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La compañía de los lobos
The wolf is described as an evil thing. The first story is about a witch that turned a whole wedding ceremony into wolves. She likes them coming to her cabin and howling their misery for it soothes her. The following story is about a young lady and a man that are about to have sex on their wedding night. As they get ready, the husband says he needs to stop and relieve himself in the forest. The wife waits and he never returns. Off in the distance you can hear a wolf howling. She then figures her husband will never return and marries a new man. With her new husband she bears children. Her first husband comes back and sees his wife and the story unravels... Later we meet a girl walking in the woods. She was loved by everyone and feared nothing. She made a deal with a hunter; whoever can get to the grandmothers house first wins. If the hunter wins she owes him a kiss. She lets the hunter win because she wants to kiss him. The hunter arrives at the grandmothers house but she's frail and sick, holding a Bible for protection. The last thing she sees is the young man at the foot of her bed.... "See! sweet and sound she sleeps in granny's bed, between the paws of the tender wolf."
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1981
About the author
Angela Carter
230 books3,803 followersBorn Angela Olive Stalker in Eastbourne, in 1940, Carter was evacuated as a child to live in Yorkshire with her maternal grandmother. As a teenager she battled anorexia. She began work as a journalist on the Croydon Advertiser, following in the footsteps of her father. Carter attended the University of Bristol where she studied English literature.
She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter. They divorced after twelve years. In 1969 Angela Carter used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, Japan, where she claims in Nothing Sacred (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised." She wrote about her experiences there in articles for New Society and a collection of short stories, Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces (1974), and evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (1972). She was there at the same time as Roland Barthes, who published his experiences in Empire of Signs (1970).
She then explored the United States, Asia, and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer in residence at universities, including the University of Sheffield, Brown University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of East Anglia. In 1977 Carter married Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son.
As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to The Guardian, The Independent and New Statesman, collected in Shaking a Leg. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original radio dramas on Richard Dadd and Ronald Firbank. Two of her fictions have been adapted for the silver screen: The Company of Wolves (1984) and The Magic Toyshop (1987). She was actively involved in both film adaptations, her screenplays are published in the collected dramatic writings, The Curious Room, together with her radio scripts, a libretto for an opera of Virginia Wolf's Orlando, an unproduced screenplay entitled The Christchurch Murders (based on the same true story as Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures) and other works. These neglected works, as well as her controversial television documentary, The Holy Family Album, are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, Anagrams of Desire (2003).
At the time of her death, Carter was embarking on a sequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens. However, only a synopsis survives.
Her novel Nights at the Circus won the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for literature.
Angela Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing lung cancer. Her obituary published in The Observer said, "She was the opposite of parochial. Nothing, for her, was outside the pale: she wanted to know about everything and everyone, and every place and every word. She relished life and language hugely, and reveled in the diverse."
She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter. They divorced after twelve years. In 1969 Angela Carter used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, Japan, where she claims in Nothing Sacred (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised." She wrote about her experiences there in articles for New Society and a collection of short stories, Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces (1974), and evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (1972). She was there at the same time as Roland Barthes, who published his experiences in Empire of Signs (1970).
She then explored the United States, Asia, and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer in residence at universities, including the University of Sheffield, Brown University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of East Anglia. In 1977 Carter married Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son.
As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to The Guardian, The Independent and New Statesman, collected in Shaking a Leg. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original radio dramas on Richard Dadd and Ronald Firbank. Two of her fictions have been adapted for the silver screen: The Company of Wolves (1984) and The Magic Toyshop (1987). She was actively involved in both film adaptations, her screenplays are published in the collected dramatic writings, The Curious Room, together with her radio scripts, a libretto for an opera of Virginia Wolf's Orlando, an unproduced screenplay entitled The Christchurch Murders (based on the same true story as Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures) and other works. These neglected works, as well as her controversial television documentary, The Holy Family Album, are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, Anagrams of Desire (2003).
At the time of her death, Carter was embarking on a sequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens. However, only a synopsis survives.
Her novel Nights at the Circus won the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for literature.
Angela Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing lung cancer. Her obituary published in The Observer said, "She was the opposite of parochial. Nothing, for her, was outside the pale: she wanted to know about everything and everyone, and every place and every word. She relished life and language hugely, and reveled in the diverse."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
March 11, 2026
This week’s short story of the Short Story Club. Impressive haunting tale with a surprising ending.
April 13, 2018
Reading this made me wet in public. That 50 shades of grey author can go cry in a corner. Besides, the language is so good it makes you think that there is no point writing yourself if there were authors of that caliber around
March 17, 2026
The single short story, "The Company of Wolves," is a modern look at the "Little Red Riding Hood" story with a heroine who has a very different outcome with the wolf. I read this with the Short Story Club.
May 17, 2023
my prof says it’s “sharply focalized in and through the perception, suffering, and melancholy of wolves even as it shifts radically to the perspective of a latter-day Riding Hood” so we’ll go with that
February 21, 2023
will never reciver from the fact that i had to read a werewolf/little red ridinghood smut fanfiction for uni
September 24, 2014
Absolutely beautifully rendered; rich language and really towed the line between fairytale fantasy and sexual exploration. I liked the style so much I purchased an Angela Carter anthology afterwards.
October 17, 2021
Read for uni
March 14, 2025
4/5 ⭐
i love me some werewolf x little red riding hood smut fanfiction for uni :3
i love me some werewolf x little red riding hood smut fanfiction for uni :3
March 24, 2016
Hey, I know what will be fun. Since I'm such a lazy prick and I'm over writing about literature for one day, I'm just gonna copy and paste my tutorial notes on this shit.
"Unlike the Perrault and Grimm fairytales, Carter’s Company Of Wolves clearly establishes the wolves as predatory and dangerous, presenting them as monsters as in any gothic horror story - (“of all the teeming perils of the night and the forest, ghosts, hobgoblins, ogres that grill babies upon gridirons , witches that fatten their captives in cages, the wolf is the worst” - and it should be noted that even the children are well-learned in their need to be avoided. “Children of the sparse villages always carry knives with them”.
"Also contrary to the earlier fairytale versions, Carter’s story draws particular attention to the plight of the wolves, not only establishing their former human elements with the introduction of lycanthropy, but by also evoking a sense of tragedy and suffering amongst them. “Serenading her with their misery”. “Inherent sadness” in the sound of their howls. “They would love to be less beastly if only they knew how”. “Vast melancholy in the canticles of the wolf”.
"Two other small differences in Carter’s version is the strong-mindedness of Red Hiding Hood. She remains in control of the situation even at its most dire. And then, most notably, there are the various sexual overtones in this story, and the frequent references to human body parts like nipples, genitals, breasts, and menstruation. Red Riding Hood also shows a willingness to be lured and seduced by the wolf and she comes out better because of it".
It should also be noted that - ah fuck it, I'm going to bed.
"Unlike the Perrault and Grimm fairytales, Carter’s Company Of Wolves clearly establishes the wolves as predatory and dangerous, presenting them as monsters as in any gothic horror story - (“of all the teeming perils of the night and the forest, ghosts, hobgoblins, ogres that grill babies upon gridirons , witches that fatten their captives in cages, the wolf is the worst” - and it should be noted that even the children are well-learned in their need to be avoided. “Children of the sparse villages always carry knives with them”.
"Also contrary to the earlier fairytale versions, Carter’s story draws particular attention to the plight of the wolves, not only establishing their former human elements with the introduction of lycanthropy, but by also evoking a sense of tragedy and suffering amongst them. “Serenading her with their misery”. “Inherent sadness” in the sound of their howls. “They would love to be less beastly if only they knew how”. “Vast melancholy in the canticles of the wolf”.
"Two other small differences in Carter’s version is the strong-mindedness of Red Hiding Hood. She remains in control of the situation even at its most dire. And then, most notably, there are the various sexual overtones in this story, and the frequent references to human body parts like nipples, genitals, breasts, and menstruation. Red Riding Hood also shows a willingness to be lured and seduced by the wolf and she comes out better because of it".
It should also be noted that - ah fuck it, I'm going to bed.
September 4, 2020
Caperucita Roja de la forma más erótica que haya sido contada.
February 18, 2016
Great adaptation of little red riding hood and beautifully written. The introductory paragraphs are some of the best writing I've ever read. The ending is unexpected and in a way quite confusing but over all a great story. I look forward to reading Carter's other stories.
July 21, 2025
4.2*
Aquest recull de contes és un acte de subversió literària: Carter pren fàbules infantils (La Caputxeta Vermella, La Bella i la Bèstia, Barbablava) i les banya en sang, luxúria i psicoanàlisi junguiana, convertint-les en al·legories sobre el poder, el desig femení i la bestialitat latent en la civilització. La prosa és barroca i carnal — mel d'abella barrejada amb ferum de pell humida —, amb imatges que cremen la retina: dones-llop alliberant-se de vestits de núvia, bèsties aristocràtiques en sales de miralls, nens que juguen amb vísceres sota la lluna. Cada relat (com la cèlebre "La cambra de sang" o la mateixa "La companyia dels llops") és una exploració de l'instint com a força emancipadora: la Licantropia no és una maledicció sinó una metamorfosi cap a la llibertat. Carter no reescriu contes; els escalfa al foc del feminisme radical i els servei cruents, demanant-nos que mengem la pell amb la pell i mostrant-nos el llop que portem dins.
Aquest recull de contes és un acte de subversió literària: Carter pren fàbules infantils (La Caputxeta Vermella, La Bella i la Bèstia, Barbablava) i les banya en sang, luxúria i psicoanàlisi junguiana, convertint-les en al·legories sobre el poder, el desig femení i la bestialitat latent en la civilització. La prosa és barroca i carnal — mel d'abella barrejada amb ferum de pell humida —, amb imatges que cremen la retina: dones-llop alliberant-se de vestits de núvia, bèsties aristocràtiques en sales de miralls, nens que juguen amb vísceres sota la lluna. Cada relat (com la cèlebre "La cambra de sang" o la mateixa "La companyia dels llops") és una exploració de l'instint com a força emancipadora: la Licantropia no és una maledicció sinó una metamorfosi cap a la llibertat. Carter no reescriu contes; els escalfa al foc del feminisme radical i els servei cruents, demanant-nos que mengem la pell amb la pell i mostrant-nos el llop que portem dins.
July 22, 2018
En la oscuridad de la noche, los lobos aullan.
Una versión oscura y erótica sobre el cuento clásico La caperucita roja.
Este pequeño cuento comienza definiendonos como son en realidad los lobos, y como son también los hombres lobo. Nos cuenta la historia como la contaría un antepasado nuestro de un área rural. Le da un toque de misterio y crueldad a los lobos, capaces de lo que sea cuando el invierno llega y comienzan a sufrir hambre, ellos y los licántropos.
La prosa es estupenda. Tiene un vocabulario y unas oraciones fenomenales. También tiene un toque erótico muy sutil sin caer en lo vulgar. También nos demuestra una vez más porque no debemos confiar en los extraños y que tampoco debemos subestimar a alguien por el solo hecho de ser una adolescente.
Recomiendo este libro así como su adaptación cinematográfica. Ambos son misteriosos, escalofriantes y muy atrapantes.
Una versión oscura y erótica sobre el cuento clásico La caperucita roja.
Este pequeño cuento comienza definiendonos como son en realidad los lobos, y como son también los hombres lobo. Nos cuenta la historia como la contaría un antepasado nuestro de un área rural. Le da un toque de misterio y crueldad a los lobos, capaces de lo que sea cuando el invierno llega y comienzan a sufrir hambre, ellos y los licántropos.
La prosa es estupenda. Tiene un vocabulario y unas oraciones fenomenales. También tiene un toque erótico muy sutil sin caer en lo vulgar. También nos demuestra una vez más porque no debemos confiar en los extraños y que tampoco debemos subestimar a alguien por el solo hecho de ser una adolescente.
Recomiendo este libro así como su adaptación cinematográfica. Ambos son misteriosos, escalofriantes y muy atrapantes.
July 16, 2016
Very beautiful and imaginative. I have re-read it so many times. Women and wolves, the strenght in us all. Amazing treatment of folklore, twist of the fantastic.
May 13, 2024
one star for the effort
September 3, 2025
Read for uni
November 27, 2023
Maybe you didn't take a Gothic literature class in college in which your very nutty professor went into excruciating detail about the Freudian sexual meanings behind every classic fairytale (Snow White's seven dwarves wore caps that signify foreskin because of course they are phallic symbols, for example), but even if you didn't, I'm sure similar thoughts have crossed your mind.
Angela Carter takes those thoughts and runs with them, then subverts them---turning predators into seductive liberators and victims into triumphant heroines.
Her language is just so lush and spellbinding it's impossible to avoid getting drawn into the deep dark woods without even your knife to protect you.
I highly recommend having these stories read to you (lots of audio versions available) while you close your eyes and take it all in. This particular story has been turned into a movie (which I have yet to see) and a BBC radio production (which I listened to on my walk to work, causing some very awkward moments 😳)
Be ready for her words to stick with you.
Angela Carter takes those thoughts and runs with them, then subverts them---turning predators into seductive liberators and victims into triumphant heroines.
Her language is just so lush and spellbinding it's impossible to avoid getting drawn into the deep dark woods without even your knife to protect you.
I highly recommend having these stories read to you (lots of audio versions available) while you close your eyes and take it all in. This particular story has been turned into a movie (which I have yet to see) and a BBC radio production (which I listened to on my walk to work, causing some very awkward moments 😳)
Be ready for her words to stick with you.
March 16, 2026
Who knew Angela Carter was a pioneer in the Romance sub-genre "Shifter Erotica"?
The description for this short story gives too much away; this review only concerns the short story "The Company of Wolves" — which contains much of the material listed in the description.
A classy, sexy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, with unexpectedly lush language, harsh circumstances, bold foreshadowing, lots of lice, a treasure trail, and a virgin who is oh-so-worldly.
The description for this short story gives too much away; this review only concerns the short story "The Company of Wolves" — which contains much of the material listed in the description.
A classy, sexy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, with unexpectedly lush language, harsh circumstances, bold foreshadowing, lots of lice, a treasure trail, and a virgin who is oh-so-worldly.
March 26, 2019
Really disturbing.
April 3, 2020
A breddy gud twist on the werewolf tale and the red riding hood folktale. I loved it, and I really need more shapeshifting monster stories
April 6, 2020
This is a very twisted version of “Red Riding Hood.” As shocking as the ending is, it has a much more modern message than the original fairy tale.
May 3, 2024
What the fuck ?
April 24, 2022
2.5 stars
The Company of Wolves is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, but darker. I was a bit confused at first, because many people in my class (and on Goodreads) warned me that the story was weird. However, my copy was some sort of censored version, and I thus didn’t have those intensesex scenes. Kind of disappointing, not going to lie.
I had to get used to the writing style in my edition; the story jumped around and there was no clear point of view at first. The story starts of with a detailed account of why wolves suck, then we’re suddenly talking about a witch that turns a wedding party into wolves, then there’s a girl who marries a man who disappears, and then suddenly we’re thrown into the Little Red Riding Hood story. Very weird. I kind of liked the take on the story though – I’m a sucker for fairy tales turned adult with some dark twists. This was definitely good for that. I do feel like the censored version took a lot away from the story and made it less good, so I’d love to read the uncensored one. For some reason, I can’t seem to find it anywhere?Probably the wolf porn? The ending of the story was thus a bit off to me, quite sudden and weird? It would probably be weirder in the real version though.
Anyway, interesting take on the Little Red Riding Hood story. It was absolute chaos in writing at first, I definitely had to get used to the story. So yeah, is there anyone who can lend me the full version? ;)
“Fear and flee the wolf; for, worst of all, the wolf may be more than he seems.”
The Company of Wolves is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, but darker. I was a bit confused at first, because many people in my class (and on Goodreads) warned me that the story was weird. However, my copy was some sort of censored version, and I thus didn’t have those intense
“If you spy a naked man among the pines, you must run as if the Devil were after you.”
I had to get used to the writing style in my edition; the story jumped around and there was no clear point of view at first. The story starts of with a detailed account of why wolves suck, then we’re suddenly talking about a witch that turns a wedding party into wolves, then there’s a girl who marries a man who disappears, and then suddenly we’re thrown into the Little Red Riding Hood story. Very weird. I kind of liked the take on the story though – I’m a sucker for fairy tales turned adult with some dark twists. This was definitely good for that. I do feel like the censored version took a lot away from the story and made it less good, so I’d love to read the uncensored one. For some reason, I can’t seem to find it anywhere?
Anyway, interesting take on the Little Red Riding Hood story. It was absolute chaos in writing at first, I definitely had to get used to the story. So yeah, is there anyone who can lend me the full version? ;)
September 15, 2023
A different retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Read
April 28, 2026loved the atmosphere created in the introductory paragraphs. beautiful language but I can’t believe uni made me read Little Red Riding Hood smut😭😭😭
December 18, 2015
This is a surreal piece of prose written by Carter, where Carter clearly intertwines the compassion and sorrow of the wolves with the supposed naïve innocence of Little Red Riding Hood. However, she fools the readers thinking the wolves are the sexual predators within society, when in fact it could the girl too, who accepts death and the loss of her virginity with a femme fatal attitude.
September 26, 2020
3/5 Stars (%64/100)
A postmodern look at Little Red Riding Hood. The language is absolutely beautiful and the way Carter tells the story is great. Though it is essentially the fairy tale that we all know and love, this feels very intimate, sexual, and also deeply psychological. At that time, it was nothing like I've read before and this is why I liked it.
A postmodern look at Little Red Riding Hood. The language is absolutely beautiful and the way Carter tells the story is great. Though it is essentially the fairy tale that we all know and love, this feels very intimate, sexual, and also deeply psychological. At that time, it was nothing like I've read before and this is why I liked it.
May 24, 2018
This book is one of my favourite things in the world. A mystical, violent, sexy, other-worldly book of stories that are more like folklore and fairy-tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and nothing like modern day Disney fantasies.
January 7, 2016
Feminist, powerful, and dark. The Company of Wolves is a twist on Little Red Riding Hood that reveals dynamics between men, desire, sex, rape, and other themes.
March 21, 2018
I saw the movie before I read the tale, both are amazing and I truly recommend them to literally everybody.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews