Although distinct from how it appears in the traditional lore, one of the first 
appearances of a characater inspired by, or named after, a wendigo in non-
indigenous literature is Algernons Blackwood's 1910 short story "The Wendigo".
Joe Nazare wrote that Blackwood's "Subtly-demonizing rhetoric transforms the
Wendigo from a native myth into a descriptive template for the Indian Savage."
Blackwood's work has inspired many other subsequent portrayals in mainstream 
horror fiction, such as August Derthel's "The Thing That Walked on the Wind"
and "Ithaqua" (1933 and 1941) which inturn inspired the character in Stephen
King's novel, Pet Sematory, where its a personification of evil, an ugly
grinning creature with yellow-grey eyes and ears replaced with ram's horns, 
white vapour coming from it's nostrils, and a pointed, decaying yellow tongue.
The works set the template for later portrayals in popular culture, at times 
even replacing the Native American lore.In an early short story by Thomas 
Pynchon, "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna" (first published in 1959) the plot
centers around a character developing Wendigo Syndrome and going on a killing 
spree.