Things have been quiet lately, but I’ve been hard at work. I’d like to take a moment to direct your attention to a page on my site that seems to be oft-overlooked – this isn’t the first time I’ve pointed it out, and I doubt it will be the last, but I find it important nonetheless.
I especially want to highlight this with the upcoming publication of my next nonfiction work: a collection of werewolf folklore stories/primary sources, with added historical context.
I have a page on my site dedicated entirely to – you guessed it – werewolves. On it, I think you’ll find some transparency regarding my feelings about them as a concept and why they are so important to me… Here are a few closer looks.
Werewolves are my greatest passion. I cannot put into words how fully the werewolf curse captivates my mind and imagination, as it has for so much of mankind for countless ages. There are endless elements to explore and stories to tell with werewolves and so many annals of folklore, myth, and history to discuss relating to the idea. That is why I have all but dedicated my life to the concept of the werewolf.
Here you will find my many works related to werewolves – you will find my own fiction about werewolves, my extensive and lifelong academic research into werewolf studies (real-world werewolf folklore) and efforts to preserve primary sources, discussion of werewolves in folklore and popular culture, and so much more, including my popular Werewolf Facts series, my book The Werewolf: Past and Future, and my series Wulfgard: The Prophecy of the Six.
Why I Love Werewolves
Let me take you to a lonely night in the fens, or on a quiet city street…
The air hangs thick with fog. A distant howl, wolfish yet wrong, drifts over the graveyards and haunted forests that are cast deep blue in the full moon’s baleful glow. You know that cry is the voice of a cursed monster that is also, conversely, an innocent soul: haunted, powerless, enduring the untold agony of the transformation – and now, above all else, indescribably dangerous. It is a man cursed, lost in rage with which no one could contend, and always starving for flesh…
It is a werewolf.
The werewolf curse is one of the deepest tales of tragedy. The werewolf is a being of duality, of halves, never to be truly whole. Neither man nor beast, they must wander, alone, lost, at odds with themselves, in sorrow, fury, and eternal hunger. How does one reconcile committing atrocities in a beast’s skin? How can any good person continue as such a monster?
It gives me chills just to think about. I’ve never seen a concept more haunting, fascinating, and horrifying than that of the werewolf, and I know I never will. You cannot best the oldest of legends and such a core terror that haunts all humanity: the idea that even the most civilized a man could become the most terrible of beasts.
This is why werewolves have haunted the human psyche since the dawn of time – and they always will.
Obviously, there are many takes on werewolves, especially these days, and not all folklore told such tales, but I’m speaking in terms of why werewolves captivate me personally. To me, it all comes back to The Wolf Man (1941), as inspired by legends and turned into a tale of tragedy that touches the hearts of all who hear it. You cannot help but relate to such a character and feel sorry for him, but you must wonder… what would you do in such a situation? What would you do, as a werewolf – or as a werewolf’s loved one? What would you do, if someone you cared about turned into a monster? And what would you do when that monster came to your door – either asking for help… or to take your life, against the will of the man who bears the curse?
That is untold narrative power.
And that is why I love werewolves.
If you’ve read this far, I humbly ask you to take a look at my fiction in particular, namely my series Wulfgard: The Prophecy of the Six, starting with its first installment, Knightfall. It’s a bit like Lord of the Rings meets The Wolf Man. If you love traditional fantasy, adventure, horror, werewolves, knights, mystery, strong characters, even pitched battles, and so much more, this book has it all. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Of everything I ever do and create, The Prophecy of the Six means the most to me, and I would be honored if you read it.