Werewolves by Emily

Werewolves for centuries mankind has feared and honored these beasts. Whether in a movie, an old tale, or a book, werewolves have been captured as everything imaginable. Every description is as diverse as the one before. A werewolf might look exactly like a wolf, or maybe half human, half wolf. It could have razor-sharp claws and large venomous fangs and is howling at the moon.
So, what actually is a werewolf or lycanthropy? It is a fact based on concrete evidence? Is it a myth, fabrication of feeble minds? Is it an exaggeration of some other things? All of these questions have been puzzling humans for the past 5 centuries. Many ingenious hypotheses have been suggested as conceivable explanations, but no conclusion can be drawn. Many people have observed it as purely supernatural, while others rely solely up scientific explanations contradictions and debates still exist and will continue until a theory solves the puzzle, which is highly unlikely considering the topic. The werewolf phenomenon has not perished yet and sightings are still reported today.

The word werewolf means man and wolf and comes from two old-Saxon words: were and wolf. The Greek word term lycanthropy refers to the transformation. Lycanthrope is also used and is in fact, a synonym for were wolf and is the afflicted person. A popular definition for were wolf or lycanmrope is a man who transforms himself or being transformed into a wolf under the influence of a full moon.

During the middle ages, especially from the 15th to 17th centuries, Europe was under the influence of superstitions and ignorance. The fear of wolves was a nightmare. The attacks were so frequent and atrocious in nature that people were afraid to travel. The first recorded werewolf sighting took place around the countryside of the German town cologne and Bed burg in 1591. An age-old pamphlet describes those shivering moments vividly. A large grouped people cornered a “werewolf” and sent their dogs upon it. They attacked it and it didn’t try to defend itself or run away and it turned out to be a man named Peter Stubble from that same village.
In the late 1930’s to the 40’s, Hollywood started a new trend of using werewolves in movies. The first werewolf movie was made in 1935 and titled “The Werewolf of London”. In the 40’s, 3 more popular werewolf movies were made. 1941’s The Wolf Man is one of the most classic and popular werewolf movies ever made. Shortly after in 1943, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man went to theaters, as did 1948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. This Abbott and Costello comedy features Frankenstein, Dracula, and, most importantly, the Werewolf Man. After the 40’s werewolf movies diminished in popularity at the box office until the days of big hair and bright clothes. That’s right, the 80’s! in fact, 9 werewolf-themed movies were made in that decade, which created new ideas for writers and brought us movies such as The Howling, Ginger Snaps, and of course Scooby Doo and The Reluctant werewolf. Today, werewolf movies still frighten box offices and popularity is still growing.

Besides movies, werewolves have been a staple in many horror novels, books such as Silver Bullet by the ever popular Stephen King, and Blood and Chocolate by Anette Curtis Klause. These books were so popular that they were both made into movies.

Other than those two books, there are many other werewolf novels. One of my personal favorite werewolf books are the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Although the werewolves are not technically introduced into the series until the second book, New Moon, I like how the author portrays them. The main character that is werewolf is Jacob Black, whose family has an ancestry of werewolves. In this story only men can become werewolves and this transformation, doesn’t occur until their teens. Once they make the complete change, they don’t age until the ability of becoming a werewolf diminishes. They also do a process called “imprinting” which is when they see a woman and will only ever be in love with her. It’s sort of like love at fist sight but much more permanent. A vital detail bout this series is the hatred between vampires and werewolves. They are described as mortal enemies.

Werewolves also appear often in comic books; also wolverine has to be on of the best characters of all time. I know technically he is not a werewolf, but his bones are counted in a metal called admantium and he can heal himself. He is virtually indestructible, with retractable claws.

One of the most iconic horror monsters are werewolves whether these are tormented souls, who have suffered or monsters who revel in their predatory nature, they make some of the most wonderful creatures for horror novels, movies, tales and music. And besides, who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?