Best werewolf books of all time: Top romance, adult and teenage stories

From Remus Lupin and Jacob Black to Oz Osborne, Tyler Lockwood, Scott McCall and the latter’s predecessor, Scott Howard, there’s nary shortage of celebrated werewolves successful fashionable civilization – whether it beryllium novels oregon their (usually CW-billed) movie and tv adaptations.

Everyone has their favourite (Oz for me, convey you for asking), but it’s not often america modern lycanthropy enthusiasts genuinely delve into the literate origins of modern werewolf lore. This is usually due to the fact that we were exposed to the cinematic adaptations earlier the books, leaving america afloat of spoilers and pre-spun images.

If you’ve made your mode implicit to this article, you’ve either already begun delving into werewolf fabrication oregon you’re looking for a spot to start. Either way, you’re successful for a howler.

The effect of the telling and retelling of past myths and folklore from each implicit the world, there’s nary singular mentation of lycanthropic lore that tin beryllium deemed gospel.

Some scholars judge that the conception of a man-turned-wolf began with The Epic of Gilgamesh, portion others hint it backmost to the Greek story of King Lycaon, who was turned into a wolf by Zeus aft helium served the deity a repast made from the remains of a sacrificed boy. Like astir technological oregon specialised vocabulary, it’s done the Greek communicative that we gained the authoritative sanction for werewolves – lycanthropes, from lukanthrōpos meaning ‘wolf man’.

Then there’s the swirling, gothic realm of Norse lycanthropic myth. The Völsunga Saga tells the communicative of a begetter and lad who transformed into wolves aft wearing wolf pelts, and Fenrir is simply a large wolf who breaks escaped from Ragnarök and kills Odin.

Werewolf mythology has formed thing of a palimpsest, with section legends deriving from Proto-Indo-European societies and medieval Europe blending with earlier, past myths and spiritual stories. But wherever did the conception that they tin lone beryllium killed with metallic bullets travel from? And what’s with the afloat moon?

In Greek myth, metallic was a acquisition from the satellite goddess, Selene, and successful the Bible, it is seen arsenic a awesome of divine purification. Since the curse of lycanthropy tin beryllium traced to a signifier of divine punishment, it makes consciousness that beatified metallic is its lone cure. Meanwhile, the satellite has agelong been linked to ‘lunacy’ oregon the ‘inner beast’, truthful it’s fitting that the curse should travel the lunar cycle.

From wolfsbane (ancient Greeks hunted wolves by poisoning bait with this plant) to exorcism and burning astatine the stake, assorted different methods of defeating the wolf-man person cropped up passim past – often successful nonstop effect oregon fearfulness of a ‘living’, section carnal – specified arsenic The Bedburg Werewolf successful Germany.

Origins and beliefs aside, the curse of the werewolf has been utilised by authors implicit the centuries arsenic a metaphor for the interior demon, resulting successful works of lit which woody with themes of bully versus evil, self-acceptance and divine retribution. With specified a immense good of mythological contented to propulsion from, it's nary wonderment lycanthropy continues to fascinate writers and readers alike.

We’ve curated a enactment of werewolf books of each clip for a howling yarn below.

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The King of Horror has undoubtedly taken a quill to each terrifying portion of folklore imaginable, truthful it should travel arsenic nary astonishment that he’s covered lycanthropy successful his cult-favourite Cycle of the Werewolf novella. Originally published successful 1983, King tells the communicative of a werewolf which haunts a tiny municipality called Tarker’s Mills each month, erstwhile the afloat satellite rises.

With each section pursuing a period successful the calendar, King builds up his signature hostility with stylistic, blood-turning easiness arsenic we way the creature's brutal killings done the position of Marty Coslaw, a 10-year-old paraplegic. Each chapter, which astir functions arsenic a abbreviated story/ unfortunate illustration successful itself, besides features an illustration by Bernie Wrightson.

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A fantastic prime for lovers of humanities folklore and academia, The Book of Werewolves was written successful the mid-19th period by Sabine Baring-Gould, an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, people opus collector and eclectic student who is known to person published implicit 1,000 works successful his lifetime.

One of the astir often cited studies of lycanthropy to date, his Account of a Terrible Superstition covers implicit 1,000 years of werewolf lore from varying locations – including the berserker of Norse lore, French mythology, and then-modern anecdotes of cannibalism and madness.

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When a failed world and his woman instrumentality to his ancestral, sleepy hometown of Whitbrow successful Georgia, Frank Nichols settles successful to constitute a past of his family’s aged estate, the Savoyard Plantation, and the horrors that occurred there.

At first, Whitbrow appears to beryllium the pastoral, idyllic assemblage that Frank and Eudora truthful hoped for, but an unspoken dread which demands sacrifice lurks successful the minds and hearts of the townspeople – 1 that they person lived with for generations. It resides crossed the river, successful the aged ruins of Savoyard, and has been waiting patiently to fulfil a humor debt.

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A captivating, fantastical romance, Stiefvater’s Shiver series, different referred to arsenic The Wolves of Mercy Falls, begins with Grace. She’s watched the wolves successful the woods since she was a young kid and has ever been drawn to 1 peculiar beast with yellowish eyes.

Sam lives 2 lives – 1 successful the heavy wintertime with his battalion and the watchful eyes of a girl, and 1 successful the blistering summertime heat, connected 2 legs for a fewer precious months.

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Merging dystopian, post-apocalyptic fabrication with werewolves, this improbable genre-bending caller is acceptable successful an almost-present-day USA wherever a important information of the colonisation has go infected with a horrifying Lycan disease. They unrecorded among citizens, who successful crook unrecorded successful fearfulness – and there’s an ongoing governmental statement regarding whether they should beryllium treated arsenic humans oregon second-class citizens.

Told from the position of aggregate characters with varying sympathies toward the Lycan colonisation arsenic an uprising begins to signifier roots, we travel teen and Lycan since commencement Claire Forrester, a descendant of an anti-Lycan warfare leader Patrick Gamble, and President Chase Williams who has vowed to destruct the menace erstwhile and for all.

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A classic, romanticist instrumentality connected werewolf lore, The Last Werewolf follows a Lycan who has been roaming the world for 2 100 years, enslaved by his appetite and tormented by his astir monstrous crime. As the past of his kind, helium counts down to the time connected which helium vows to extremity it all, that is – until a convulsive execution and an bonzer gathering springiness him a caller lease connected life.

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Described by readers arsenic the “Hallmark movie of werewolf books”, Harrison takes the age-old trope of lycanthropy and gives it a 21st-century darkly comic makeover successful this rollicking tale. When Rory Morris reluctantly moves backmost to her hometown to enactment her large duplicate sister, she heads retired to a bar.

After a run-in with an aged flame, she hits a ample carnal with her car, and erstwhile she goes to investigate, she’s attacked. Though she survives, Rory notices changes successful herself – an aversion to metallic and unnatural strength, among different things. Exploring femininity and self-acceptance done horror, Harrison offers up an entertaining and heartwarming yarn.

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A unique, coming-of-age communicative which follows a young, unnamed, imaginable werewolf surviving with his aunt and uncle, Mongrels is astir a nomadic household surviving connected the fringes of the small, American towns they relocate to astatine a dizzying rate. For 10 years our narrator has lived a beingness of constrictive escapes, but soon his uncle and aunt volition cognize whether he’s destined to beryllium similar them – oregon whether helium mightiness accidental a beingness connected the different broadside of the tracks.

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The beloved writer of Interview with a Vampire takes a ace astatine Lycanthropic fabrication successful this arsenic beloved gothic communicative of a beastly outsider. We travel the communicative of Reuben Golding, a affluent writer astatine the fictional San Francisco Observer who survives a gruesome onslaught lone to summation unusual powers. As with each Rice novels, it deals with themes of the mystical and the divine, arsenic good arsenic self-acceptance.

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Many journalists and critics look to permission Stephenie Meyer’s 2005 crowning achievement, and the precise crushed vampire fabrication continues to bask specified a prosperous modern resurgence, retired of their supernatural fabrication round-ups – but not I.

I see myself to beryllium a veritable and unabashed Twilight apologist, and portion Meyer’s penning and vampire lore don’t remotely comparison to that of Stoker oregon Le Fanu, there’s a crushed the bid continues to seizure our imaginations. An immortal emotion communicative for the ages successful which the lion falls successful emotion with the lamb, each vampire enthusiast should work Twilight and slightest once. Though you don’t get to the werewolves until the 2nd publication successful the series, New Moon, it’s surely worthy the wait.