Werewolf

[PlanetHauth]

ejcogan & Alanna1837 - Thank you both for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed my story. The werewolf has always been my favorite monster since the time of my childhood. The event which made this so is a true short story in itself. I mention it below if you are interested in knowing how this fascination came about.

Over a half century ago, when I was the same age as Thomas Albert Helms (7 years old) we visited my grandmother one night - a rainy winter night much like the one described in the story. My grandmother's home was decorated in ancient and gothic furniture much like the home of the Adams Family in the old sitcom. Well, the four of us were in her parlor watching TV in the dark - they were always doing everything in the dark as I recall to save electricity. So you can imagine this gothic house wreathed in shadows. Add to this that the movie which came on was the 1940 horror flick The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Junior. OK? So we watched the movie and afterward my grandmother began speaking in her native tongue to my parents (Italian) presumably so I would not understand her. Now the hell of it was, I could understand everything she was saying because I was raised listening to both languages on a daily basis, but she did not know that. She always tried to speak to me in English because she ASSUMED I wouldn't understand her if she spoke in Italian ... the irony was that her English was so bad that I could only understand her if she spoke Italian *LOL*

Anyhow, she began telling my parents the story of a man who lived in her village in the Old Country. He would be affected by the full moon just as the wolfman was in the movie. One night during a full moon he killed his entire family. Now she didn't say he turned into a werewolf but that's the way I understood it. I also concluded that she was speaking Italian so I wouldn't understand and become frightened. This made her story even more intense and believable. To make a long story short - between the movie and my grandmother's story I was all but catatonic with fear though I didn't show it because I didn't want to look like a sissy. For years after I was petrified by the belief that werewolves were real ... scarred the living crap out of me ... and, looking back I wouldn't have it any other way *LOL* ... it was the greatest roller coaster ride of my life.

Parents today are always trying to protect their kids from frightening movies. In doing so they deprive them of part of the magic and fantasy of their childhood. I have come to love the childhood monster which terrorized me and I wrote my story much like my own experience with regard to this legend: the reader is meant to BELIEVE (as I did when a child) and then reality makes its presence known. Much like Johnny Mercer I intended for the reader to laugh at what was once so serious and so frightening. Sometimes it is fun to be duped.

And that's the story BEHIND the story *L*

I would have absolutely made it known then and there I was scarred out of my wits! However, I'm pretty open with my being a scaredy cat. I think I inherited it from both of my grandmothers. My French grandmother was afraid of birds, Jurassic Park movies, and pretty much her own shadow. My other grandmother is afraid of thunderstorms (I know I learned that behavior from her ), her own shadow, and everything else on the planet. That said, I have a weird fascination with horror stories, movies, and games despite being scared by them.

[DATo]

PlanetHauth

I think we as humans, and especially when children, are fascinated by horror is all its forms, and there may be a reason for it. Children are like sponges and instinctively soak up knowledge much the way lion cubs do when they watch their mothers because it is essential to their safety and understanding of the world around them. How often we hear a child say "Why?" when we try to explain something to them! I think this is an attribute designed by nature to educate any young animal to the world around them as quickly as possible. Of all the things nature would want us to understand I think that among the most important would be a familiarization with all things which could harm us. Thus our natural fascination with horror. To know something is to be more properly prepared to deal with it and this may serve as an asset to our survivability.

I recently read that most dreams are unsettling in nature and this may be nature's way of putting us in dangerous or uncomfortable circumstances safely as a practice run in the event these circumstances actually take place in our lives. The object being that we would be better prepared to deal with them.

When we get older, much like your grandmothers, we may retain some of those unfounded fears, only now we refer to them as "phobias", but it is the same thing.

Hope you liked the story and that, as a lover of werewolf stories yourself, you found reading it to be an adequate employment of your time.

- DATo

[HollandBlue]

This is a great rendering of the werewolf legends. I loved reading your story, anticipating every word, and the twist at the end is magnificent! I liked reading the backstories in your post replies too. Well-done!

[DATo]

Bumping for Halloween:

I make it a practice not to bump my contributions without reason, but since tomorrow is Halloween, and since I originally posted this seven years ago, I thought there might be some new members who might like it as it is in keeping with the holiday.

[Erin Maddox McPhee]

Bravo! Your writing voice sounds just like something from Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed the story thoroughly, and especially the surprise twist at the end.

[DATo]

Bravo! Your writing voice sounds just like something from Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed the story thoroughly, and especially the surprise twist at the end.

Many thanks Erin. I'm glad you enjoyed it.