Episode Notes

The Echo Creek Howler

1. McTavish, Eloise (1997). Howl in the Hollow: The Secret Soundtrack of Small-Town Dread. Echo Creek Press. A chilling yet oddly melodic investigation into the late-night yowls echoing through Echo Creek since the great raccoon uprising of ‘72.

2. Bennigan, T.R. (2004). “Wolves, Wind, or Waffle House Blues?” Journal of Unprovable Noises, 18(4), pp. 112–128. A peer-questioned academic article attempting to isolate the frequency patterns of the infamous Howler using a broken Casio keyboard.

3. Ludlow, Mavis (2012). Whispers, Whinnies, and the Echo Creek Enigma. Spooky Hollow Publishing. A romantic paranormal memoir featuring the Howler as both a metaphor for lost love and a literal nuisance.

4. Chet "Cactus" McGraw (1986). “Heard It, Shot At It, Didn’t Hit It.” Backwoods Believers Quarterly, Issue 9. An unverified first-hand account involving a six-pack, a goat, and a misplaced tuba.

5. The Echo Creek PTA (2020). Minutes from the Meeting on Noise Ordinance #47B: That Weird Screaming Again. Local Archive, Basement Drawer B. Official documentation that proves nothing and raises more questions than it answers.

6. Davenport, C.L. (2019). “Cryptids, Coffee, and Censorship: Reporting the Unreportable in Small Town Media.” The Daily Shriek, vol. 3. Features an exposé on The Echo Creek Howler’s brief stint as an intern journalist during the cicada invasion.

7. Thornapple, “Mothball” Jenkins (1995). Echo Creek Blues: Songs of the Unsigned and Unseen. Vinyl-only release, currently lost. The only known musical tribute to the Howler, banned in 12 states for its uncanny resemblance to a feral trombone.

8. “Local Man Blames Missing Mail on 'Wailing Forest Spirit.’” Echo Creek Gazette, April 1, 2007. Widely considered satire, though no one has located the mail or disproven the spirit.