Werewolf CSI

[crockpotcauldron]

There are a lot of old werewolf stories in which the werewolf gets busted by someone spotting evidence of their wolf activities on their human bodies. Often it's an injury that someone inflicted on the wolf that lingers in human form - an arrow wound, a knife slash, a paw getting cut off and turning into a human hand. Sometimes it's blood in their mouth, a scrap of fabric between human teeth, or someone looking suspiciously well fed during hard times. It adds an exciting air of murder mystery to what are, essentially, horror stories.

It makes me a little sad that modern werewolf stories have completely dropped the ball in favor of easy regeneration. I blame vampires, honestly. You wind up with this superpowered arms race in urban fantasy, where werewolves have to be powered up so they don't get bowled over by super fast, super strong, bulletproof, hypnotic, intangible, etc vampires. And then, of course, they have to have the long lifespan to match the vampires too, and some mind control, and sometimes the individual extra superpowers - it really gets out of hand.

I'd like to see some more stories where there are actual consequences to wolfy shenanigans besides just dodgy full moon alibis - a cut on the palm from four-wheeling it, a scratch on the nose from sticking it where it doesn't belong, a microchip from a well-meaning biologist. A proper full moon hangover, you know?

Comments

[crockpotcauldron]

Yesss exactly imagine an outraged PhD student tracking a radio collar to the garbage can behind a crow-covered cabin and hearing from the neighbors that this scruffy recluse apparently is keeping a wolf as a pet.

Imagine that poor werewolf listening to a lecture about how wolves are wild animals that cannot ethically be kept as pets, while having vivid flashbacks to knocking over their own garbage cans last night and chewing up the couch.

There's so much potential!

This story of course ends with the PhD student strapping a GoPro to the werewolf to gather better data on the pack.

[vashnoi]

Beautiful. And over the course of shenanigans, it would gradually emerge that the were actually knows a lot about wolves, who would have thought it. Stuff that only experts usually know. Stuff that not even experts know!

Omg a research partner ending would be so good. ("I should get to be at least a contributing author for this.")

[crockpotcauldron]

Yes omg that would be perfect. The werewolf casually sharing pack gossip and cooking venison as the student scribbles notes and argues. The student gleefully reporting the academic shitstorm the paper stirs up, as they fleacomb the werewolf.