Wolfman

There is so much out there about werewolves. I found an interesting site from LSU that has notes about Lycanthropy. It discusses “meaning, myths, movies, and books.” Through my reading about werewolves, I found out that many years ago serial killers were given the name “werewolf” to explain away their beastly behavior. The LSU site has some interesting history about two of these cases. Cannibalism is a prevalent theme with werewolves, and the idea dogs are guardians of the underworld and a connection to werewolves came up in a few sites. I like this LSU site. Check out the list, with links, of werewolf movies through history. My favorite is a listing for a movie called “Ginger Snaps” (2003). This movie uses werewolf-ism as metaphor for puberty. Ginger is a girl, but masculine, and the boy she sleeps with becomes feminine – instead of a werewolf. It sounds like twisted fun – maybe.

I looked into the writing for “The Wolfman” (1941). Universal writer, Kurt Siodmak, was the man who wrote the movie and came up with the original idea to have the “man” transform to “wolf” on the night of the full moon. Additionally, he created the need for silver to kill the monster.

All of the information I have mentioned here is found at the LSU Site for general werewolf information: http://www.lsu.edu/faculty/jpullia/lycanthrophy.htm