S2.E7: The Thunder Growl (Halloween Special Pt. 1)
Season 2, Episode 7 (Halloween Bonus 1)
When nights grow long and familiar paths suddenly lead you astray; when fog shrouds the coast in deathly gloom and strange lights flicker in empty bogs,
that’s the time when ghosts and ghouls explore this new found land.
Welcome to the Strange Truths & Tall Tales Halloween Special.
Title: The Thunder Growl
Time: 12 minutes
Locations: Elliston
Story: Night of the Thunder Growl
Listen:
About The Episode:
Halloween Bonus Episode Pt. 1
It’s October and the nights are getting noticeably longer. As darkness takes a hold. I’ve decided to embrace the ‘spooky season’ for some short Halloween episodes.
This instalment is a creepy true story from Elliston on the tip of The Bonavista Peninsula.
It’s a tale of an unwelcome visitor who showed up in town one frosty night some 200 years ago.
Listening Options
You can listen to the episode here or on your favourite platform.
Credits
Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor (Bach) from orangefreesounds.com, Paul Pittman, public domain.
Thunder (bajko) and growling sound (raventhornn) from freesound.com, creative commons 0
Sources & Further Reading
Night of the Thunder Growl, Product of Newfoundland
Wandering Thoughts, Rev. Philip Tocque, 1846
The Thundergrowl Phenomenon, Newfoundland Weekly, Jan 03, 1931
Trinity, Evening Telegram, October 28, 1922
More Than 50%, Hilda Chaulk Murray, 1979
Elliston, Encyclopedia of NL
Newfoundland: As it Was, and As It Is In 1877, P. Tocque,
Just off Harbour Buffet, Placentia Bay a fisherman vanished, his shattered boat was the only clue. It looked like something, some ocean creature, was responsible.
In 1891, James Brennan spun a tale of a shipwreck so tragic it shook the Atlantic—until the “wreck” turned out to be pure fiction.
On a moonlit January night in 1870, 16-year-old Elfreda Pike began a walk home from Harbour Grace—unaware it would be her last.
Stranded on a frozen rock at Christmas, the Queen of Swansea castaways faced starvation, despair—and unimaginable choices.
A Christmas voyage gone wrong, the story of the Ellen Munn lives on in song—as a tale of courage, kindness, and the perils of Newfoundland winter.
In 1887, a tragic accident at St. John’s Atlantic Hotel claimed the life of beloved porter William Shea. A mistaken step in the dark led to a 36-foot fall, leaving behind a grieving family and community.