Terrifying Transformations: An Anthology of Victorian Werewolf Fiction

by Alexis Easley (Editor), Shannon Scott (Editor), Rudyard Kipling (Contributor)

"From the summit of the ivy-grown tower, the very rooks, in the midst of their cawing, are scared away by the furious rush and the wild howl with which the Wehr-Wolf thunders over the hallowed ground." - G. W. M. Reynolds, Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf

This collection brings together fifteen chilling stories of lycanthropy and murder written from 1838 to 1896, all taken from their original appearances in Victorian periodicals and story collections, many of them reprinted here for the first time. This edition includes a new introduction by Alexis Easley and Shannon Scott, explanatory notes, and numerous rare Victorian werewolf illustrations.

This collection contains: "Hugues, the Wer-Wolf" (1838) by Sutherland Menzies, "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" (1839) by Frederick Marryat, "A Story of a Weir-Wolf" (1846) by Catherine Crowe, excerpts from Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf (1846-47) by George W. M. Reynolds, "Lycanthropy in London; or, The Wehr-Wolf of Wilton-Crescent" (1855) by Dudley Costello, "The Gray-Wolf" (1871) by George MacDonald, "The Were-wolf of the Grendelwold" (1882) by F. Scarlett Potter, "The White Wolf of Kostopchin" (1889) by Gilbert Campbell, "A Pastoral Horror" (1890) by Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Mark of the Beast" (1890) by Rudyard Kipling, "The Were-Wolf" (1890) by Clemence Housman, "Dracula's Guest" (ca. 1892) by Bram Stoker, "The Other Side: A Breton Legend" (1893) by Eric Stenbock, "Morraha" (1894) by Joseph Jacobs, and "Where There is Nothing, There is God" (1896) by William Butler Yeats. An appendix of contextual materials is also included, featuring nonfiction articles from Victorian periodicals dealing with lycanthropy, Rosamund Marriott Watson's poem "A Ballad of the Were-wolf" (1891), excerpts from Sabine Baring-Gould's "The Book of Were-Wolves" (1865) and Laurence Housman's illustrations for Clemence Housman's "The Were-wolf" (1896).

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Werewolves, Fiction, Anthologies

377 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2012

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more soon. For now:
4.5 bumped up

I got nothing at all done today except for finishing this book, and I don't care. The dogs got fed, got their meds and their swim, but beyond that, my entire day was this book.

Trust me, what's in this book is not at all "The Wolfman" from old movie fame, and I was very happy about that. These tales (and the pieces at the end) were obviously very carefully selected, all working together here in a fine volume of work. Loved the Stenbock story, by the way.

It's just not Halloween without a werewolf or two or three.

[Latasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book starts out strong and ends strong but the middle is just a chore. i should be upfront and say this could have been just me. Anthologies usually don't work for me. i wanted to read this one to see how our views of the werewolf had changed since these stories were published. i may come back to some of these stories from time to time.

[Rachel]

read for dissertation, chapter on werewolf teeth :)

[Jesse Stclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly fascinating read. Fun mix of stories, novel extracts, essays, and even a poem.