This week on Champagne and Murder, Please, we’re heading into the icy shadows of the Adirondacks—where a summer romance took a deadly turn. Grace Mae Brown, a young factory worker with dreams bigger than her circumstances, met a tragic end on Big Moose Lake, and the truth behind her death became one of the most sensational trials of the early 1900s. We’ll unravel the heartbreak, the lies, the evidence, and the haunting legacy Grace left behind.
Then, because the holiday season apparently wasn’t spooky enough, we’re unwrapping the chilling legend of the Christmas Werewolf—a winter creature that supposedly prowls through villages when the nights are longest, looking for more than milk and cookies. Is it folklore? A morality tale? Or a genuine monster stalking the snow?
Grab your champagne, bundle up, and join us for a wintry double feature of true crime and folklore that proves the holidays aren’t always merry and bright.
• National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) • National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Grace_Brown https://murderpedia.org/male.G/g/gillette-chester.htm https://www.adirondack.net/history/grace-brown https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/classics/chester_gillette https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/burke-library-to-receive-diary-of-adirondacks-murderer-chester-gillette https://unsolved.com/gallery/ghost-of-grace-brown https://nysba.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BarJournJulyAug06.pdf
Olaus Magnus — Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus https://archive.org/details/Historiaedegent00Olau
Oxford University Press blog — “Witches, werewolves, and Christmas”: https://blog.oup.com/2016/10/witches-werewolves-christmas/
Atlas Obscura — “The Long, Hidden History of the Viking Obsession With...wolf warriors”: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hidden-history-viking-wolf-warrior-werewolf
Nordic Visitor — “The 13 Yule Lads of Iceland” https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/the-13-yule-lads-of-iceland/
University of Manitoba (news) — “Werewolves at Christmas” https://news.umanitoba.ca/werewolves-at-christmas/
Doris V. Sutherland — “Werewolf Wednesday: Festive Lycanthropy” https://dorisvsutherland.com/2024/12/25/werewolf-wednesday-festive-lycanthropy/
Project Gutenberg / Pitt / Dash folklore page — Werewolf legends and Germanic lore https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html
Matador Network — “The 7 Creepiest Christmas Characters From European Folklore” https://matadornetwork.com/read/creepiest-christmas-characters-european-folklore/
Writing Werewolf / blog posts and other compiled folklore pieces on Christmas werewolves (various regional accounts, supplemental reading): https://writingwerewolf.wordpress.com/tag/christmas-folklore/
