Lycanthrope Library Review: Dreadful Skin

There’s a new review up at Lycanthrope Library for Cherie Priest’s novel Dreadful Skin.

Here’s an excerpt:

Synopsis: A gun-toting, lycanthropic nun from Ireland is on the hunt for a murderous werewolf named Jack. She follows him across the American West where he eventually teams up with a traveling werewolf preacher looking to form a pack.

…Dreadful Skin is an interesting and bloody addition to the werewolf genre. There’s plenty of ethos and pathos to appeal to the reader, along with a good dose of violence and gore…

As always, I’m still looking for more reviews to be submitted, especially since my own seem to be on the short side.

Aug. 17th 2009

Get ready for more Lycans: Underworld 4 is happening

Underworld Werewolf

According to the consistently reliable ShockTilYouDrop.com, Sony’s Screen Gems is moving ahead with a fourth film in the “Underworld” franchise and is targeting a January 2011 release. Word is that the film will be shot in 3D, but it’s not clear whether the film will be another prequel, like this year’s successful Rise of the Lycans, or a continuation of the present-day story that left off with Underworld: Evolution. I’ll post more information as it becomes available!

Aug. 8th 2009

Craig & The Werewolf: 5 Episodes of Werewolf Win

Okay, you’ve got to check out Absolute Disaster‘s five-episode web series “Craig & The Werewolf“. As this Tubefilter article puts it, the bite-sized series is about two “seemingly normal twentysomething roommates [who] are getting along fine until one of them gets outed as a flesh-eating werewolf.” Watch the first episode below, then visit Absolute Disaster’s blip.tv page to see the rest.

Aug. 8th 2009

A Remastered Werewolf in London

In a little over a month (September 15, to be precise), Universal Home Entertainment will release the remastered, bonus-feature-loaded “Full Moon” edition of An American Werewolf in London. Lovingly crafted for your Blu-Ray player, the Full Moon edition comes with these bonus features:

  • Beware the Moon: (mentioned on Werewolf News last year) In this feature-length documentary, filmmaker Paul Davis guides us through a never-before-seen, in-depth look at the Making of An American Werewolf in London, with the help of director John Landis and make-up artist Rick Baker.
  • I Walked with a Werewolf: Make-up effects artist Rick Baker tells of his life-long love of the Wolfman, how he would go on to create the creature in An American Werewolf in London, and how he was able to pour his passion into the upcoming Wolfman feature.
  • Making An American Werewolf in London, An Original Featurette
  • An Interview with John Landis
  • Make-up Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London
  • Casting of the Hand
  • Outtakes
  • Storyboards
  • Photograph Montage
  • Feature Commentary with Cast Members David Naughton and Griffin Dunne

This might be enough to make me finally by a Blu-Ray player. If you’re impatient, forgetful or can’t go out in public without biting people, you can pre-order An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon edition on Amazo

Aug. 8th 2009

Murder Moon Writer Breaks Down Another Page

Strangeways: Murder Moon

Strangeways: Murder Moon writer Matt Maxwell posts full pages from his werewolves & cowboys comic on CBR‘s Robot 6 blog, then provides a “director’s commentary” on the writing and Luis Guaragna‘s art. If you still haven’t read Murder Moon, seeing it one page at a time with insight from the creator is a great way to take it in. Matt posted page 16 yesterday– check it out.

Aug. 4th 2009

The Werewolves In Twilight Aren’t Real Werewolves

Okay, I’ve had enough. Every time I pick up a paper or a magazine, browse through blogs or read a news web site, someone is going on about the “werewolves” in Twilight. Aside from being boring, clichéd, visually uninteresting and a misappropriation of Native American culture, the werewolves in Twilight aren’t real werewolves. This fact is even printed in Breaking Dawn, the last book of the series (chapter 37, look it up). I was willing to let this go, but it’s getting so I can’t even walk down the street without hearing someone sighing dreamily over “those hot Quileute werewolves”. People are making their own Twilight-inspired werewolf stuff out of craft supplies and selling them to each other online. There are dozens of Twilight-based “OMG R U A WEREWOLF OR A VAMPIRE??” online quizzes designed to fill up your sister’s MySpace page and destroy the signal-to-noise ratio on Twitter. Don’t even get me started on the blog discussions.

So what can I do? Well, as an Internet-savvy werewolf fan, I can try to enlist your help in making a number get bigger:

http://werewolf-news.com/twilight/

It’s not much, but it’s something. If you feel the same way I do about this crazy business, please share the URL. Post it on your blog, spread it around on Twitter, and participate in the grim satisfaction of having complained about something on the Internet. You might feel a little bit better– I did.

Aug. 1st 2009

“Astounding Wolf-Man #25 Cover” by Jason Howard

Astounding Wolf-Man #25 Cover by Jason Howard
[click for full version]

Jason Howard does the killer artwork for The Astounding Wolf-Man, which you need to be reading if you’re not already doing so. I’m not going to talk about why this picture is awesome, or why dragoniaKMP submitted it as a suggested Weekly Werewolf image. I mean, just look at it. Jason Howard knows how to draw bad-ass werewolves, and if you need further proof, check out his DeviantArt gallery or pick up a copy of the lastest Astounding Wolf-Man.

Aug. 1st 2009

New Werewolf Poll for August: The worst word to describe a werewolf transformation

I’m going to start running a monthly poll on Werewolf News. You might have noticed two previous polls over there in the top right corner of the home page, but they weren’t run for any particular length of time– starting today, there will be a new one every month. This month’s question: Which is the worst word to describe a werewolf’s transformation? This question was inspired by the sudden appearance of the word “phase” in a lot of recent Twilight-related news articles (I get those whether I want them or not, thanks to Google News). I’ve been a werewolf fan for a long time, and “phase” is hands-down the single dumbest word I’ve seen used to describe a werewolf’s metamorphosis. Let’s see how many of you agree with me! Cast your vote, and if you’d rather vote for a word not listed, just leave a comment on this post.

[poll id=”3″]

Aug. 1st 2009

More Wolfman Rumours: Baker Brought Back On to Save Transformation Scenes?

This morning at ShockTilYouDrop.com, Ryan Rotten shares some inside information he’s received about the oft-delayed Wolfman remake.

One tipster says Universal has sunk nearly $10-30 million into re-shoots in England. Much of the scenes had to do with the full Wolfman makeup because it wasn’t “working out” and “was too much like the original” Chaney makeup. Another writer tells me Rick Baker was brought back in to direct practical transformation work because the CGI, again, wasn’t working.

Ryan stresses that these tidbits should be treated as rumours, but that he’ll try to get corroborating statements from official sources. It’s a shame about the makeup being redone, as I rather liked the official publicity photos that have been floating around since March 2008. I certainly hope the part about Baker being brought back on for the transformation scenes is true, though– around this time last year, he was unhappy at being excluded the first time round, and as we all know from An American Werewolf in London and The Howling, Rick Baker knows how to turn a person into a werewolf properly: physical makeup and effects, rather than CG.

Jul. 30th 2009

12 Short Stories About Werewolves, Cowboys and Silver Bullets

SOScotland sent me a note on Twitter, kindly informing me that there are 12 short stories about werewolves available to read in their entirety (or listen to via podcast) on Jeffery Hite‘s web site. Jeffery does a weekly thing where authors are invited to write between 100 and 3,000 words on a designated topic, and the topic this time around is “Silver bullets, the real reason that some cowboys carried them.”

The titles and authors are:

  • Silver Bullets; the real reason that some cowboys carried them by Eric Moseman
  • Skinwalker by Travis Nelson
  • High Moon by Zach Ricks
  • Waltzing with Werewolves by Mick Bordet
  • Bad Medicine by Scott Roche
  • Letters by Danny Machal
  • Silver Solves The Dilemma by Mick Bordet
  • Suspicions and Silver Bullets by Eldon KR
  • Silver Bullets by Val Griswold-Ford
  • Other kind of Vampire by Patrick and Jeff Hite
  • Changing Times by Jeffrey Hite
  • To be a man, part II by Norval Joe

There’s some great reading material there, and you can vote for your favourite, so go check them out!

Jul. 29th 2009