The Literary Werewolf: An Anthology

by Charlotte F. Otten (Editor)

Overview

Here is a werewolf anthology that uncovers new terrain. Its stories span centuries. Its storytellers, from Stephen King to Saki, de Maupassant to Kipling, Seabury Quinn to Ovid, are eclectic. Its premise delves deeper into its subject than previous, often sensational, collections. The Literary Werewolf is arranged into ten story groups based on like human needs for animal transformation. Within its pages waits the werewolf who is Erotic . . . Rapacious . . . Supernatural . . . Victimized . . . Avenging . . . Guilty . . . Unabsolved . . . and Voluntary. Each cluster of tales provides unique insights into varied aspects of the human psyche by examining psychological, physical, moral, spiritual, medical, supernatural, and philosophical facets of human/werewolf transmut11tion. Thus, the author sheds spellbinding light on murky impulses lurking beneath the surface of human consciousness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815629658
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.08(d)

About the Author

Charlotte F. Otten is professor emerita of English at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the author of A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture, also published by Syracuse University Press.

Editorial Reviews

The Literary Werewolf, edited by scholar Charlotte F. Otten, collects 22 werewolf tales from Ovid to Stephen King, whose "February, Cycle of the Werewolf" leads off the opening section, "The Erotic Werewolf." Other categories include the "Diabolical," the "Victimized," the "Guilty" and the "Voluntary" werewolf.

Publishers Weekly

Compiled by Otten, editor of A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture, the 22 tales in this engaging collection range from the ancient world (Ovid's "Lyacaon's Punishment") to the modern age (Stephen King's "February, Cycle of the Werewolf"). There is a tantalizing excerpt of Brian Stableford's novel, The Werewolves of London, in which fallen angels from biblical times roam the world as werewolves. Seabury Quinn's "The Thing in the Fog" is reminiscent of Bram Stoker's Dracula, except that here the evil one who attempts to seduce and transform a lovely young woman is a werewolf rather than a vampire. The main character in Bruce Elliott's amusing "Wolves Don't Cry" is a wolf in a zoo who wakes up one morning as a man. In Jane Yolen's "Green Messiah," a group of environmentalists finds a way to repopulate the wolf species-by turning humans into wolves. Other featured storytellers include Saki, Guy de Maupassant, and Rudyard Kipling. Readers of good fiction will find this volume worthwhile. For both literary and horror collections.-Patricia Altner, Information Seekers, Columbia, MD

Library Journal