritten a few times over the years, resulting in the many influences and inspirations for it all blending together.
But as I wrote the book, I struggled with the sentience of the creature and trying to make it legitimately scary. For some reason, it doesn’t quite scare me, but that’s probably because I created it. (Although my father did say its original incarnation was terrifying.) And so when I rewrote The Serpent, I added some Lovecraftian elements and turned the horror up to 11. Hopefully, I made it something truly out of this world.
Further Research: Misiginebig, Superior Serpent, Haunted Lakes
Becoming The Dragon
Elliot Fraser
“In truth though…I want it all. Friends, money, power, women… I want everything.”
Age: 34
Date of Birth: 5/3/1983
Location: Clinton Township, MI
Description: 6’3″ male with a clean cut, all-American man sort of presentation.
Life: Elliot grew up in Metro Detroit, MI. Although, initially being raised by both his parents, his father would end up leaving the family, leaving Elliot to be raised by his mother. She was overbearing and abusive at times, resulting in Elliot developing a nervous twitch of rubbing the back of his head whenever he does something he knows she would disapprove of.
After graduating from college, he got a job as a computer programmer for Vitech, which has a pretty poor reputation in the field. Having been bullied and abused by his mother from a young age, many of Elliot’s coworkers and bosses found it just as easy to boss him around, resulting in him working a lot of overtime and doing menial tasks, even when he doesn’t want to. During his time at Vitech, he came across a glitch in the accounting software and discovered a virus planted by a coworker who had intended on defrauding the company through penny shaving. The coworker was fired and arrested as a result.
Since Elliot’s been abused his whole life, he looks at life through rose-tinted glasses so he doesn’t have to face the harsh truth of not being liked. This, along with all the bullying and abuse he’s endured over the years has led him to resenting everyone and everything around him. This gave him an inordinate desire for power, freedom, money, and women. He had no ideas on how to go about acquiring theses things and even lacked the will to pursue them. That was until he met Ariola and had her read his fortune using the “Black Tarot” where he found out he was destined to become the Dragon, the son of Satan.
Ariola Lenormand a.k.a. Madam Mystique
“I’m sorry, but we’re all out of rose-tinted glasses.”
Age: 34
Date of Birth: 12/3/1982
Location: Roseville, MI
Description: 5’5″ female a serious face, long, curly brown hair, and fair skin.
Life: Ariola grew up learning how to tell fortunes. She learned everything from astrology to palmistry, but specialized in Tarot. Throughout her life, she collected dozens and dozens of decks leading to a collection that was more than 100 strong. Using her knowledge of fortune telling and her impressive collection, she opened up her own business, calling herself Madam Mystique for extra flair.
One stormy night in July 2017, she met Elliot and agreed to give him a reading for his birthday. She quickly regretted it, however, as he seemed called to the “Black Tarot”, also known as the Tarot Draconis, Filius Satanae, which is Latin for “The Tarot of the Dragon, the Son of Satan”. The deck was designed to predict the coming of the Dragon and to be used by him during his reign of terror. Although Elliot initially showed alarm at hearing this, he eventually accepted it, which made Ariola’s blood run cold.
The Dragon
“I am the Dragon.”
Description: The Dragon is another name for the son of Satan.
Lore: There are plenty of stories out there about the Devil having a son of his own, just like God’s. Many of them have been turned into movies, such as The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, and Constantine. Even the Book of Revelations predicts the advent of the Antichrist, a man or entity that will precede the end of the world.
In the Book: Within Tales of Horror and the Becoming The Dragon universe, the Dragon is said to be the son of Satan. And similar to the Son of God, the Dragon will carry out his father’s will in his unholy name. While no one is completely sure what this entails, it can be speculated that the Dragon is an evil-minded person who is willing to do anything and everything he pleases, especially if it means harming others.
While the Dragon is still a man, that means he can still be killed, although with the Devil looking out for him, that will be somewhat difficult. But there very well could be someone within the BTD universe with a penchant for killing those who belong to the occult.
Further Research: An Exorcist Explains the Demonic, The Catholic Demonologist Handbook
Buy Tales of Horror: Macabre Monsters of Michigan here.
