Come Inside, and I’ll Tell You Where The Beast Lives: Dehumanized by Michael Loring!
I love having this blog section on my site; it allows me to have really cool, awesome, creative people on frequently. Today, I have Michael Loring. Chances are you’re going to be hearing that name a lot in the coming weeks, especially around paranormal circles. He’s written a book called Dehumanized, and it’s about experiments, beastly creatures, love, and the occasional shirtless bro. I first heard about Michael a few years back when he messaged me for some publishing advice. I helped him out as best as I could, tried to steer him in the right path, and apparently something I said worked, because now he’s got a book coming out in less than 2 weeks! That’s right, this July, both eBook and print editions of Dehumanized will be devouring your brai…um, I mean…anyway, I can’t take credit for his success, just glad he finally got to see his stuff make it, and I have a feeling it’s goin to be a hit!
Here’s a guest post from Michael about what makes his “wolves” so very unique!
When it comes to today’s Fiction, you instantly think about vampires and werewolves, or at the very least something of that nature. You never have to look far to find something vampire-related, (e.g. Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries) and the same could be said about werewolves; though not as strongly. At first glance, my novel, Dehumanized, may seem like just another werewolf book craving to become part of the recent movement of Supernatural-related media. But I can honestly say it isn’t.
First off, Dehumanized could easily be categorized as Non-Supernatural. The werewolves are scientifically created, and are really only called werewolves because of their similarity to the genre. They could have easily been branded something else, like Man-Beasts, or Wolf-Men, or just plain Wolves, or even Puppies-if puppies were seven feet tall with razor sharp fangs and claws and a rather violent disposition.
The book is still categorized as Paranormal, though. The werewolves in Dehumanized are quite a lot like how a few movies portray them; though with a few extra quirks. So then, with this information, you could ask yourself: “why should I read this werewolf book if it’s just going to be like all of the rest? I could easily go watch Twilight or Underworld or read one of the many werewolf-based series out there to get my fix.” But there are a few things Dehumanized has that the entire slew of new movies and books coming out don’t have. One of them being that the book wasn’t written in order to receive a high rating on the gore scale. A lot of people nowadays solely watch a movie based on how much blood there is in it-which saddens me personally, since Hollywood seems to have diverged from creating an actual story with real values-but this book was made to tell a tale of a young man dealing with an extraordinarily unfortunate situation. And on the book front: many of the werewolf books I find focus solely on the lust-factor between the main characters. Romance plays a big part in Dehumanized, as it does with many books, but there isn’t any sex scenes in it-sorry to disappoint. It has just enough sex appeal blended with modesty that it can attract both crowds.
Another aspect that this book has that many of the newer werewolf-related media outlets don’t have is its transformation scenes. Personally these are my favorite parts. In most werewolf stories-movie or book- the transformation is considered quick and painless. Take Twilight for example: Jacob jumps in the air and BOOM! He’s a wolf. I believe in the philosophy John Landis had for the transformation in An American Werewolf In London. If you’re turning into a werewolf, it’s going to be painful! In Dehumanized the transformation has elements of An American Werewolf In London, and also the 2010 version of The Wolfman and the TV show Being Human. Everyone wants to be a powerful werewolf nowadays, because of the appeal all the new movies and books have been creating, but this book shows why you wouldn’t want to be one.
In Dehumanized, there is a great metaphor I implemented that not everything else has. In Dehumanized, the main character Ryan deals with the 
complexities of being what he is. He has to come to terms with what he has become, or else lose himself completely. He fights for control of not only these new powers forced onto him, but of his very sanity itself. Thinking of it from a psychological point of view: there is a werewolf inside all of us. It comes out when we’re angry, when we lose control of our senses and act wildly on instinct. Have you ever had those moments when it feels like you completely black-out and do something you normally wouldn’t do? That’s the werewolf inside of you coming out. When you find yourself thinking shameful thoughts, it’s the werewolf. Those moments you feel like you’re losing your mind and lash out of frustration…by now you get what I’m saying. This book takes that idea and makes it into literal sense. During the full moon everyone transforms into something they are normally not, much like normal people do during the apex of the moon. Statistically there are more 911 calls during the full moon, a lot of them false alarms. They don’t call them lunatics for nothing.
Ryan is the personification of this metaphor. He has the beast inside of him, influencing his thoughts at all times, tempting him to do things he never would do by himself. And then during that one night out of the month he loses himself completely.
As the book progresses, experiments are preformed on Ryan and his affliction progresses, giving him abilities the other Lycanthropes don’t have. He learns to transform at will, and with this ability and the help of a few friends he makes along the way, he plots to escape the horrible establishment that has him imprisoned for being what he is.
This book is not like all the others-this I can guarantee you.
-Michael Loring.
