“he entered the forest and the phantoms came to meet him“
between my house and my friend T’s new house (see story in link) lie the Hackney Marshes (well sorta, if you take a bit of a northward curve on the way): the marshes i first heard on a TV local news show in the early 80s, when i didn’t yet live in london
the story as i remember hearing it was that
i. a small child had spotted a bear wandering the marshes, so that
ii. the authorities had instituted an urgent all-marsh hunt, followed by
iii. dragging the canal, where they had come upon
iv. THE HEADLESS BODIES OF THREE SKINNED BEARS!!
A year or so later I lived in Hackney, and have done ever since. Though the lure of this tale was i think purely unconscious – certainly i never chased it up or even thought abt it until i posted abt it on ilx here and here
weirdly enough the most info i can find abt this googling now = on an REM forum!!
further urban legendification (which at least proves i didn’t dream the news report) here and here and here and here (an unexpanded mention of the “dead bear”)