is there a seminal werewolf novel?

[daniel1976]

having searched my mind for a werewolf novel that could be defined as 1: one in which rules are set, either to be followed or parted with by later authors, 2: is synonimous in the public mind with the concept of a werewolf or lycanthrope of other types- i could'nt decide on any. to illustrate: vampires have dracula most easily associated with them. science gone wrong has frankenstein as a by-word.

but what of werewolves? which text is the definitive one there?

[dem bones]

I don't know about "definitive" but Guy Endore's The Werewolf Of Paris is often cited as the closest thing to the genre's Dracula, but it's perhaps more a (brilliant) psychological horror story than traditional lycanthrope tale as immortalised by Universal & Co.. There have certainly been several excellent (and twice as many terrible!) short stories & novellas, and a number are referenced on this rather jolly thread; The Werewolf Scrapbook

[William Ager]

I'm unaware of a novel which fits the criteria you set out, but this may be of interest to you since it at least deals with what might be called the "classical tradition" of werewolf fiction in English. 

[daniel1976]

my thanks to you both. demonik, am i to understand that "werewolf of paris" is'nt an actual shapeshifter? that's strange, since i've been told that it was.

mr.ager, i certainly intend to read this anthology, from the excellent valancourt press.

i'd like to recommend to you a novel called "the prey"  by an unknown author called robert arthur smith, which is about a young austrian nobleman on the eve of the french revolution whose family hides some ancient artifact sought by a clan of werewolves for many generations. why? go on and read it! written in the seventies, it's a treat for those who speculate "what would a werewolf novel be like, had bram stoker decided to really let his hair down?"

also, "darker than you think" by jack williamson. a classic tale of pulp adventure in which an archeologist returning from asia encounters a strange woman and ancient powers...

[cauldronbrewer]

Darker Than You Think is an interesting case, because it's an early attempt to subvert standard werewolf "rules" by recasting them in a science fiction framework. Williamson applied the same basic approach in a different way in an earlier novella, "The Wolves of Darkness." I'm a big fan of both (though he seems to have an issue with repetitive plotting); they're good, pulpy fun.

[junkmonkey]

Where does Wagner the Werewolf by George W.M. Reynolds (First published in 1847) fit in as far as the modern Werewolf mythos? I've not read it but have had a copy sat in my TBR pile for a while now.

[thecoffinflies]

Wagner The Werewolf is an interesting read. Some entirely pleasant religious sadism early on involving naked self-flagellating nuns. Mostly a dull romantic melodrama, in which the 'werewolf' aspects are nothing more than an unfortunate curse that he's scared to tell his missus about (when they've shipwrecked on an island, it gets harder to conceal stuff from her, if I remember rightly).

The main family curse that drives the story is little to do with the fact that Wagner is a werewolf, though. It's no Dracula, and barely counts as a classic werewolf text.

The Werwolf by Clemence Housman is better, but it's a little short, and lacks the power of Stoker's Dracula.

The Door Of The Unreal, by Gerald Biss, got a favourable nod from Lovecraft, but it's a fairly crappy snooze-fest as far storytelling or suspense go.

I have a bugbear about this, actually:

The classic werewolf text is probably Universal's The Wolf Man, by Curt Siodmak. It's where a lot of the made-up rules come from. It's written by a man who wanted to prove that werewolves are only in the mind, and the studio inserted monster shots against his wishes, salvaging what could have been pretentious psychoanalytic tosh.

Most of the contenders, Werewolf Of Paris, Darker Than You Think, and to some degree The Wolf Man, actually seem to be fighting against the carnal physicality of werewolves.

I wrote a blog post about it once:

kneelinglady.wordpress.com

Having said that, many of the best werewolf tales are short stories, from The White Wolf Of The Harz Mountains to The Company Of Wolves.

My favourite full-length werewolf novels are more recent: Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf, and a series for 'young adults' by Stephen Cole called The Wereling Trilogy. Those are both worth checking out if you are into werewolves.

[David A. Riley]

Great post - and I enjoyed reading you linked article.

One day I would love to quote you: "Vampires are Christian; werewolves are Pagan."

[andydecker]

I am not a fan of Werewolves. This topic is so limited. It is either a Jeckyll/Hyde-story or it is a tale of the pack and its politics. Seldom a writer does new things.

But a few novels I did like.

Nancy Collins Wild Blood was well written.

I have a soft spot for Nicholas Pekearo's The Wolfman. Sadly the only novel by the writer, who was a great talent.

And of course the is Robert McCammon's The Wolf's Hour.

[thecoffinflies]

I would love to be quoted, or included in a bibliography...

[ramseycampbell]

Mar 17, 2014 16:07:59 GMT thecoffinflies said:

The classic werewolf text is probably Universal's The Wolf Man, by Curt Siodmak. It's where a lot of the made-up rules come from. It's written by a man who wanted to prove that werewolves are only in the mind, and the studio inserted monster shots against his wishes, salvaging what could have been pretentious psychoanalytic tosh.

That's how I wrote the novel - preserving the ambiguity.

[junkmonkey]

hiccough...

[junkmonkey]

Mar 17, 2014 16:07:59 GMT thecoffinflies said:

Wagner The Werewolf is an interesting read. Some entirely pleasant religious sadism early on involving naked self-flagellating nuns. Mostly a dull romantic melodrama, in which the 'werewolf' aspects are nothing more than an unfortunate curse that he's scared to tell his missus about (when they've shipwrecked on an island, it gets harder to conceal stuff from her, if I remember rightly).

The main family curse that drives the story is little to do with the fact that Wagner is a werewolf, though. It's no Dracula, and barely counts as a classic werewolf text.

Seduced by this thread I started it and am now about half way through. It's utter high octane full throttle melodrama trash but I am loving every page.

I suspect Reynolds had no plan in mind when he started writing - characters and plot lines appear and disappear stop and start and people do the most extraordinary things for no real reason than to drive the plot. (There's more plot per page in this book than half a dozen daytime soaps squished together.)

The writing is extraordinarily OTT. I'm laughing aloud at least once a chapter and then rolling some choice phrase around in my brain for a couple of hours. I really wish I could write in books without feeling pain because there's so much in here that needs underlining and highlighting so I can find it again.

If there was a MST3K of books they'd have a field day with this.

[jamesdoig]

Mar 18, 2014 22:07:09 GMT ramseycampbell said:

Mar 17, 2014 16:07:59 GMT thecoffinflies said:

The classic werewolf text is probably Universal's The Wolf Man, by Curt Siodmak. It's where a lot of the made-up rules come from. It's written by a man who wanted to prove that werewolves are only in the mind, and the studio inserted monster shots against his wishes, salvaging what could have been pretentious psychoanalytic tosh.

That's how I wrote the novel - preserving the ambiguity.

And how Nigel Kneale does "What Big Eyes" in Beasts.

[David A. Riley]

I can understand why in visual media like films and TV a physical transformation is usually more satisfying, but in the written word it's different. There it's surely the nature of the beast rather than its physicality that matters. Though I love movies like The Wolf Man and Curse of the Werewolf and TV programs such as Being Human, I would not need to have descriptions of physical changes taking place in a book or short story, where the psychological changes would be far more important.