Werewolf News

Werewolf Wednesday Digest for December Week 1

Another Werewolf Wednesday is upon us! Here are some bones to gnaw on:

Bill Oberst, Jr. has joined the cast of Werewolf Rises. You might recognize Bill from the The Beast, which is an awesome werewolf short, or Take This Lollipop, the Facebook app / short film that galvanized my office for two hours in 2011. Bill’s the best, and his involvement in the film can only mean good things.
The third season of the American adaptation of Being Human comes out on Blu-ray in January, and it’s available for pre-order now. I haven’t seen it and don’t imagine I’ll have time in the near future, but if you’re a fan, get it.
The long-awaited game Sang-Froid – Tales of Werewolves has a playable demo now via Steam, but only for Windows, so I guess I have to drag my Alienware out of the Shame Corner. Tower defence involving lumberjacks and werewolves in a snowy Quebec landscape is worth it.
In other news about Windows-only gaming that I’m totally not bitter about, Blood of the Werewolf could use your vote in the IndieDB Indie Of The Year competition. No sign-in is required to vote, so go do it, even if you’re waiting for a console port like me, because boy, that game looks TUFF.
Horror artist Bryan Baugh dug deep into the archives and posted a Wulf and Batsy comic from 2004 on his deviantART page. “Them’s Monsters” looks and reads like it’s straight out of Tales from the Crypt, and features a vampire who instantly made it onto my list of vampires I grudgingly acknowledge as cool. Thanks to Wolf Montana for sharing!
If you’re in the Vancouver / Whistler area, there’s an official WolfCop event happening at The Longhorn Saloon in Whistler this Friday evening. The WolfCop Drink ‘N Shoot is the place to be if you want to watch the new WolfCop teaser trailer (freshly cut from the shoot in Saskatchewan), and meet director Lowell Dean and special FX monster-master Emersen Ziffle. I can’t go because of reasons, but if you’re in the area, check it out!
If you’re craving more werewolf sites to follow, here are two more to add to your bookmarks: Lángrén’s Monsters & Werewolves, and PDX Werewolf‘s eponymous site. I like these guys and I like their sites. I bet you will too.

That’s it for this week, but the day’s not over, keep an eye on Twitter and Tumblr for more #WerewolfWednesday stuff.

Angela Quinton Dec. 4th 2013

NBC asks “Carnivàle” creator to write & produce new “Wolfman” series based on 2010 film

As reported earlier today by Deadline, NBC has asked Carnivàle creator (and writer of their current Dracula series) Daniel Knauf to write and executive produce a new Wolfman TV series based on the 2010 film of the same name, in partnership with Universal TV and Scott Stuber (who executive-produced the 2010 film too). According to the Deadline post, the series will be

a supernatural thriller that explores what it means to be a man and to be human. It centers on Lawrence Talbot, who is afflicted by an ancient curse and jacks into the powerful, primordial soul of the alpha-predator.

That’s all there is to know about the situation right now, although you can rest assured I’ll be all over the details as they become available (please God let them hire Rick Baker or someone who studied under him for the werewolf effects). Carnivàle was one of my favourite shows, and the first I ever binge-watched, so I’m interested to see what Knauf does with my man Lawrence. I’d like to close with a comment from the AV Club‘s venerable Sean O’Neal:

Should The Wolfman and Dracula join NBC’s Jekyll And Hyde series Do No Harm in failing to attract an audience, NBC will pretty much be left with a sitcom play on Creature From The Black Lagoon (“The Ultimate Fish-Out-Of-Water Story!”), so maybe we should give this one a chance.

Angela Quinton Dec. 2nd 2013

Coin Club Australia’s epic silver werewolf coin

Australia, everything I hear about you further validates my theory that you are the Most Hardcore Country, and now I find out you’re making werewolf money.

As part of their Mythical Creatures series, Coin Club Australia has released a limited edition coin featuring that most financially solvent of Mythical Creatures, the werewolf. The coin was commissioned from The Perth Mint and contains 1oz of 99.9% pure silver (what else?) in proof quality (that’s a good thing, I looked it up). It has a monetary denomination of one Australian dollar, but it’s only legal tender in Tuvalu, and regardless of its value or its cost, only a drongo would try to spend a coin like this.

The Coin Club web site has a delightfully thorough description of the coin’s art, which displays Queen Elizabeth II on the front, and on the reverse, a “werewolf fiercely prowling in a dense forest beneath a full moon. A medieval banner displays a silhouette of a werewolf and the $1 monetary denomination, with the inscription ‘werewolf’ also featured on a stylised scroll.”

Whoah. I was listening to this while I read that description, and the combination was pretty intense in an “awesome airbrushed van” sort of way. On second thought, perhaps a coin this epic could be spent on food items to enhance your Punch and Kick abilities.

The Werewolf coin has a limited mintage of 5,000, costs $90.86 AUD, and one dollar of each purchase is donated to UNICEF-Australia. It’s housed in a “contemporary brown” presentation case and custom-designed shipper, and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity. Many thanks to Werewolf News reader John for sharing!

Angela Quinton Dec. 2nd 2013

“Clash Of The Damned” for Android & iOS

A “free online RPG fighting saga about the never-ending battle between Vampires and Werewolves!” You know it’s serious because they capitalized “vampires” and “werewolves”. Available for iOS devices in the App Store, and for Android via Google Play. Check out its Facebook page for more info.

Angela Quinton Dec. 1st 2013

Werewolf Wednesday Digest for November Week 4

It’s Werewolf Wednesday, which means there’s plenty of lycanthropic stuff happening on Twitter and Tumblr. Here are some of the highlights that caught my eye.

If you want some excellent werewolf art based on smart, plausible biology, check out Viergacht’s Northern & Southern hemisphere werewolf variations, based on the creatures who inhabit the world of his writing.
@UlfKrahe gave a shout-out to a classic werewolf book that I highly recommend: the “Werewolves” anthology, edited by Martin H. Greenberg. It was one of the first werewolf books I ever bought – it was 1995 and I had to ask my mom for an advance on my allowance.
The latest WolfCop production video showcases the film’s art design team, the lengths they went to to capture that 70’s/80’s horror movie vibe, and a truly amazing “Lost Cat” poster.
From Dread Central comes a press release about a new werewolf movie from Ruthless Pictures. Werewolf Rises “tells the tale of Emma, a country girl who left for the big city, only to return years later with big problems” and starts filming next month.
Artist Erika Deoudes’s gallery of sexy monsters showcases 12 classic movie monsters (including the Predator, Zuul, and yes, a werewolf) and is available as one-off prints or as a 2014 calendar. The series kicks off with JANUWEREWOLF, whose strategically-placed champagne bottle is both highly provocative and only technically SFW.
Amanda Elbeck’s comic about what would happen if most werewolf fans actually became werewolves is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.

It’s only 3:30 PM as I post this, so for more Werewolf Wednesday juice, check your local Twitter and Tumblr listings!

Angela Quinton Nov. 27th 2013

Weekly Werewolf Art: “Ghostbusters Werewolf” by Nick Bondra

Drawn by Nick Bondra, submitted by Tandye, based on a classic action figure and and in commemoration of one of the first werewolves I ever encountered as a child, it’s the Werewolf from the 80’s The Real Ghostbusters cartoon! This piece is stoking to the brink with nostalgia and classic werewolf excellence, and it’s accomplished with appropriately vibrant physical media (cut to a pile of Copic markers wearing sweet 80’s shades). To the best of my knowledge, werewolves only had a major role in a single TRG episode, No One Comes to Lupusville, and they spent most of it locked in various basements. When they bust out, though, they undertake the finest work a werewolf can do: smashing the shit out of some oppressive vampires. Nick’s piece, which captures one of Lupusville’s residents between vampire snacks, exemplifies the goofball horror energy that shaped my love of werewolves from an early age. For more of Nick’s art, check out his FurAffinity and deviantART galleries.

Angela Quinton Nov. 26th 2013

IGN’s Killer Instinct “Sabrewulf” profile video might sell me an Xbox One

IGN’s Destin Legarie hangs out with Dave Verfaillie (Design Director at Double Helix) and a mystery man identified only as “Rich” as the latter two show off Sabrewulf from the new Killer Instinct game, available exclusively on the Xbox One. This video is from July, but I didn’t see it until this past #WerewolfWednesday, courtesy of @hamstertoybox. The game (and the system it’s playable on) launch today, with Sabrewulf as one of the six initial characters, and holy shit does this tweaked-out medical experiment of a werewolf look good. And by “good” I mean “rabid killing machine”.

Throughout the 12-minute video, Dave explains Sabrewulf’s combat style and unique attributes (quickest dash in the game!) and discusses the design decisions behind his appearance and his stage, The Alchemical Lab. Despite Sabrewulf’s efforts to regain his humanity – enhancements like bionic arms are gone, replaced by bandages and other vestiges of medical equipment – they played up the “animal within” angle, which is obvious from the ragged panting, shuddering twitches and sprays of drool that make up much of his animation.

I’m going to level with you. I never played the original KI in the arcade or on the SNES, and I’m still more likely to get a Wii U than an Xbone or a P Ess Four, but there’s something about the gameplay, animation and sound design in this video that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Did you get an Xbox One and this game today, and if so, what’s your opinion? Should I take my credit card over to Amazon and buy myself an early Christmas gift?

Angela Quinton Nov. 22nd 2013

The Lycanthrope Learner

This book of cartoons by Doug Smith features “insight to some known and little-known facts about Lycanthropes”, and a drawing of a werewolf punching a man’s head CLEAN OFF. It costs less than three bucks, and if I had a Kindle, I’d be reading it right now.

Angela Quinton Nov. 21st 2013

Turn off the porch light, it’s “Night of 1,000 Wolves”

Reader Stalker introduced to me another comic title I need to get my hands on, this time from IDW: Curnow and Wachter’s Night of 1,000 Wolves. At first glance I thought it was going to be Hitchcock’s The Birds, but with wolves (insert photo of playground covered in silent staring timberwolves), and I wasn’t particularly interested beyond my intrigue at the earthy watercolour art. But Stalker was thorough with the links, and after reading a good review (and a crummy review), it’s clear that the family under lupine siege has a supernatural secret, and that there’s at least one actual werewolf in the three-issue series. Here’s the summary from IDW:

In the Dark Ages, the tranquil life of Harrick Benjyon and his family is shattered by unthinkable tragedy. Before they can react, the family find themselves under siege by hordes of wolves with one aim: Death! A race for survival becomes all the more impossible by the arrival of the supernatural… and the dark secrets that lie at the heart of the Benjyon family.

Night of 1,000 Wolves was written by Bobby Curnow, whose other credits are the stuff of Saturday morning cartoon dreams, and all of the art (including the covers) was done by Harvey and Eisner nominee Dave Wachter, who has a wonderful post about his artistic process for this book on Comic Monsters. The book is available in trade paperback, and you can see an eight page preview of the first issue courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

I’m going to get a copy later this month, but if you’ve read it, what did you think? Were 1,000 wolves enough? Too many? Should they have been spaced out over three nights, 333 each plus a Bonus Wolf on the last night?

Angela Quinton Nov. 20th 2013

“Ginger Snaps” and “Dog Soldiers” to get the Scream Factory treatment

Someone at Scream Factory really likes werewolf movies! This past Saturday, the horror imprint of Shout! Factory (which I like to think of as the Criterion of horror) announced on Facebook that they’ve signed a deal which will see them release collector’s editions of two top-shelf werewolf films from the early 2000’s: Ginger Snaps and Dog Soldiers. Here’s hoping these releases aren’t hampered by bureaucratic snags like the music industry bullshit that wrecked Scream Factory’s oft-lamented Werewolf TV series release (yes, I’m still bitter about that). There are no more details beyond the existence of the deal and a “summer 2014” release date, but that’s still more than enough reason to execute a small dance, high-five a stranger or perform the happiness-gesture of your choice. Follow Scream Factory on Twitter for more info, or read about it on this very site as it becomes available. Thanks to Werewolf News reader Sam for the heads-up!

Angela Quinton Nov. 19th 2013