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]

Huh! The Four Horrors theory is very interesting! I'd argue that older werewolf stories could range from the Gothic Horror of deals with the devil to Slasher Horror like the Beast of Gevaudan. Of course, there are plenty of old werewolf stories that aren't horror at all, and some are quite funny! Have you seen the wolf strap stories where they're like "sheep? what sheep?"
I think you're on to something with the Atomic Horror angle, and that's a fascinating insight into the themes of lycanthropy! I'm definitely going to think about that, and see if I can winnow something meaningful out of the stories I've been reading.
And yeah, you're right about cars, and the action movie fights! You have devoted a lot of time to thinking about werewolves! Do you have any favorite werewolf stories?

[chickadee_sun]

Oh, of course not all old werewolf stories are horror of any kind! Thanks for pointing it out. I really should've specified that I was talking about the subset of stories which are horror stories. Good point about the Slasher Horror; I hadn't thought about it. But yeah, especially stories about how human nature is inherently sinful and violent and evil have some Slasher Horror to them.

I've read about wolf strap werewolves and sheep-stealing werewolves, but I don't think I'm familiar with this particular story. It sounds fun. Do you know if I can read it online?

I'm not good at favorites and I think you're already familiar with a lot of werewolf stories I like. (Especially the ones you got me into.) How about Saki's short story Gabriel-Ernest for evil werewolves, and the webcomic Family Man for good ones? Well, you might not like Family Man since I seem to remember you don't like stories where werewolves are a genetic thing. Family Man's werewolves are an ethnoreligious minority in 18th century not-Germany-yet. They're sometimes presented as parallel to Jews and Roma.

[crockpotcauldron]

aw, I love wolf strap stories. Let me see what I can scrounge up! This is a pretty good site for them: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html

Here is one where the werewolf keeps mysteriously bringing mutton home to her husband:
"A married couple in Hessen lived in poverty. To the husband's amazement, the wife nevertheless was able to serve meat for every meal. For a long time she kept it a secret where she got the meat, but finally she promised to reveal it to him, under the condition that he not call out her name as it was happening. Together they went to a field where a herd of sheep was grazing. The woman walked toward the sheep, and as ishe approached them, she threw a ring over herself and instantly turned into a werewolf. She fell upon the sheep, seized one of them, and fled. The man stood there as though petrified. However, when he saw the shepherd and the dogs running after the werewolf, thus endangering his wife, he forgot his promise and called out: "Margaret!" With that the wolf disappeared, and the woman was left standing naked in the field."

And here's one where the werewolf hunts himself a snack and then pretends nothing happened. Looks like it was a popular one, because there are several versions of it. I think this is the one I remembered.
"Three workmen were mowing a meadow. Noon came, but no one had brought them their meal yet, so they agreed to mow one more round and then to lie down beneath a bush until the food arrived. And that is what they did. Two of them fell asleep immediately, because one never sleeps better than when one is tired, and there is no softer bed than one made from flowers and grass.
The third workman, however, tied a wolf strap around his waist and crept up to a herd of horses that was grazing there. The best foal was just right for him. He grabbed it and killed it. The remaining horses and the herder ran off. The other harvesters saw what had happened, but they wisely pretended to be asleep, for they were frightened and horrified.
After the werewolf had satisfied his hunger, he took off the strap, came back, and lay down to rest. Their food soon arrived: a large pot full of porridge and for each man six boiled eggs plus some bread and salt. As the two harvesters were helping themselves with their wooden spoons, the werewolf said, "Earlier I was terribly hungry, but for some reason I don't feel like eating now." The two others said nothing.
The one harvester complained the entire afternoon about cramps and a stomach ache, and often went to the brook to quench his burning thirst. The two others said nothing. That evening, as they were on their way home, he said once again that he had never felt so stuffed, to which one of the harvesters replied that it could happen to anyone.
When they arrived at the town gate, and he was still complaining, the other workman said, "A person who eats an entire foal should not be surprised to feel stuffed and have stomach cramps. To that he replied, "If you had said that earlier, you would not now be walking home on your own legs." He then threw his scythe away, tied the strap around his waist, turned into a wolf, and was never again seen in that place."

I love that kind of story.

I haven't encountered Gabriel-Ernest before, but I'm going to read it now. As for Family Man, I did try to read it a while ago, and I'll give it another shot.