Cycle of the werewolf

 

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Horror, Urban fantasy

Original publication date: November 1983

Book description:

The first scream came from the snowbound railwayman who felt the fangs ripping at his throat. The next month there was a scream of ecstatic agony from the woman attacked in her snug bedroom.

Now scenes of unbelieving horror come each time the full moon shines on the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next. But one thing is sure.

When the moon grows fat, a paralyzing fear sweeps through Tarker Mills. For snarls that sound like human words can be heard whining through the wind. And all around are the footprints of a monster whose hunger cannot be sated.

Thoughts:

This is a very short read. Something you can get through in a single sitting if you have a couple of hours free, it is also a very digestible style. We have short chapters, with an illustration every few pages. We only get a single day each month. We see the life of a few people in town as they go about their everyday life. There is very little character development here as each chapter tells you a little bit about the intended victim of that full moon.

So it begins in January and we see the introduction of a lonely man, but we see very little. It takes off pretty quickly, there are a few murders in this story. Each full mun something happens, either to a person or cattle. Initially, everyone ignores it but soon they discover the pattern, month after month in the full moon tragedy strikes in this town. 

This takes place in a very similar world like ours, so people joke about monsters but they don't believe in them and laugh at people who suggest it. After almost a year, the townspeople have had enough. They will strike back against the killer (werewolf). 

It is not exactly action-packed, there is very little fighting involved. But we do have a few bloody scenes as we always follow a bit of the attack. The werewolf is strong and unnamed for most of the story. 

There is a bit of choice of words again, but this happens with a lot of King's books. There is swearing, homophobic comments, a few racial slurs. It was written a few years back so that might be why or because they're trying to depict the small-town mindset of white folks in the 70s-80s.

Just as a warning there is a bit of an open ending. The explanation of how a werewolf came to be there, if they were infected or why it suddenly started attacking is never mentioned.

This is not scary, in the sense that there are no ghost or haunted places and there is no jump scare factor. There is blood and werewolf so I would say it's more like an urban fantasy. 

I gave this: 

It is a solid read. Something easy to get through. I enjoyed m time with it but nothing scary as I expected.

That is it for me guys. Any recommendation on good werewolf stories drop them in the comments I would like to find a bit more of them.

Stay safe, stay heathy!