Recommendations for Werewolf Fiction

[anno]

could definitely recommend The Last Werewolf - clever ,modern and steeped in the lore,with a great side order of humour - the sequel is just out too 'Tallulah Rising'

The 'Book of the Werewolf' edited by Brian J Frost by contained a lot of the classic tales mentioned above: Huges the Wer Wolf by Sutherland Menzies; The White Wolf of Kostopchin by Sir Gilbert Campbell; The Eyes of the Panther by Ambrose Bierce; The Were Wolf Clemence Houseman; Mere Maxim Elliott O'Donnell; The Werewolf of Ponkert by H. Warner Munn; The Wolf of St. Bonnot by Seabury Quinn; The Kill by Peter Fleming; Eena by Manly Banister; The Drone by A. Merritt; The Adventure of the Tottenham Werewolf by August Derleth; Mrs Kaye by Beverly Haaf; and the classic Pia! by Dale C. Donaldson.

I have a soft spot for Guy N Smiths work,as a younger man his books where sheer porn in places and set in Wales - what's not to like

 

[j d worthington]

Nice to see someone mentioning the Frost volume. When I first joined the site, someone mentioned that one to me in the course of a discussion on beliefs concerning the critters, and I looked up a copy on the 'net and picked it up. Quite a nice little selection of tales.

By the way, I would add another classic to the set: Erckmann-Chatrian's novelette, "The Man-Wolf" (orig. "Hugues-de-Loup")....

 

[Randy M.]

[...] You might also want to take a look at one or two of the classics of the genre, such as Guy Endore's Werewolf of Paris, or Clemence Housman's short piece, "The Were-wolf". Also pick up the anthology edited by Bill Pronzini, Werewolf: A Chrestomathy of Lycanthropy, which features quite a few pieces on the theme both classic and modern, as well as having a very good discussion of werewolf fiction to that time. [...].

Just to note: I've recently reread the Endore and it's terrific, better than I'd remembered, and I remembered liking it quite a bit.


Randy M.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf is absolutely the best werewolf book I've read; I'd go as far to say that it is the best were-anything related thing I've experienced. It's short, incredible well-written, scary, gory, and just a fantastic , pulpy read from cover to cover.

I agree. Also worth watching is the film version 'Silver Bullet'.

 

[j d worthington]

Just to note: I've recently reread the Endore and it's terrific, better than I'd remembered, and I remembered liking it quite a bit.

There has been a relatively recent reprint of that book, after decades of it being OP and expensive as blazes (hence my not managing to have a replacement copy for the past 20 years or so). So I need to invest in a copy of that soon....

(Now if someone would only put out a nice mass-market edition of Medusa.....)

 

[GOLLUM]

(Now if someone would only put out a nice mass-market edition of Medusa.....)

Speaking of which the folk from Centipede Press did publish a limited edition in 2010 of Medusa for a mere $95. Actually that's quite good value considering the prices of the earlier edition (1929 I'm referring to specifically). Indications are they still have some left. It also collects thirteen of Visiak's short stories, making it a unique collection.

Amazon are also selling copies of this edition for a higher price, low $120s.

As a general note to Horror fans, Centipede publish some really excellent stuff. Check out this link...

http://www.centipedepress.com/books.html

P.S. I myself have some of their books including a now sold out copy 'Two Handed Engine' featuring SF collaborative works by Kuttner & Moore as well as Roland Torpor's classic 'The Tenant'.

 

[j d worthington]

I am aware of the Centipede Press edition, and would love to have it... but such things are far beyond my budget 99% of the time now. What I would really like to see (and something which seems, given the book's reputation and age, not that unreasonable) is an easily accessible, low-cost popular edition of Visiak's queer little tale.

However, that is a bit off-topic, so I'll leave that discussion for another time....

 

[GOLLUM]

I am aware of the Centipede Press edition, and would love to have it... but such things are far beyond my budget 99% of the time now. What I would really like to see (and something which seems, given the book's reputation and age, not that unreasonable) is an easily accessible, low-cost popular edition of Visiak's queer little tale.

However, that is a bit off-topic, so I'll leave that discussion for another time....

OH I agree you with you entirely. It should most definitely be published in a far more affordable edition as should a number of other deserving works for that matter.

I was merely pointing out that at least there is a modern edition available that is not as cost prohibitive as the earlier edition that easily exceeds $300.00...

Hence my post pointing anyone interested to the Centipede Press site.

 

[Randy M.]

There has been a relatively recent reprint of that book, after decades of it being OP and expensive as blazes (hence my not managing to have a replacement copy for the past 20 years or so). So I need to invest in a copy of that soon....

(Now if someone would only put out a nice mass-market edition of Medusa.....)

Pegasus Crime has put out the latest edition of The Werewolf of Paris. It's not bad, although there are some typos throughout. Also, the description of it on ... Amazon? Barnes & Noble? ... may have been cribbed from the Centipede Press edition and includes mention of an introduction and of pictures of covers from past editions, neither of which are in this edition.

Yes, an affordable edition of Medusa would be great. I've only heard of this book, never seen it.


Randy M.

 

[j d worthington]

It tooks me years to get hold of a copy of it through ILL... the US only has five copies in libraries! And it cost me $40 just for the loan of the bloody thing!

It's an odd book... the weird elements are rather minor quite close to the end, at which time it really does take on a different dimension... one which most Lovecraftians would find very interesting indeed....

 

[Randy M.]

It tooks me years to get hold of a copy of it through ILL... the US only has five copies in libraries! And it cost me $40 just for the loan of the bloody thing!

It's an odd book... the weird elements are rather minor quite close to the end, at which time it really does take on a different dimension... one which most Lovecraftians would find very interesting indeed....

*sigh*


Randy M.

 

[Lobolover]

I've had a similar experience with They Return at Evening. Only they wouldn't give it to me so I had to make two cross-country trips to read the whole thing in two sittings.

And it's about three to your years ago where Wordsworth did a poll about authors with works still under copyright they should do and Wakefield won by a landslide.

And still, nothing.

 

[Randy M.]

I've had a similar experience with They Return at Evening. Only they wouldn't give it to me so I had to make two cross-country trips to read the whole thing in two sittings.

And it's about three to your years ago where Wordsworth did a poll about authors with works still under copyright they should do and Wakefield won by a landslide.

And still, nothing.

Maybe the estate is hard to deal with?

I recall an editor a number of years ago trying to get the rights to re-issue stories by Joseph Payne Brennan and having trouble coming to terms with the estate. Apparently they felt Brennan's work was worth more than a small-press publisher could afford and still turn a profit.


Randy M.

 

[j d worthington]

If I remember correctly, Brennan's work has been reissued by Midnight House or one of its affiliates a few years ago. I never had the cash to pick them up, but given some of the other volumes they did, they would have been handsome things... but not cheap. Another author I would like to see reissued in an affordable form.

However, we're drifting a good bit from the main topic (lycanthropic fiction), so had best reserve this sort of thing for another thread....

 

[Delboy]

David Case deserves a mention in any werewolf thread, although maybe not addressing the OP's original requirement for an Interview with the Vampire take on the werewolf. Nevertheless a fine writer who deserves more attention - check out Wolftracks or - and especially - The Hunter which was the 'long' story in one of the old Pan Books of Horror from the 70's.

Kind regards,
Derek

 

[Christopher Lee]

For anyone else checking out this thread these days, I would recommend McCammon's The Wolf's Hour. Great read.

 

[hopewrites]

I just finished a romance in this genre, if anyone wants the name of it I'll spill. There was one section where the action was moving too fast and it seemed like the author forgot to be clear about who was were doing what. But other than that it was a decently enjoyable quick read.

 

[BetaWolf]

I would recommend starting with the mythology. Sigmund and his son Sinfjotli in the Volsung Saga find magic wolf skins that let them change into wolves. They live in the woods for a while until they find themselves losing their humanity.

I think that Jim Butcher adapted this well for his second book in the Dresden series, Fool Moon. If you like urban fantasy, you might want to check it out. The TV series based on his books did an episode about werewolves, but it was very different. Book was better, as usual.

 

[dask]

For anyone else checking out this thread these days, I would recommend McCammon's The Wolf's Hour. Great read.

I like McCammon. I'll search this one out.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

I can vouch for The Wolf's Hour too. Think he's written a follow up recently?