What Makes Me Tick: Werewolves

What is not to love about Werewolves. Out of all the supernatural characters they are without shadow of a doubt my favourite.

They are powerful animals, savages. They are wild and uncontrollable. Yet in my opinion they are one of the most versatile when it comes to writing. There are just so many ways you can use them.

From spicing up a horror story to all manner of metaphors about change and the duality of man.

There is a lot of depth to the werewolf mythos, from how to become a werewolf; how you acquire the curse, the process of changing; manner, speed etc and also what the final wolf looks like.

Personally I like the theory that a werewolf becomes a real wolf, although I have written tales where they are slightly more 'human' in their development, but more to the point that they do not lose all of their humanity. They retain their intelligence and can -to an extent – control their actions.

I am also a big fan of werewolves in artwork. I think there is no horror creature that is more pleasing to the eye than werewolf art. Just have a search in Google or wherever and just look at the rich and varied images that are found.

Werewolves have achieved iconic status in the movie world also. Beginning (as far as my movie viewing is concerned) with the wonderful horror film The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Jr creating the character that would terrorize and inspire countless generations.

Through the years there have been Werewolves appear in every genre from horror and cartoons to Comedy and TV Series. They have been heroes and villains, lovers and fighters.

There are countless ways to use Werewolves not just to scare but to emphasize a point, and in my own honest opinion the movie Ginger Snaps (only the first one) does this perfectly. The movie is about the werwolf at all, but about the changes our bodies go through when we hit puberty, and seeing this done with a female lead was refreshing. If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend you check it out.  

Is it just me or is there something about looking at a full moon (in real life) that makes you wonder more than any other supernatural being…. What if?