Book Review: The Werewolf by Maegan A Stebbins

WEREWOLVES - PRO OR CON?!?!?!

Apparently this is a legitimate question, at least to some people, as Maegan A Stebbins writes in her book The Werewolf.

Apparently Stebbins is pretty fed up with the modern portrayal of werewolves, and wants the world to see them as capable of good, as they were many times in the past.

This is a strange premise. And the book is...actually pretty interesting? It's heavily researched and documented - at first I thought it was a masters thesis (and it actually might be that). Stebbins takes the reader through the history of werewolves, who show up in literature all across the globe (although she focuses on Western civilization) from ancient Greece through St. Augustine and through the tales of King Arthur. She also defines what is and isn't a werewolf (i.e., a shape shifter who turns into a wolf is NOT a werewolf).

As Stebbins shows, in many of these tales the werewolf is basically just a person who looks like a wolf. They are capable of the same actions and emotions as humans - just fuzzier.

The turning point may have been a trial of a murderer in Germany during the Middle Ages. The murderer, obviously a nut case, said turned into a wolf when he committed his murders. The "wolf defense" didn't help any (he was turned on a wheel, had every bone in his body crushed, and was then beheaded for good measure), but it cast a dark pall over the view of werewolves.

This built up steam all the way to the 1940s movies The Wolf Man and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Those movies set up most of our werewolf parameters (active during the full moon, passed through bites, silver bullets, etc.), but they also set the tone for werewolves being always seen as villians. (Note: I wonder what she thought of the Werewolf episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. "That's absolutely fascinating.")

So, why is Stebbins so vehement in wanting kinder portrayals of werewolves? She says that not only does it open up more avenues in fiction, but it would also help children be less afraid of wolves (which...okay....). Also, she just HAPPENS to be a fiction writer, and was starting a series that featured a werewolf as the good guy (NO SH*T).

So, it's kind of a flimsy premise, but it's really not a bad history lesson. I'm giving it seven out of ten hot dogs. AROOOOOOOOO!!!!