The curse of the Wendigo is a legendary tale from Algonquian folklore that has been passed down through generations. The Wendigo is said to be a malevolent, supernatural creature that is associated with cannibalism and an insatiable hunger for human flesh. According to the legends, the Wendigo was once a human, but was transformed into a monstrous creature due to the act of cannibalism. It is believed that the curse of the Wendigo can be spread through the consumption of human flesh, and those who partake in this act are said to become possessed by the spirit of the Wendigo. The curse of the Wendigo is said to manifest in various ways, including a constant hunger that cannot be satisfied, a physical transformation into a skeletal creature with glowing eyes, and an uncontrollable desire to consume human flesh. It is said that those who are cursed by the Wendigo will become consumed by their own hunger, and will stop at nothing to satisfy their cravings.
That’s followed by the most intricately choreographed pregame ceremonies in all of sports where a knight in golden armor fights off an attacker from the opposing team.
It s all in fun and games, and Vegas which set a new standard for pregame presentations during last year s playoff run will surely have an equally entertaining answer when the Predators visit on Jan. Both Bridgestone and T-Mobile arenas are blessed with perfect locations that not only encourage pregame and postgame celebration, but almost require it.
It is said that those who are cursed by the Wendigo will become consumed by their own hunger, and will stop at nothing to satisfy their cravings. The curse of the Wendigo is often depicted as a cautionary tale against cannibalism, as it is believed to be a punishment for those who engage in this taboo act. It serves as a reminder of the consequences of indulging in one's most primal desires and the destruction that can result from giving in to these urges.
Vegas following Nashville's blueprint for creating magic in non-traditional hockey markets
NASHVILLE — Walk out of Bridgestone Arena and you’re immediately enveloped in country music. The twangy tunes creep through the cracked windows at every bar on Broadway, from the brick double-decker bar at Rippy’s to the rustic, purple rooftop lounge at Tootsies.
The Honky Tonk Highway is home to dozens of bars, taverns and lounges — each complete with a live band playing on a miniature stage just inside the door.
That’s where the Predators’ fans party starts. It slowly creeps west and inside the doors of Bridgestone Arena, where Smashville rocks the house for their hockey club. Inside they dance and sing for two and a half hours, playing “I like it I love it” on repeat after Predators goals.
The hockey party is often referred to as “NashVegas,” appropriate since it’s strikingly similar to another show about 1,700 miles west.
Only, in Las Vegas, the guitars and twang are substituted with nightclub flare and bass.
T-Mobile Arena has quickly become one of the most raucous arenas in all of the NHL, and it’s party-themed atmosphere is very similar to Nashville’s, right down to the temperate weather and stretch of alcohol-selling establishments that lead to the arena’s doorstep.
Elvis Presley is popular in both, the only difference is in Las Vegas the in-arena impersonators are joined by scantily clad showgirls as they bang on the glass during pregame warmups.
Like Nashville, Las Vegas isn’t a traditional hockey market, but the organizations have identified what their fans want, and are providing a product that encourages them to create a home ice advantage that rivals even the most hockey-crazed cities in North America.
Hockey fans along Broadway before Game 6 of the 2017 Stanley Cup final at Bridgestone Arena. (Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports)
Outside the arena
Both Bridgestone and T-Mobile arenas are blessed with perfect locations that not only encourage pregame and postgame celebration, but almost require it.
In Nashville it’s Broadway, where up and coming country artists cut their teeth in bars, pumping live music into the streets 365 days a year from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. In Las Vegas it’s The Park, which is a stretch of entertainment sandwiched between the New York New York Casino, Park MGM and the Las Vegas Strip. There, Golden Knights fans can drink at the slew of bars that line the walkway, enjoy the futuristic water fountains or play cornhole in Toshiba Plaza to the house DJ’s soundtrack.
“It all matches (owner) Bill Foley’s vision, which is party before the game, party during the game and party after the game,” Golden Knights president Kerry Bubolz said. “And what better location than Las Vegas?”
Nashville supports the same notion.
“We knew from the very beginning back in 1998 that if people are going to spend $100 per ticket they are going (to) want another reason to be here,” said Brian Campbell, Nashville’s director of event presentation. “A lot of the people in the market weren’t real hockey savvy, and we’ve come a long way in that, but we built things on entertainment.”
Both organizations smartly coerce their fans into the arena well before game time. In Nashville it’s in the form of yet another country music concert, held on a stage just outside the arena doors. In Las Vegas it’s a march to the match where mascots and cheerleaders lead a team drumline past the bars and into the arena, collecting screaming fans along the way.
In-game entertainment
Nashville crashed through the standard of previously-accepted intermission entertainment when they built a stage in the middle of their lower bowl in 1998. The stage has been graced by music legends like Tim McGraw, Alice Cooper and Charlie Daniels, who ignited the crowd with “Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
More regularly, it’s the home of up and coming artists like Small Time Rock Stars, who played Michael Jackson’s Thriller during Tuesday’s game in the spirit of Halloween.
The bands play 10 minutes during the first and second intermissions, turning Bridgestone Arena into a temporary concert while the players rehydrate and break down film in the locker rooms.
“With Nashville it was really how they took a strength of their city and made it the spectacle of the hockey game,” Golden Knights chief marketing officer Brian Killingsworth said. “Whether it’s Faith Hill or the pregame concerts, they tied the music and entertainment scene into the game.”
Before the Golden Knights ever had a team name, they looked around the NHL — and really all sports — to gather ideas. They obviously noticed Nashville’s in-game concerts and personalized it for Sin City.
During the first intermission of Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lighting, the ice at T-Mobile Arena became a stage for Cirque du Soleil. The world-famous acrobatic theater shows are prevalent in Las Vegas casinos, and hockey fans were treated to one of the more popular ones — The Beatles Love — at the game.
“Love Is All You Need” resonated through the arena while vibrant, technicolored flowers were projected on the ice. Clowns drove Volkswagen Beetles across the ice while some dancers performed on the roofs, and others swung from bungee cords suspended 50-feet above the ice.
Before the game the arena is transformed into a Las Vegas nightclub, with flashing strobe lights beaming from the ceiling, fog machines pumping smoke into the air and a sound system with a bass so strong it literally rattles my popcorn out of the paper bag when it’s resting on the press box table.
That’s followed by the most intricately choreographed pregame ceremonies in all of sports where a knight in golden armor fights off an attacker from the opposing team.
“Both sides do a really good job of taking what they have, their locations, and what they have to offer, and bringing them inside the arena,” Campbell said. “Yeah we started off as a non-traditional hockey market but now some of our traditions have become traditional in other markets. We’re proud to live on an island and be the first to try things and maybe bend a traditional rule here or there to see if this works.”
A golden knight performs during a pregame ceremony at T-Mobile Arena. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)
Getting the fans involved
Yet another thing both cities have similarly excelled at is getting the fans to engage in the entertainment from start to finish.
They certainly aren’t the only fans in the NHL that do this, but they’re certainly two of the most unique. Nashville has built a reputation with its long, creative chants that sound like a mix between a college football and European soccer crowd.
“Suuuuuuuubban! Suuuuuuuubban! Suuuuuuuubban! You suck!” the masses yelled at poor Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban on Tuesday. “It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault!”
The unison is impressive, and it all started in the nosebleeds. “Cellblock 303” is what the season ticket holders in the upper bowl call themselves. They started many of the chants that are heard regularly at Bridgestone Arena.
Some traditions began with a small nudge from the entertainment crew. Like when fans all simultaneously pull their cell phones out, turn the flashlight on and wave them to The Beatles song “Let it be” whenever a Predators goal is being reviewed.
“You can’t force things,” Campbell said. “You give people the tools to work with and see what they do. Here’s what I think is going to happen, or hope it’s going to happen, but you don’t force it.”
Las Vegas certainly took note when devising a scheme for their own in-arena prompts.
“Nashville has fun, but their fans drive so much of that fun,” said Golden Knights vice president of events and entertainment Jonny Greco. “They have incredible cheering sections, and they play the non-traditional music and have crazy lights. We appropriated a lot from Nashville for sure, but a lot of other teams.”
Vegas’ best example comes before the game ever starts, during the National Anthem.
Vegas’ most-prevalent tradition also started in the upper bowl, where a group of fans began yelling “Knight” during the line in the national anthem that goes “gave proof through the night.”
Greco and his team picked up on it and began slightly prompting the fans by coloring the word “night” gold in the lyrics displayed in the arena. Fans quickly got the hint, and now there are 18,000 fans belting out the team name right on cue.
“I think one of the most important things you can do in the sports entertainment world is just connect with your fans,” Greco said. “If you learn who your fans are first, it’s a lot easier to connect with them and find what they enjoy, what they support and what they want to dance to and cheer for.”
It would be cretinous to point out neither of these arenas would be the party scene they’ve become without the winning on the ice. It’s not lost on either entertainment crew that playoff and Stanley Cup final appearances drive the train.
“Right now Vegas and Nashville are the non-traditional markets that are getting a lot of attention, but that often happens because hockey leads No. 1,” Greco said. “If our team won 10 games last year I don’t know if we would’ve gotten half the accolades that we did last year because it’s hockey first always. Nashville was doing a great job for years but didn’t receive the national exposure until a few years ago when they started winning.”
Winning certainly helps, but these two organizations have laid a blueprint for other teams — especially in non-traditional hockey markets — to build a rabid fanbase off the ice, while the hockey operations side handles the rest.
“When we came to Las Vegas we didn’t know if we would win or not, so we wanted to create an entertaining atmosphere that would allow fans to come and have a great time regardless of if they won or not,” Greco said.
Tuesday night, when the teams met, Nashville claimed victories both on and off the ice.
The Predators scored four unanswered goals, led by two by Ryan Hartman, to win 4-1. In the pregame ceremony, Nashville made a spoof of the Golden Knights’ famous pregame skit, where a knight pulls the Excalibur sword from the stone.
Only Tuesday night Predators mascot Gnash repelled from the ceiling, snuck up on the knight and bashed him over the head with an acoustic guitar.
It’s all in fun and games, and Vegas — which set a new standard for pregame presentations during last year’s playoff run — will surely have an equally entertaining answer when the Predators visit on Jan. 23.
Let’s all hope the rest of the NHL joins in on the fun.
Both Bridgestone and T-Mobile arenas are blessed with perfect locations that not only encourage pregame and postgame celebration, but almost require it.
In popular culture, the curse of the Wendigo has been heavily featured in literature, films, and video games, often portrayed as a terrifying and relentless creature that hunts its victims in the wilderness. It represents the fear of losing oneself to one's darkest impulses and the struggle to maintain one's humanity in the face of overwhelming hunger. Overall, the curse of the Wendigo is a chilling tale that warns against the dangers of giving in to one's desires and the consequences that can result from such actions. It serves as a reminder of the power of folklore in shaping moral codes and instilling fear in those who hear its tales..
Reviews for "The Wendigo Phenomenon: Exploring the Deep Roots of Fear and Suspicion"
1. John - 1 star
I found "The Curse of the Wendigo" to be very disappointing. The storyline was confusing and lacked coherence. It jumped from one scene to another without any logical connection, making it difficult to follow. The characters were poorly developed, and I couldn't form any emotional connection with them. The writing style was also subpar, with repetitive phrases and cliched dialogues. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-crafted horror story.
2. Sarah - 2 stars
While "The Curse of the Wendigo" had its moments of suspense, I was ultimately left unimpressed. The plot felt predictable, and I could anticipate the twists before they even happened. The author's attempts at building tension fell flat, and the scares were lackluster. Additionally, the climax was underwhelming and didn't provide the payoff I was hoping for. The writing itself was average, lacking flair and failing to engage me fully. Overall, the book had potential but failed to deliver a satisfying horror experience.
3. Emily - 2.5 stars
"The Curse of the Wendigo" had a promising concept, but the execution fell short. The pacing was inconsistent, with slow sections that dragged on, while pivotal moments were rushed through. The characters lacked depth and felt one-dimensional, making it difficult to care about their fates. The descriptions of the creature were decent, but overall, I wished for more atmospheric and vivid storytelling. I found myself wanting more from the book and feeling let down by the missed opportunities. This horror novel may appeal to some readers, but it didn't live up to my expectations.