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The Werewolf of Paris: A Novel

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 193 ratings · 37 reviews

Endore’s classic werewolf novel—now back in print for the first time in over forty years—helped define a genre and set a new standard in horror fiction
The werewolf is one of the great iconic figures of horror in folklore, legend, film, and literature. And connoisseurs of horror fiction know that The Werewolf of Paris is a cornerstone work, a masterpiece of the genre that d...more

ebook, 304 pages

Published July 17th 2012 by Pegasus Books (first published 1933)

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May 15, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, historical-fiction

The Werewolf of Paris is an interesting book. Part horror story and part historical fiction, it follows the travails of the titular werewolf of Paris from his birth to his death, as well as his place in the blood-drenched moment of history known as the Franco-Prussian War that was followed by the ill-fated Paris Commune. Interestingly the werewolf in question, Bertrand Caillet, is actually something of a secondary character in his own tale, as it is told from the perspective of his adoptive fath...more The Werewolf of Paris is an interesting book. Part horror story and part historical fiction, it follows the travails of the titular werewolf of Paris from his birth to his death, as well as his place in the blood-drenched moment of history known as the Franco-Prussian War that was followed by the ill-fated Paris Commune. Interestingly the werewolf in question, Bertrand Caillet, is actually something of a secondary character in his own tale, as it is told from the perspective of his adoptive father Aymar Galliez. We never see the wolf itself in action, and despite some tantalizing clues built upon separate pieces of evidence, the actual lycanthropy of Bertrand could as easily be interpreted as a purely psychological affliction as opposed to a supernatural one. Add to that the fact that we are being told this tale third-hand (Endore’s conceit being that his story is being constructed from the reports and reminiscences of Galliez who had to put the pieces together mostly second-hand, interspersed with Endore’s own researches into the documents of the period) and the truth or fiction of the lyncanthropy in question becomes even greater. Sometimes this conceit does not always benefit Endore’s story, for there are many scenes and events that occur within the text that would have been clearly outside of the knowledge of Galliez or any documentary sources of the day…still that is a quibble for something that really is a novel and quite an enjoyable one at that.

Endore starts his ‘documentary’ with a tale taken from the annals of history that purports to enlighten us as to the ultimate origins of our werewolf. It is a sordid tale of feuding nobility wherein the Pitamonts and Pitavals, after having waged generations of warfare against each other, finally end their feud in mutual impoverishment and one of the last of the Pitamonts is held captive for years by the last of the Pitavals. His imprisonment is an inhuman one, and he is left to suffer in a literal hole in the ground, fed nothing save raw meat. This apparently triggers his transformation into the wolf-man of legend. Our tale truly begins, however, when Josephine, a young peasant girl newly arrived in Paris, is raped by a priest, a descendant of the last of the Pitamonts, and bears Bertrand, a child destined to bring forth the family curse.

We follow Bertrand in his young life, at first so full of promise and then slowly brought to near ruin by his ever-increasing taste for blood. Strange things begin to happen in Bertrand’s village: animals go missing or turn up dead, recent corpses are found exhumed and partially eaten. What could be happening? Slowly Bertrand’s “uncle” Aymar (the nephew of the woman who had taken in Josephine and the man who ends up becoming responsible for both mother and child) begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together and see that everything leads back to his nephew. At first he tries to slake the thirst of the monster inside Bertrand by feeding the boy raw meat and keeping him confined to the house. This only has limited efficacy and soon more drastic measures need to be taken. Ultimately the boy is able to escape his well-meant prison and, starving to appease his lusts, goes on a spree of murder and terror that takes him to Paris. Here, amidst the confusion of the end of the Franco-Prussian war and the rise of the Commune Bertrand is able to satisfy most of his hungers free from persecution or discovery. But his Uncle Aymar is spurred on by regret and remorse. He feels responsible for the release of this beast upon the world, a beast he is convinced is a supernatural terror, and decides to hunt him down. The rest of the tale details his attempts to find Bertrand and his slowly dawning discovery amidst the chaos and death that seems to permanently reside in Paris that perhaps mankind itself is the true monster. Side by side with this runs the parallel story of Bertrand and his fortuitous discovery of a lover not only able, but willing to supply him with a conduit for the slaking of his varied lusts…it is an interesting picture of depravity, lust and mutual co-dependence. Of course things come to a head and the piper must be paid.

Endore’s overarching purpose is, I think, not really to tell a werewolf story, but a desire to expose the bloodthirsty nature of mankind, for which the werewolf of the title becomes little more than a symbol, or even a contrast to this thesis, since one lone werewolf, no matter how savage, can never hope to decimate the lives of which plain old human conflict is capable. For, as even Aymar the unstinting hunter of the wolf must admit, if the hands of “normal” men are able to commit and rationalize the cold-blooded killing of 20,000 commoners as part of the reaction against the Commune (not to mention those killed by the Commune itself in its heyday, or the casualties of the Franco-Prussian war before it) then “What was a werewolf who had killed a couple of prostitutes, who had dug up a few corpses…?” Endore, and by extension Aymar, even postulates that the very existence of the werewolf may have been nothing more than the sickness of the time manifesting itself physically…though it is left open-ended in a chicken-and-egg way whether it is the madness of the time that allowed the wolf to be born, or whether it was the existence of the wolf that could infect mankind with its madness and bloodlust.

Overall this was a good tale, though I would say it came across much more as historical fiction for me than as pure horror (which in my opinion is fine). It has also been claimed that this is the “Dracula for Werewolves” and I’m not sure if I agree. Certainly it shares similarities with Dracula in its documentary format and is a well-written, and even seminal, version of the werewolf myth, but I am not widely enough read in werewolf stories to say whether or not it is the best of them. Also, the ambiguity of the actual ‘reality’ of Bertrand’s lyncanthropy and his relatively secondary role as a character in the story makes me think that while this is a good tale well worth reading, it may not be the ultimate exemplar of werewolf fiction.
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Oct 26, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would have gladly read the author's sardonic prose offered in the framing story for itself, but enter a werewolf story we must, however tenuously the excuse to do so. And what a story it is! I don't know if Endore set out to write the "Dracula" of werewolf stories, but he certainly accomplished it, and very much outdoes that story in both epic scope and prosaic style.

Here is a story that has a little bit of everything: canibalism, child rape by priest, incest, bestial instincts, cowardness, ma...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Ethan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I really love werewolf novels. Unfortunately most today suffer from "Twilight syndrome". Were authors attempt to turn a monster into something sexy. What makes novels about these monsters great is the concept of the beast within. That evil side to every human being which we must all work to keep in check. The werewolf of Paris handles the concept wonderfully. The story centers largely around a young man named Bertrand who through no fault of his own is cursed with lycanthropy. He struggles with...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book follows Bertrand Caillet, a young man who was conceived when his mother was raped by Father Pitamont, a priest descended from a family known for its brutality. This sordid conception, in conjunction with a Christmas Eve birth, curses Bertrand to life as a werewolf, a man in which two spirits, one of man and one of beast, vie for control of the body. His adopted uncle, Aymar Galliez, manages to keep his transformations at bay for many years by feeding Bertrand raw, bloody meat. However,...more The book follows Bertrand Caillet, a young man who was conceived when his mother was raped by Father Pitamont, a priest descended from a family known for its brutality. This sordid conception, in conjunction with a Christmas Eve birth, curses Bertrand to life as a werewolf, a man in which two spirits, one of man and one of beast, vie for control of the body. His adopted uncle, Aymar Galliez, manages to keep his transformations at bay for many years by feeding Bertrand raw, bloody meat. However, an encounter with a prostitute leaves young Bertrand with a taste for human blood, and he runs away from home to live in Paris, where he ends up joining the National Guard when the Franco-Prussian War breaks out. Aymar follows, intent on stopping or destroying him before too many people are killed.

This novel was an interesting and engrossing read. It was first published in 1933, eight years before [i]The Wolf Man[/i] was released to theaters and forever set in stone the "rules" of werewolves. As such, it tells a werewolf story free of the usual tropes and conventions, and makes for a refreshing take on the subject. There are some recognizable elements, such as the brief usage of a silver bullet early on in the story, but other things like the full moon are entirely absent. Bertrand's activities in wolf form are only suggested for the most part, with more focus on the aftermath. The transformations are also kept mysterious, with the exception of one scene where he feels his tongue flattening and extending into a more lupine form.

The book also crosses genre lines. It works as a horror story, a drama, a war story, a historical piece, and a romance. The horror comes in multiple forms, from rifled graves to mutilation. There's also [i]a lot[/i] of moments where you'll be genuinely shocked and disgusted at what the characters do. That goes for damn near all of the characters, not just Bertrand. The historical elements are often given center stage. A lot of detail is given about the time period, especially the atrocities committed during the war and the brief existence of the Paris Commune shortly thereafter. The romantic side of the story is fairly well done, avoiding most of the cliches one would associate with a supernatural love story. In fact, the relationship between Bertrand and his lover, the death obsessed Sophie de Blumenberg, is pretty creepy in its own right.

Overall, this book was a very worthwhile read. It paints a bleak portrait of nineteenth century France, and poses an interesting question: In a world where people are reduced to eating rats just to survive, where thousands of people are senselessly murdered and abused, is a werewolf really so bad?(less)

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Nov 24, 2012 Jo Butler rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Werewolves are enjoying a fine romp across current literature and cinema. Though the filming techniques were cheesy, watching Lon Chaney transform from wolf to human in the 1941 Wolfman made me shiver when it was replayed on Saturday afternoons. I was similarly chilled by Dracula and Frankenstein in both film and print. Two years after those films were released in 1931, "The Werewolf of Paris" by Guy Endore was published. Endore’s book is now back in print.

The wolfman myth is especially intrigui...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I suppose that I owe a debt of gratitude to writer Marvin Kaye, who selected Guy Endore's classic novel of lycanthropy, "The Werewolf of Paris," for inclusion in Newman & Jones' excellent overview volume "Horror: 100 Best Books." If it hadn't been for Kaye's article on this masterful tale, who knows if I would have ever run across it, and that would have been a real shame, because this is one very impressive piece of work indeed. In this beautifully written novel from 1933, we learn the hist...more I suppose that I owe a debt of gratitude to writer Marvin Kaye, who selected Guy Endore's classic novel of lycanthropy, "The Werewolf of Paris," for inclusion in Newman & Jones' excellent overview volume "Horror: 100 Best Books." If it hadn't been for Kaye's article on this masterful tale, who knows if I would have ever run across it, and that would have been a real shame, because this is one very impressive piece of work indeed. In this beautifully written novel from 1933, we learn the history of one Bertrand Caillet, the product of a lecherous priest with a sinister family history raping a French peasant girl in the early 1850s. Caillet is later raised by Aymar Galliez, the nephew of the woman who had hired the peasant girl as a maid, and his notes on Caillet, purportedly found many years later by the author, form the kernel of this tale. It does not take Aymar long to realize that something is decidedly wrong with his young charge; in fact, Caillet is a werewolf, who loves nothing more than leaping out of his bedroom window at night and killing livestock and assorted wayfarers around the countryside. Years later, as a young man, Caillet runs away to Paris, to continue his depredations in a more populous arena, but at a most inauspicious time: right in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War, and right before the incredible violence of the Paris Commune of 1871.

But this novel is so much more than a simple tale of horror, although there ARE many grisly scenes. Endore (whose real name was Harry Relis) views his werewolf not as a monster, but rather as a sympathetic victim. Although Bertrand commits some truly horrible acts--killing his best friend, committing incest with his mother, despoiling graves, murdering countless creatures, draining his wealthy Jewish girlfriend (a neurotic, self-destructive, death-obsessed girl who today would probably be a Goth) slowly of her life's blood--the author makes it clear that the atrocities going on around him (e.g., the 20,000 Parisians killed by the Versaillists during the Commune) make his sins seem small indeed. Presciently, the author says that future wars will kill millions, a prediction sadly borne out just a decade after this book's release. Perhaps what is most remarkable about this tale, though, is its seeming veracity. Endore gives us so much information about the Commune, and peoples his novel with so many actual historical figures, that it really is difficult to tell where fact ends and fiction begins. There supposedly really was a Sgt. Bertrand in 1840s Paris who was said to be a grave-despoiling werewolf, and that fact adds an additional frisson to this tale. Thus, "The Werewolf of Paris" works as both an excellent tale of terror AND an easy-to-take lesson in French history. I knew virtually zilch about the Commune before going into this book, but feel that I've learned quite a bit about it now, and in a fun way, too. That's not to say that fans of a good horror tale will be left unsatisfied. As I mentioned, this tale contains its fair share of gore and grue, and some pretty terrible incidents are depicted. The horrible tale of that lecherous priest's ancestor being tortured in an oubliette will not soon be forgotten, the real-life facts of the Commune atrocities are equally quite disturbing, and a discussion of the dietary experiments tried by the desperate Communards (ragout of rat, anyone?) will surely turn the stomachs of most. The pitiful final fate of Bertrand Caillet will surely move most readers, too. Despite an occasional glitch here and there (Bertrand travels northeast to reach Paris from the Yonne River valley, when he should be going northwest; Bertrand is said to have been interred in August 1873 and exhumed in June 1881, after eight years and two months, but that should be seven years and 10 months), this really is a terrific piece of writing from Mr. Endore. Anyway, thanks again, Marvin! I owe you one!(less)

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Oct 15, 2010 D-day rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 100-fant-list

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Guy Endore's 'The Werewolf of Paris' is rightly considered a classic of horror and being published in 1933 as one of the first literary treatments of lycanthropy. The story is told from the view of an American scholar studying in Paris who happens upon an old manuscript concerning the court martial of Sergeant Bertrand Caillet at the time of the Paris Commune. The story of Bertand is then recounted, how he was conceived when his mother was raped by a priest and how he was born on Christmas Eve,...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Drew Graham rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(3.5 rounded down.) Bertrand Caillet is born under inauspicious circumstances. The illegitimate child of a lecherous clergyman, he displays many ominous signs from infancy of an ailment observed primarily by the superstitious. But these suspicions begin to be confirmed as the child grows and his behavior indicates a certain proclivity toward late-night escapades and bloody meat... His story, as told through the point of view of his would-be uncle, Aymar Galliez, is one of love, pain, violence, p...more (3.5 rounded down.) Bertrand Caillet is born under inauspicious circumstances. The illegitimate child of a lecherous clergyman, he displays many ominous signs from infancy of an ailment observed primarily by the superstitious. But these suspicions begin to be confirmed as the child grows and his behavior indicates a certain proclivity toward late-night escapades and bloody meat... His story, as told through the point of view of his would-be uncle, Aymar Galliez, is one of love, pain, violence, peace, animalism and humanity.

When I was starting my October 2012 classic monster literature mini-series, I wanted to read the source material for some of the very popular creatures of fiction. The sources for Frankenstein and Dracula were easy enough to discover, but what's the equivalent for werewolves? I did some research and found this book by Guy Endore, an author fairly contemporary of Bram Stoker at least, and which reportedly does for werewolves what Dracula did for vampires, so I hunted it down and gave it a try. This book was pretty hit-and-miss, but where it hit, it hit pretty hard. One great thing about this book is that it flew by. It was very fast reading, and when it kept my interest, it really kept my interest. There were a lot of things to like about this book, but by the same token, there were a lot of low points. The main story about Bertrand, his birth, upbringing, life, and etc. etc. were very interesting to read about (if at times unsettling), but this plot was interspersed with historical information regarding wars and politics and society that seemed mostly irrelevant and distracting, even from the very beginning. The characters were strong enough to carry the story, but the author for some reason thought it prudent to keep stepping away from the plot to fit in random facts that barely related. But I skimmed those parts, and enjoyed the rest for the most part. I at once sympathized with and despised Bertrand, I was appropriately horrified by his relationship with young and beautiful Sophie (as well as his mother... um...), and I definitely understand his poor beleaguered uncle Aymar's frustration and desire to end the madness once and for all. This wasn't a horror story as much as it was suspenseful and creepy (though there were some horrific elements scattered throughout, and a fair amount of blood), but I was a little surprised at a handful of instances of almost seemingly anachronistic sensuality. There's a little bit of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde going on here, but it was really interesting how not even Bertrand was exactly sure of what was going on with him. I liked that there was a sense of mystery throughout, and not until the very last page were certain twists made perfectly clear, which gave it a little punch right at the very end.

This lesser-known book isn't the genre masterpiece that Frankenstein and Dracula are, but it does manage to fit in pretty well with them as a sort of literary origin of a classic monster. Bertrand Caillet is as unsettling a creature as the Count or Frankenstein's monster, and it was a good (and fast!) read for Halloween, even if there are some lulls in the storytelling.(less)

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Aug 26, 2012 Nicki Markus rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has a slow start and occasional disjointed jumping in the middle of the narrative, but once it gets going it is a riveting story set against an intriguing historical backdrop.

I particularly like the way the violence of the werewolf is linked to and compared with the violence taking place in general at the time. It also offers a very frank appraisal of sexual proclivities and their link to violence.

This book is not the modern fare of smouldering alpha male, but I sense it is a work tha...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-unfortunately-unrelished

I'm not quite sure what happened as this book progressed--it began so well! Howeve, Endore seemed unsure of what he wanted as the book wore on. Did he want a supernatural novel, a literary one, a social commentary? It starts off as the first choice (which is fine by me on all counts!), but as the middle is reached and the actual fighting starts, the novel becomes an attempt at social commentary and the protagonist's rather unfortunate circumstance suddenly seems more like clinical lycanthropy. T...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Mary Overton added it

The novel features two of my favorite tropes - the found document and the person who knows the truth about a supernatural secret but is not believed.
It's 1871, during the the terrible events of the Paris Commune's downfall. Aymar Galliez tries to warn people about the bestial behavior of his ward by submitting to a court a written summary of his research and experience.

"There are elemental spirits all about us, the souls of beasts that have died, or of the more horrible beasts that have never li...more The novel features two of my favorite tropes - the found document and the person who knows the truth about a supernatural secret but is not believed.
It's 1871, during the the terrible events of the Paris Commune's downfall. Aymar Galliez tries to warn people about the bestial behavior of his ward by submitting to a court a written summary of his research and experience.

"There are elemental spirits all about us, the souls of beasts that have died, or of the more horrible beasts that have never lived. When the body of a man weakens, the soul of that man begins to detach itself from the tentacles of flesh and prepares itself to fly off the instant the body dies. And around a dying man a circle of beastly souls peer and wait. They would like to have that beautiful body for a house, that body of man which is the highest creation ever to have come from God's sculpturing hands. Man, the body with the erect spine, before which the horizontal spines of the animal world must grovel.
"It is to guard against the invasion of roaming souls that bodies stiffen in rigor mortis, at once after death. Then the souls that enter the man's husk find only a stiff shell left. Nevertheless it happens occasionally that the soul of a beast gains entrance into a man's body while he yet lives. Then the two souls war with each other. The soul of this man may depart completely and leave only that of the beast behind. And that explains how there are men in this world who are only monsters in disguise, playing for a moment at being men, the kings of creation. Just as a servant plays with his master's clothes.
"Of werewolves," Galliez continues, "there are two kinds. There are first those that have two bodies and only one soul. These two bodies exist independently, the one in the forest, the other in the home. And they share one soul. The man then only dreams of his wolf-life. Lying abed, he thinks himself abroad, roaming great pine-woods in a distant country, slinking by on soft padded paws, or yelling in a pack at the flying hoofs of three horses dragging a sleigh in a gallop across a snowy plain. -And in the same manner, the wolf, satiated with his kill and drowsing in his den, dreams a strange dream. He is a man, clad in garments and is walking about, busy in the affairs of the city.
"And there are, in the second place, werewolves that have but one body, in which the soul of man and of beast are at war. Then whatever weakens the human soul, either sin or darkness, solitude or cold, brings the wolf to the fore. And whatever weakens the beastly soul, either virtue or daylight, warmth of the companionship of man, raises up the human soul. For it is known that the wolf shrinks from that which invites the man.
"These great truth are now forgotten, because in former days these monsters were so ruthlessly hunted down and expunged that we now enjoy a comparative immunity and freedom from such dangers. But it behooves us to watch sharply lest the race of mankind go into eclipse before the rise of a race of beasts ...."
Kindle location 1314-1337(less)

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Apr 18, 2010 Rick Hautala rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, you can say the book is kind of a mess ... Sloppy plotting, and kind of a limp ending,and not the most likeable protagonist (as if that's a requirement!), but there are some powerful scenes of horror here that stand up with the best ..

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Aug 26, 2012 Williwaw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good news! This book is finally back in print: Pegasus Edition

I bought the pricey Centipede Press edition, which I don't regret at all. It's visually appealing, with antiquarian engravings and a gallery of covers from older editions, along with related movie posters.

This book is full of surprises. First, the prose is dazzling. Second, the story is not for the weak of heart: there's rape, sadomasochism, torture, necrophilia, and no shortage of violence. Finally, it's done up in a convincing way....more

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Jun 02, 2012 Nickolas Gardynyr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first heard about this book on ‘Jennifer Byrnes Presents’ episode “Monsters and Bloodsuckers” on Australia’s ABC 1. For some reason I thought the book was written in the 1960’s and was the book that the movie ‘A Werewolf in Paris’ was based off of. I was sort of wrong and sort of right.

It was written 30 years earlier and it was partial inspiration of many of the early werewolf movies between the 30’s and 70’s which of course, as inspiration becomes, a giant snowball of accumulated unrecognised...more I first heard about this book on ‘Jennifer Byrnes Presents’ episode “Monsters and Bloodsuckers” on Australia’s ABC 1. For some reason I thought the book was written in the 1960’s and was the book that the movie ‘A Werewolf in Paris’ was based off of. I was sort of wrong and sort of right.

It was written 30 years earlier and it was partial inspiration of many of the early werewolf movies between the 30’s and 70’s which of course, as inspiration becomes, a giant snowball of accumulated unrecognised/unrecognisable influence of countless people over time.

This 325 page novel was published in 1933 by leftist American novelist Guy Endore (born Samuel Goldstein). He had an unpleasant upbringing being that he was born in New York (shivers); his mother killed herself when he was 4, and then his father put him in an orphanage and sent him to Vienna for 5 years. His father then disappeared, stopping all funding, and Guy was returned to the US where he later eked out an education and became a Hollywood writer later blacklisted for being an evil commie.

His upbringing interested me because while reading this book I was sure that it was a French author being that the book is deliciously grim with French sensibilities and steeped in revolution that, toward the end, came across as more of a history of Paris during one of the French Revolutions than a book about good old murderous werewolfing. It just felt very French to me for some ignorant reason and it turned out I was mislead.

Like any classic werewolf book this is unfortunately not so much a story of someone that turns into a wolf under a full moon and goes around eating people, but is a story of the nature of man and his battle between civility and his desire for lust and murder. Yay! It covers mans animal nature in matters of sexual craving, religious piety, man faced with starvation and captivity, the murderous insanity of war and politics, and at the end of the book the highly educated swindler Doctor Dumas and his orderlies at the asylum. All these aspects are asking the reader the psychological and sociological question.... “Is this young man afflicted with this curse any worse than the rest of man? Are we all born and enslaved to an inner animal that we must wrestle to control?” Probably.

Like the previous book I read, ‘The Turn of the Screw’, this book has an irrelevant beginning where an American guy in modern 1930’s stumbles onto a manuscript which the rest of this book then becomes. I hate that. It never returns to the guy reading the manuscript which to me is irritating and pointless.

The book seems to be written in semi-clunky parts. The intro American finding the script, the story of two old families that somehow produced the lineage of the werewolf, a farm girl getting raped, sex stuff, a hairy kid with a uni-brow is born and has a devil of a hard time with puberty, some murders, then all of a sudden there is an unmoving love story tacked on followed by a long history of the horrors of Paris during a French revolution. Really, the werewolf, and I mean the actual werewolf and not the pathological notion of man stuff, is only present in a small percentage of this book. All in all, it was a good book, but I would have liked a bit more horror and werewolfery based off its title.
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Dec 27, 2012 Seth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've heard this novel called "THE werewolf book" and I can see why. Endore pulls no punches in terms of sex, gore, and horror, but some of the most interesting parts of the book are actually its setting and political commentary. The titular monster is small potatoes compared to the demagogues and mobs who make up much of the supporting cast. This is Gothic horror honed to a razor-sharp edge; my only complaint is that the narrative feels stilted and detached at times. Still, if you want to read t...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Justin Howe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

2-stars for being crappily written. 4-stars for being insane.

A mélange of scandal and horror (S&M, rape, incest, cannibalism, etc.) mixed with the scolding tone of propriety, set amid some bastardized Victor Hugo meets the Marquis De Sade French backdrop.

Sure, it’s badly written, but it’s also intoxicating. A deliriously horrible book that reads like the lost weekend you had in junior high when you stayed with your American grandmother and alternated your reading of the Monster Manual with...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Bkwormmegs rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Often referred to as the "Dracula" of the Werewolf genre, but I think that's too generous. There is a lot of fatalism, history (it takes place during a fascinating episode of Prisian history, politics, sex, religion and psychology in the book, and it often veers into darknesses of the human soul other than lycanthropy. The writing is skilled, and cynical - and I mean that as a compliment. However it strays from the werewolf character and theme often, and doesn't lay out the detail, or the mood s...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Noran Miss Pumkin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-books, classic, monsters-etc, werewolf

The last fourth of the book, was such a let down. It suffered from writer rushing to the ending syndrome. Sophie was just a nasty insane little creature, and Berral taking her back time after time/ He was so whipped!!! She sleeping with anything, and just because she finally bedded him-all is forgiven?!?!? This book had a great beginning-it deserved a great ending.

Pseudo uncle lets him out to feed on all the dead from the war.
Sophie has a werebaby, raised by whipped boyfriend.
Were wolfie catch...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: werewolf-love, cover-love, historical-fiction, reviews-to-post, wishlist

{Notes}

*I started this on Halloween, thinking what better to read than the granddaddy of werewolf novels? I love werewolves - definitely my favorite creature - and I was really interested to read about the novel that kind of started it all.

*First off, I will note, in this new edition, there are a few typos and grammatical issues. Not enough to be really distracting, but I definitely noticed them.

*I was fairly impressed, though there was a lot of side plot and info I really didn't need to further...more {Notes}

*I started this on Halloween, thinking what better to read than the granddaddy of werewolf novels? I love werewolves - definitely my favorite creature - and I was really interested to read about the novel that kind of started it all.

*First off, I will note, in this new edition, there are a few typos and grammatical issues. Not enough to be really distracting, but I definitely noticed them.

*I was fairly impressed, though there was a lot of side plot and info I really didn't need to further the story. I really wish it had focused more on Bertrand and his story, as opposed to politics and war. Some of these passages even involved characters that had nothing to do with the main plot. Some of the plot even had nothing to do with the main plot. It was a little all over the place, and at times confusing.

*I did, however, like a few side characters, namely Aymar, Sophie, and Ballard.

*The beginning is definitely much more interesting and streamlined than the end.

*The writing is beautiful. I'm always leery of "classics", but somehow my fears never come to fruition. It never fails that I dread it's just going to be boring, dull, and full of language I don't understand. I was pleasantly surprised with just how readable this was.

*There's a lot of social commentary that I must admit, went right over my head, besides the obvious humanity will do worse to itself than any monster ever could. I love history, but France has never been one of my interests. As a backdrop for the story, it was interesting. But I felt the details sort of overwhelmed the story at points.

*Squick warning! There's incest. Yup. How do I keep finding these books?!

*This was actually pretty graphic for the time period it was written in. I'm sure it was considered quite risque at the time. ;D

*The main thing I loved about the entire novel was that, at the end of it all, you aren't 100% sure that Bertrand was a wolf. There's evidence for both sides throughout: that supporting his wolf side, and that supporting that maybe he was just stark raving mad. The very final detail, the notes on exhuming the coffins, and about finding a dog instead really makes you wonder.

*Overall, it was pretty good. Entertaining in the juicy parts, but can get a little boring in all the in between. It's worth a read if you absolutely love werewolves and want to read one of the earliest novels featuring them. Otherwise, skip it.(less)

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Dec 19, 2011 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is probably the absolute best werewolf novel I have ever read. Mostly because it is not about a guy who turns into a wolf, rather because it is about how men turn into monsters afflicted by the fantastical lycanthropy or banal misanthropy.

The story is about a man who was born of ecclesiastical rape, whose mother met a bitter end. His life is one of confusion and anger and violence but mostly, shame as the monster within him takes control of his life causing him to lash out at friends and f...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Horror Fans

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: historical-fiction, horror, ultimate-reading-list, fiction, novels

Written in 1933, this is framed with a story of an American finding a discarded manuscript about the werewolf, Bertrand Caillet. Set in France in the late 19th Century, this tries to be for werewolves what Dracula is to vampires, filled with lots of werewolf lore.

The novel doesn't gloss over the original legendary nature of werewolves as savage, uncontrollable and dangerous, not just smexy men running in a pack with a furry problem... It's what I appreciated in the book more than anything. It's...more

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May 13, 2013 Sachi Neumann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not a perfect book, but certainly interesting and worth reading. The story is somewhat taxed by several frames of narrative, beginning with an original narrator who is not heard from again after the opening scene, and switches viewpoints a little too often for good continuity.
The characters are well-developed and believably human, modern, and understandable. I'd recommend this book for those who have read and enjoyed Frankenstein, Dracula and/or Stendhal, and have at least a vague understandi...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Intelligent, engaging, haunting and poetic, it is both a historical recreation of Paris after the Franco-Prussian War centered on the siege of Paris with its rationing of food and commodities, and a horror story told in a modern vernacular filled with universal human truths about the monsters of this world, within and without. It's sexually deviant from the onset, twisted and perverse, with surprisingly funny dark humor peppered throughout. A fascinating read. I ate it up.

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Apr 03, 2008 Dfordoom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-gothic

This was the basis for the rather delicious 1961 Hammer movie The Curse of the Werewolf. Yes, the one with Oliver Reed as the werewolf! The novel is actually mainly concerned with lycanthropy as a metaphor for human viciousness, and especially for the horrors of war and revolution (much of the action takes place during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the subsequent violence and civil war surrounding the establishment of the Paris Commune). The book does come up with some intriguing ways of e...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Robert Magness rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not bad, but a bit slow and meandering. The small sense of plot suffers from the constant asides and history lessons. Some great ideas and fun moments. I haven't seen Hammer's version (I plan to see it soon), but I do see where a film could expand and do better.

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Nov 09, 2012 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's like somebody took Dracula and made all of its implicit political and psycho-sexual baggage explicit... and then hit several of the protagonists over the head with an introspection stick.

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Jun 02, 2012 Kit★ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-for-long-time-but-never-read, horror

I've owned this book for about 12 years now and have never read it yet, will have to move it up the list.

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Jan 10, 2013 Carla rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another classic that I was glad I read. The book held my attention and I could not put it down until the last few chapters. The end was drawn out and a little disappointing for me.

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Jan 04, 2011 Letterswitch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Psychosexual viciousness and the horror of war. Women come to bitter ends in this one.

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Mar 10, 2009 oriana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2009, read-for-work

There's going to be a spiffy new edition coming from Centipede Press sometime soon...

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About Guy Endore

Samuel Guy Endore (4 July 1900 - 12 February 1970), born Samuel Goldstein and also known as Harry Relis, was a novelist and screenwriter. During his career he produced a wide array of novels, screenplays, and pamphlets, both published and unpublished. A cult favorite of fans of horror, he is best known for his novel The Werewolf of Paris which occupies a significant position in werewolf literature...more

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“A real politician, and these were real politicians, never betrays his country to an outsider. He betrays it to himself. He is the enemy within.” — 2 people liked it

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