The Werewolf Pack

by Mark Valentine (Editor), Frederick Marryat (Contributor), Bernard Capes (Contributor)

The wolf has always been a creature of legend and romance, while kings, sorcerers and outlaws have been proud to be called by the name of the wolf. It's no wonder, then, that tales of transformation between man and wolf are so powerful and persistent.

Introduction --
The white wolf of the Hartz Mountains / Captain Frederick Marryat --
The white wolf of Kostopchin / Sir Gilbert Campbell --
The other side [a Breton legend] / Count Stenbock --
The terror in the snow / B. Fletcher Robinson --
A werewolf of the campagna / Mrs Hugh Fraser --
The white wolf / Andrew Lang --
The boy and the wolves, or the the broken promise / Andrew Lang --
William and the werewolf / P.J. Harvey Darton --
The undying thing / Barry Pain --
Gabriel-Ernst / Saki --
The she-wolf / Saki --
The thing in the forest / Bernard Capes --
Among the wolves / Vasile Voiculescu --
The shadow of the wolf / Ron Weighell --
The clay party / Steve Duffy --
The tale untold / Gail-Nina Anderson --
Loup-garou / R.B. Russell.

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

209 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2008

About the author

Mark Valentine is an English author, biographer and editor.

Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.

As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.

Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).

Reviews

[Rui · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say I really missed this kind of stuff, classic werewolf tales, the kind of werewolves that don't knock on your door with a bouquet and shyly ask you out, maybe apologising occasionally for shedding some fur on your sofa and, at the same time, hoping against hope your vampire boyfriend doesn't find out he's taking you out. No, instead most of these werewolves would jump right through your window, rip out your throat and maybe then (just maybe) take what's left of you to a very morbid date in the woods. Ok, to be honest not all of them were like that, some were nicer and right down helpful, and a handful (very few) were, indeed, fake, but the mood of most of these stories was spot on, there was always an underlying possibility that someone would get their throat eaten at some point (or, in one particular case, their hart...but she kept dropping hints, its was not her fault everyone around seemed to be bloody stupid, really).
Anyway, between ancient curses, dark forests, lonely manors, Sherlock Holmes absolutely baffled (for once), ill fated caravans and...er...art-house French cinema (don't ask) there is a hell of a good time to be spent.
I think I'll keep a close eye on this collection of "Tales of Mystery & The supernatural".

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any thematic anthologies, this book suffers from the inevitable malady of anthologies: inconsistency in terms of quality. Belittling the noble intentions of Mark Valentine (himself a supremely competent author horror, but as an editor.......) to cover the history of werewolf literature in English through representative examples, this collection is dragged to the point of being frankly boring by most of its stories, before being lifted into unexpectedly elevated level by a few recent efforts. But, let me describe story-wise:

1) "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" by Captain Frederick Marryat: part of the novel 'The Phantom Ship' (1839) begins the process of boring the reader to a howling death.
2) "The White Wolf of Kostopchin" by Sir Gilbert Campbell, is basically retelling of one of the more common legends, told in a sensationalist mode, but, again, is howlingly boring.
3) "The Other Side" by Count Eric Stenbock, is again a legend retold in fairly boring style.
4) "The Terror in the Snow" by Bertram Fletcher Robinson, is one of most accomplished stories in this collection, with all the gothic elements suitably veering between mystery & horror all along.
5) "A Werewolf of the Campagna" by Mrs. Hugh Fraser is, again, drivel and nothing else.
6) "The White Wolf" by Andrew Leng
7) "The Boy and the Wolves"/"The Broken Promise" by Andrew Leng: both these stories are retold fables, and are so unreadable that they would have made HCA shudder in his grave!
8) "William and the Werewolf" by F.J. Harvey Darton is again, lovingly reprinted trash.
9) "The Undying Thing" by Barry Pain is the 2nd story in this collection which is a good story that would have seriously benefited from editorial interventions in terms of length (too true for so many of these writers).
10) "Gabriel Earnest" by Saki is one of the best werewolf stories written in English (that was successfully inverted by Jane Rice in her tremendous "The Refugee", unfortunately not to be found in this collection), and is chilling despite its short and often humorous phraseology.
11) "The She-Wolf" by Saki is a comic relief, and is great fun after the bland & boring stories that had been suffocating the major part of the book.
12) "The Thing in the Forest" by Bernard Capes is a brilliant short piece that manages to flood the reader away with its images, emotions and suspense.
13) "Among the Wolves" by Vasile Voiculescu is a tale more of occult & mystic than of werewolves per se, but it is readable.
14) "THE SHADOW OF THE WOLF" by Ron Weighell is a story that alone should justify the purchase (and subsequent reading of some of the other readable stories, numbered 4,10,11,12) of this book. It is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche that combines all the common elements associated with werewolf legends with a murder mystery, and then allows Holmes & Watson to solve it, with dollops of hair-rising suspense at the end that is bound to haunt you with numerous "but if...."-s.
15) "THE CLAY PARTY" by Steve Duffy is nominally a retelling of the events involving the infamous "Donner Party (1846)", but in the hands of one of the best modern horror writers of our times it becomes a tremendous werewolf story on its own.
16) "The Tale Untold" by Gail Nina Anderson is a folk tale told with a humorous touch.
17) "LOUP-GAROU" by R.B. Russell is the most fitting story with which this collection could have ended, with enough ambiguity and more-than-enough questions in its almost lyrical prose, that respects our intelligence, and allows us to draw our own conclusions.

Overall, as you can see, out of 17 stories only 7 are worthy of mention, and out of the rest those numbered 1,2,3,5,6,7,8 should be used as fuel during the Christmas celebrations. But among these 7 stories are hidden 3 of the ABSOLUTELY MOST STUNNING stories of our times. Combine it with the very-very reasonable price of this edition, and the merits of the readable stories numbered 4,9,13, and "voila!", you have got an item worthy of 4 stars and purchase. Recommended.

[Radu Profeanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

After re reading Dracula this summer it felt only fitting to tackle the other classic monster. So I jumped at the occasion of reading the Werewolf Pack a collection of short werewolf stories.
The book is a solid 3 out of 5 stars for me and although most stories are formulaic I had fun reading them.
As stand outs i would recommend "A werewolf of the Campagna", an italian story that asks the question " Would the Almighty still sit on his throne if he wouldn't behave in accordance to a gentleman's idea of how God should behave" .
"The Terror in the Snow" was another great title that gave me the classic gothic horror story vibes.
And of course last but not least "Among the wolves" which is a Romanian inspired story written by Vasile Voiculescu which touches upon the shamanistic aspect of lycanthropy. Interesting fact Voiculescu became persona non-grata with the Romanian Communist Party for writing these story.

[Lady Entropy · Rating 4 out of 5]

17 contos da velha guarda, alguns com tons de fantasia, alguns com tons de contos de fadas, alguns com tons de terror, uma compra muito satisfatória que me deixou extremamente contente.

Alguns contos eram não muito bons, mas perfeitamente aceitáveis, mas, na sua maioria, absolutamente excelentes.

[Danillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. This one took me a lot more time than I thought it'd take. I started reading it on September 1st! And it only has 209 pages! =o
To be honest, some of the stories deserve way more than the 2 stars I gave, but there are some that drags for far too long. And they're written in an old English, around the 18th century and I guess some of the 17th, too, so it does not help. But I'm glad I've managed to finish it!

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one more on account of me loving werewolves, but I found it a bit lacking at times. I enjoyed a lot of the earlier stories that looked at the mythic origins of the monster, but some of the later stories in which the werewolf was actually just a person were disappointing. It was a short and very readable over-all though, not a bad Halloween read.

[Nelly Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories are mysterious, one or two are actually haunting (in a Gothic way), and a few only have vague references to werewolves. My favourites were "The Other Side" and the Sherlock Holmes mystery.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2,5 Stars

Podem ler a minha opinião completa, em português, no blog Floresta de Livros.

I have to admit I was hoping for more. It's not that I didn't like any of the tales, but most were merely average. Still, the ones that stood out for me were:
- "The Other Side (a Breton Legend)", Count Stenbock;
- "A Werewolf of the Campagna", Mrs. Hugh Fraser;
- "William and the Werewolf", F.J. Harvey Darton;
- "Gabriel-Ernest", Saki;
- "The Thing in the Forest", Bernard Capes;
- "Among the Wolves", Vasile Voiculescu;
- "The Clay Party", Steve Duffy;
- "The Tale Untold", Gail-Nina Anderson;
- "Loup-garou", R.B. Russell

[Inês Montenegro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some better than others, but in general a good book, with short-stories to all tastes. Personally, mine were the settings and details from the old 19th myths. And she-wolfs. There is something thrilling about she-wolfs.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of early werewolf stories. I particularly enjoyed Barry Pain's "The Undying Thing," Sir Gilbert Campbell's "The White Wolf of Kostopchin," and Count Stenbock's surreal fantasy "The Other Side."

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories about werewolves, some good, some not so good. Enjoyable over all.
"The Clay Party" was visceral as fuck and the best story. There was also a nice short Sherlock Holmes story.