The Werewolf’s Guide to Life belongs right next to the Bible in every werewolf’s (or werewolf’s spouse’s) nightstand. Its subtitle “A Manual for the Newly Bitten” accurately represents what lies between its covers: not a tepid modernization of werewolf myths peppered with pseudo-scientific explanations, but rather a no-nonsense (yet oddly humorous) instructional guide for newly-initiated werewolves.
At 236 illustrated pages, it’s clear that authors Ritch Duncan and Bob Powers were thinking hard about the daily challenges of being a werewolf long before the publishing world hitched its wagon to the recent monster fad. The book begins with a stark command instructing those who have just been bitten to skip ahead to the chapters that are most immediately relevant to their situation: namely, those that identify the signs of an impending transformation and how to avoid killing others (or being killed yourself) during your first Moon.
Most of the book adheres to this thoughtful textbook-like structure. It’s organized into three parts comprised of chapters that build on previously-discussed topics, but the text and sidebars encourage a lot of skipping ahead to areas where a topic of particular interest (or immediate relevance) is covered in greater detail. If you’re reading about the supplies you’ll need to have available in your enclosure during a Moon, you’ll learn you’d better have “lots of raw, red meat” available to slake your wolf-self’s hunger. But wait, the conscientious werewolf-to-be might wonder, how much meat is enough? You can take the potentially fatal guesswork out of the equation by skipping ahead to Chapter 11 (“Diet and Livestock”), which contains an elaborate table describing a point system for finding the right balance of live meat, dead meat and vegetable-based filler to keep you satisfied during your bestial evenings.
(more…)
