I grew up in a small town nestled on the banks of the River Rhine in Germany. It’s a charming town, known for its lush vineyards and picturesque half-timbered houses. But for the locals, there’s a peculiar tradition that defines our community: The Skin Exchange.
Every year, during the spring equinox, about 40 days before Walpurgis Night (a kind of “second Halloween” here in the country), our residents gather to celebrate this unusual tradition. During the festival, the townspeople dress up as animals. The ritual dates back to ancient times when our ancestors believed that dressing up as animals would bring good luck and prosperity to the harvest.
Although I grew up seeing the preparations for the festival and participating in the children’s celebrations during the day, I never had the opportunity to participate in the adult version. After all, it’s only allowed for adults, as a rite of passage, and I hadn’t reached that age until this year.
Me and my three friends, Anna, Johannes, and Lars, had planned this night for years.
“It’s today! It’s today!” Anna shouted as we left school. “I carefully picked out my mask, I wonder if I’ll find my animal spirit tonight?” She’s always been fascinated by witchcraft, mysticism, and the like.
“Oh, it’s not a big deal, at least it’ll be fun to have an event to stay out late on the streets and drink a bit, that’s it,” Johannes always played the skeptic. “I’m going more for culture anyway.” Culture? Yeah, right, he was going because of Anna, everyone always knew he had a crush on her (everyone except the girl).
“Ah, whatever,” Lars said, nonchalant as ever. “Let’s just have fun, okay? Where do we meet again?”
They all turned to me, I was the one in charge of these arrangements, sort of the “leader” of the group.
“Uh… it’s at the end of the main avenue, just before the old road, where the procession starts. Be there by 8:30, okay?”
Throughout the afternoon, we exchanged excited messages about our costumes and what we would do during the party. The sun had already disappeared and the first stars were emerging when I finished my homework (I have a bit of OCD and usually do these things as soon as possible, or else I really can’t enjoy the weekend). I jumped back when I saw the time, rushing to the shower to take a quick bath and change. My mother was on the way.
“What’s wrong, dear?” She was already dressed for the occasion, holding a bear mask in her hands, the synthetic fur neatly braided in a brown tone, with its top covered by round ears.
“Late for the festival.”
“Oh, yes, we’re already going,” she said, pointing outside. “Are you coming?”
I looked at the clock. 7:30.
“You can go without me, I’ll be there later.”
I took a quick shower, and at exactly 8 o’clock I was leaving home, my robe tied with a rope at the waist and the crow mask, with its beak projecting in front of me creating a small layer of air. I looked at my wrist seeing 8:25 as I made the last turn to reach the agreed place. In the distance, I saw three figures standing in the way, they soon turned to me as I approached.
It was them. Anna wore a fox mask, the fur carefully brushed upwards. Next to her, I couldn’t distinguish the others but I suppose Lars was the one wearing a deer mask, with decorative antlers extending beyond his head, and Johannes wore a wolf mask, with wild, piercing eyes and alert ears.
“You finally made it!” Anna exclaimed, looking radiant in her costume.
“You’re a little late, my dear crow friend,” Johannes said, giving me a pat on the shoulder.
“Just a bit,” Lars added with a mischievous laugh.
“Sorry, I was finishing up some things at home,” I said, trying to disguise my haste. “Let’s go, we don’t want to miss the start of the party.”
Together, we joined the crowd gathering in the main square. As we approached, the sound of laughter and music echoed through the narrow streets of the town. The colorful lights illuminated the way as we mingled with the other participants of the Skin Exchange.
As we walked along the rustic road, Anna decided to share a bit more about the history behind the Skin Exchange. Her voice was filled with enthusiasm, as if she had prepared this speech for years.
“Did you know that the Skin Exchange dates back to ancient times, when our ancestors believed that dressing up as animals would bring good luck and prosperity to the harvest?” she began, her eyes shining with excitement. “They believed that by disguising themselves, they could connect with the spirits of nature and receive their blessings for the coming year.”
“It’s amazing to think how these superstitions have endured until today,” Johannes commented.
“Yes, exactly!” Anna enthusiastically agreed. “And what’s most interesting is how this tradition relates to Walpurgis Night. It is said that she rid Germany of witchcraft and pagans, so the festival represents a period of ‘return’ to paganism, a kind of contrast with the celebration of Walpurgis Night that comes after, recounting the story of ‘de-paganization’.”
“So, in a way, the Skin Exchange is a celebration of the duality between the old and the new, between paganism and Christianity,” I added, impressed with the symbolism behind it.
“Exactly!” Anna exclaimed, smiling widely. “And that’s why I’ve always found this festival so fascinating. It’s like we’re connected to our ancestral roots, honoring the spirits of nature and celebrating life in a unique and magical way.”
“Wow, why don’t they teach this in school?” Lars added.
As Anna continued, now in a monologue, I could feel the contagious energy of her passion for the festival, and I found myself absorbed. For a moment, I forgot the oddities around us and allowed myself to be enveloped by the ancient history she was sharing. After all, there was something deeply captivating about the beliefs and rituals that shaped our small community over time.
As we walked towards the meeting point, the air was imbued with the electric energy of the night. The city seemed to come alive with the flickering torchlights, and the sounds of drums echoing through the narrow streets. When we reached the main avenue, we joined the crowd of residents, all dressed in their wild costumes.
Anna danced to the music, her fox dress gracefully moving with each step. Lars wasn’t far behind, swaying his deer head back and forth in time with the beat. Johannes was more reserved, along with me, but even with a mask on, I could tell he was watching the scene with a smile.
The music now intensified, louder drumbeats echoing through the trees, disturbing the natural stillness of the night. Now everyone was in a clearing, dancing in a circle around the bonfire, it looked like a sabbat (I think that’s the word). Suddenly, my phone rang.
“Who would call at this hour?” I thought, still watching them bring more torches to be lit on the bonfire. I looked at the screen “mom.” Well, I hadn’t seen her yet. I scanned the area trying to find her, but none of the bears there was a woman. I answered the call.
“Hi, mom?” I asked, trying to locate her among the crowd.
“Hi honey, I’m with your dad here in the square, are you coming?” Her voice sounded excited on the other end of the line.
“The square?”
“Yes, I sent you the notice that it would be here, they decided last minute not to do the procession on the dirt road, remember?”
The memory hit me. We were so excited about the party that we forgot about that. But then…
“Son?” Her voice came through the phone again “Where are you?”
“I’m… I’m on my way,” I replied to my mom, trying to keep calm as my mind spun in confusion. I hung up the phone and looked around, my eyes frantically scanning the masked crowd. I didn’t recognize anyone, no one else from the town, no one but us. A shiver ran down my spine as I held onto the phone tightly. As the lights flickered and trembled, partially illuminating the revelers, realization washed over me, I understood what was happening.
I frantically looked for Johannes. He was still leaning against a tree. I approached him cautiously, stopping a bit before him.
“Johannes,” I called.
“Yes?” he replied.
I moved closer to him, near his ear, and whispered in a low voice words that still make me shiver to this day.
“They’re not masks.”
My heart began to hammer in my chest as the words echoed in my mind. Johannes looked at me with a confused expression, he looked around for a while and seemed almost to stagger backward. They weren’t people dressed as animals, they were… animals, or perhaps something that looked very much like them?
Johannes looked at me with an expression of disbelief, his eyes sweeping the crowd as if searching for some confirmation that what I had said couldn’t be true. But as his eyes settled on the masked dancers around the bonfire, the horror that was in his heart became visible through his eyes.
“What do you mean by ‘they’re not masks’?” he whispered, his voice trembling with fear.
“I don’t know,” I replied, my own voice now filled with uncertainty. “But look at them. Those faces, they’re really moving, it’s their actual faces…”
Anna approached, her eyes confused as she listened to our conversation. I realized that the atmosphere around us was changing, becoming heavier somehow, and sinister as the unsettling truth seeped into our collective consciousness.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked.
I waited until she approached and told her, about what we saw, about my mom in the square and everything else, she seemed to stifle a scream with her hand over her mouth.
“And what the hell are we gonna do now?” She asked, her trembling fingers still clutching the fox mask to her face.
“Let’s get out of here, quickly, but without drawing attention. Where’s Lar…”
A neigh interrupted my speech. There was a creature, something that I can only approximate to the appearance of a horse, its head raised as it emitted the sharp sound. The music stopped, the silence was apprehensive as it turned towards us. The flames crackled, and their shadows danced. One by one, the other animals began to do the same, their wild expressions now seeming more menacing than festive.
We started to walk carefully, but two or three steps later and we were already running. Anna took the lead quickly, while I tried to keep up with that fast little fox. The creatures were now closing in on us, forcing us to deviate from the path. The girl who was leading us passed by and, my God, her reasoning was quick, she managed to notice the guy with a deer head beside us, quickly pulling him by the hand.
“Okay, Lars is here,” she shouted.
I looked back to see Johannes almost stopping, fatigued, he had already removed the mask and now struggled to keep up with us. Our hearts pounded wildly as we ran through the dark forest. The creatures pursued us, their heavy footsteps echoing behind us. As we dodged through the bushes, we desperately tried to find a safe place to hide.
Finally, we found refuge on a large rock on a tight slope, breathless and trembling with fear. We crouched behind it, keeping as quiet as possible as the creatures passed by us, sniffing the air with their animalistic noses.
“What the hell is going on?” Johannes whispered, his voice trembling with fear.
“I don’t know,” I replied, my mind spinning with confusion and terror. “But we need to find a way to get to the square as soon as possible. We can’t stay hidden forever.”
“What?” Anna asked. “I can’t hear anything with these things,” She said, removing my mask
The feeling of freedom that accompanied the removal of the mask was overwhelming. My breathing came easier, and I could feel the cool night air against my skin.
“Okay, that was refreshing…I said we need to go to the square, my mom will meet us there.” I spoke as I enjoyed the fresh air.
“Right,” she said, also removing the fox and now showing her thin face and dark eyes. “Do you at least know where it is?”
“I…” I thought for a moment. “I can’t remember…this rush has disoriented me. And you, Johannes?”
He watched over the rock, now the creatures had moved away.
“Look, I think I can find the way, but with difficulty. Lars is better at these things than me.”
I remembered Lars was with us. He must be very scared, usually he was the most talkative of the group. I turned to talk to him.
“And then?” My voice decreased gradually until the last syllable.
Beside us, the face of the deer was turned to us, staring at us. Its antlers gleamed in the faint moonlight filtering through the treetops. Terror gripped us as we realized it wasn’t our friend. Its empty eyes staring at us as if mocking our distress, it was having fun with us. That thing then stood up, raised its head, and let out one of those strange noises we had heard before, which by now should have already alerted the others. We tried to run but it grabbed Anna’s arm as she got up. She screamed in terror as she struggled to free herself from the creature’s claws. Johannes and I ran to help her, our hands outstretched in desperation as we fought to push the deer away from our friend. But it seemed futile, the creature was strong and resilient, and its grip was firm as a press.
“Anna, hold on!” Johannes shouted, his voice echoing in the darkness of the forest. He grabbed a heavy stone from the ground and hit it hard on the creature’s arm.
The beast howled in pain, dropping instantly and falling on its own arm, as if protecting it. We took advantage of the opening to escape. I ran like I had never run before, my lungs burning and my legs trembling with effort. The forest was a maze of shadows and obstacles, but we couldn’t afford to hesitate. After a while we managed to get out of the main road, but we followed it from within the forest, hidden by the foliage mantle. The creatures mainly transited in the narrow rustic path of beaten earth, they knew we were trying to get home. One or two were in the forest, but not enough, and we managed to go unnoticed.
“We’re close to town,” Johannes whispered, his voice mixed with the sound of our light footsteps.
I could see the distant lights of the city beyond the trees, a comforting sight that urged us to continue. Finally, we emerged from the shadows of the forest and could see the main street in the distance, where we came from at the beginning of the night. As we turned, I saw, at the end of the street, a person standing. It was a slimmer, feminine silhouette, I followed with my eyes, from her feet to her head, adorned with two round ears.
“Mom!” I said as our eyes met.
She walked towards us, her arms open for a hug. But as she approached, I noticed there was something wrong with her. Her movements were strange, awkward. A shiver ran down my spine as I watched her figure approaching with her contour taking shape…a strange shape.
“Son,” she called, but her voice was strange, almost a growl. “Are you okay?”
Her words seemed to come from some distant place. A feeling of dread seized me as I struggled to understand what was happening.
“What… what’s happening?” I asked, my words coming out in a trembling whisper.
She approached even closer, her hands reaching out towards me. But as she got closer, I could see that it wasn’t my mother. Her face was distorted, teeth protruding from his mouth and a large snout trembling where his nose should have been. And his hands… his hands were sharp claws, ready to grab.
My mind froze in front of that, I could see now, illuminated by the lamppost, every detail of those things, their bodies almost broken to stay upright, their fur disheveled, missing in some spots, showing purple and pale skins… Maybe they weren’t even animals… My hands trembled but my legs stayed in place.
“Run,” Johannes shouted, his voice full of panic, pulling me by the arm out of that trance.
Without hesitation, we ran in the opposite direction, our steps echoing through the deserted streets of the town. I looked back one last time and saw the sinister figure disappearing into the darkness, its fangs shining in the dim light of the moon.
Finally, we reached the safety of the main square, where my mother and father awaited us anxiously, already without their masks. We told them what had happened, but they looked at us with disbelief, as if they didn’t believe our words.
“We should go home,” my mother said. “If you want to invite Johannes and Lars to sleep over, no problem, but enough of making up stories.”
We glanced at each other. Lars! He was in the forest! We created a confusion of sounds as we tried, at the same time, to tell my mother what had happened to him. It took a few moments for her to understand, her expression turning serious. We ran to the police station, where the Sheriff listened to our story, taking notes at some points.
“Look kids, we warned everyone about the festival because some wild animals have been seen in the forest recently, especially a large bear. They don’t usually attack humans, but you never know, we’ll let you know if we find your friend.”
Lars’s parents burst into tears, worried about their son. And we were even more concerned, knowing that it wasn’t a wolf we should be worried about. The night dragged on in a fog of nightmares and fear as we waited for news of our missing friend. Every sound in the darkness made us jump, every shadow made us tremble with dread. But finally, at dawn, we received word that Lars had been found, unharmed but disoriented, wandering through the forest. We rushed to find him, relief flooding our hearts as we saw his familiar face, without the deer mask this time.
Lars never spoke about what happened, or at least he was in shock, his gaze fixed, crying and sobbing when he tried to do so. It’s been a few years since that happened and nowadays we no longer live in our village. I moved to the capital, I’m finishing college and sharing an apartment with my girlfriend, I think you know her, her name is Anna. Yes. Well, Johannes was a bit mad at me for a while after I started dating her, but he soon fell into the arms of another girl and they’re expecting their child now. Lars shows up from time to time, he works at sea, on a ship crew.
I’m writing this because every year at this time I remember that. Our lives didn’t “turn upside down” after that, we didn’t “enter a supernatural world” or anything like that. It happened, and as quickly as it came, it was gone. Johannes still teases me to this day saying it was a collective hallucination, but you know something I never told him? The sheriff that night said a bear had been spotted around there, but I recently learned that there are no more bears in Germany, not for a long time… I don’t have an answer for what that was, and although I consider myself a bit skeptical, I’ll borrow from an old Spanish saying: “No creo en monstruos, pero que las hay, las hay”