MYSTERIES,

LEGENDS,
AND

UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
WEREWOLVES
MYSTERIES, LEGENDS,
AND

UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
Astrology and Divination
ESP, Psychokinesis, and Psychics
Ghosts and Haunted Places
UFOs and Aliens
Werewolves
MYSTERIES,

LEGENDS,
AND

UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
MYSTERIES,

LEGENDS,
AND

UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
WEREWOLVES
LINDA S. GODFREY
Consulting Editor: Rosemary Ellen Guiley
WEREWOLVES
Copyright 2008 by Infobase Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Godfrey, Linda S.
Werewolves / Linda S. Godfrey.
p. cm. -- (Mysteries, legends, and unexplained phenomena)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9399-3
ISBN-10: 0-7910-9399-9
1. Werewolves. I. Title. II. Series.
GR830.W4G64 2008
398.24'54dc22 2007023044
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i
5
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Foreword 6
Introduction 11
1 Werewolves: Special Effects or True Live Action? 17
2 WWF, the Worldwide Werewolf Federation 25
3 The Mystery of Werewolf History 31
4 Dude, Wheres My Werewolf? The Beast of Bray Road 41
5 Will the Real Werewolf Please Stand Up? 49
6 Werewolves in the Twilight Zone: The Spook Factor 57
7 Did You See What I Saw? Hoax and Illusion 67
8 If It Walks Like a Werewolf 75
9 Celebrity Were-mania: Howling with the Stars 83
10 Your Field Guide to Werewolves 93
Timeline 103
Glossary 107
Endnotes 110
Further Resources 114
Bibliography 118
Index 121
About the Author 127
About the Consulting Editor 128
Contents
i
6
j
D
id you ever have an experience that turned your whole world
upside down? Maybe you saw a ghost or a UFO. Perhaps you had
an unusual, vivid dream that seemed real. Maybe you suddenly knew
that a certain event was going to happen in the future. Or, perhaps you
saw a creature or a being that did not t the description of anything
known in the natural world. At rst you might have thought your
imagination was playing tricks on you. Then, perhaps, you wondered
about what you experienced and went looking for an explanation.
Every day and night people have experiences they cant explain.
For many people these events are life changing. Their comfort zone
of what they can accept as real is put to the test. It takes only one
such experience for people to question the reality of the mysteri-
ous worlds that might exist beyond the one we live in. Perhaps you
havent encountered the unknown, but you have an intense curios-
ity about it. Either way, by picking up this book youve started an
adventure to explore and learn more, and youve come to the right
place! The book you hold has been written by a leading expert in
the paranormalsomeone who understands unusual experiences and
who knows the answers to your questions.
As a seeker of knowledge, you have plenty of company. Mythol-
ogy, folklore, and records of the past show that human beings have
had paranormal experiences throughout history. Even prehistoric cave
paintings and gravesites indicate that early humans had concepts of
the supernatural and of an afterlife. Humans have always sought to
understand paranormal experiences and to put them into a frame of
reference that makes sense to us in our daily lives. Some of the greatest
Foreword
j
minds in history have grappled with questions about the paranormal.
For example, Greek philosopher Plato pondered the nature of dreams
and how we travel during them. Isaac Newton was interested in the
esoteric study of alchemy, which has magical elements, and St. Thomas
Aquinas explored the nature of angels and spirits. Philosopher Wil-
liam James joined organizations dedicated to psychical research, and
even the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Alva Edison, tried to build
a device that could talk to the dead. More recently physicists such as
David Bohm, Stephen Hawking, William Tiller, and Michio Kaku
have developed ideas that may help explain how and why paranormal
phenomena happen, and neuroscience researchers like Michael Pers-
inger have explored the nature of consciousness.
Exactly what is a paranormal experience or phenomenon? Para
is derived from a Latin term for beyond. So paranormal means
beyond normal, or things that do not t what we experience through
our ve senses alone and which do not follow the laws we observe in
nature and in science. Paranormal experiences and phenomena run the
gamut from the awesome and marvelous, such as angels and miracles,
to the downright terrifying, such as vampires and werewolves.
Paranormal experiences have been consistent throughout the ages,
but explanations of them have changed as societies, cultures, and tech-
nologies have changed. For example, our ancestors were much closer
to the invisible realms. In times when life was simpler, they saw, felt,
and experienced other realities on a daily basis. When night fell, the
darkness was thick and quiet, and it was easier to see unusual things,
such as ghosts. They had no electricity to keep the night lit up. They
had no media for constant communication and entertainment. Travel
was difcult. They had more time to notice subtle things that were
just beyond their ordinary senses. Few doubted their experiences.
They accepted the invisible realms as an extension of ordinary life.
Today we have many distractions. We are constantly busy from
the time we wake up until we go to bed. The world is full of light
and noise 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have television, the
Foreword 7
8 WEREWOLVES
i
Internet, computer games, and cell phones to keep us busy, busy, busy.
We are ruled by technology and science. Yet, we still have paranormal
experiences very similar to those of our ancestors. Because these oc-
currences do not t neatly into science and technology, many people
think they are illusions, and there are plenty of skeptics always ready
to debunk the paranormal and reinforce that idea.
In roughly the past 100 years, though, several scientists have studied
the paranormal and attempted to nd scientic evidence for it. Psychic
phenomena have proven difcult to observe and measure according to
scientic standards. However, lack of scientic proof does not mean
paranormal experiences do not happen. Courageous scientists are still
looking for bridges between science and the supernatural.
My personal experiences are behind my lifelong study of the para-
normal. Like many children I had invisible playmates when I was very
young, and I saw strange lights in the yard and woods that I instinc-
tively knew were the nature spirits who lived there. Children seem
to be very open to paranormal phenomena, but their ability to have
these experiences often fades away as they become more involved in
the outside world, or, perhaps, as adults tell them not to believe in what
they experience, that its only in their imagination. Even when I was
very young, I was puzzled that other people would tell me with great
authority that I did not experience what I knew I did.
A major reason for my interest in the paranormal is precogni-
tive dreaming experienced by members of my family. Precognition
means fore knowing, or knowing the future. My mother had a lot
of psychic experiences, including dreams of future events. As a teen
it seemed amazing to me that dreams could show us the future. I was
determined to learn more about this and to have such dreams myself.
I found books that explained extrasensory perception, the knowing
of information beyond the ve senses. I learned about dreams and
experimented with them. I taught myself to visit distant places in my
dreams and to notice details about them that I could later verify in the
physical world. I learned how to send people telepathic messages in
j
dreams and how to receive messages in dreams. Every night became
an exciting adventure.
Those interests led me to other areas of the paranormal. Pretty
soon I was engrossed in studying all kinds of topics. I learned differ-
ent techniques for divination, including the Tarot. I learned how to
meditate. I took courses to develop my own psychic skills, and I gave
psychic readings to others. Everyone has at least some natural psychic
ability and can improve it with attention and practice.
Next I turned my attention to the skies, to ufology, and what
might be out there in space. I studied the lore of angels and fair-
ies. I delved into the dark shadowy realm of demons and monsters.
I learned the principles of real magic and spell casting. I undertook
investigations of haunted places. I learned how to see auras and do
energy healing. I even participated in some formal scientic labora-
tory experiments for telepathy.
My studies led me to have many kinds of experiences that have
enriched my understanding of the paranormal. I cannot say that I can
prove anything in scientic terms. It may be some time yet before
science and the paranormal stop irting with each other and really get
together. Meanwhile, we can still learn a great deal from our personal
experiences. At the very least, our paranormal experiences contribute
to our inner wisdom. I encourage others to do the same as I do. Look
rst for natural explanations of strange phenomena. If natural expla-
nations cannot be found or seem unlikely, consider paranormal expla-
nations. Many paranormal experiences fall into a vague area, where
although a natural cause might exist, we simply dont know what could
explain them. In that case I tell people to trust their intuition that they
had a paranormal experience. Sometimes the explanation makes itself
known later on.
I have concluded from my studies and experiences that invisible
dimensions are layered upon our world, and that many paranormal ex-
periences occur when there are openings between worlds. The door-
ways often open at unexpected times. You take a trip, visit a haunted
Foreword 9
10 WEREWOLVES
i
place, or have a strange dreamand suddenly reality shifts. You get
a glimpse behind the curtain that separates the ordinary from the
extraordinary.
The books in this series will introduce you to these exciting and
mysterious subjects. Youll learn many things that will astonish you.
Youll be given lots of tips for how to explore the paranormal on your
own. Paranormal investigation is a popular eld, and you dont have
to be a scientist or a full-time researcher to explore it. There are many
things you can do in your free time. The knowledge you gain from
these books will help prepare you for any unusual and unexpected
experiences.
As you go deeper into your study of the paranormal, you may come
up with new ideas for explanations. Thats one of the appealing aspects
of paranormal investigationthere is always room for bold ideas. So,
keep an open and curious mind, and think big. Mysterious worlds are
waiting for you!
Rosemary Ellen Guiley
i
11
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A
ll over this planet, from the time of the earliest hunter-gatherer
societies to the age of cyberspace, people have witnessed mys-
terious beings that appear to be part wolf and part human: werewolves.
Owooooo! Their legendary howl has become a pop culture clich. But
you wont see these beasts in your biology textbook or at the local zoo.
Their habitats are the moon-dappled forest, the sodden, lonely marsh,
and, some would say, the rough edges of the human mind. So, are they
real, imaginary, or critters from another dimension? Exactly what is
a werewolf?
One expert, Elliott ODonnell, declared in his 1912 book, Were-
wolves, that there is no one, simple way to dene them. As ODonnell
put it, There are, indeed, so many diverse viewstheir existence is so
keenly disputed, and the subject is capable of being regarded from so
many standpoints, that any attempt at denition in a restricted sense
would be well-nigh impossible.
1
There was a time when people dared not even speak the word
werewolf out loud, for fear the loathsome creature might be lurking
near enough to hear its name called and come slashing after its next
victim. According to The Mystics Menagerie Web site, merely saying
wolf in much of Europe during the month of December was once
considered bad luck as well as an invitation to the local wolf pack to
come and attack livestock or people.
2
Now, it seems that we hear about and see werewolves every-
where, their images boldly portrayed in every medium. They leap
from the pages of comic books and novels and pop howling off the
screens of televisions and movie theaters. Some may even thread their
Introduction
12 WEREWOLVES
i
pad-footed way into our minds via role-playing or video games. And
every Halloween, millions of would-be werewolves in rubber masks
and faux-fur tails mingle happily with the populace, barely noticed
among costumed witches and cloaked, white-faced vampires.
Ask anyone to describe a werewolf, in fact, and few people will have
any problem supplying familiar details. Werewolves are man-sized or
bigger, with a full muzzle and oversized, glistening fangs. They run
and leap on muscular hind legs, with hand-like paws that end in sharp,
raking claws. Werewolves boast pointy ears, glowing eyes, and a full
suit of coarse, shaggy fur. Their typical expression is a erce and chal-
lenging glare.
But as common as this furry, fanged image has become in our
culture, most people still have little notion of where the idea of were-
wolves originally came from, or whether it is even possible for such
freakish things to exist. Its very easy to shrug them off as nothing
more than timeworn myth or, at best, the ea-bitten subject of a few
too many B horror lms.
It isnt as though people of today shun the paranormal entirely. A
November 2005 Gallup Poll showed that 38 percent of Americans be-
lieve houses may be haunted by ghosts.
3
The same poll revealed that 25
percent of the United States population believes that our lives can be
affected by the positions of planets and stars in relation to the Earth.
Almost as many agree that extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth
and that some people can communicate with the dead. This poll didnt
ask whether or not people believed in werewolves, but its likely that
if it had, only a very small percentage would have replied positively.
Almost everyone knows someone who claims to have seen a ghost or
UFO, after all, but very few people claim to have seen a werewolf.
And yet, there was a time in Medieval Europe when virtually every-
onefrom uneducated peasants to very learned clergymen, from town
magistrates to crown princestook for granted that such creatures
existed. It was also widely believed that werewolves were supernatural
in nature, went hand in paw with witchcraft, and were the particular
j
handiwork of the devil. Alleged werewolf encounters occurred by the
dozens in some villages, with many livestock raids and savage murders
blamed on werewolves by fearful peasants. Many people, most of them
probably innocent of wrongdoing, were executed during the years of
the bloody witch and werewolf trials in Europe.
Werewolf attacks seemed to continue even after the trials began to
lose steam in the 1600s. A typical incident occurred in North Wales
in 1790, when an oversized, black animal with a wolfen appearance
scared the daylights out of a small community there. The creature
attacked a stagecoach, actually managing to knock it over on its side.
It then pounced on one of the horses, killing and eating it. The W
word was invoked immediately.
Adding to the impact of that event, gigantic wolf tracks were dis-
covered in a nearby eld within the next year. The tracks led to a
bloody, carcass-littered area that had become a killing eld for some
viciousand hungrycarnivore. Investigators found the elds owner
barricaded inside his house, having narrowly escaped from what he de-
scribed in Tom Slemens The Haunted Liverpool as an enormous black
animal that resembled a wolf. The wolf not only tore out the throat of
the farmers sheepdog, it battered itself against the wooden door of the
farmhouse, walking on two legs to peer into the windows.
According to Slemen, the farmer said its eyes were blue and seemed
intelligent and almost humanlike. Although local men formed a gang
and set out in vain pursuit, the creature wound up killing two hapless
travelers before its trail of carnage ended.
The strange thing is that in Great Britain, many European coun-
tries, and across the U. S. and Canada as well, sightings of a creature
that looks suspiciously like a classic werewolf have occurred with
alarming frequency in just the past few decades. Does this mean a new
day of the wolf is dawning?
Several young people in northwest Michigan think so. In April
2006, three of themJohn, Shawn, and Aubreywitnessed a crea-
ture known in local lore as the Dog Man.
4
They had driven out to
Introduction 13
14 WEREWOLVES
i
a long-abandoned schoolhouse south of the little town of Reed City
because they had heard rumors that it was haunted. But the thing that
appeared to them was no ghost. They saw a man-sized, dark-furred
creature with the head and legs of a wolf, standing on two feet and
watching them while partially hidden behind a tree. The three were
all in their vehicle, and they immediately sped off.
Later, they returned to the scene, drawn by curiosity and the
desire to prove to themselves that what they had seen was real. This
time, they observed what seemed to be a different creature. It was
bigger than the rst one, about six inches taller and more muscular,
and its fur was gray rather than brown. It approached their car from
the rear, sneaking towards them on hind legs until Aubrey, sitting in
the back seat, spotted it. In horror, she threw herself backward into
the front of the car between the drivers and passengers seats. The trio
again ed the area. Others have conrmed similar experiences in the
same place.
But near Oaxaca, Mexico, speeding away may be of no help, since
werewolves there may possess cars! In this region, the local people
say La Loba (Wolf Woman) roams the lonely stretches of desert by
moonlight, hunting for the skeletons of dead wolves. She carries them
off in her black limo, its windows long shattered from their frames,
and knits them into reborn animals who, in turn, become young and
lovely wolf maidens.
5

That story has a ring of pure legend to it, while the Michigan en-
counters involving specic eyewitness accounts sound more like actual
events. But whether these creatures are real or not, our fascination
with them is undeniable.
Perhaps a few thoughts about the nature of real versus unreal"
are necessary here. Is reality only what can be seen or measured with
all ve senses? Or can a creature only be considered real if it leaves be-
hind footprints or other empirical (measurable) evidence? Some think
that the mere act of observing an incident or creature may be enough
to pull it into the land of the physical. Physicist Fred Alan Wolf writes
j
in his book The Eagles Quest, In some sense, each of us creates the
reality we see out there from our beliefs.
6
The line between real and not real can become very tricky, indeed,
and may involve everything from advanced physics to personal belief
systems. For purposes of this book, those arguments will be left to
physicists and theologians in favor of the traditional idea that reality
is what people sense around them, and things are either natural or
supernatural. Even then, nal answers are far from guaranteed.
Some experts have suggested that werewolves are a purely human
invention, manufactured to help explain the fact that people have hu-
man intellects but animal bodies. From birth, people come hardwired
with passions and instincts that can be bafing or even scary, so this
dark side is blamed on a separate creature. Researcher Kathryn
Edwards has noted, As both human and animalthe one ideally
communable and social, the other solitary and ercethe werewolf
embodies the tensions within humanity itself.
7
But could a mere psychological invention kill a horse or leave a
giant footprint in the mud? How could three college students (not to
mention hundreds of other witnesses) all see the same creature if it
didnt own at least a particle or two of real substance? Shadows do not
possess glowing eyes and natural, four-legged wolves do not drive cars
in the desert.
This book will prowl through the lore of the manwolf in time and
history to nd clues to the true nature of the beast. A special side
trip will be made to sniff out a huge cluster of modern-day sightings
around the United States. Medical case histories of human conditions
possibly mistaken for werewolsm will be examined.
Learning from both real-life encounters and the exploration of
everything from canine anatomy to Native American lore, a complex
picture of the creature begins to emerge. This is not Lon Chaneys
werewolf, the familiar version from classic movies. The evidence indi-
cates it is probably something else entirely. Some believe this elusive
creature must be hunted down and put under the microscope; others
Introduction 15
16 WEREWOLVES
i
think it should be left alone to work out its own destiny. This book will
work toward helping readers form their own opinions.
Finally, it is possible that by investigating something that seems to
be half wolf and half human, something may be learned about the wild
sides of human nature. Just where does the dividing line between ani-
mal and human lie? In this modern day of genetic hybrids and DNA
experiments, it is high time to dig for an answer. Do werewolves prowl
the highways of the present-day world? When the moon is full, should
we expect snarling creatures to come charging at us out of the fog?
As the old saying almost goes, where theres smoke, theres bound to
be fur.
i
17
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Werewolves: Special Effects
or True Live Action?
K
atie Zahn, age 15, and her three friends had a canine creature
on their minds the day they drove to Avon Bottoms, a remote
wildlife area in southwestern Rock County, Wisconsin. Snuggled in
the back seat of their car was a Rottweiler pup that one of the teens had
brought along to sell to someone in the area. The teens had arranged
to meet the dogs new owners in the wildlife refuge. But after conclud-
ing the transaction and saying goodbye to the dog, they decided to
explore the area and check out some urban legends they had heard
about the swampy, wooded area.
A group of crazy scientists had maintained a secret lab out there,
the story went, and had somehow created a human/animal hybrid that
escaped into the wilds. The scientists then supposedly abandoned the
area in fear and despair, leaving their designer manimals on the
loose. Every now and then some wide-eyed adventurer reported see-
ing a canine hybrid still lurking near Avon.
Hoping to spot one of the creatures rsthand, Katie and her
friends drove to a eld where the creatures had reportedly been seen,
but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The two male teens grabbed
their BB guns out of the car trunk and set out to explore while Katie
and her girlfriend waited near the car.
1
18 WEREWOLVES
i
It wasnt long before the boys came sprinting back, yelling in ter-
ror as they ran for the vehicle. To Katies great shock, a six-foot tall,
fur-covered creature with the head of a wolf was following them. The
wolf was running on its hind legs. The boys shouted to the girls to
get in the car, and Katie and her friend hastily obeyed. One of the boys
turned and red his BB gun at the creature just before scrambling
into the car. Either he missed, he would recall later, or the BBs simply
bounced off the beasts hide because the creature was not deterred. But
no one was interested in staying around to nd out why. The driver
revved the engine and oored it.
Exciting as the encounter may have been, it wasnt the end of Ka-
ties story. Although the teens were shaken, they nally agreed to drive
around a bit longer to see if they could spot the creature again and
gure out what it was. They stopped at a bridge and piled out to look
down at the river below. There they spied three more of the beasts,
very similar to the rst one but slightly smaller. They were kneeling by
the water and drinking from their hands as humans would. And when
they noticed the teens on the bridge observing them, the three wolf-
ish-looking animals stood up on their hind legs as if ready to charge.
That scared Katie and her friends into leaving the area permanently.
They never went back, and Katie is the only one of the four who will
talk publicly about what happened that day.
8
Was this adventure fact or ction? Did Katie and her friends really
see some kind of wolf/human hybrid? Is it possible they glimpsed a
family of true, supernatural werewolves? Or is there actually a canine
species unknown to science that has evolved the ability to walk up-
right? None of these possibilities are easy to accept, accustomed as the
modern society is to seeing the world in purely rational ways.
The skeptic might ask whether the whole incident may have been
a hoax. Trickery is often suspected when it comes to strange creature
sightings, but the idea that four people with matching, Hollywood-
movie-quality werewolf suits just happened to be strolling around that
secluded nature area, hoping someone would see them and report a
false sighting, is almost as hard to swallow as the other possibilities.
j
Pondering the reality of sightings like Katie Zahns strikes at the
heart of something that has bafed humankind since the dawn of his-
tory. Do humans have a closer relationship to wild animals than is
generally realized? Are some people able to trade shapes with wolves
Figure 1.1 An artists rendering of a typical werewolf. (Nathan Godfrey)
Werewolves: Special Effects or True Live Action? 19
20 WEREWOLVES
i
at will? Is it possible that combination wolf/humans could exist? And
if the answer to all these questions is no, then where do our legends
about werewolves and other were-creatures come from?
Many werewolf studies start by hunting for the origins of the word
itself. Werewolf, or, as it used to be spelled, werwolf, is built upon
the Anglo-Saxon word wer, meaning man, plus wolf. Literally,
manwolf. Another old European spelling of the word, waer, connotes
something that is evil or has to do with war. In this sense, werewolf
could mean evil wolf.
9
It makes sense, given that in most medieval European lore, a were-
wolf usually looked just like other wolves except for its large size. But
today, the term werewolf brings images of tortured Hollywood ac-
tors sprouting excess facial fur under a full moon while dodging silver
bullets. Of course, in the movies, the werewolf must always bite some-
one in order to pass the afiction to another victim. But that is mostly
modern legend. In the majority of ancient folk tales, its the werewolfs
cousin, the vampire, that reproduces its kind by drinking the blood of
some innocent soul. Werewolves usually came into being, according
to these older stories, through magic or perhaps from having parents
who ran with the pack.
Another name with almost as many ties to Hollywood is wolf
man, used in many motion picture titles. It was especially popular in
the early werewolf thrillers from Universal Pictures. In these movies,
the monster looked much more human than wolf. Today, wolf man is
used almost interchangeably with werewolf to denote pointy-eared,
long-snouted humanoids. But we also use many other monikers for
the creature, including dog man, manwolf,
10
shape-shifter, and the
Native American skinwalker. Another popular term is lycan or lycan-
thrope, taken from the legendary Greek king, Lycaon. Lycaon earned
his fangs by making a forbidden human sacrice, after which the gods
zapped him into wolfen form as punishment. Medically, lycanthrope
refers to someone with a mental disorder that makes a person feel they
transform physically into a wolf.
j
Although these terms are meant to describe a creature that
combines a wolf or canine body with a human element, each name
tells a different story about the nature of the beast. The manwolves
The Dire Wolf: Granddaddy of the Lycans?
R
esearchers trying to explain sightings of large, strange canine
creatures often look to the fossil records in hopes that perhaps
a few species thought extinct might not be so very dead, after all.
One that is often mentioned is the dire wolf, a wolf-like animal that
was once plentiful over the North American continent, and which did
possess the massive set of chompers often described on werewolves.
But how well does this interesting animal really t the prole of a
wolf man?
One of the biggest problems with that theory is that the dire wolf,
or Canis dirus, supposedly hasnt been around to bedevil anyone since
the Pleistocene era 15,000 years or so ago. And although one song
by The Grateful Dead rock band describes it as six hundred pounds of
sin,
11
the dire wolf was in truth only slightly larger than a timber wolf.
Many, many skeletons have been found and preserved from California
to Florida, with more than 2,000 recovered from Californias La Brea
tar pits alone.
12
The dire wolf did have a larger, rounder head than todays wolves,
along with shorter, thicker legs. With its big fangs, it would probably
not have been pleasant to encounter in a lonely forest. But nothing
in its skeletal structure suggests that it could walk upright, even if a
few members of its species did somehow miraculously survive into
the present. Despite its fearsome appearance, then, the dire wolf is
probably just a dead branch of the wolfs family tree. And the only
Canis dirus likely to be sighted today will be a carefully reconstructed
berglass sculpture posed in some museums diorama.
Werewolves: Special Effects or True Live Action? 21
22 WEREWOLVES
i
reported by contemporary witnesses like Katie are canine-headed,
hairy creatures that zip around on their dog-shaped hind legs, but
they are thought by some to be natural animals rather than supernatu-
ral beasts. Unlike werewolves from the remote past or medieval times,
numerous observers are still spotting these creatures.
13
Shape-shifters also span ancient and contemporary lore. Usually
thought to be the work of magicians or shamans, they are found
in the myths and superstitions of almost every tribal society around
the world. These shamans are said to use magic rituals to assume or
project the form of certain animals. A skinwalker or skinchanger is a
type of shape-shifter acknowledged by many Native Americans. The
Navajo call them yenaldlooshi, and fear them as malevolent witches
who usually appear in the shape of a coyote.
14

This leaves the ongoing argument over whether the creatures that
modern-day people continue to glimpse in the forests and cornelds
of the United States, Canada, and Europe are indeed entities from an-
other world or just very elusive, esh-and-blood animals that happen
to have learned how to walk upright.
Many leading cryptozoologists, or researchers who study hid-
den animals, believe that these beasts are in reality a smaller, differ-
ently shaped species of Bigfoot, the legendary ape-man reportedly
sighted in remote wilderness areas. Other researchers think they are
a separate, previously unknown canine species, perhaps some sort of
holdover from the last Ice Age when many large and now extinct car-
nivores walked the land.
15

Supporting that view, extremely large dog-like footprints have
been found at sighting areas in Wisconsin and Georgia, and most wit-
nesses have observed that the creatures obeyed all the laws of physics
as any animal would. One or two creatures have left scratches on cars,
and many have been observed eating what looks like scavenged animal
carcasses. Its hard to imagine any critter from another world wanting
to come here simply to satisfy cravings for a bite of mangled roadkill.
j
Traditional, supernatural werewolves, on the other hand, are usu-
ally seen making their own, fresh kills, with a marked preference for
human esh. While they, too, leave footprints and can interact with
physical bodies, they are apt to revert back to human form in day-
light or when dead. Sometimes they are seen wearing clothing. Their
strength is superhuman.
Flesh or fantasy? A real creature to be feared or an ancient night-
mare that can safely be forgotten? There are many more arguments to
explore on both sides as we attempt to get to the bottom of what Katie
saw in Avon Bottoms.
Werewolves: Special Effects or True Live Action? 23
i
25
j
WWF, the Worldwide
Werewolf Federation
O
n the shores of a lake surrounded by woods in the heart of the
North American forests, there lived an Ojibwe familyfather,
mother, two sons, and a daughterwho had left their tribe to avoid
having to make war on their neighbors. The father was a man of
peace, and even though his family often suffered from hunger and
from the lack of social contact, he preferred their solitary life to one
of violence.
Eventually, the father grew ill, and knowing he was about to die,
he gathered his family to tell them his last wishes. The youngest son
was small for his age and sickly. The father made his daughter and
oldest son swear to him that they would always care for their younger
brothers needs. They agreed, and the father died content.
Six months later, the mother passed on as well, leaving the sister
and oldest brother to make good on their promise to watch and provide
for the youngest son. They were obedient for a while, but eventually
loneliness overtook the oldest son. He craved other young men to hunt
with and a young woman to take for a wife. One day he slipped away to
a village on another part of the lake and never returned.
The sister did her best to hunt for food and feed herself and the
youngest brother, but she also grew lonely. One day, she piled as much
wood and food by the tepee as she could manage to put together,
2
26 WEREWOLVES
i
told the boy farewell and went off to seek a husband and home of
her own.
The little boy was left completely alone, and when he ran out of
food, he was forced to scavenge for what he could nd in the forest. He
began following the packs of wolves that ruled the forest and gobbling
down the bits of raw deer, rabbit, and other prey left behind after a
kill. Eventually, the wolves accepted him as part of their pack, and the
boy came to believe they were his true family.
After some time had passed, the older brother returned to the area
on a shing trip, paddling a canoe with others of his new tribe. He
thought he heard someone singing on the shore, and angled in for a
closer look. To his surprise, he saw his own little brother, sprouting
fur and a tail, turned halfway into a wolf. The boy sang, My brother,
my brother. Ah, see, I am turning into a wolf!
The older brother was immediately guilt-stricken as he re-
membered his broken promise to his father, and tried to entice the
younger to come back to the village with him. But before the oldest
could reach him, the little brother nished changing completely into
a wolf. He stared at his faithless sibling for a moment, then howled
and ran away into the forest to join the family that had never for-
saken him, the wolf pack.
This story was retold from an ancient Ojibwe tale
16
that not only
teaches about things like family loyalty and keeping promises, but
demonstrates the close ties between humans and their animal broth-
ers in many Native American belief systems. In this case, it is not
magic but the loyalty and affection between the little brother and his
lupine companions that help him make the transition from human
to wolf. The story doesnt say if the boy is ever able to change back
again, but anyone hearing this tale and then encountering a wolf in the
wild might wonder whether this furry creature may have once been
human, too.
The idea that humans can become animals and vice versa is com-
mon throughout the world. Probably the best-known were-creature
j
from another culture is the French loup-garou, which was usually said
to resemble a large, natural wolf. Deciding which wolves were natural
and which were transformed humans was not easy, however. Natural
wolves ran rampant throughout Europe for much of its history, living
on the sheep and livestock they could carry off from small villages as
well as the abundant deer and other game in the ancient forests. The
main criteria, then, for picking out a werewolf from the ravening pack
was usually by its behavior. Particularly large, vicious, and aggressive
Mokwayo, the Wolf Brother, and the Rolling Head
A
husband and wife once dwelled alone together in the woods
until they had two sons. The older brother was named Wi-
sakedjak, the younger, Mokwayo. They were happy until one day the
husband realized his wife was in love with a serpent that lived in the
woods. He set out to kill the snake and its family, and then fed his
wife their blood. As further punishment, he cut off her head and then
ran away to become a star in the sky. The head began to roll across
the ground, chasing the two sons, until a crane dropped it into a
river. Eventually, the dunked head would become known as the sh
called sturgeon.
The older brother had other monsters to slay, and he left Mokwayo
to seek his own way. Left to his own devices, Mokwayo turned into a
wolf but was killed by water serpents. They committed the further
outrage of using Mokwayos furry skin to cover the door of their lodge.
Wisakedjak soon took revenge by slaying their leader, and the serpents
fought back by sending a massive ood. Wisakedjak built a raft to
survive, and thus brought on the beginning of the time of humans.
From a widespread Algonquian sacred story, and using the
Menominee name of Mokwayo for the wolf brother
17
WWF, the Worldwide Werewolf Federation 27
28 WEREWOLVES
i
wolves, especially if their favorite meat seemed to be human-burger,
were immediately suspected.
In countries without wolves, other top-of-the-food-chain carni-
vores took their place as the were-animal of choice. In Africa, hyenas
were often the favored transformational target. From Moroccos Ber-
bers, who believed in nocturnal were-hyenas they called boudas,
18
to
tribes in the continents interior who said their witch doctors could
shift into hyena form through magic ritual, the people of Africa have
long looked warily at this laughing scavenger.
On the southern end of Africa, legend has it that there are whole
villages full of people able to transform themselves into animals, usu-
ally hyenas, at will. They are called the Chichweya,
19
and they are
believed to conceal animal snouts that grow out of the tops of their
heads beneath their sculptural hairdos.
There have been sightings of were-hyenas in the early twentieth
century as well. No matter what precautions he took, a British of-
cer, stationed in Nigeria in 1918, was continually frustrated by some
animal that ate his livestock. The creature was able to cleanly bite an
animals entire head off. The ofcer set up a stakeout and shot a big
hyena as it ran for a goat the man had set out as bait. He followed the
wounded hyenas trail and noticed with astonishment that the hyena
prints soon changed into those of a human. Later, he heard that a
nearby tribesman had been mysteriously shot to death.
20

It doesnt seem to matter whether a particular species is reasonably
close to human size for it to become a were-creature. In Japan, the
petite fox has earned the lions share of transformation stories despite
its relative smallness. In fact, worries about being taken over by a fox
spirit were once so common in that country that a temple was estab-
lished for a god called Mitsumine, where special amulets were sold
with the power to ward off were-foxes,
21
which normally transformed
from foxes into beautiful women.
Some societies boast creatures that do look and behave suspiciously
like the modern-day notion of werewolves. They combine humanlike
j
features with animal strength and appearance, and remain an ongoing
mystery. In Malaysia, on the southernmost peninsula of Asia, vicious
creatures called santu sakai, or mouth men, roam the jungles near
Kuala Lumpur. As recently as the late 1960s, two monstrous, fanged
creatures chased a hunter there. The beasts attacked the hunters
vehicle, and he only escaped them by using some fancy driving tactics.
Kitsune, the Fox Maiden of Japan
I
n the forests of Japan, travel-
ers must beware of any beau-
tiful voice crooning sweetly from
the undergrowth and beckoning
them to stray from the path. The
seductive song may be that of a
kitsune, or fox demon, disguised
as a lovely human female. She will
try to entice travelers to stay with
her, and she may also shear off
their hair just for the fun of it. Glut-
tons, those who overeat, are some
of her favorite victims. She also has
the ability to shoot re from her
tail, and the reballs are sometimes
seen as lights in marshy areas.
How to protect oneself from a
kitsune? Many rural areas of Japan
are proactive in this matter. Every
year, they hold a ritual burning of
straw foxes and maidens to ensure
that any nearby kitsune is held at bay.
23
Figure 2.1 The kitsune, or
Japanese were-fox, lures travel-
ers from their path. (Nathan
Godfrey)
WWF, the Worldwide Werewolf Federation 29
30 WEREWOLVES
i
Afterward, footprints that looked almost like those of a human, but
not quite, were found in the area, along with blood thought to have
been shed by the santu sakai as they attempted to put their furry sts
through the mans windshield!
22
In Timor, an island 400 miles northwest of Australia, certain men
are said to have not only the power to change themselves into dogs,
but to transform other, unknowing victims into beasts as well. The
were-dog arises by night when the shape-shifters spirit oats away and
leaves its human body home in bed. The were-dog then makes its way
to a sleeping victim and changes the unfortunate persons sumangat,
or soul, into a tasty food animal such as a goat. The head of the animal
always remains inconveniently human, however, so the were-dog sim-
ply lops it off and runs away with the transformed goat body. The next
day, looking like his old self again, the were-dog holds a big barbecue
without telling anyone where the main course came from.
24
This global tendency to believe in beast-men (or beast-women)
could mean several things. It could be that people everywhere feel
some kind of primordial link with the predators of the animal king-
dom and build the possibility of creature mergers into their religion
and myth in hopes of experiencing that unity. In that case, of course,
one mans primordial link is often another mans bizarre nightmare.
Another possibility is that animals exist around the world that modern
science is not aware of, crouching in whatever wilds are left to them on
every continent and nding it increasingly impossible to avoid modern
man entirely. Whatever your point of view, once we learn that every
society on earth is telling the same old stories about were-creatures, it
becomes very hard to put them all down to mere coincidence.
i
31
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The Mystery of Werewolf History
I
expected them t burn me alive if ever they caught me.
Indeed, they vowed they would do so, at rst. I still dont
know why they didnt, especially after I told the High Court all the
evil I was wont to create. I told them I did kill those children with
my bare hands and teeth when the werewolf madness came upon me,
and did eat their esh. That is true. But I also told them it was the
Lord of the Forest made me do it, him with the black cloak and the
black horse and his kiss as cold as death on my cheek when he took
me for his servant.
I was only a lad, no more than eleven, when the witch-boy Pierre
brought me to meet that demon in the deep o the woods. The monster
made a mark on our legs with his nail so like a knife, and gave to us
each a jar of magical salve and a wolf skin to wear. These turned us
into wolves whenever we put them on our bodies. As another sign we
were his, he forbade us to cut our left thumbnails, and so these we let
grow thick and twisty like the claws of a beast. At least, that is how I
tell the tale.
I remember well my kill early in March in the year 1603, when I
devoured a little girl named Guyonne who was no more than three
years on this earth. There were so many others, although some I just
wounded. The fair maid named Marguerite Poirier would have been
mine but for her heavy, pointed staff of iron that she jabbed so hard I
3
32 WEREWOLVES
i
could not bite her. But it was that servant girl, Jeanne Gaboriaut, who
did me in.
She was a pretty lass, and charmed me so that I told her all about
my wolf skin, and my hunts for small children, and how I drank the
blood of dogs. And then the wench went to the magistrate and called
me the loup-garou. She were right, of course. I confessed. But then
judges said it werent right I should be burned at the stake, because
my age were so tender and because my bad father beat me. They said I
was not ever given proper food, and that I did not have my proper wits
about me. So they shut me up in this place, the friary of good Saint
Michael the Archangel. If ever I try to leave, they said, they will hang
me by the neck from a big oak tree, sure.
So seven long years are passed away and here I sit in this rough
prison of a room, all skin and bones because the soup and dark bread
they offer does not ll me like the bloody victuals I had when I ran
wild. My long, sharp teeth they cannot le short, and my nails still
grow sharp like great thorns. But The Lord of the Forest came here
twice to try to take me back. He could not because here, I make the
sign of the cross and the devil must ee from the consecrated grounds.
And in this room, watched by these good Brothers, I, Jean Grenier of
Saint-Antoine de Pizon, will remain until Old Man Death nally runs
me down and snatches me from this earth. It is more than I deserve
according to what I have done to others.
(adapted from The Werewolf in Lore and Legend,
by Montague Summers )
25
Jean Grenier was a real person who did confess to killing chil-
dren, and he died in a monastery in 1611 after only eight years of
imprisonment. It was never established whether he really did commit
cannibalism; small children had gone missing in the region, but Jean
was so mentally unstable that people werent sure whether to believe
his confession or not. The mercy granted him by the court was truly
j
unusual, since burning had been the standard punishment for witch-
craft and werewolfery for centuries.
Although others would still face horrible executions, Jean Gre-
niers case opened the door for some understanding of the fact that
the wretched people usually accused of sorcery often were either
mentally ill or likely to have made false confessions during sadistic
torture by investigators. By the time the results of Jean Greniers
trial were known, according to author Adam Douglas in The Beast
Figure 3.1 A werewolf attacks a shocked villager. (Nathan Godfrey)
The Mystery of Werewolf History 33
34 WEREWOLVES
i
Within, The age when the courts of France took seriously confes-
sions of diabolical pacts, magic salves and metamorphosing animal
pelts had passed forever.
26
HOWLS FROM THE DISTANT PAST
So how did people get to the point where werewolf trials were neces-
sary in the rst place? Many scholars believe that the idea that man
and wolf could exchange identities started with Stone Age hunting
societies whose members wore wolf skins to ally themselves with the
superior hunting abilities of the animal.
27
Eventually, people began
to weave man/animal connections into their religions. The very an-
cient city of Catal Huyuk (cha-tal hooyook) in what is now Asia Minor
boasted a bustling population of thousands in 6500 BCE. Wall paint-
ings found by archaeologists in the ruins of Catal Huyuk show priests
dressed as vultures. These birds were used to strip corpses clean of
esh, a process called excarnation, so they could be buried neatly un-
der the familys house. Some people think that the birds would have
been considered spirit messengers, because they carried away the loved
ones body. And it may be that wolves came to serve the same purpose,
according to some researchers.
28
Priests of other societies may have
dressed as wolves in the same way Catal Huyuk spiritual leaders por-
trayed the helpful vultures.
We also know that by 3000 BCE, the Egyptians were worshipping
animal-headed gods. Anubis, usually shown with the head of a jackal
(the closest thing to a wolf in that region), was considered guide to the
Underworld. Jackals were scavengers, after all, and would have been
observed gnawing at the bones of the dead. Its easy to see how they
might have become linked to the afterlife in peoples minds.
Animal skins, especially those of bears and wolves, were not con-
nected only with hunters and priests, however. The phrase going
berserk, comes to us from Norse warriors known as berserkers
(or bear-shirts), who often wore entire pelts complete with heads into
j
battle, both to encourage their own ferocity and to strike fear into
the enemy. The earliest recorded history of Sweden, written by Snorri
Sturluson around 1200 CE, noted these warriors were mad as hounds
or wolves.
29

Women could also be berserkers. In one Scandinavian tale, the
god Thor bragged to a ferryman that he had killed certain berserker
women. The ferryman taunted him, saying only a weakling would
kill women. Thor, according to Peter Andreas Munch in Norse My-
thology, replied, She-wolves, werewolves they were, not real women;
they smashed my boat as it lay leaned against the shore; they threat-
ened me with iron bands, and they kneaded Thjal (Thors human
companion) like dough.
30
Berserkers who turned into werewolves
were known as vargr.
In Europe, belief in werewolves and other shape-shifters had be-
come common by the Middle Ages. Of course, werewolves were not
the only creatures believed to roam the Continental countryside. In
this supernatural world, says Kathryn A. Edwards in Werewolves,
Witches and Wandering Spirits, ghosts and spirits, werewolves and
witches, demons and dwarves all played a role.
31
But from the lands
of the Caucasus Mountains to the British Isles, werewolves always
seemed to draw special attention.
Skulking lycans also prowled the land of shamrocks and leprechauns,
for instance. Historian Montague Summers wrote, The evidence for
werewolsm in Ireland is of immemorial antiquity and persists through
the centuries. Lycanthropy was for the most part believed to run in
families. Summers discussed one man who was named Faelad, or
wolf-shapes, because he and his sons shifted into wolf form whenever
they felt like feasting on a neighbors fresh leg of mutton.
32
Werewolfery could also result from a curse. The legendary St.
Patrick, Christian missionary to Ireland in the fth century CE, was
ridiculed by one clan who howled at him like wolves. Folklore has it
that as a result, the men from that family were compelled to change
into wolves every seven years.
The Mystery of Werewolf History 35
36 WEREWOLVES
i
Summers quoted a Bishop Maiolo as saying there were many
werewolves in Russiahaunting above all the Caucasus and Ural
Mountains. He also told of the Siberian Yakuts, who believed that
Figure 3.2 A werewolf, depicted here with wild but humanlike features, raids a
farm. (Mary Evans Picture Library)
j
The Medieval Witch and Werewolf Trial Craze
F
ew movements in history have inspired the sheer terror of the
centuries-long bloodbath known as the Medieval Inquisition.
Specially appointed ofcials known as Inquisitors roamed every prov-
ince of Europe, questioning villagers about their neighbors and holding
investigations that often ended with the accused person burned at the
stake. Often confessions were obtained by tortures such as applying
large screws to crush peoples thumbs, or by stretching their bodies on
racks. Although originally appointed to root out heretics (those who
practiced forms of religion other than the state-sponsored version of
Christianity), Inquisitors were soon also hunting, torturing, and burn-
ing men and women accused of being witches and werewolves, as
well. Their ofcial crime? Sorcery.
Ironically, in the eighth century, church leaders and Charlemagne,
founder of the Holy Roman Empire, had issued decrees stating that
witches did not exist, and that anyone burning a so-called witch was
subject to the death penalty.
33
Werewolsm was considered part and
parcel of witchcraft. But about 700 years later, in 1484, Pope Innocent
VIII issued a proclamation that gave power to those already extermi-
nating heretics to wipe out witchcraft as well. Popular zeal for this
goal increased two years later when an explosive book called Malleus
Malecarum was published. Its name meant The Witchs Hammer. It
not only contained the words of the Popes decree, it explained and
laid out all the collected lore of witchery, shape-shifting, and Satanic
rituals that Inquisitors had put together, and demanded that all other
authorities join in wiping these devilish practices from the land.
In some areas, entire villages were depopulated. Anyone could be
accused, and the imsiest of evidence was accepted. Older women
were the main victims, but eventually the hysteria grew to the point
(continues)
The Mystery of Werewolf History 37
38 WEREWOLVES
i
their shamans, or holy men, could not only shape-shift, but that they
hid their souls within animals for safekeeping, particularly in erce
predators such as bears or wolves.
35
Greece was lled with werewolf cults that worshipped Zeus and
Apollo as late as the mid-1500s. In 1542, a severe outbreak of lycan-
thropy among citizens in Constantinople forced Solyman II to ex-
ecute at least 150 of the ravening beasts around that city, in order to
protect the rest of the populace.
Werewolsm was almost indistinguishable from vampirism in
some Eastern European countries. Voukoudlaks, or werewolves, were
condemned to live in their tombs like vampires, coming out only dur-
ing the full moon to satisfy their thirst for human blood. In Serbia,
any corpse found not to have decayed within a reasonable time was
carefully staked through the heart before reburial.
36
FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW
Once Christianity became entrenched in Europe after Constan-
tine made it the ofcial religion of the Roman Empire, werewolves,
where people of any age or sex and even respected tradesmen, el-
ders, and judges were being thrown on the re. Thankfully, the worst
of it was over by 1600. There are no certain numbers for those killed
overall, but between 1580 and 1630, nearly 400 people were tried
in the duchy of Lorraine alone, and around 100 included charges of
shape-shifting, with 36 of those cases involving wolves.
34
Almost 80
percent were convicted, thanks to skilled torturers who extracted
false confessions.
(continued)
j
witches, and sorcerers were declared Satanic in origin. The church
embarked on a massive witch and werewolf hunt, executing almost
anyone deemed suspicious, even for such minor physical aberrations
as eyebrows grown too closely together or palms with a bit of hair
growth. In just one 100-year period, from the early 1500s to the early
1600s, 30,000 people were accused of being werewolves, or loup-garou,
in France
37
and usually burned at the stake. Werewolf researcher Mon-
tague Summers said that in the 1500s, in France especially the rank
foul deeds of werewolfery ourished exceedingly.
38
A century or so later, when European countries began sending
ships to the Americas, seamen, explorers, traders, and settlers brought
along the legends and beliefs of their homelands. The United States
ended up with loup-garou tales in old French settlements like Green
Bay, Wisconsin and New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as witch trials
in Salem, Massachusetts, and waarwolf, or werewolf, stories among
the German emigrants of Pennsylvania. Some immigrants believed
the werewolves were imported from overseas, hidden inside the bod-
ies of those able to shape-shift or stowed away in the holds of great
ships. And today superstitious people insist that these same infernal
creatures still rove the contemporary world by night.
The Mystery of Werewolf History 39
i
41
j
Dude, Wheres My Werewolf?
The Beast of Bray Road
F
og swirled over the cornelds on a dark Halloween night out-
side the small town of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. High school student
Doris Gipson was on the lookout for stray trick-or-treaters as she left
her family home on Highway 11 that evening in 1991. On her way to
pick up a young relative in town after a party, Doris chose to take Bray
Road, a three-mile stretch of country two-lane that was usually quieter
than busy Highway 11. As she neared the intersection with Hospital
Road in her blue Plymouth Sundance, she felt one of her front tires
rise a little as if she had run over something. Fearing she might have
hit a cat or a dog, she slowed down, continuing another 50 to 60 feet
before coasting to a stop. It was foggy and hard to see anything very
far away, so Doris hopped out of her car and took a few steps toward
whatever it was she had run over.
About the time she reached the rear of her car, to her shock and
horror Doris saw a large creature emerge from the fog. It was running
straight for her on two legs. It was no dog; it was bigger than me,
she would later remember thinking. It had a powerful build, a head
like a wolf or dog, and was covered in shaggy fur. She could hear its
heavy feet thumping the pavement as it ran. She immediately jumped
back into her car and hit the gas. But the creature made a leap for her
car and left raking scratch marks on the rear of it. Doris managed to
4
42 WEREWOLVES
i
escape into town, but she later drove home via the same route and
managed to catch another glimpse of the creature slinking off into the
misty night.
Doris told a few of her classmates at Elkhorn Area High School
what she had seen, and a school bus driver overheard her and realized
that her own daughter, Lori, had witnessed the same creature a few
years earlier as she drove home one night from her waitress job in
Elkhorn. It turned out that other area residents had seen the beast,
too. They all described it as about six feet tall, covered with wild-look-
ing, dark brown fur, with the head of a wolf or German shepherd and
glaring yellow eyes that seemed to challenge the observer. Some saw
it on four legs, some on two. In several cases it was observed eating
roadkill or deer.
Lori and Doris, along with a few others, contacted the Walworth
County Animal Control Ofcer, hoping he could provide an explana-
tion for what they had seen. He could not, but he led their reports
in a manila le folder marked werewolf. That was what people had
started calling the creature, since a werewolf was exactly what it looked
like. The school bus driver, in the meantime, had called this author,
since I was working as a reporter for a Walworth County newspaper at
the time. The newspaper editor and I quickly decided that a county of-
cial with a le folder labeled werewolf was newsworthy, and I wrote
a story about the creature that I dubbed The Beast of Bray Road.
39
The story was eventually picked up by Associated Press and re-
ceived a huge amount of publicity. Busloads of tourists from Illinois
came to view Bray Road in hopes of seeing a werewolf, merchants sold
werewolf cookies and T-shirts, and a local politician running for ofce
claimed that the werewolf endorsed him. People who lived on Bray
Road became very tired of wannabe werewolf hunters shining ash-
lights in their windows and trespassing on their land in camouage
fatigues, and they began reporting the nighttime stalkers to police.
The media feeding frenzy continued. But the strangest part was
that not just reporters and TV shows were calling; many other people
j
who had had their own experiences were also phoning to report sight-
ings. It became evident that this was no isolated cluster of incidents,
easily explained away as a deformed coyote, which was the local
Figure 4.1 Werewolves, like the one depicted here snacking on an unlucky
raccoon, are often sighted at roadside. (Linda S. Godfrey)
Dude, Where' s My Werewolf? The Beast of Bray Road 43
44 WEREWOLVES
i
sheriffs favorite explanation. The earliest sighting was in 1936 in
nearby Jefferson County, and the incidents ranged southward over the
Illinois border and as far east as Milwaukee. Even a radio disc jockey at
WTCM in Traverse City, Michigan, phoned to say they had a similar
creature there known as the Michigan Dog Man, based on old log-
ging-camp tales.
Stories continued to trickle in over the next 10 years. Many tele-
vision shows visited Elkhorn to lm documentaries about The Beast
of Bray Road, and one Hollywood producer tried unsuccessfully to
get a movie made. (A group called The Asylum released a mostly
unrelated movie with the title The Beast of Bray Road to video in
2006.) In 2003, the book The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsins
Werewolf, was released, and the resulting publicity brought a urry
of new sightings reports.
Many of the reports were about events that had occurred years ear-
lier, but the witnesses had often been too afraid to tell anyone, believing
that they were the only people in the world who had seen an actual
werewolf. But reading reports from other witnesses made them feel
they could nally come forward, many of them said. And they were not
all from Wisconsin. Two brothers from the northern tip of New York,
near Lake Champlain, wrote to say that they spied two of the wolf-
headed creatures running alongside a highway, loping along on two
feet. A funeral director from Southern Georgia encountered one in a
swamp while hunting arrowheads. Appearing enraged at being spotted,
a six-foot manwolf charged at him as if it wanted to attack. The man was
able to leave the scene in his truck, but when he went back the next day,
he found footprints shaped like a wolfs but as big as a mans size-11 shoe!
Reports also came in from around southeastern Wisconsin, northern
Wisconsin, from everywhere, in fact, except Bray Road. The creature
appeared to have been scared off that road by all the publicity and has
only been reported in that vicinity once since the early 1990s.
40
The Beast may have some friends, too. A smaller number of people
have reported seeing what looks exactly like a slightly shorter Bigfoot.
j
There are big differences between the two creatures. The Beast, or
manwolf, has a head like a wolf or German shepherd, with tall, pointy
ears on top of its head and a long muzzle. Its hair is shaggy but not
owing. It is sometimes observed to have a tail, and its legs are con-
gured like a canines. It leaves dog-like prints. The Bigfoot creature
does not have visible ears, its hair ows onto its neck like a cape, and
the movement of its legs when it walks resembles that of a humans. Its
footprints are at and humanlike.
Still, some people believe that the Beast of Bray Road is actually a
small Bigfoot. Other people think its a hoax. Its true that two farm
boys who lived on the road had some fun scaring people with Hal-
loween masks, and that one transient farmer once wore a gorilla suit
to scare some teenagers out of parking on his land. (This incident is
explored in Chapter 7.) But neither of those events could account for
all the sightings over all those years and in other places.
Some believe that the creature has never been caught because it lives
in a spirit world part of the time. Southeastern Wisconsin is unique
in having many efgy mounds built by ancient Native Americans and
shaped like a variety of animals. Could the Beast of Bray Road be
an ancient spirit guardian left behind by those people to guard their
sacred mounds? Or is the manwolf some kind of supernatural being
conjured up by modern day shamans or magicians? Interestingly, there
has been no documented case of a human actually being injured by
this creature, which is consistent with the theory of a spirit being.
Others would argue that the Beast of Bray Road is an actual, un-
known creature, possibly leftover from the past when giant animals,
or megafauna, roamed this continent. It would have had to hide itself
cleverly from man, perhaps living in underground caves and tunnels,
and would need to be very intelligent to adapt to changing conditions
of climate and food sources. The Beast of Bray Road has been clever
enough to keep from being caught or shot so far, despite all the people
who have been trying for the past decade and more. In the meantime,
the sightings continue.
43
Dude, Where' s My Werewolf? The Beast of Bray Road 45
46 WEREWOLVES
i
The Animal Effigy Mounds: Where Manwolves Roam
T
housands of earthen mounds shaped like bears, deer, thunderbirds,
turtles, men, and the mysterious water panther once covered much
of the southern half of Wisconsin. The mounds, usually located near
waterways, were so ancient that the Native tribes rst encountered by
settlers said they didnt know who made them. Present dating methods
estimate that the mounds were built between 800 BCE and 1200 CE.
41
But
the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk people all felt that the mounds
were sacred and took great care not to disturb them.
The settlers who pushed into the state to farm or log the land were
not so sensitive, and many of the mounds were destroyed. In fact, a pop-
ular Sunday afternoon activity in the early part of the twentieth century
was to hold a mound dig party in hopes of nding buried artifacts. But
enough of the mounds have been preserved that after much study by
archaeologists and anthropologists, some interesting things are known
about them.
Some, but not all, of the mounds were used for burials. Sheboygans
Indian Mounds Park contains a mound that was opened and found to
contain a burial. The remains were recreated by casting them in resin,
and replaced into the site with a Plexiglas cover so that the mound can be
viewed as it looked when it was opened.
Tribal anthropologists have noted that the mound shapes represent
the same totem animals revered by the Ho-Chunk, and many experts
think that the far distant ancestors of the Ho-Chunk may have been the
Figure 4.2 Effigy mounds depicting (clockwise) a deer, a water panther, a
dog, and a bird. (Linda S. Godfrey)
j
The Animal Effigy Mounds: Where Manwolves Roam
T
housands of earthen mounds shaped like bears, deer, thunderbirds,
turtles, men, and the mysterious water panther once covered much
of the southern half of Wisconsin. The mounds, usually located near
waterways, were so ancient that the Native tribes rst encountered by
settlers said they didnt know who made them. Present dating methods
estimate that the mounds were built between 800 BCE and 1200 CE.
41
But
the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk people all felt that the mounds
were sacred and took great care not to disturb them.
The settlers who pushed into the state to farm or log the land were
not so sensitive, and many of the mounds were destroyed. In fact, a pop-
ular Sunday afternoon activity in the early part of the twentieth century
was to hold a mound dig party in hopes of nding buried artifacts. But
enough of the mounds have been preserved that after much study by
archaeologists and anthropologists, some interesting things are known
about them.
Some, but not all, of the mounds were used for burials. Sheboygans
Indian Mounds Park contains a mound that was opened and found to
contain a burial. The remains were recreated by casting them in resin,
and replaced into the site with a Plexiglas cover so that the mound can be
viewed as it looked when it was opened.
Tribal anthropologists have noted that the mound shapes represent
the same totem animals revered by the Ho-Chunk, and many experts
think that the far distant ancestors of the Ho-Chunk may have been the
Figure 4.3 The Beast of Bray Road was sighted in a region that is also home
to Indian burial mounds like the Great Bear Indian mound seen here. (Tom
Bean/Corbis)
(continues)
Dude, Where' s My Werewolf? The Beast of Bray Road 47
48 WEREWOLVES
i
builders of the efgy mounds. Most agree that the mounds repre-
sented important religious beliefs of the builders, and perhaps were
intended to harmonize spirits of the sky (birds) with spirits of the water
(turtles, lizards, and water panthers) and of the earth (bear, deer).
42

Strangely, a few of the mounds that are shaped like men feature
projections on the head that could have represented horns worn by
medicine menor were they meant to show the pointed ears of a
wolf-headed, bipedal creature? The true purpose of the animal efgy
mounds may never be known, but it is an interesting coincidence that
they are found almost nowhere else in the world but the southern half
of Wisconsin, which also happens to be the main location of present-
day sightings of manwolves.
(continued)
i
49
j
Will the Real Werewolf
Please Stand Up?
W
olves once ourished in India as they did in other wild places
around the globe. Adaptive species that they are, wolves of-
ten make their dens in unexpected placeseven in the giant, conical
mounds left by termite colonies in India. So it didnt strike two men as
terribly unusual when they discovered several wolves running from a
massive cone of dirt in the wilds southwest of Calcutta one day around
1920. What shocked them was the fact that two small human females,
about three years and ve years old, also came crawling out, and ap-
peared to have been living inside the earthen shelter with the wolves!
The girls did not want to be rescued, reported the men. Growl-
ing, biting, and kicking savagely, they acted like tiny werewolves. One
of the men, a missionary named Reverend Singh, took them back to
the small orphanage he ran. After seeing to it that they were bathed
and cleaned up, he set about trying to teach them proper human be-
havior. He named the younger Amala, and her supposed older sister,
Kamala. It may have occurred to him that publicity about two wild
wolf-girls could benet his orphanage nancially.
He soon found, however, that although he had succeeded in taking
the girls out of the wolf den, it wasnt so easy to take the wolf den out
of the girls. They refused to eat anything but raw meat, ran around
on all fours, and would only try to stand up if Singh held meat above
5
50 WEREWOLVES
i
them in the same way dogs are taught to beg. They had no interest in
human company but loved a hyena cub that was brought for them to
play with. They stubbornly refused to be housebroken, urinating and
defecating where and when they pleased.
Their behavior continued to dismay everyone who observed them.
One of the girls, on nding a dead cow near the compound, attacked
the carcass with her hands and teeth, and then secretly dragged parts
of it back to the orphanage garden where she could chew on it all she
liked. Singh wrote that in the dark, the eyes of both girls glowed a
strange, faint blue color. (Many researchers have accused him of mak-
ing this up, since human eyes lack the necessary membrane to reect
light like those of animals.) The girls also howled plaintively at regular
intervals and resisted learning the simplest words.
Amala died of a kidney infection only a year after being taken from
the termite mound. Kamala lived eight years after that, until 1929.
She had nally managed to learn a few words and even form short
sentences. She had acquired toileting skills, as well, and was allowed to
go to church services. Sadly, Kamala also fell ill from a kidney infec-
tion and died on November 14.
Amala and Kamala were not the only Indian children said to be
raised by wolves. A wolf-boy was found in Sikandra in 1867 and
another near Allabahad in 1926. These feral or wild children fol-
low in the tradition of the mythical Romulus and Remus, legendary
founders of Rome who were said to have been suckled by a she-wolf.
Actual evidence that any mother wolf nursed and took care of found-
ling human infants is sadly lacking. Animal expert Lois Bueler states
in Wild Dogs of the World, since wolves nurse their pups for less than
two months and subsequently feed them regurgitated food, it would
be impossible for a human infant to survive this way.
44
Still, its fascinating to contemplate just how a person would turn
out if reared by wolves, and with no human parents, church, school,
television, or other inuences most people take for granted. But could
such a crude upbringing turn a human being into a werewolf?
j
Its true that stories often emphasize the feral childrens prefer-
ence for carrion and raw meat, something that is also believed true of
werewolves, and that their nails and hair may be long and claw-like
due to lack of grooming. But not even the most enthusiastic supporters
of Amala and Kamala ever hinted that the girls grew fangs, pointed
ears, body fur, or other hallmarks of werewolves. They were still com-
pletely human. They were simply very poorly socialized humans. One
researcher, Bruno Bettelheim, went so far as to claim that Amala and
Kamala were actually suffering from the childhood mental disorder
known as autism,
45
which often results in poor interpersonal skills and
what seems like anti-social behavior.
But even if true feral children have actually existed, it is still very
unlikely anyone would ever mistake one of them for a wolf or were-
wolf. Reverend Singh knew immediately on the day he found them in
that termite mound that he was looking at small, human females, not
little she-wolves, no matter how caked with dirt or contorted their
arms and legs might have been. It isnt likely, then, that feral children
can be used to explain away the idea of werewolves.
THE ULTIMATE BAD HAIR DAY
There are people with another very rare condition that makes them
very hairy who have been credited with inspiring the idea of man-
wolves. Individuals born with a trait known as congenital hypertri-
chosis may grow thick, furry hair over more than 90 percent of their
bodies, including their faces. A Mexican family with the surname of
Ramos-Gomez is famous for this characteristic. Some family members
have more hair than others, but a few are almost completely covered
with dark fur. Ramos-Gomez sons Victor and Gabriel bill themselves
as the Wolf Brothers, and have traveled the world as a hirsute tra-
peze act. There is also a young man in China, Yu Zhenhuan, who calls
himself Hairboy and is 96 percent hairy. A musician, he dreams of
becoming the worlds rst furry rock star.
Will the Real Werewolf Please Stand Up? 51
52 WEREWOLVES
i
These people are not werewolves. They are ordinary human beings
in every other way, and do not feel compelled to howl at the moon or
go prowling for human esh. They do not have muzzles, fangs, or
tails. And given a close, full-body shave, some laser hair removal, or a
good waxing, they would not appear wolf-like at all.
Some skeptics have suggested a disease called porphyria might be
responsible for legends of werewolves. Porphyria is another congenital
condition that causes extreme sensitivity to light, tooth and skin dis-
coloration, and sometimes malformation of bones and cartilage. Por-
phyria can even bring on hypertrichosis. Other symptoms are mental
delusions and hysteria. People with extreme forms of this disease, left
untreated, might act in strange ways and look abnormal. But again, the
condition would not cause anyone to be mistaken for a wolf without a
huge amount of imagination on the part of the observer.
Figure 5.1 Hair covers 96 percent of Yu Zhenhuans body, making him Chinas
hairiest man. (Claro Cortes IV/Reuters/Corbis)
j
LYCANTHROPY: MAD FOR THE MOON?
People who believe that they actually turn into wolves at the full
moon often call themselves lycanthropes or lycans, after the Greek
king, Lycaon, discussed in Chapter 1. Lycanthropy is also the name
psychologists give to a certain mental disorder. It is sometimes called
wolves fury and can include symptoms such as howling, skulking
around cemeteries, and craving raw meat or carrion. Psychologists say
that no matter how much a person with lycanthropy may howl, bite,
crawl, or try to scratch eas from his ears, the feeling of possessing a
wolfs body is only a delusion.
According to Rosemary Ellen Guiley in The Encyclopedia of Vam-
pires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters, lycanthropy is linked to a host
of mental conditions, including
schizophrenia, multiple person-
ality disorder, bipolar disorder,
drug abuse, clinical vampirism,
mental retardation, necrophilia,
and other psychological disor-
ders.
46
On top of all that, some-
one diagnosed with lycanthropy
might feel very alienated from
society, be obsessed with any-
thing considered demonic, and
even feel a thirst for blood, says
Guiley. But, she adds, it has been
noted as a mental disease since
130 CE when a Greek doctor Ga-
len rst described it.
47
For those who see all that
changing of the physical body
as too much trouble, there is
another version of lycanthropy
Figure 5.2 The condition seen here
is called hypertrichosis, a genetic
disorder that causes excessive
hairiness. (AP)
Will the Real Werewolf Please Stand Up? 53
54 WEREWOLVES
i
called therianthropy. People in this camp may call themselves the-
rians, for short. They claim to transform only spiritually, while their
bodies remain human. Therianthropy may or may not be associated
with psychological disorders; those who call themselves therians
encompass a wide range of beliefs and practices, from mere fantasiz-
ing to costumed role-playing of animal behavior in outdoor settings.
Therianthropy may also refer to shape-shifting into animals other
than wolves.
Ergot Mania!
T
he year 1951 was remarkable in many ways. In the United States, the
United Nations opened for business in New York City. It was the rst
year people could buy color TVs or frozen turkey potpies. And in France,
in a small village named Pont-Saint-Esprit, it was the year the villagers
went mad.
Young girls in white nightgowns, conned to their beds from a
strange fever and delirium, began screaming that their bodies were grow-
ing bright red owers. Grown men complained that their heads were
no longer made of esh but lead that had been heated to the melting
point, ready to ow over their feather pillows. Children tried to murder
their parents with their bare hands. People saw visions of terrible things
like skulls that grinned and leered through vacant eye sockets and packs
of ravening tigers. In all, 300 people fell victim to a bewildering array of
psychotic delusions.
The epidemic might not have been so damaging if people had stayed
in their beds, but the mysterious disease made people want to prance
about town or jump off buildings as if they were Superman. Some even
showed signs of superhuman strength. A handful died, their cardiovas-
cular systems destroyed. After several weeks, police nally traced the
disease to bread baked by a shop
whose our had been contaminated
by ergot, a fungus that grows on
damp grain. Ergot is a storehouse of
potent chemicals, and in fact, is the
source of the powerful hallucinogen
known as LSD.
Ergot poisoning was not new to
the area. It ran rampant throughout
much of Europe in the cold, damp
years from 1250 and 1750,
48
causing
much death and disease among poor
people who ate mostly rye bread.
Historians have also blamed it for the
weird behavior that led many to be ac-
cused of witchcraft and werewolsm
during the medieval witch trials. But
this French nightmare in 1951 showed
that modern people are not immune
from the illness so terrible it was once
called St. Anthonys Fire.
j
As an explanation for sightings of upright, hairy creatures or erce
wolves with ferocious appetites for human esh, however, lycanthropy
and therianthropy fall short for the same reasons as do feral children
and folks with hypertrichosis. The aficted people are still people,
and always recognized as such. Its just very hard to mistake any hu-
man for a wolf.
There is another route to believing ones self to have turned into
a wolf or other predator without actually sprouting fuzz. Around the
Ergot Mania!
T
he year 1951 was remarkable in many ways. In the United States, the
United Nations opened for business in New York City. It was the rst
year people could buy color TVs or frozen turkey potpies. And in France,
in a small village named Pont-Saint-Esprit, it was the year the villagers
went mad.
Young girls in white nightgowns, conned to their beds from a
strange fever and delirium, began screaming that their bodies were grow-
ing bright red owers. Grown men complained that their heads were
no longer made of esh but lead that had been heated to the melting
point, ready to ow over their feather pillows. Children tried to murder
their parents with their bare hands. People saw visions of terrible things
like skulls that grinned and leered through vacant eye sockets and packs
of ravening tigers. In all, 300 people fell victim to a bewildering array of
psychotic delusions.
The epidemic might not have been so damaging if people had stayed
in their beds, but the mysterious disease made people want to prance
about town or jump off buildings as if they were Superman. Some even
showed signs of superhuman strength. A handful died, their cardiovas-
cular systems destroyed. After several weeks, police nally traced the
disease to bread baked by a shop
whose our had been contaminated
by ergot, a fungus that grows on
damp grain. Ergot is a storehouse of
potent chemicals, and in fact, is the
source of the powerful hallucinogen
known as LSD.
Ergot poisoning was not new to
the area. It ran rampant throughout
much of Europe in the cold, damp
years from 1250 and 1750,
48
causing
much death and disease among poor
people who ate mostly rye bread.
Historians have also blamed it for the
weird behavior that led many to be ac-
cused of witchcraft and werewolsm
during the medieval witch trials. But
this French nightmare in 1951 showed
that modern people are not immune
from the illness so terrible it was once
called St. Anthonys Fire.
Figure 5.3 The ergot fungus
grows on grain and is a power-
ful hallucinogen. When eaten by
humans it can cause symptoms
that resemble the characteristics
of a werewolf. (Linda S. Godfrey)
Will the Real Werewolf Please Stand Up? 55
56 WEREWOLVES
i
world, highly trained shamans or tribal spiritual practitioners have
claimed that the inner predator may be experienced by ingesting
certain drugs, mushrooms, or other hallucinogenic substances that can
induce trance states. These substances are often dangerous to physical
and/or mental health, but subjects claim their experiences feel very
real. There is also a substance called ergot, which is a fungus found on
rotting cereals such as rye, that may be eaten accidentally, often with
disastrous results (see sidebar).
In sixteenth-century Europe, one book of alchemy and magic,
Magiae Naturalis (Natural Magic) by Giambattista della Porta, gave
instructions on which herbs to use in order to bring on hallucinations
of shape-shifting power. The potion started with a cup of wine, into
which was mixed such dangerous substances as belladonna, or deadly
nightshade, mandrake, and henbane. Some very toxic ingredients were
also combined to make the magical salves that many medieval would-
be werewolves applied to their bodies to make themselves transform.
Hemlock, bats blood, and soot were just a few.
49
In short, if this were a TV game show and we asked the real were-
wolfferal child, lycanthrope, hairy guy, or ergot eaterto stand up,
none of them would be able to truthfully rise. For most of them, any
alleged werewolsm exists mostly in their headsor in the case of the
Ramos-Gomez brothers, in their epidermis. While there may have
been cases where impressionable people have mistaken people with
hypertrichosis or ergot convulsions for werewolves, these conditions
could only account for a very small fraction of sightings worldwide.
i
57
j
Werewolves in the Twilight Zone:
The Spook Factor
T
wo young sisters, aged seven and 10, were playing in the backyard
of their family farm in northern Wisconsin without a thought
toward any world beyond their own. Suddenly, they looked up in
alarm to discover some sort of wild, hairy beast approaching. In front
of them stretched an open eld surrounded by woods and separated
by a lane with an electric fence on either side. The beast stood in the
lane, staring, only a short distance away from the startled sisters. It
appeared to be a dark, menacing wolf.
Before the girls could scream or run away, the wolf turned and
walked right through the electric fence! The girls continued to watch,
afraid but fascinated, as the wolf kept walking toward the woods and
then suddenly changed form into a bear! Finally, before reaching the
trees, it disappeared into thin air.
REALITY BITES?
The girls father reported this story, because even several years after the
incident occurred, the girls, who still insisted that it really happened,
refused to talk to anyone outside their family about it. Both sisters saw
the same thing, so it could not have been a hallucination. They may
have made it up, but their father doesnt think thats likely. He believes
6
58 WEREWOLVES
i
they would eventually have admitted they were playing a trick, had
that been the case. They had nothing to gain by lying, and they were
not known for inventing strange tales. Their parents absolutely be-
lieved that their daughters saw a bear/wolf shape-shifter.
50
And there
are many people who insist thats exactly what werewolves are: shape-
shifters. If this is true, does it mean that werewolves arent real? As
discussed earlier, the nature of reality may be elusive as any unknown
creature. But the fact that two witnesses saw the same creature and
sequence of events makes it unlikely this was a hallucination.
Of course, physical proof is always desirable. Would the creature
be considered real if it had bounced back off the wire fence and left
behind footprints or some other kind of evidence? Its possible that
even this would not be enough to convince a skeptic that the girls
story is true. But stories of animals with supernatural properties are
basic to every culture. And what these girls saw is very similar to some
well-known Native American traditions.
SHIFTY CHARACTERS
The idea that werewolves are not natural animals but denizens of a
spirit world or, perhaps, another dimension, is common among the in-
digenous people of North America. They believe that men sometimes
have the power to transform, or shift, their human shape into the form
of some other creature, and that sometimes animals can shift into hu-
man form, as well. Magic rituals, fasting, eating certain psychotropic
plants, and highly disciplined spiritual training are all methods used
by shamans to enable shape-shifting. But the process is not necessarily
limited to medicine men.
David Walks-As-Bear, a Shawnee Nation member who has worked
most of his life as a game warden in Michigan, wrote in a column
posted on his Web site, http://www.walks-as-bear.com, For Indians,
shape shifting is applied in hunting, song and dance, healing and war-
fare. A brave will study his spirit animal for many years to learn all of
j
its uniqueness and mannerisms, trying to become one with it orjust
like it. He believes that some of the famous Cheyenne Dog Soldiers,
elite ghting force of the Cheyenne Nation in the mid-1800s, may
actually have been shape-shifters.
The Cheyenne Dog Men, says Walks-As-Bear, supposedly
were wiped out by the U.S. Army. But there are stories, carried over
from the elders that tell of some of the Dog Men actually shape-shift-
ing into the real dogs that they mimicked in battle. Thus, these few
escaped the U.S. Armys planned killing of them all back in the Battle
of Summit Springs in Colorado.
51
Walks-as-Bear thinks that its pos-
sible the Michigan Dog Men might be a remnant population of some
of these forever-changed dog soldiers.
INSTANT MESSAGING, ANIMAL-TO-HUMAN
The idea that the spirits of men and animals can migrate from one
host to another is called metempsychosis. In an 1871 Atlantic Monthly
article that attempted to nd some historical reason for the idea of
werewolves, writer John Fiske described metempsychosis as a belief in
the close community of naturebetween man and brute.
52
In this
type of belief system, it would be logical to assume that the shape or
form of an animal would follow its spirit into a human host. But as
with most things in the paranormal realm, hard evidence in support
of this theory is scant. In lieu of actual bodies to study, researchers
must look for clues in the reports of those who have seen the creatures.
Claims coming from such stories, or anecdotes, are known as anec-
dotal evidence.
One anecdotal claim involves telepathy, or the trading of thoughts
between one mind to another. A number of witnesses have insisted
that the beasts they encountered communicated telepathically with
them. In Hunting the American Werewolf, Renee Fritz reports of chanc-
ing upon a wolf-headed creature as she drove to work very early one
morning in October 2004, near Sharon, Wisconsin. She felt that the
Werewolves in the Twilight Zone: The Spook Factor 59
60 WEREWOLVES
i
strange being told her via mental impressions that if she revealed
her sighting to anyone, it would nd her and get her.
53
She was so
frightened by this that it took her three days to work up the courage
to tell her husband. Thankfully, it seemed to be an empty threat. The
creature left her alone.
The idea that an animal or supernatural being could project a
telepathic message to a human may seem far-fetched. Yet, many esh-
and-blood human beings claim telepathic abilities, and scientists have
investigated them, though without obtaining any conclusive evidence.
So if there is such a creature as a wolf or dog that walks upright, whos
to say that it couldnt be a bit psychic as well?
HELLHOUNDS AND PHANTOM WOLVES
Wolfmen and giant hounds that vanish and appear are a different mat-
ter. British folklore abounds in stories of hellhounds and black dogs
that are often seen as guardians of the dead. The very earliest hell-
hound legends are probably related to observations of dogs, wolves,
and other canines scavenging burial grounds. An early example is the
Greek Hound of Hell named Cerberus. Cerberus is described in
mythology as a humongous dog with multiple heads (usually three).
He guards the gates of Hades to prevent anyone from escaping. Au-
thor J.K. Rowling borrowed Cerberus in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers
Stone to serve as the three-headed guard dog named Fluffy.
In Norse mythology, the guardian of the gate to hell is a huge,
bloody wolf-dog hybrid named Garm. On the day the world ends,
known as Ragnarok, Garm will break free of his chains and leave the
entrance to the underworld wide open.
54
In southern Germany, one of the areas most obsessed with hunting
and killing alleged werewolves in medieval times, churches used to
keep miracle books in which parishioners could record extraordi-
nary occurrences or answers to prayer. Not all the entries were made
in a spirit of thankfulness. One woman used the miracle book at the
j
shrine of Saint Anastasia to report that a phantom black dog bedeviled
her. Church authorities assumed the hound to be Satan. In the same
area of Benedictbeuern, a headless, upright wolf shocked a shepherd
out of his mind when it suddenly appeared amid his sheep.
55

Hunting the American Werewolf includes several modern instances
of phantom dogs. One is the story of a Wisconsin man who was terri-
ed to nd an upright creature with a jet black, muscular body and
a face that looked just like a werewolf standing outside his bathroom
door one morning. When he reached for a baseball bat for defense, the
slightly transparent creature vanished.
56
In the same book, six teenagers exploring the abandoned lake cot-
tage of a supposed witch emerged only to nd themselves threatened
by the looming shape of an upright wolf materializing out of the dark-
ness. They ran for their lives but, to their relief, the phantom wolf did
not follow.
57
It is impossible to say where these mythological and phantom ver-
sions of wolves and dogs come from. The human imagination is one
possible source, but legends and stories claim there is a spirit realm
from which these beings cross over. Sometimes, the creatures bring a
friend or two along for the visit.
CREATURE PARTY TIME
Strange occurrences, it seems, seldom happen in isolation from one
another. Prominent paranormal investigators such as long-time re-
searcher and author John Keel have noted that where one odd thing
rears its shocking head, others are bound to follow. He calls these
places with repeated odd occurrences window areas.
58

In one area of Texas, people have reported seeing Bigfoot, black
panthers, unexplained lights, and other strange things around the
Big Thicket National Preserve. Black panthers, sometimes termed
mystery cats, have also been reported in Wisconsin and Michigan
near sightings of manwolves. Both states are also rife with sightings
Werewolves in the Twilight Zone: The Spook Factor 61
62 WEREWOLVES
i
of unidentiable lights, such as the famed Paulding Light on the far
western side of Michigans Upper Peninsula. Explanations for this
light phenomenon range from marsh gas to the reections of auto
headlamps on a far-away hill, but witnesses tell of being followed or
chased by the lights at close range, or experiencing electronic difcul-
ties with their vehicles as the lights passed through them. Robb Riggs,
in In the Big Thicket: On the Trail of the Wild Man, wrote The associa-
tion of mysterious light-form producing energies and ape-like creature
sightings is reported again and again by independent researchers.
59
By ape-like, Riggs probably means Bigfoot or Sasquatch, often re-
ferred to in southern states as the Skunk Ape. But many times, witnesses

Figure 6.1 Some werewolf sightings have been connected to UFO encounters,
suggesting a possible otherworldly origin for these creatures. (Linda S. Godfrey)
j
Figure 6.2 A frame from the famous Bigfoot film, obtained by Roger
Patterson at Bluff Creek in northern California on October 20, 1967. Some
believe that the film is a hoax, but no solid proof has been shown either
way. (Fortean Picture Library)
Werewolves in the Twilight Zone: The Spook Factor 63
64 WEREWOLVES
i
Figure 6.3 A normal-sized mans foot (right) compared with a cast of a Bigfoot
footprint. It is one of several found at Bluff Creek, California, in 1967 after the
filming of Bigfoot by Roger Patterson. (Fortean Picture Library)
j
assume that any upright, hairy hominid must be a Bigfoot, even if it
boasts a dog-like head, body, and legs. It is possible that at least some
reported Bigfoot sightings could actually have been upright canines,
or manwolves. And vice versa. Strangely, most of the places where
manwolves have been seen also host scores of Bigfoot sightings.
One Bigfoot investigator in Texas, Richard Van Dyke of the Ameri-
can Anthropological Research Foundation, differentiated between the
two types of creatures in an interview with the author by referring to
the wolf-like, upright creatures by their local name of Snout-Nose.
But whatever names are applied to them, it appears that upright, hairy
hominids hang together, co-existing in the same habitat, and where
one is seen, another is likely to show up.
The idea of different types of hairy, upright creatures sharing simi-
lar habitats makes sense. They are likely to share the same needs for
water, game, and cover. That does not explain why strange lights and
black panthers also pop up in the same area. One theory suggests that
all these phenomena are just different forms of a strange trick played
on human minds by the electromagnetic properties of certain rock
formations. Parts of the human brain can be affected by electromag-
netic waves, therefore exposure to these areas can result in hallucina-
tions of certain basic images such as lights or animal forms.
Author Paul Devereux, who has investigated ancient holy sites in
Europe and North America, discovered that these places often con-
tained large amounts of magnetic rock that would cause a compass
needle to swing wildly. There is experimental evidence to show that
the human brain is susceptible to quite small changes in the ambient
magnetic eld, wrote Devereux in his book, Haunted Land, and that
this can trigger sensations that are commonly considered as being vi-
sionary or paranormal.
60
In that case, all of these mysterious creatures and phenomena could
just be gments of our fertile minds, jiggled into existence by a few
zaps from the right kind of rock. But not every sighting of strange
phenomena occurs near magnetized rock strata. A very complete geo-
Werewolves in the Twilight Zone: The Spook Factor 65
66 WEREWOLVES
i
graphical survey would be needed to prove this theory in every loca-
tion on earth where strange things have been seen.
Perhaps rocks have nothing to do with strange creatures. Another
possible explanation holds that Bigfoot, werewolves, black panthers,
and odd lights (including swamp lights or will-o-the-wisps and UFOs)
are all manifestations of a shape-shifting earth or nature spirit that
shows up in whatever form best suits its purposes. In Scotland, such
spirits are called Kelpies, and often present themselves as a horse or
beautiful maiden in order to lure people into a lake or river where they
are drowned.
Whether it originates from the human body and mind or from
someplace in the spirit world, the shape-shifter neatly ties to-
gether both the phenomenon of disappearing creatures and the
variety of strange things associated with them. Unfortunately, no
scientic method has yet been devised to prove the existence of
shape-shifters. Its up to each individual researcher to decide just
how much weight to give any pile of anecdotal evidence. Many will
keep searching for physical, empirical proof that these creatures
really walk among us.
i
67
j
Did You See What I Saw?
Hoax and Illusion
T
wo teenagers looking for a little privacy for romance one sum-
mers evening in the early 1990s decided a quiet country lane
called Bray Road might be just right. Only a few miles from the little
town of Elkhorn, Wisconsin and lined with cornelds and a few
farms, it seemed perfectly safe from prying eyes. True, there had been
a few rumors around school about some upright, wolf-headed creature
stalking the ditches of that area, but the teens reassured each other
those were just urban legends.
They pulled their car up next to some bushes just off the road where
they wouldnt be easily seen. The hour was late, the farmhouse nearby
was dark, and the only sound was the chirping of crickets in the elds.
But just as they were about to kiss, the girl jumped back and screamed
in horror. Something brown and hairy was hunched right outside the
vehicle, trying to peer into the window. As her boyfriend turned his
head to see what had frightened her, the creature ran into the bushes.
Immediately, the teens decided the legends about the Beast of Bray
Road must be true. In moments, they were speeding back toward the
safety of the village.
This true story could have been a great witness report, one that
helped prove the existence of a werewolf-like creature in Wisconsin,
had the creature not been a complete hoax! The hoaxer was renting a
7
68 WEREWOLVES
i
The Furry Popsicle: A Monster Enigma
I
f unknown, upright furry creatures do exist, where are all the
bodies? That question is probably the all-time favorite of modern
skeptics, and has always been a thorny riddle for cryptozoologists to pon-
der. So when a Minnesota man named Frank Hansen turned up with a fro-
zen, unknown, man-like primate body in the late 1960s, researchers were
very excited. Here was solid (frozen solid!) evidence, it seemed, that the
missing link between man and ape really did exist. And if what came to
be called the Minnesota Ice Man could be proven a new species, then
any number of other unexplained furry hominids, manwolves included,
might be accepted more easily as esh and blood realities.
There is a comparatively fresh corpse, wrote researcher and author
Ivan T. Sanderson in the May 1969 issue of Argosy magazine, preserved
in ice, of a specimen of at least one kind of ultra-primitive, fully-haired
man-thing, that displays so many heretofore unexpected and non-human
characters as to warrant our dubbing it a missing link.
61
Sanderson had been informed that Hansen was exhibiting this
creature at fairs and shopping malls around the Midwest, so he went
to see it along with Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans, a member of the Belgian
Royal Academy of Sciences. Heuvelmans was considered an expert
on what was then called the Abominable Snowman. The men were
convinced that the creature, about six feet tall and covered with two-
to four-inch brown hair, was genuine and not of any species known
to science. They described the nose as pugged, with wide nostrils.
The eyeballs had been blown out of the sockets, probably by a
gun blast (Hansen claimed to have shot it in the 1960 deer hunting
season near Aurora, Minnesota). It had very large hands, and its feet
were 10 inches wide. I defy anybody to fool Bernard Heuvelmans on
a case like this, argued Sanderson. You just cannot make a corpse
like this, either out of bits and pieces of the bodies of other animals,
or of wax, with some half a million hairs inserted into it. Besides, it
smelled like rotting flesh.
And yet, the Minnesota Ice Man would eventually be declared a fake
by many researchers. The owner kept changing his story as to where
and how it had been found, and it was alleged that after Sanderson and
Heuvelmans made their examination, the actual body was removed and
a poor copy substituted in a new block of ice. Others said the body was
faked all along, while a few insisted the change in appearance was due to
melting and refreezing of the ice block. Today, neither the original body
nor the model of it (if indeed there was a model) is available for examina-
tion, and the very heated debate over the Ice Mans authenticity shows
no sign of chilling.
Figure 7.1 The true nature of the Minnesota Ice Man remains a mystery
to this day. (Fortean Picture Library)
j
The Furry Popsicle: A Monster Enigma
I
f unknown, upright furry creatures do exist, where are all the
bodies? That question is probably the all-time favorite of modern
skeptics, and has always been a thorny riddle for cryptozoologists to pon-
der. So when a Minnesota man named Frank Hansen turned up with a fro-
zen, unknown, man-like primate body in the late 1960s, researchers were
very excited. Here was solid (frozen solid!) evidence, it seemed, that the
missing link between man and ape really did exist. And if what came to
be called the Minnesota Ice Man could be proven a new species, then
any number of other unexplained furry hominids, manwolves included,
might be accepted more easily as esh and blood realities.
There is a comparatively fresh corpse, wrote researcher and author
Ivan T. Sanderson in the May 1969 issue of Argosy magazine, preserved
in ice, of a specimen of at least one kind of ultra-primitive, fully-haired
man-thing, that displays so many heretofore unexpected and non-human
characters as to warrant our dubbing it a missing link.
61
Sanderson had been informed that Hansen was exhibiting this
creature at fairs and shopping malls around the Midwest, so he went
to see it along with Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans, a member of the Belgian
Royal Academy of Sciences. Heuvelmans was considered an expert
on what was then called the Abominable Snowman. The men were
convinced that the creature, about six feet tall and covered with two-
to four-inch brown hair, was genuine and not of any species known
to science. They described the nose as pugged, with wide nostrils.
The eyeballs had been blown out of the sockets, probably by a
gun blast (Hansen claimed to have shot it in the 1960 deer hunting
season near Aurora, Minnesota). It had very large hands, and its feet
were 10 inches wide. I defy anybody to fool Bernard Heuvelmans on
a case like this, argued Sanderson. You just cannot make a corpse
like this, either out of bits and pieces of the bodies of other animals,
or of wax, with some half a million hairs inserted into it. Besides, it
smelled like rotting flesh.
And yet, the Minnesota Ice Man would eventually be declared a fake
by many researchers. The owner kept changing his story as to where
and how it had been found, and it was alleged that after Sanderson and
Heuvelmans made their examination, the actual body was removed and
a poor copy substituted in a new block of ice. Others said the body was
faked all along, while a few insisted the change in appearance was due to
melting and refreezing of the ice block. Today, neither the original body
nor the model of it (if indeed there was a model) is available for examina-
tion, and the very heated debate over the Ice Mans authenticity shows
no sign of chilling.
Did You See What I Saw? Hoax and Illusion 69
70 WEREWOLVES
i
farm on Bray Road and had grown sick of teens parking on his prop-
erty. He had heard the rumors of a manwolf, too, and wanted to put an
end to the trespassing. So, he rustled up a gorilla suit, then lay in wait
on the next Saturday night for an unwary couple to park on his land.
As he crept silently up to the car in his bulky costume, he knew that
only a quick glimpse would be necessary to terrorize the young lovers.
He was correct, as the frantic teens spread the word of yet another
encounter with the Beast.
Of course, there had been many other sightings on Bray Road that
could not have been hoaxed, incidents where the witnesses had a clear
view of the creature and could see that its head and legs were canine.
But knowing that this one case of intentional tomfoolery did happen
62

and that other, similar pranks have been played in other monster
sighting areas should inspire caution in anyone wishing to research
strange creatures.
HYENA GETS THE LAST LAUGH
Whenever something that looks like a werewolf is sighted, local au-
thorities and skeptics supply all sorts of suggestions as to what wit-
nesses might really have seen. Sometimes the suggestions are more
absurd than the creature they are meant to replace. One animal fre-
quently offered as the possible true identity of alleged manwolves
is the hyena. The only problem is that a hyena is sorely out of place
anywhere in North or South America, where they do not live in the
wild. Any hyena spotted there would have to be an escaped zoo, circus,
or sanctuary animal.
Animal escapes do sometimes occur. One newspaper in Paulding
County, Ohio, reported just such an incident in 1858. The Cleveland
Plain Dealer declared on February 6 of that year that a circus hyena
had broken free in Paulding County and was busily digging up graves
and terrorizing those who came in contact with it. The beast had al-
ready mauled two men to death, the article said.
j
After area residents intent on learning the latest about the loose
hyena had purchased sufcient newspapers to boost circulation, the
reporter confessed that he had made the entire story up.
63
In this
particular case, that was the end of it. But its easy to imagine some
intrepid researcher combing old newspapers a century or two later,
coming across the hyena headlines but not the reporters later admis-
sion of guilt, and concluding some hyena-like critter had indeed run
amok in Paulding County.
This sensationalized case helps prove the adage Dont believe ev-
erything you readespecially in very old newspapers. Most people
dont realize that in the 1800s, most American towns had several highly
competitive publications, and it became accepted practice for report-
ers to write outrageous stories similar to those in todays tabloids to
attract readers. Its likely that more than one local legend is the result
of uncorrected misinformation like that in the hyena story.
Its good to remember, too, that sometimes animals are simply
misidentied. The creature in a widely reported hyena sightings ap
around Superior, Wisconsin, in August 2006 turned out to be nothing
more than a nearly hairless timber wolf with a bad case of mange.
A bored teenager perpetrated another hoax in 1969 in Calhoun
County, Alabama. People driving around rural roads in the area re-
ported seeing a hairy, upright, horned creature dancing in the ditches.
It was dubbed the Choccolocco Monster, after Choccolocco Road
where it appeared, and it kept locals in a panic for weeks. Finally, the
sightings mysteriously stopped. The monster was never explained un-
til 2001, when Anniston Star reporter Matthew Creamer announced in
a Halloween story that one Neal Williamson had nally come clean
about the horned beast. Williamson, 15 at the time of the incidents,
had thought he would scare up some fun by donning a long fur coat or
a sheet and a cow skull, hiding in the bushes in the dark, then popping
out to jig around at passing motorists. He pulled his trick at least four
times, but eventually happened to step out in front of someone with
a rie and nearly took a couple of bullets. Luckily, the gunman was a
Did You See What I Saw? Hoax and Illusion 71
72 WEREWOLVES
i
poor shot, but the close shave was enough to convince Williamson to
hang up the skull hat forever.
64
Interestingly, according to Creamer, the creatures description
evolved over time as more residents witnessed Williamsons beast.
The hair color changed from dark gray to black and white, and the
prominent teeth noticed by early witnesses were later said to be hidden
by thick, stringy hair. People became more convinced of its reality as
sightings continued. Creamer quoted one resident as saying, I knowed
it was the booger. (Booger is a folk term for swamp monsters.)
Williamson had some fun with his little monster dance that be-
came the Choccolocco Monsters hallmark. But the good folk of Cal-
houn County didnt particularly enjoy nding out they had been the
collective butt of Williamsons long-guarded, secret joke.
TRUTH OR DARE? WHOM TO BELIEVE?
Stories like the Paulding Hyena and Choccolocco Monster beg the
question, how reliable are eyewitness accounts? Can we accept that
Bigfoot and werewolf-like creatures exist when all we have may be
anecdotal evidence? Skeptics often charge that people are notoriously
unreliable when reporting even mundane occurrences or describing
other people. And if it can be shown that observers are often mistaken
when reporting the appearance of other human beings, can eyewit-
nesses of unknown creatures be expected to be any more accurate?
According to Michael C. Dorf, in an article called How Reliable is
Eyewitness Testimony?, numerous psychological studies have shown
that human beings are not very good at identifying people they saw
only once for a relatively short period of time. The studies reveal error
rates of as high as 50 percent. Dorf also notes that stress can further
diminish the ability of people to identify a stranger.
65
These studies were conducted on people trying to identify another
human in a witness lineup, not a tall, dark, furry thing in the woods.
But if the experiments nding that human powers of observation are
j
not as reliable as we would like to believe they are, then eyewitness
stories seem to be rather weak evidence, particularly since few situa-
tions are as stressful as encountering a huge, hairy monster! But there
are a few important differences to note between the studies of human
witness lineups and encounters with strange creatures. In the studies
cited by Dorf, no one was trying to gure out whether what they saw
was simply human or animal. Instead, participants faced the complex
task of trying to match the facial features of a complete stranger to
their memory of a quick glimpse of the person.
Eyewitnesses of big furry hominids, on the other hand, are mostly
concerned with identifying what kind of creature they sighted. They
need not worry about distinguishing one manwolf from another. The
difference between the two tasks might lead to different success rates
in later recall. Imagine two police lineups. In one, a witness is asked
to choose between three Caucasian males around the same height and
with brown hair, but with different faces. In the second lineup, the
witness is required to point to which creature he or she sawa bear, a
deer, or an upright, wolf-headed thing. Its probable that success rates
would be much higher with the second lineup. Something highly un-
usual is always much easier to remember.
Creature witnesses often say that the image of the creature they
saw was burned into their brains, making it unforgettable. And yet,
the article quoted above also noted that even witnesses in human tri-
als who insisted they were sure of what they saw were not necessarily
more reliable than the more uncertain witnesses. If it can be shown
that witness memories are not always completely reliable, then, what
physical proof, otherwise known as hard evidence, of werewolves
exists? Photos or casts of footprints, samples of fur, or feces, or best of
all, a specimen of the creature itself, alive or dead, would all fall into
this category. With new techniques of DNA analysis, almost any real
bit of an animal can yield answers to many questions. So far, though,
hard evidence other than footprints has been scant when it comes to
Bigfoot, manwolves, sea monsters, and other unknowns.
Did You See What I Saw? Hoax and Illusion 73
74 WEREWOLVES
i
Those who track these creatures insist they are intelligent enough
to obscure their physical traces, perhaps by sticking to hard or leaf-
covered ground not soft enough to show footprints. After all, a race of
big hairy monsters would need to be very skilled at hiding in order to
have stayed out of the human sight for so many centuries. These skills
might also include concealing their dead and probably even cover-
ing their feces. Still, its hard to imagine that at least one skeleton or
scat pile would not have fallen into human investigative hands at
some time.
Finally, even if fur from a manwolf or Bigfoot is some day found,
analyzed, and declared to belong to no identiable creature, its au-
thenticity will remain in question because there is nothing on le
to compare it to. No existing laboratory boasts a standard sample of
werewolf DNA.
i
75
j
If It Walks Like a Werewolf
T
o the average passerby, Eau Claire might look like a perfectly
normal, northern Wisconsin town. Lined with homes and busi-
nesses within the city limits, the roads turn rural and wooded very
quickly as they reach the outskirts. But sometimes, the roads turn
spooky, as well.
In the winter of 2004, a man and his son from nearby Mondovi
were driving home late from a concert they had attended in Eau Claire
when they suddenly found themselves on an unfamiliar, narrow lane
surrounded by snowy forests. They traveled about a mile down the
road, the 12-year old son growing more nervous by the minute, when
their Ford Contour sedan suddenly stopped.
The engine died but not the radio or the heat, said the father, so
we would wait a minute, crank it, go a little farther, then do that again
and again. They nally made it back into town, stopped for a burger,
then headed for home once more. Again, they found themselves on
the same, treacherous byway. Again the car died, and this time the
man hit the brakes and slid, hitting some kind of large, elk-like animal
that sniffed at him and then walked into the forest. Terried, the man
and his son tried desperately to get their car going again, with the
engine dying every 50 to 100 yards. They had just made it to a sharp
turn when the father looked in his rearview mirror and received the
shock of his life. I saw something Ive never seen before, he said. I
8
76 WEREWOLVES
i
thought it was a werewolf, and were not science ction nerds. He was
crossing the road 30 yards behind us on four feet with a weird kind of
swaggerhis shoulders were doing all the talking. At this point the
car is not starting, no energy at all. Then my son turns and notices the
thing is now coming toward us. When it saw our car, it did something
like the way a horse bucks up, moved its front paws kind of weird, and
did a walk on two feet, then came toward us on all fours again.
The man was now frantically trying to turn over the engine, and it
nally started when the black-furred creature was about 10 yards away.
The man drove around the curve, but the creature followed them on
two legs. It took six or seven steps on two feet, said the father, and
we were both screaming by then. Then it dropped back down to gain
speed. At that point, the creature gave up the chase and walked back
into the forest.
It was a mammoth of an animal, he said. I didnt get a good look
at its face but its ears were long with a wild point like a tuft on top. I
still dont know what to call it, he added, but it was not a bear, wolf,
or dog. I felt it was really after us. It was dumbfounding.
DO THE LOCOMOTION
As this true story taken from the authors les (courtesy of author
and researcher Chad Lewis) shows, one characteristic of alleged were-
creatures is their ability to walk on either two feet (bipedally) or all
fours (quadrupedally). This strikes observers as strange because nor-
mally, animals of all types, including man, are designed to walk one
way or the other. Humans, for instance, are bipeds; human spines and
shoulders are not designed to go about on all fours. Human legs are
jointed with knees too close to the ground for trotting like a quadru-
ped, with heads aligned so that on all fours, they face down instead of
ahead. Most other mammals are quadrupeds; even the great apes such
as chimpanzees and gorillas normally lean far forward and use their
knuckles to propel themselves along the ground. It should be noted
j
that people who have encountered Bigfoot, considered by most to be
apelike, always remark that it walks erect and appears to get about very
naturally on two feet.
There are a few exceptions to this rule of biped or quadruped. Hop-
ping mammals like the tiny, desert-dwelling gerboa and the kanga-
roos and wallabies of Australia are bipedal, but not in the easy striding
fashion peculiar to humans. Some birds and lizards can actually run
on their hind legs, making them technically bipedal, but they would
never be mistaken for a wolf man. (That doesnt mean people havent
claimed to have witnessed bird men!)
66
Also, some quadrupeds do have the ability to stand on their hind
legs to eat or survey their surroundings. Bears are known for rear-
ing up momentarily to have a look around them or to reach into a
beehive for honey. There is an antelope found in East Africa known
as the Wallers gazelle, or gerenuk, which stands up in order to
reach the kind of leaves it enjoys, using its front hooves to hold the
branches in place while it feasts. But it doesnt stroll around the
jungle on two feet.
PAWS, FOR A MOMENT
Injured or deformed animals can be quite another story, however. On
the Web site YouTube.com,
67
one of the most downloaded videos is a
Montel Williams Show segment on a dog named Faith, born with only
stubs for front limbs. Faith was trained by her devoted owner to walk
on her hind legs, and was featured on several national television shows.
She is shown strolling, not hopping or jumping, down the street next
to her owner. Her neck juts forward a bit in keeping with her canine
spinal alignment, which makes it interesting to note that manwolf
eyewitnesses often assert that although the creature they saw walked
naturally, its neck was hunched over. But the video proves that it is
entirely possible for a canid to walk on its hind legs if it has sufcient
motivation.
If It Walks Like a Werewolf 77
78 WEREWOLVES
i
Of course, its highly unlikely that Faith or any other animal born
without forelimbs would be able to survive in the wild. Faith had
humans to shelter, feed, and train her. In the wild, she would have
had no way to catch food and would have been easy prey for larger
carnivores.
It doesnt seem likely, then, that forelimb injury could be a viable
explanation for the wild canids that have been seen walking upright.
Of all the sightings of upright manwolves, one has yet to be reported
as missing front legs or even paws. Indeed, many witnesses have noted
the creatures either using their arms to carry something such as a
piece of animal carcass, or even cupping their paws to sip water.
Perhaps the ability to use its forelimbs to handle food and water
would give a wild creature certain advantages. A scavenger or hunter
Figure 8.1 Laura Stringfellow, 14, plays with her dog Faith at their home
in Oklahoma City. Faith was born with her two front legs badly deformed and
learned how to stand up and walk on two legs. (Stephen Holman/ZUMA/Corbis)
j
with a meal too big to eat in one sitting would nd it easier to carry its
food to a safe place using its arms than to drag it by mouth. It would
also be more convenient to keep a watch for other predators while din-
ing in an upright position rather than bent close to the ground with a
full mouth.
Could it be that a group of canines has been able to adapt their
walking posture in order to gain these benets? If so, its easy to
understand how our occasional glimpses of them going about their
Faith the Bipedal Dog
I
t was late December 2002 in Oklahoma when a female chow
gave birth to a litter of mixed breed puppies, several of them
deformed. One, the runt of the litter, was born with one forelimb
missing and the other horribly misshapen and useless. Young Reuben
Stringfellow, 17 at the time, rescued the pup and took it home to his
mother, Jude, who adopted the helpless creature and named her Faith.
The deformed leg had to be removed when Faith was seven months
old, and the family set about the long task of teaching her to walk on
her hind legs. They did this by enticing her to stand for treats.
Faith has since been featured on many national TV shows, from
Inside Edition to Oprah, and the clip from her appearance on the
Montel Williams Show is one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube.
com. Watching Faith walking with her human companions, it is ap-
parent that she is truly striding and not hopping as most deformed
animals learn to do.
68
If there ever were an argument that bipedal
canids can exist, Faith the Dog would have to be considered the
best available evidence. Jude Stringfellow wrote a book detailing
the plucky pups story, With a Little Faith, and maintains a Web site
called FaiththeDog.net.
If It Walks Like a Werewolf 79
80 WEREWOLVES
i
business in an upright posture could seem so startling and humanlike
that they are mistaken for werewolves.
KEEPING BIGFOOT AND MANWOLF
ON THEIR TOES
Of course, those who favor the idea that these creatures are supernatu-
ral, either changing from human to animal or the other way around,
would say that it is only natural for the creature to display traits from
both sides of the dimensional coin. If a shape-shifter truly has the power
to transform bone and muscle into forms other than its own, how hard
could it be to go from walking on two feet to running on four?
Thinking a little about the anatomy of legs in actual esh-and-
blood animals, though, also helps to distinguish manwolves from that
other big and questionable forest dweller, Bigfoot. Some have specu-
lated that creatures looking like werewolves are actually another form
of Bigfoot, just a smaller, Eastern cousin. However, as we noted earlier,
Bigfoot descriptions plant the creature rmly in the great ape family.
And the footprints of apes have one thing in common: they involve
the whole foot, placed at on the ground. This type of footprint is
referred to as plantigrade. Bears also make plantigrade footprints.
Wolves, dogs, and cats, however, leave what we call digitigrade (us-
ing digits, or toes) tracks. Digitigrade trackers walk on their toepads
and on what we would call the ball of their foot, with the heel joint
placed farther up off the ground. Manwolf eyewitnesses, when they
have a good look at the legs, will usually note that the legs were bent
backwards. The legs appear that way to them because the creatures
heel is high off the ground, placed rather like a humans knee. But
a knee bends forward and a heel bends backward, so it looks wrong
when the creature walks.
In the few instances where the creatures have left tracks, the differ-
ence between dog man and Bigfoot becomes readily apparent. Every-
one knows what the huge, at, humanlike Bigfoot tracks are supposed
j
to look like. Dog man or manwolf tracks look like large-sized dog or
wolf prints. It is all the more amazing that bipedal canids are able to
get around on those digitigrade hind feet, which are not designed to
support their full weight.
In summary, although it is unusual, it is not physically impossible
for a canine to walk around on its hind legs. Canine bone structure is
consistent with the hunched posture and bent legs that witnesses
report. Perhaps these creatures are a new species after all.
If It Walks Like a Werewolf 81
i
83
j
Celebrity Were-mania:
Howling with the Stars
I
n a shadowy corner of a dank, foreboding castle in Transylvania,
the raven-haired princess Anna is shocked to suddenly encoun-
ter her dead brother, Velkan, looking alive and well, if a bit pale. He
gasps that he must tell her something, but before he can nish, the
moon rises in an open window, and Velkan begins to convulse. Anna
watches, horried, as her brother throws back his head in agony. His
muscles expand and pop, his nose and mouth lengthen into a muzzle
with long, pointed fangs, and his clothing bursts off his body to reveal
a coat of thick, dark fur. The contortions enable him to run up the
stone wall like a y as he continues to change. Finally, tall, pointed
ears rise from the top of his head like thick antennae, and the princess
knows what has happened. Her brother was bitten by a werewolf and
has become one himself.
Once Velkans transformation into a slavering manimal is complete,
he no longer knows Anna as his sister; she becomes his prey. With
astounding agility, the beast springs from oor to ceiling at lightning
speed, all the time howling and slashing at her. He has become, to all
appearances, an invincible killing machine. It is now up to the legend-
ary stalker of vampires and werewolves, Gabriel Van Helsing, to elude
the creatures wicked grasp and hunt down the cruel animal that was
once Annas brother.
9
84 WEREWOLVES
i
This scene from the 2004 Universal Pictures movie Van Helsing
displays a fantastic assortment of special effects, all designed to por-
tray one of the most powerful versions of the werewolf ever shown in
the world of lmmaking. But the classic motifs moviegoers have come
to expect in man-beast transformations are all still there: the painful
muscle contractions, the expansion of the chest cavity, growth of the
muzzle and elongation of the ears, and, most of all, the sprouting of
a good, shaggy growth of fur. There are rules for werewolves in all
media of our popular culture, and for the most part, they are followed
to the letter. They also include a grueling conversion scene, wounding
with holy water, a gory demonstration of the beasts murderous abili-
ties, and its nal end accomplished with a well-aimed silver bullet.
Although werewolves have been part of human lore through-
out recorded history, modern culturespecically, movies like Van
Helsinghas created the well-muscled powerhouse that is todays
Hollywood werewolf. But even lm werewolves have undergone an
evolution.
The man usually credited with recharging the ancient creatures
batteries was Lon Chaney Jr., whose acting skills made the fur-faced,
transformed Wolf Man not only fearsome but sympathetic. People
were terried of the werewolfs murdering ways in such early Uni-
versal Studios icks as The Wolf Man (1941) but they still liked this
poorly groomed manwolf. Fitted out with a prosthetic muzzle and a
fuzzy thatch of hair that came clear down to his eyebrows, Chaney
Jr. in full werewolf makeup was transformed into an American icon,
and the lore in his movies became standard werewolf dogma. In fact,
Curtis Siodmak, the screenwriter of The Wolf Man, wrote this gypsy
folk verse into the script
Even a man whos pure at heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright.
j
Many accepted the verse as genuine, assuming Siodmak had found it
by researching old Romany traditions. Siodmak, however, freely ad-
mitted that he made the verse up!
69
The 2004 movie, Van Helsing, uses
the 1941 Siodmak verse word-for-word.
The Wolf Man was not Hollywoods rst attempt at a werewolf
movie. In 1913, an actual wolf was used for the morphing scene in a
silent, black-and-white version titled The Werewolf. Only 18 minutes
long, the lm was based on the Navajo legend of the shape-shifter.
And this rst of the celluloid werewolves was not only Native Ameri-
can, but a female.
One of the best werewolf movies ever made, many critics will agree,
was the 1935 lm Werewolf of London, released a full six years before
Chaney Jr.s breakthrough role. In this black-and-white Universal pic-
ture, Londons werewolf was a botanist who happened to be bitten in
Tibet while on a quest for the strange Mariphasa plant. Of course,
he managed to return to London to run amok. Coincidentally, the
owers of the Mariphasa contained the antidote to werewolsm. As
in medieval lore, the tortured botanist/beast returned to human form
after being shot by a London policeman.
Since those early ventures, there has been no end of werewolf
movies, each striving to stamp its own mark on the genre. There was
the werewolf-as-youth twist, for instance, in the 1957 classic I Was
a Teenage Werewolf, which starred a young Michael Landon. In this
movie, Landons road to werewolfery came from being treated by an
evil hypnotherapist. Its wolfboy theme was echoed in the comical
1985 ick, Teen Wolf, where Michael J. Fox used his werewolf size and
strength to dominate his high school basketball team and enhance his
popularity.
Other werewolf movies have explored the darker ranges of hu-
man-wolf transformation. From The Howling (1981), with its cult of
backwoods werewolves, to Dog Soldiers (2002), about a band of military
commandos on a training mission in the Scottish Highlands who nd
a surprising, wolfen enemy deep in the woods, blood-soaked attacks
Celebrity Were-mania: Howling with the Stars 85
86 WEREWOLVES
i
on humans have become expected fare in modern movie versions. As
special effects techniques have advanced, so has the level and sophis-
tication of the portrayal of mangled innards and body parts left in the
werewolfs wake.
Moviemakers continue to come up with ingenious additions to
the werewolf mythology. Stephen Kings Silver Bullet (1985) brought
religion into the werewolf mix with a man of the cloth as one of the
main characters, while she-wolves received new prominence with the
Ginger Snaps series (2000-2005) about two sisters-in-lycanthropy. And
two of the most intensely advertised, Underworld (2003) and its sequel,
Underworld: Evolution (2006) pitted werewolves against vampires as
longtime mortal enemies. Were-creatures have also inltrated lms
meant for younger viewers, such as Nick Parkss animated lm Curse
Figure 9.1 An American Werewolf in London (1981) forever altered
Hollywoods depiction of werewolves. (Photofest)
j
of the Were-Rabbit (2005), or the lm version of Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), which featured a professor who was really
a werewolf.
Werewolves may be around for a while, if movies are to be believed.
Mike Martinezs short (23 minutes) 2003 lm Chimera: The Werewolf
Cult Chronicles blasts a saga of fuzzy white manwolves into the year
2019, when mutant beasts roam an icy world suffering from nuclear
winter. Having gone that far aeld, the legendary creature could liter-
ally go anywhere: deepest outer space, the center of the earth, even
other dimensions. Its probably safe to say werewolves will visit these
places and more before Hollywood has its nal way with them.
Television has not been immune to the werewolfs bite. A series
called Wolf Lake chronicled the bad deeds of a pack of teenage shape-
shifters, while Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a very sympathetic werewolf
character named Oz. To keep from killing his classmates, he kindly
locked himself into the school librarys back room whenever the moon
was full.
Many werewolf movies, such as The Howling and Silver Bullet, were
based on books. There is a whole world of werewolf ction and non-
ction too vast to cover here, with titles increasing every year as the
notion of werewolves becomes ever more popular. Brian J. Frosts The
Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature is an entire volume devoted to
published material on werewolves, including other reference guides,
novels, short story anthologies, non-ction, old pulp ction tales,
and more. Frost predicts the werewolf novel will only continue to grow
in popularity when he remarks, There is, after all, nothing more ef-
fective than the werewolf story for exploring the murky realm of the
unconscious and revealing the awful deeds it can inspire.
70
PLAYING WOLF
Perhaps Brian J. Frosts insight into the popularity of werewolf novels
also reveals why werewolf videos and role-playing games have exploded
Celebrity Were-mania: Howling with the Stars 87
88 WEREWOLVES
i
Lon Chaney Jr. (1906-1973):
The Man Inside the Wolf Man
L
egend has it that werewolsm can be passed from one generation to
the next. Ironically, Universal Studioss star Wolf Man, Lon Chaney
Jr., inherited his talent for portraying monsters from his father, Lon Chaney.
His dad had become famous for starring in silent horror icks such as The
Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. But Chaney Jr.s
very entrance into this world was a bit creepy.
Born two months premature on a cold February day in Oklahoma, he
appeared to be stillborn. His father Lon ran outside with his tiny, lifeless
newborn and dunked the boy into a freezing lake, snapping him to life.
His mother was also an actor and called the baby Creighton, after her
family name. The young family traveled the country, often using little
Creighton as a stage prop in their Vaudeville shows before Lon Chaney
made it big in Hollywood. As the elder Chaney aged, he tried to discour-
age his son from going into the movie business,
71
but Creighton couldnt
resist following in his fathers oversized footsteps. When Lon Chaney died
of a throat hemorrhage in 1930, Creighton rechristened himself as Lon
Chaney Jr., and began looking for the same types of roles that had made
his father a household name.
The son would eventually surpass his father in monster fame. His lm
career actually began with just one of his body parts in a 1922 movie
called The Trap, in which only his hand appeared. After his big leading
role in The Wolf Man in 1941, he played Frankensteins monster in Fran-
kensteins Ghost, then the mummy in The Mummys Tomb, The Mummys
Ghost, and The Mummys Curse. He also played the Wolf Man character in
four more movies. Some of his other, very colorful credits include Weird
Woman, Cobra Woman, Man-Made Monster, Dead Mans Eyes, Bride of the
Gorilla, I Died a Thousand Times, and The Alligator People.
In contrast to his rampaging lm roles, Chaney Jr. was said to be
easy-going in his private life, fond of shing and cooking and known as a
master storyteller. Chaney Jr. had two sons, but neither seemed to inherit
the gene for monstrous charisma. The family acting dynasty ended when
Chaney Jr. succumbed to a heart attack in 1973.
But after all the movie-set cemeteries the Wolf Man stalked during
his career, no grave was dug for Chaney Jr. at the end of his life. His nal
wishes for the disposal of his remains seem very appropriate, considering
the many lab-created monsters he portrayed. Lon Chaney Jr. willed his
body to the University of Southern California for the benet of science.
72
j
Lon Chaney Jr. (1906-1973):
The Man Inside the Wolf Man
L
egend has it that werewolsm can be passed from one generation to
the next. Ironically, Universal Studioss star Wolf Man, Lon Chaney
Jr., inherited his talent for portraying monsters from his father, Lon Chaney.
His dad had become famous for starring in silent horror icks such as The
Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. But Chaney Jr.s
very entrance into this world was a bit creepy.
Born two months premature on a cold February day in Oklahoma, he
appeared to be stillborn. His father Lon ran outside with his tiny, lifeless
newborn and dunked the boy into a freezing lake, snapping him to life.
His mother was also an actor and called the baby Creighton, after her
family name. The young family traveled the country, often using little
Creighton as a stage prop in their Vaudeville shows before Lon Chaney
made it big in Hollywood. As the elder Chaney aged, he tried to discour-
age his son from going into the movie business,
71
but Creighton couldnt
resist following in his fathers oversized footsteps. When Lon Chaney died
of a throat hemorrhage in 1930, Creighton rechristened himself as Lon
Chaney Jr., and began looking for the same types of roles that had made
his father a household name.
The son would eventually surpass his father in monster fame. His lm
career actually began with just one of his body parts in a 1922 movie
called The Trap, in which only his hand appeared. After his big leading
role in The Wolf Man in 1941, he played Frankensteins monster in Fran-
kensteins Ghost, then the mummy in The Mummys Tomb, The Mummys
Ghost, and The Mummys Curse. He also played the Wolf Man character in
four more movies. Some of his other, very colorful credits include Weird
Woman, Cobra Woman, Man-Made Monster, Dead Mans Eyes, Bride of the
Gorilla, I Died a Thousand Times, and The Alligator People.
In contrast to his rampaging lm roles, Chaney Jr. was said to be
easy-going in his private life, fond of shing and cooking and known as a
master storyteller. Chaney Jr. had two sons, but neither seemed to inherit
the gene for monstrous charisma. The family acting dynasty ended when
Chaney Jr. succumbed to a heart attack in 1973.
But after all the movie-set cemeteries the Wolf Man stalked during
his career, no grave was dug for Chaney Jr. at the end of his life. His nal
wishes for the disposal of his remains seem very appropriate, considering
the many lab-created monsters he portrayed. Lon Chaney Jr. willed his
body to the University of Southern California for the benet of science.
72
Figure 9.2 Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Akers starred in the classic
The Wolf Man, which brought the werewolf legend into modern pop
culture. (Underwood & Underwood/Corbis)
Celebrity Were-mania: Howling with the Stars 89
90 WEREWOLVES
i
in recent years. Naturally, playing the beast is more exciting than read-
ing about it. One of the most successful games is Mark Rein-Hagens
Werewolf: The Apocalypse, a complex pastime employing mostly well-
intentioned, super-strong, and magical werewolves. Or as Rein-Hagen
calls it, a storytelling game of savage horror.
73
Part graphic novel and
part rule and character guide, it sets up a race called Garou, with
traits such as ability to shape-shift, immunity to wounds, heightened
senses of smell and hearing, and frenzied emotions.
Werewolf combines a Gothic ambience of horror with a lm noir,
punk world of pollution and decay, explains Rein-Hagen. And hes
right; the world of the Garou draws on both European medieval lore
and many of the modern werewolf conventions examined above.
Video, of course, can ratchet up the levels of fantasy and violence
considerably. Altered Beast, one of the earliest werewolf video games,
took arcades by storm when it debuted in 1988, and also enjoyed some
popularity in home video games. In this game, the heroic human en-
joyed turning into a werewolf with many powers once a certain level
of victory over various demons and other nasties was achieved, but no
biting was necessary for transformation. The powers were conferred
or taken away courtesy of a manipulative sorcerer.
A more recent video game, Gabriel Knights The Beast Within for
Sierra, takes realism in games a step farther with live actors shown on
site in Germany, blending the modern look with much traditional lore
and mythology. And in many games, the werewolf is just one of many
characters, often with an interesting history. Baldurs Gate II includes
a shape-shifting druid named Cernd who is able to wreak vengeance
on enemies by tracking them in the form of a wolf.
These are just a few examples of the many games available with
werewolves as important characters. It is easy to nd them and others,
along with fan sites, discussion boards, and more on the Internet, a
uid medium which suits shape-shifting beings perfectly. As much as
books or movies have done, werewolf games help keep the ancient lore
of the druid and berserker alive in modern times.
j
THE COMIC BOOK WOLFMAN
Finally, one other inuential source of werewolf art and legend must
be noted. It would be hard to imagine the well-muscled, glowering
werewolves that inhabit role-playing manuals and leap through the
digital castles of video games without a rm foundation of comic art
rst having given them shape. Comic artists have drawn on the Hol-
lywood fantasy of the towering, hairy he-man to design a creature that
snarls off the page at readers.
Werewolves were popular comic book creatures during the 1940s
and early 1950s. The EC line of comic books, including The Haunt
of Fear, Tales from the Crypt, and The Vault of Horror, often featured
werewolves, along with many other classic monsters like vampires and
zombies. When the 1954 Comics Code set new guidelines for comic
book content, though, werewolves and many other horric elements
were banned.
In the early 1970s, comics magazine publishers who were not sub-
ject to the Code due to their large-size format, reintroduced were-
wolves and other monsters in their stories, weakening the authority
of the Code and paving the way for the return of werewolves in full.
Marvel Comics was the alpha leader of this pack.
One of their best-known lycanthropes was Man-Wolf, a charac-
ter in Marvels Spider-man series. Man-Wolf rst showed up in The
Amazing Spider-man #124 when a Moon rock turned the son of J. Jo-
nah Jameson into a werewolf. Another Marvel comics star, Captain
America, briey transformed into a creature named Capwolf for one
storyline. Marvel also issued the series Werewolf By Night, which
chronicled the adventures of Jack Russell, a young California man
who turned into a werewolf each month due to an ancestral curse.
Considered by many readers to be the denitive werewolf comic book,
Werewolf By Night remains popular today.
There are too many other classic werewolf comics to list here, but
a few others of interest include Eternitys Werewolf at Large, where
Celebrity Were-mania: Howling with the Stars 91
92 WEREWOLVES
i
the Lycans sidekick is his psychic granny, and Antarctic Presss Gold
Digger, which features a were-cheetah and a clutch of werewolves.
Many Japanese manga series take on assorted were-beasts. The idea of
shape-shifting is a common theme in comic books, where it is depicted
in a variety of forms, many of which owe their inspiration at least
indirectly to werewolf legend and lore.
i
93
j
Your Field Guide to Werewolves
T
he night was as black as a timber wolfs nose, and we huddled
together near the woods with ashlights at the ready as the
howling and yipping noises came closer. It sounded like at least half
a dozen animals were approaching us in the darkness. We had not
brought guns, pepper spray, or any other weapons, and couldnt help
but wonder if it was really so smart to be spending a night in a desolate
farm eld where an upright, wolf-headed creature had been spotted
barely a month before.
We stood, that night, between a freshly planted corneld and
the Wisconsin state wildlife refuge area known as the Lima Marsh.
Only a few weeks earlier, a college senior on her way home late at
night from her job as a movie theater clerk was shocked to see what
looked like a bipedal wolf running across Highway 59 in eastern
Rock County, Wisconsin. It was headed straight for the eld where
we now waited.
The woman had gone straight to her computer and Googled
terms related to werewolf until she found contact information for
the Beast of Bray Road site, and then wrote to ask what she might
have seen. This was an exciting e-mail to receive, because the great
majority of sighting reports are made months or even years later,
after the trail has long grown cold. And often, they are in distant
places or on inaccessible land. By a stroke of very good fortune, this
10
94 WEREWOLVES
i
one happened to be near the farm of some people I knew, and who
kindly gave me permission to bring a team of investigators for an
overnight stakeout.
The seven of us baited the area with chicken pieces and open cans
of cat food. We placed motion-activated cameras in key spots, and
used walkie-talkies to communicate as we fanned out in pairs to cover
the area. We hadnt seen anything unusual all night, though, until we
decided to sit quietly together, lights off, in one nal attempt to catch
a glimpse of the unknown creature. And now, a howling pack of canids
was coming our way.
Coyotes, we nally decided. Sounding less than friendly. Perhaps
it was best not to let them sneak up on us after all. We turned our
oodlights on, aimed them at where the sound had come fromand
saw nothing but a dark hillside! Supreme escape artists that they are,
the coyotes had vanished. Perhaps the manwolf ed with them. At any
rate, he had eluded us that night. Still, I was glad to have made the
effort when such a golden opportunity presented itself, and everyone
involved was satised we had given it our best shot.
TO HUNT OR NOT TO HUNT?
The question does need to be asked: is it really such a great idea
to trek out into the wilderness or some lonely farm eld in hopes
of getting that rst lm or photo of a manwolf or any other mon-
strous creature, for that matter? If the answer lies in whether the
odds of success are likely to be high or not, then there are probably
far smarter ways to spend a spring evening. It is very seldom that
creature-seekers are rewarded with so much as a stray hair or anoma-
lous footprint, much less a clear photo or video. The vast majority
of sightings are seemingly random, chance occurrences and almost
never happen when planned.
A strong argument could be made that an equally valid form of
creature-hunting can be done via the Internet, books, and other
j
Figure 10.1 Kevin Nelson and Noah Voss use binoculars for a better look at
their quarry while communicating with other search party members via walkie-
talkies. (Authors Collection)
Your Field Guide to Werewolves 95
96 WEREWOLVES
i
media, without ever setting foot into beast-haunted woods. This
method is likely to yield far more information, and is a much safer
and cheaper means of investigation than traveling to strange sites
with lots of equipment. Probably for the vast majority of people, its
the only truly workable way to research monsters and is very reward-
ing in its own right.
Adventurous people with strong curiosity about the many reported
sightings of unknown beasts will still probably try to see one for
themselves at some point. Bearing in mind that its likely the only wild
creatures encountered will be possums or raccoons, there are many
important things to consider before setting off on a creature safari.
The rst question probably concerns where to look.
FINDING THE HABITRAIL
To begin, permission is required before anyone sets foot on private
land. And even some public parks and wildlife areas have posted time
restrictions, or demand that state park stickers be purchased before
using the area.
The prospective creature hunter should also study likely habitats
of the intended target. In the case of the manwolf, it is almost always
seen fairly close to some body of water. It appears to follow rivers, and
is often spotted near marshes. It normally remains near dense cover,
such as a thickly wooded area. Cornelds are another preferred hang-
out, since they make excellent hiding places and are full of deer and
other game lling up on ripe corn. Cornelds are always on private
land, however, and it is very easy to get lost in one.
It may be helpful to search out spots where the creature has been
seen previously, in hopes that it will keep returning. But keep in mind
that any large carnivore will have the capability to roam widely, and
that hotspots of anomalous creature sightings tend to move over time.
What may have once been the likeliest place to look for a creature is
likely to have lost its edge a decade later.
j
FAUNA FAMILIARITY
One of the best ways to prepare to identify unknown animals is to
bone up on all the known animals that might be encountered at any
given spot. Knowing what is supposed to be in that corneld or woods,
from eld mice to white-tailed deer, makes it much easier to identify
anything that is truly out of the ordinary.
Besides memorizing the physical descriptions of local wildlife, the
well-prepped hunter will also be ready to recognize their spoor by
knowing the Three Fs: footprints, feces, and fur. Its also good to
understand which animals might be potentially dangerous, and how
best to deal with them. The safest bet is to consult your own state
wildlife experts or game wardens for animal information specic to
your locale.
At the location we explored in the example above, the crew had
done its homework and was pretty sure the largest carnivore in the
area would be the coyote. But it is always possible that feral dogs could
be prowling in any part of the country, as well. And while bigger
animals like bears, timber wolves, and mountain lions are still rare
in places like southern Wisconsin, they are becoming more frequent
visitors there and in many other places where they havent been seen in
years. As humans encroach on their turf, they are forced to invade our
populated areas. Unfortunately, there is still a bigger chance you will
run into one of these natural creatures than a Sasquatch or manwolf.
GEARING UP
So lets say youve identied a prime creature-hunting spot, cleared your
legal passage through the area, and are ready to see a bona de beast.
Unlike our cave-dwelling ancestors, who had to take their chances on
meeting mastodon or giant puma with only handmade weapons and
their usual change of clothing, we have a wide array of eld gear avail-
able to us, from protective clothing to electronic monitoring devices.
Your Field Guide to Werewolves 97
98 WEREWOLVES
i
Smart hunters will take advantage of as much helpful equipment as
possible, starting with the basic element of body coverings.
Dressing appropriately for the weather and terrain might seem
like a very obvious point, but Ive learned that not everyone gets
this concept. While all of the experienced crew on our Lima Marsh
Monster stakeout were wisely clad in hiking boots and rain-repellent
jackets on that cool, misty spring evening, Ive had people on other
excursions show up in a northern, forested area wearing shorts and
ip-ops. The mosquitoes ate them alive before any monster had a
chance at them.
Besides mosquitoes, there are always ticks, deer ies, spiders, snakes,
and other mini-beasts from which you will want protection. A hat is
always a good idea, and long pants and sleeves are usually preferable to
short ones unless youre in a superheated desert. And dont forget the
bug spray. Look for one that is formulated for deep woods and that
species protection from ticks. Tuck your pant legs into your boots if
possible so that creepy-crawlies cant get up inside your jeans.
Noah Voss and Kevin Nelson, Wisconsin investigators who spe-
cialize in techno-search teams, also advise leaving your trek wardrobe
hanging outdoors for a few days so that it has a more natural scent, and
that you refrain from wearing perfumed products or deodorants. That
way, you are more likely to remain undetected even if downwind from
a sharp-nosed creature.
The end result of all this may not be your idea of a cool fashion
statement, but you just might save yourself from getting Lyme disease,
severe scratches from twigs, and a whole rash of itchy bug bites. A per-
son can stay in the woods much longer when physical discomfort is not
a big issue, and the more time spent there, the greater the likelihood
of seeing something unusual.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Once dressed for hunting cryptids, youll need a bag or backpack
(backpacks leave your hands free for scribbling notes, using equip-
j
ment, or making frantic sign language to a creature as it is carrying
you off) to stow all your personal gear. If you are camping or planning
to be in an isolated area for more than a few hours, you will doubt-
less want more personal items and a supply of food and water, but we
will cover only the necessary gear for nding and discovering creature
evidence here. For starters
a 6-12 inch, non-transparent ruler or tape measure to measure evi-
dence and to use in photos as a gauge for size
one or two ashlights and extra batteries
a multi-purpose knife such as a Leatherman
binoculars
a notepad and several pens or pencils for recording data
tweezers for removing evidence such as fur samples
zip-closing plastic bags from small to very large to contain samples
a compass and, if available, a GPS unit for recording locations of
evidence and, hopefully, creatures
a working camera and/or camcorder with extra batteries and
lm or storage media (you may want some cardboard disposable
cameras as backups)
a tape recorder, preferably with external mike, and extra batteries
clear plastic sheeting (a shower curtain liner works great) in case
there are footprints or other things you wish to protect from the
elements
latex gloves for gathering DNA specimens
a small camper-style shovel in case you need to dig or scoop
something
a sturdy walking stick, preferably with a pointed tip, for hiking aid
and possible self-defense (check with local game wardens for other
suggestions in this category)

Your Field Guide to Werewolves 99

100 WEREWOLVES
i
In addition, you will want to have some other things with you in
your vehicle. An important item is plaster of Paris, a jug of water, a
large stick or spoon, and a bucket to mix them in so you can make casts
of footprints. Practice mixing this in the right proportions and letting
it set ahead of time, or you could end up ruining the best manwolf
footprint ever found with plaster soup that takes eons to harden, and
then breaks into pieces.
You may also want to bring motion-activated game cameras, if
available. Noah Voss, who owns a Web site devoted to creature-hunt-
ing equipment called GetGhostGear.com, advises situating each one
with careful thought toward the target animals height. There will be
an ideal height, angle, and picture-capturing range that is specic for
each camera, says Voss.
Figure 10.2 Modern-day werewolf hunters use high-tech gear to find their
elusive target. (Authors Collection)
j
Getting an image of something is much more likely when bait is
placed nearby. Some pieces of ripe chicken, open cans of cat food,
or any type of meat thats been allowed to get a little smelly will do.
Again, place it so that an animal will have to put itself within camera
range if it wants the treat.
SPOOKY SUPPLIES
But what if, as we have discussed in some earlier chapters, these crea-
tures really are some type of paranormal beingspirit creatures, as
some Native American traditions claim, or true shape-shifters con-
jured through magic, or even visitors from another dimension? If so,
they arent likely to do you any physical harm, which is the good news.
The bad news is they are not so likely to show up on your cameras.
Still, try to take pictures of any unusual phenomena just in case. And
if you are seriously interested in hunting for this type of entity, then
you may want to invest in a trield meter, which can measure three
types of invisible waves: magnetic, electric, and radio/microwave.
Most paranormal investigators agree that supernatural phenomena
are associated with enhanced electromagnetic (EM) force; so high
EM readings might indicate an area you will want to check out or
perhaps steer clear of!
In addition, John Michael Greer in his book, Monsters, advises
bringing some sort of sharp iron object, such as a long nail or a silver
tip on your walking stick, to jab at any supernatural beings. He notes,
A knife, a nail, a sword, or any other sharp iron object, thrust into
a concentration of etheric energy, will cause something not unlike
an etheric short-circuit, dispersing the ether and obliterating what-
ever patterns may have been present in it.
74
Greer also recommends
carrying a bottle of holy water, banishing incense, and other aids to
the magic rituals described in his book. All of these recommendations,
of course, are strictly subject to your own personal belief system, and
are not guaranteed to bring any results.
Your Field Guide to Werewolves 101
102 WEREWOLVES
i
No one can guarantee, either, that a given person will have the
opportunity to witness a werewolf or any other strange creature. And
even if such an event does occur, prepare for the likelihood that short
of dragging a live specimen back into town with you, its probable that
no evidence you produce will convince the world that these creatures
truly exist. Also, keep in mind that some witnesses wish, for one rea-
son or another, that their encounter had never happened. Confronting
the unknown can be a very unsettling experience.
But for those who believe that something upright and furry does
stalk the woods and cornelds of the civilized and uncivilized world,
there may be no alternative but to keep eyes peeled and cameras ready.
At this writing, the rst conrmed photo of a real-life werewolf is still
waiting to be taken.
i
103
j
80,0008,000 BCE Dire wolves existed in North America
75,000 First known evidence of early human religious activities
indicating cult of bear worship
10,000 Wild dogs are domesticated
6500 The civilization of Catal Huyuk in present-day Asia Minor
created wall paintings of vulture-priests and of creatures with
both human and animal parts
3000 Ancient Egyptians known to worship Anubis, the jackal-
headed god of the dead
2000 The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh is written, including char-
acter Enkidu, a hairy wild man
800 BCE1200 CE Animal efgy mounds are constructed in Wis-
consin and nearby states in the shapes of many creatures impor-
tant to tribal lore
c. 50 Roman writer Petronius writes early werewolf story, The Ban-
quet of Trimalchio
c. 430 St. Patrick is reputed to change a clan of Irishmen into
werewolves
1200 Swedish historian Snorri Sturluson writes of berserkers,
warriors who wore bear and wolf skins into battle and fought like
enraged animals
1484 Pope Innocent VIII issues a proclamation giving power to
hunt and kill witches
1486 The Malleus Malecarum, or Witch Hammer, is published,
not only including the popes decree but spelling out offenses and
punishments for accused witches, shape-shifters, and sorcerers
Timeline
104 WEREWOLVES
i
c. 15001700 The approximate duration of the European witch
trials
mid1500s Greek werewolf cults worshipping Zeus and Apollo
still exist
1542 A severe outbreak of lycanthropic citizens in Constantinople
forces Solyman II to execute at least 150 of the ravening beasts
around that city
1589 The famous German werewolf Peter Stumpf (also Stubb or
Stubbe) is tried and executed by torturous methods
1603 Jean Grenier is tried for werewolsm in France, sentenced to
life in a friary rather than execution
1700searly 1800s Legends of loup-garou are told by French
emigrants in Detroit, Michigan and Green Bay, Wisconsin
1764 The Beast of Gevaudan, a vicious, large, wolf-like creature,
terrorizes part of France, killing many animals and humans until
it is killed itself and paraded through a town
1790 A werewolf-like creature kills horse, livestock, and two
transient people in North Wales
1838c. 1880 Cheyenne Dog Soldiers (Hotamitaneo), elite tribal
warriors, ride the western plains of the United States and are said
to have the ability to shift into wolfen form
1850s A bipedal wolf attacked a woman in Clinton County,
Pennsylvaniaa story later told by her nephew Peter Penz
1858 An escaped hyena hoax perpetrated by newspaper in Paulding
County, Ohio, terries people living in the area, after the animal
is falsely reported to be digging up graves and attacking people
1880s Dog man legends begin in Michigan lumber camp stories
1913 Black-and-white movie The Werewolf is made using a live wolf
1918 British ofcer in Nigeria observed were-hyena predation
1920 Amala and Kamala, wolf girls, are discovered in termite
mound in India and announced to the world as true feral children
1936 The earliest reported sighting of a werewolf-like creature
in Wisconsin, as an upright canid is seen digging in an Indian
j
Mound on two occasions behind St. Coletta Institute, Jefferson
County, by a night watchman. The creature stands upright and
utters a Word-like sound, Gadara.
1938 A doglike creature on two feet confronts Robert Fortney
on the banks of the Muskegon River near Paris, Mecosta
County, Michigan
1951 An ergot-poisoning epidemic in Pont-Saint-Esprit, France,
leads to a mass outbreak of werewolf fever
1960s Minnesotan Frank Hansen exhibits a frozen, manlike
mystery primate known as the Minnesota Ice Man at fairs, carni-
vals, and shopping malls around the midwestern United States
1960s A hunter is chased by fanged santu sakai in Malaysia
1969 A teenager with a cow skull and fur coat hoaxes several
monster appearances on Choccolocco Road in Calhoun County,
Alabama
1972 Six Edgerton, Wisconsin teens see an upright wolf creature
materialize near a lake cottage
1987 Dog Man is blamed for attack on a cabin near Luther,
Michigan, when scratches are found seven feet off the ground
but the only footprints look like those of a huge dog
1989 Lori Endrizzi sees a creature kneeling by the side of
Bray Road, Elkhorn, Wisconsin, holding roadkill in its
upturned paws
Early 1990s A farmer hoaxes a monster appearance on Bray
Road
October 31, 1991 Doris Gipson, sees an upright, wolf-headed
creature near corneld on Bray Road, running upright, lunging
for her car
April 1994 A strange creature changing from wolf to bear is
witnessed by two young girls on their parents farm outside of
Maribel in northeastern Wisconsin
December 2002 Faith the Bipedal Dog is born without forelimbs
in Oklahoma and learns to walk upright after many training
sessions with her owners
Timeline 105
106 WEREWOLVES
i
May 2003 A young man in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, reports seeing a
phantom manwolf in his apartment
Summer 2003 Katie Zahn and three friends are chased by a man-
wolf and see three other similar but smaller creatures drinking
from a stream near Avon Bottoms, Wisconsin
June 2004 Two New York State brothers observe a pair of man-
wolves running alongside the highway near Plattsburgh, New
York
Winter 2004 Mondovi, Wisconsin, man and son are chased
in their car by a wolf creature running alternately on two and
four legs
JuneJuly 2005 A Georgia funeral director encounters manwolf in
a swamp on two separate occasions and records (in a drawing) the
huge, doglike footprints he nds nearby
April 2006 Three witnesses observe two different dog men in a
forested area near Reed City, Michigan
July 2006 A young man sees a bipedal wolf standing in a ditch in
St. Joseph County, Michigan, and then watches it crawl on its
stomach into a corneld
i
107
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ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE Evidence based on personal accounts of
events rather than physical proof
BERSERKERS Viking warriors who wore the skins of animals into
battle; sometimes believed to have the ability to take the actual
shape of those animals
BIGFOOT Term for a large, scientically unknown apelike creature
that walks erect and bipedally and is famous for leaving giant
(often 18 inches long or greater), at footprints that otherwise
resemble human tracks; other names include Sasquatch and Yeti
BIPED An animal that habitually walks on its two hind limbs
(bipedally)
BOUDAS The were-hyena of the Moroccan Berbers
CANID Any member of the family Canidae, including dogs, wolves,
or foxes
CHICHWEYA The were-hyena of southern Africa, which were be-
lieved to grow snouts out of the tops of their heads
CONGENITAL HYPERTRICHOSIS A rare, inherited condition in which
long hair covers over 90 percent of the body and face
CRYPTID A mysterious or hidden creature
CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS Researchers who study hidden or mysterious
animals
DIGITIGRADE A term referring to animals whose feet contact the
ground only with their toes and toe pads, such as dogs, wolves,
and cats
DOG MAN Term for a creature that has the general appearance of a
large dog but walks upright like a human
Glossary
108 WEREWOLVES
i
ERGOT A cereal fungus that may cause hallucinations and erratic
behavior in humans
ETHERIC ENERGY An unknown type of energy eld that some believe
comprises the bodies of spirit or phantom creatures
EXCARNATION A funerary tradition of stripping corpses clean of
esh by exposing them to the elements and animal predation
FERAL CHILDREN Children found living without human parents and
lacking knowledge of human society; often supposed to have been
raised by wild animals such as wolves
KITSUNE A Japanese fox demon that often assumes the form of a
beautiful woman
LOUP-GAROU A French term for werewolf, or, in parts of the southern
United States, may also denote a curse intended to turn its victim
into a wild animal
LYCANTHROPE (SHORT FORM, LYCAN) A person who believes he or
she may turn spiritually and/or bodily into a wolf, from the Greek
King Lycaon, who was changed into a werewolf by the gods
LYCANTHROPY A mental disorder and form of schizophrenia that
causes delusions of bodily transformation into a wolf, accompa-
nied by aggressive changes in posture, gesture, and sometimes in
eating habits, with a preference shown for raw meat
MAGICIANS People who use incantations, rituals, and other means to
achieve results that appear supernatural in origin
MANWOLF A creature that has a body and head of a wolf, but is able
to walk and run bipedally like a human
MEGAFAUNA Prehistoric, giant animals including larger-sized ver-
sions of many species still existing
METEMPSYCHOSIS The idea that the spirits of men and animals can
migrate from one host to another
PLANTIGRADE Refers to animals that walk using the entire sole of
the foot, such as men or bears
PORPHYRIA A genetic disorder that can cause a variety of symptoms
including psychosis, epileptic seizures, and extreme sensitivity to
light
j
QUADRUPED An animal that habitually walks on all four limbs
(quadrupedally)
SANTU SAKAI Monstrous, fanged mystery creatures of Kuala Lumpur
in Malaysia
SHAMAN A priest, medicine man, or other supernatural practitioner
employing methods such as trance, ritual, hallucinogenic sub-
stances, dance, or incantations, often to obtain knowledge of the
spiritual realm or effect changes in the physical world
SHAPE-SHIFTER A person or creature that can change from one form
to another, especially by supernatural means
SUMANGAT The word for the human soul sometimes believed stolen
by were-dogs on the island of Timor
TELEPATHY The transference of thoughts or ideas directly from one
mind to another by unknown means
THERIANTHROPY The belief that a human can transform into an ani-
mal, often applied to those who believe they transform spiritually
rather than physically
VARGR A berserker who turned into a werewolf
VOUKOUDLAKS Eastern European werewolves that lived in tombs like
vampires
WAARWOLF A German dialect word for werewolf
YENALDLOOSHI Navajo term for a shape-shifting type of magician,
usually with evil connotations
Glossary 109
i
110
j
1. Elliott ODonnell, Werewolves
(Whitesh, Mont.: Kessinger
Publishing, 2003).
2. Mystical Worldwide Web, Wolf, The
Mystics Menagerie. Available online.
URL: http://www.mystical-www
.co.uk/animal/animalw.htm#WOL.
Downloaded on January 17, 2007.
3. Linda Lyons, Paranormal Beliefs
Come (Super)Naturally to Some,
Gallup Poll. Available online. URL:
http://poll.gallup.com/content/
default.aspx?ci=19558&VERSION=p.
Posted on November 1, 2005.
4. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 167-170.
5. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who
Run with the Wolves (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1996), 27-34.
6. Fred Alan Wolf, The Eagles Quest:
A Physicists Search for Truth in the
Heart of the Shamanic World (New
York: Summit Books, 1991).
7. Kathryn A. Edwards, ed., Were-
wolves, Witches and Wandering Spir-
its: Traditional Beliefs and Folklore
in Early Modern Europe (Kirksville,
Miss.: Truman State University
Press, 2002), xv.
8. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 125-131.
9. Ian Woodward, The Werewolf
Delusion (New York: Paddington
Press, 1979), 239.
10. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), xiii.
11. Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia,
The Dire Wolf, Working Mans
Dead (Claremont, Calif.: Rhino
Records).
12. Wolf History. Canis dirus Dire
Wolf, Available online. URL:
http://www.naturalworlds.org/
wolf/history/Canis_dirus.htm.
Downloaded on January 17, 2007.
13. Linda S. Godfrey, The Beast of
Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsins Were-
wolf (Black Earth, Wisc.: Prairie
Oak Press [Trails Books], 2003),
172-173;
Sam D. Gill, and Irene E. Sullivan,
Dictionary of Native American
Mythology (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1992), 358.
14. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Trails Books, Prairie Oak
Press, 2006, 105.
15. Linda S. Godfrey, The Beast of Bray
Road: Tailing Wisconsins Werewolf
Endnotes
j
(Black Earth, Wisc.: Prairie Oak
Press [Trails Books], 2003), 167-170.
16. Henry R. Schoolcraft, The Hi-
awatha Legends, North American
Indian Lore (Gwinn, Mich.: Avery
Color Studios, 2001), 116-119.
17. John Bierhorst, The Mythology of
North America (New York: Oxford
University Press. 2002), 214-220.
18. Brad Steiger, The Werewolf Book:
The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting
Beings (Farmington Hills, Mich.:
Visible Ink Press, 1999), 147.
19. Jamie Hall, Half Human, Half
Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Re-
lated Creatures (Bloomington, Ind.:
Authorhouse [privately published],
2003), 186-188.
20. Ibid., 189-190.
21. Patricia Dale-Green, Lore of the Dog
(Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifin,
1967), 143.
22. Brad Steiger, The Werewolf Book:
The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting
Beings (Farmington Hills, Mich.:
Visible Ink Press, 1999), 235-236.
23. Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Ency-
clopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and
Other Monsters (New York: Check-
mark Books 2005), 172.
24. Jan Knappert, Pacic Mythology:
An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend
(London, England: Diamond
Books, 1995), 322.
25. Montague Summers, The Werewolf
in Lore and Legend (Mineola, N.Y.:
Dover Publications, 2003), 232-234.
26. Adam Douglas, The Beast Within: A
History of the Werewolf (New York:
Avon Books, 1992), 183.
27. Ibid., 46.
28. Ibid., 44.
29. Ibid., 94.
30. Peter Andreas Munch, translated
from Norwegian by Sigurd Ber-
nhard Hustvedt, Norse Mythology:
Legends of Gods and Heroes (New
York: The American Scandinavian
Foundation, 1963), 107.
31. Kathryn A. Edwards, ed., Were-
wolves, Witches and Wandering
Spirits: Traditional Beliefs and
Folklore in Early Modern Europe
(Kirksville, Miss.: Truman State
University Press, 2002), xv.
32. Montague Summers, The Werewolf
in Lore and Legend (Mineola, N.Y.:
Dover Publications, 2003), 205.
33. H.R. Trevor-Roper, The European
Witch Craze of the 16th and 17th
Centuries and Other Essays (New
York: Harper and Row, 1967), 92.
34. Kathryn A. Edwards, ed., Were-
wolves, Witches and Wandering
Spirits: Traditional Beliefs and
Folklore in Early Modern Europe
(Kirksville, Miss.: Truman State
University Press, 2002), 4.
35. Ibid., 248.
36. Ibid., 148.
37. Ian Woodward, The Werewolf Delu-
sion (New York: Paddington Press,
1979).
38. Montague Summers, The Werewolf
in Lore and Legend (Mineola, N.Y.:
Dover Publications, 2003), 223.
39. Linda S. Godfrey, The Beast of
Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsins
Werewolf (Black Earth, Wisc.:
Prairie Oak Press [Trails Books],
2003), 8-9.
Endnotes 111
112 WEREWOLVES
i
40. Linda S. Godfrey, Sightings Logs,
The Beast of Bray Road Ofcial Site.
Available online. URL: http://www
.beastofbrayroad.com/sightingslog.
html. Updated December 2006.
41. Deborah Morse-Kahn, A Guide to
the Archaeology Parks of the Upper
Midwest (Lanham, Md.: Roberts
Rinehart, 2003), 5.
42. Robert A. Birmingham and Leslie
Eisenberg, Indian Mounds of Wiscon-
sin (Madison, Wisc.: University of
Wisconsin Press, 2000), 67.
43. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), xii.
44. Lois Beuler, Wild Dogs of the World
(New York: Stein and Day, 1973), 62.
45. Adam Douglas, The Beast Within:
A History of the Werewolf (New
York: Avon Books, 1992), 251.
46. Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Ency-
clopedia of Vampires, Werewolves and
Other Monsters (New York: Check-
mark Books, 2005), 191.
47. Ibid., 192.
48. Ellen McCrady, The Ergot Epidemic
in Mold Reporter, from Mold in
Human History, originally published
as part of Mold: The Whole Pic-
ture, Pt. 1, Abbey Newsletter 23 #4.
Available online. URL: http://
www.moldreporter.org/vol1no6/
moldHist. Posted in 1999.
49. Ian Woodward, The Werewolf
Delusion (New York: Paddington
Press, 1979), 124.
50. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 21-22.
51. David Walks-as-Bear, Bears Den,
The White Lake Beacon (Whitehall,
MI: November 6, 2005).
52. John Fiske, Werewolves and Swan-
Maidens, The Atlantic Monthly 28
(August 1871): 131.
53. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 134-138.
54. Patricia Dale-Green, Lore of the
Dog. (Boston, Mass.: Houghton
Mifin, 1967), 89.
55. Kathryn A. Edwards, ed., Were-
wolves, Witches and Wandering Spir-
its: Traditional Beliefs and Folklore
in Early Modern Europe (Kirksville,
Miss.: Truman State University
Press, 2002), 36-37.
56. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 120-121.
57. Ibid., 13-18.
58. John A. Keel, The Complete Guide to
Mysterious Beings (New York: Tor
Books, 2002), 8.
59. Robb Riggs, In the Big Thicket: On
the Trail of the Wild Man (New
York: Paraview Press, 2001), 98.
60. Paul Deveraux, Haunted Land: In-
vestigations into Ancient Mysteries and
Modern Day Phenomena (London,
England: Piatkus, 2001), 18.
61. Ivan Sanderson, The Missing
Link, Argosy (May 1969): 23-31.
62. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 267-268.
j
63. Alex Boese, Museum of Hoaxes: A
Collection of Pranks, Stunts, Decep-
tions and Other Wonderful Stories
Contrived for the Public from the
Middle Ages to the New Millennium.
(New York, N.Y.: Dutton, 2002), 74
64. Linda S. Godfrey, The Beast of Bray
Road: Tailing Wisconsins Werewolf
(Black Earth, Wis.: Prairie Oak
Press [Trails Books], 2003), 159.
65. Michael C. Dorf, How Reliable is
Witness Testimony? Findlaw for
Legal Professionals. Available
online. URL: http://writ.news
.ndlaw.com/dorf/20010516.html.
Posted on May 16, 2001.
66. Linda S. Godfrey, Hunting the
American Werewolf (Madison,
Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press [Trails
Books], 2006), 245-247.
67. Faith Walking Dog, You Tube.
Available online. URL: http://www
.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_vRGu
HVzQ. Posted on April 3, 2006.
68. Jude Stringfellow, Faith the Biped
Dog. Available online. URL: http://
www.faiththedog.net. Updated on
Jan. 14, 2007.
69. Adam Douglas, The Beast Within;
A History of the Werewolf. New York:
Avon Books, 1992, 300.
70. Brian J. Frost, The Essential Guide
to Werewolf Literature (Madison,
Wisc.: University of Wisconsin
Press, 2003), xii.
71. Adam Douglas, The Beast Within:
A History of the Werewolf (New
York: Avon Books, 1992), 294.
72. Chaney Entertainment, Inc. Lon
Chaney, Jr. Biography, The Ofcial
Web Site of Lon Chaney and Lon
Chaney, Jr. Available online. URL:
http://www.lonchaney.com. Down-
loaded on Jan. 18, 2007.
73. Mark Rein-Hagen, Werewolf: The
Apocalypse, Second Edition (Stone
Mountain, Calif.: White Wolf
Game Studio, 1994), 3.
74. John Michael Greer, Monsters: An
Investigators Guide to Magical Beings
(St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn, 2002),
222.
Endnotes 113
i
114
j
WEB SITES
Beast of Bray Road
http://www.beastofbrayroad.com
The authors continuing updates on contemporary sightings of were-
wolf-like creatures, particularly in the United States and Canada.
Also contains a page on the creatures history, a blog, an FAQ page,
as well as readers comments.
Cryptozoology.com
http://www.cryptozoology.com
A Web site dedicated to the study of unknown animals presumed to be
physical, natural creatures. Contains breaking news stories, blogs,
and extensive forums.
The Malleus Malecarum
http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn
=urbanlegends&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.malleusmalecarum
.org%2F
Read the entire original text of The Witch Hammer, Papal Bull of In-
nocent VIII, with search capability.
The Mystics Menagerie on the Mystical World Wide Web
http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/monster.html
A collection of descriptions of creatures either considered mythical or
with mystic connections, from the well-known to such obscure
Further Resources
j
entities as the questing beast, said to sport the head of a snake, a
leopards body, and deer hooves.
The Werewolf Caf
http://www.werewolfcafe.com
Werewolf art, stories, and forums at a site only open for the 36 hours
surrounding each months full moon. Splash page tells you when
the next one will occur.
WerewolfWikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf
An overview of the werewolf throughout history, with several external
links provided and some early European representations.
Wolf HistoryCanis dirus
http://www.naturalworlds.org/wolf/history/Canis_dirus.htm
A factual history of the dire wolf as well as other extinct and living
wild canines.
PRINT
Frost, Brian J. The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature. Madison,
Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003.
More than just a list of werewolf-related reference, nonction, and
literature published before 2003, Frost also discusses and analyzes
many of the more important works. It includes a segment on Were-
wolf Stories for Children, noting titles, from R.L. Stines Goosebumps
series to Gordon Snells Curse of Werewolf Castle.
Godfrey, Linda S. The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsins Werewolf.
Madison, Wisc.: Prairie Oak Press (Trails Books), 2003.
The authors chronicle of how the 1990s Wisconsin werewolf ap
known as The Beast of Bray Road sightings came about, including
Further Resources 115
116 WEREWOLVES
i
continued witness stories, historic context, possible explanations, and
a chronology of events.
Godfrey, Linda S. Hunting the American Werewolf. Madison, Wisc.:
Prairie Oak Press (Trails Books), 2006.
The authors continued exploration of many more contemporary
sightings of furry, upright creatures not just in Wisconsin but across
the U.S., with more history, added theories, Native American connec-
tions, and an expanded timeline.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and
Other Monsters. New York: Checkmark Books, 2004.
A comprehensive reference work for werewolves as well as their
kissing cousins, the vampires, and other related creatures. Includes
literature, authors, legends, and terms. A particularly great source for
synopses of vampire and werewolf lms and novels, and for creatures
of other cultures.
Steiger, Brad. The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting
Beings. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Visible Ink Press, 1999.
Devoted to all things remotely werewolsh, from obscure Por-
tuguese shape-shifters called Bruxsa to examinations of serial killers
such as Charles Manson. It includes an extensive chronology, and the
Werewolf Resources appendix lists Web sites, ction, nonction, and
lms (with synopses).
OTHER MEDIA
In Search of History: Legends of the Werewolves
History Channel DVD, April 2006
j
A 50-minute recap of the werewolfs tracks through time, starting
with ancient Greece. Available from the History Channel Web site
store. It includes an interview with author Gary Brandner, writer of
The Howling.
Underworld (2003)
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
Sony Pictures, DVD
Two lms that take a dark but entertaining look at an imaginary
world where vampires and werewolves (called Lycans) in streetwise,
tattered clothing battle out their ancient animosities on location in
Budapest, Hungary. These contemporary monster movies add their
own mythos to the traditional legends.
Werewolf: the Forsaken
White Wolf Publishing, 2005
A fantasy role-playing, Gothic horror-style game book featuring
a race of werewolves who tread the area between the shadow world
and the physical. It features ve tribes of werewolves, its own creation
legend, and opportunities for interacting with other types of magical
beings.
Wolf
Sanctuary Woods, 1994
An older computer game for PC, still available from online
sourcesa remarkable true-to-life, role-playing simulation of the life
of an actual wolf. Its not a game in the traditional sense, but provides
what is probably the closest experience any human being can have of
what it is like to be a wolf in the wild. Additional educational materials
are included.
Further Resources 117
i
118
j
Aylesworth, G. Thomas. Werewolves and other Monsters. Reading, Mass.: Addison-
Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., 1971.
Baring-Gould, Sabine. The Book of Werewolves. London, England: Senate, 1995
(orig. published 1865).
Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of North America. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2002.
Birmingham, Robert A., and Leslie E. Eisenberg. Indian Mounds of Wisconsin.
Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000.
Boese, Alex. Museum of Hoaxes: A Collection of Pranks, Stunts, Deceptions and Other
Wonderful Stories Contrived for the Public from the Middle Ages to the New Millen-
nium. New York: Dutton, 2002.
Bueler, Lois. Wild Dogs of the World. New York: Stein and Day, 1973.
Dale-Green, Patricia. Lore of the Dog. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifin, 1967.
Devereux, Paul. Haunted Land: Investigations into Ancient Mysteries and Modern Day
Phenomena. London, England: Piatkus Books, 2001.
Dorf, Michael C. How Reliable is Witness Testimony? Findlaw for Legal Profes-
sionals. Available online. URL: http://writ.news.ndlaw.com/dorf/20010516.
html. Posted on May 16, 2001.
Douglas, Adam. The Beast Within: A History of the Werewolf. New York: Avon Books,
1992.
Edwards, Kathryn A., ed. Werewolves, Witches and Wandering Spirits: Traditional
Beliefs and Folklore in Early Modern Europe. Kirksville, Miss.: Truman State
University Press, 2002.
Evans, Bergen. The Natural History of Nonsense. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,
1971.
Fiske, John. Werewolves and Swan-Maidens, The Atlantic Monthly 28 (August 1871).
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Frost, Brian J. The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature. Madison, Wisc.: Univer-
sity of Wisconsin Press, 2003.
Gill, Sam D., and Irene E. Sullivan. Dictionary of Native American Mythology. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Godfrey, Linda S. The Beast of Bray Road Home Page. Available online. URL: http://
www.beastofbrayroad.com. Updated August 23, 2006.
Godfrey, Linda S. The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsins Werewolf. Black Earth,
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Godfrey, Linda S. Hunting the American Werewolf. Madison, Wisc.: Prairie Oak
Press (Trails Books), 2006.
Greer, John Michael. Monster: An Investigators Guide to Magical Beings. St. Paul,
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Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Mon-
sters. New York: Checkmark Books, 2005.
Hall, Jamie. Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures.
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Humphries, Ralph, trans. Ovid: Metamorphoses. Bloomington, Ind. and London,
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Keel, John A. The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings. New York: Tor Books, 2002.
Knappert, Jan. Pacic Mythology: An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend. London,
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120 WEREWOLVES
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ODonnell, Elliott. Werewolves. Whitesh, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, 2003.
Rein-Hagen, Mark. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Second Edition: Stone Mountain,
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Riggs, Robb. In the Big Thicket: On the Trail of the Wild Man. New York: Paraview
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Sanderson, Ivan. The Missing Link, Argosy (May 1969): 2331.
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cations, 2003.
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November 6, 2005.
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17, 2007.
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(Lone Pine Publishing), 2004.
i
121
j
A
Abominable Snowman, 69
African folklore, 28
Algonquian folklore, 27
Allabahad, India, 50
Altered Beast (video game), 90
American Anthropological Research
Foundation, 65
American Indian folklore. See Native
American folklore
anecdotal evidence, 59, 107
animal skins, use of, 3435
Anniston Star (newspaper), 71
Antarctic Press, 92
Anubis, 34, 103
Apollo, 38, 104
Argosy (magazine), 68
Asia Minor, 34
Atlantic Monthly, 59
Aurora, Minnesota, 69
Avon Bottoms wildlife refuge, 17, 106
B
Baldurs Gate II (video game), 90
The Beast of Bray Road (lm), 44
The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wiscon-
sins Werewolf (Godfrey), 44
The Beast Within (Douglas), 3334
The Beast Within (video game), 90
Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences, 69
Benedictbeuern, Germany, 61
Berber folklore, 28
berserkers, 3435, 107
Bigfoot, 22, 4445, 62, 63, 65, 107
Bigfoot tracks, 8081
Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas, 61
biped, 7677, 107
bipedal behavior of quadrupeds, 77
black panthers, 61
Bluff Creek, California, 63, 64
booger (swamp monster), 72
books, on werewolves, 87
boudas, 28, 107
Bray Road, beast of, 4145, 6770
British folklore, 60
Bueler, Lois, 50
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series), 87
C
Calcutta, India, 49
Calhoun County, Alabama, 71
canid, 77, 107
Catal Huyuk, 34, 103
Cerberus, 60
Chaney, Lon, Jr., 15, 84, 8889
Charlemagne, 37
Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, 59, 104
Chichweya, 28, 107
Chimera: The Werewolf Cult Chronicles
(lm), 87
Choccolocco Monster, 71, 105
Christianity, 3839
Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7071
comic books, 9192
Index
122 WEREWOLVES
i
Comics Code (1954), 91
congenital hypertrichosis, 5153, 107
Constantinople, 38, 104
coyote, 22
Creamer, Michael, 7172
cryptids, 98, 107
cryptozoologists, 22, 107
cults, 38, 104
Curse of the Were-Rabbit (animated lm),
8687
D
della Porta, Giambattista, 56
Devereux, Paul, 65
digitigrade footprints, 80, 107
dire wolf (Canis dirus), 21, 103
DNA analysis, 73
dog man, 20, 81, 107. See also Michigan
Dog Man
Dog Soldiers (lm), 85
Dorf, Michael, 72
Douglas, Adam, 3334
E
The Eagles Quest (Wolf), 15
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 7576, 106
Edwards, Kathryn A., 15, 35
efgy mounds, 4648, 103
Egyptian beliefs, 34, 103
electromagnetic (EM) force, 65, 101
The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves,
and Other Monsters (Guiley), 53
ergot, 5456, 108
The Essential Guide to Werewolf Litera-
ture (Frost), 87
Eternity, 9192
etheric energy, 108
Europe, 2728
European folklore, 35
excarnation, 34, 108
eyewitness accounts, unreliability of,
7274
F
Faelad, 35
Faith (dog), 7779, 105
FaiththeDog.net (Web site), 79
fauna, local, 97
feral children, 4951, 104, 108
eld gear, werewolf hunting, 9798
footprints, 22
Fox, Michael J., 85
foxes, 28
France, 39
Fritz, Renee, 59
Frost, Brian J., 87
G
Gaboriaut, Jeanne, 32
Galen (Greek physician), 53
Gallup Poll, 12
Garm, 60
German immigrants, 39
Germany, 6061
GetGhostGear.com (Web site), 100
Ginger Snaps (movies), 86
Gipson, Doris, 4142, 105
Gold Digger (comic book), 92
Grateful Dead, 21
Great Bear Indian mound, 47
Greece, 38
Greek mythology, 60
Green Bay, Wisconsin, 39
Greer, John Michael, 101
Grenier, Jean, 3134, 104
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, 53
H
habitat, werewolf, 96
hair, on humans, 5153
j
Hairboy, 51
hallucinogens, 56
Hansen, Frank, 68, 105
hard evidence, 73
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
(lm), 87
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
(Rowling), 60
Haunted Land (Devereux), 65
The Haunted Liverpool (Slemen), 13
The Haunt of Fear (comic book), 91
hellhounds, 6061
Heuvelmans, Bernard, 69
history, 3139
hoaxes, 6774
Ho-Chunk Indians, 4648
Holy Roman Empire, 37
Hound of Hell, 60
The Howling (lm), 85
How Reliable is Eyewitness Testi-
mony? (Dorf), 72
humans
raised by wolves, 4951
resemblance to werewolves,
4956
werewolf-like hair, 5153
hunting, for werewolves, 93102
Hunting the American Werewolf (Fritz),
5961
hyenas, 28, 7071
hypertrichosis, 53
I
Ice Age, 22
India, 4950, 104
Indian Mounds Park, 47
Innocent VIII (pope), 37, 103
Inquisition, 3738
Inside Edition, 79
In the Big Thicket: On the Trail of the
Wild Man (Riggs), 62
Irish folklore, 35
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (lm), 85
J
jackal-headed god, 34
Japanese folklore, 28, 29
K
Keel, John, 61
Kelpies, 66
King, Stephen, 86
kitsune, 29, 108
Knight, Gabriel, 90
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2930
L
La Brea tar pits, 21
La Loba (Wolf Woman), 14
Landon, Michael, 85
legends, 39
Lima Marsh wildlife refuge, 93
literature, on werewolves, 87
loup-garou, 27, 39, 108
LSD, 55
lycanthrope, 20, 108
lycanthropy, 35, 53, 108
Lycaon (Greek king), 20, 53
M
Magiae Naturalis (Natural Magic), 56
magicians, 22, 108
Maiolo, Bishop, 36
Malaysian folklore, 2930
Malleus Malecarum (The Witchs
Hammer), 37, 103
man/animal connections, 3435
man wolf, 20, 108
Marvel Comics, 91
megafauna, 45, 108
Menominee folklore, 27
Index 123
124 WEREWOLVES
i
mental disorders, 20, 53
metempsychosis, 5960, 108
Michigan Dog Man, 1314, 44,
104106
Middle Ages, 1213
Minnesota Ice Man, 6869, 105
miracle book, 6061
Mitsumine, 28
Mokwayo, 27
Monsters (Greer), 101
Montel Williams Show, 77
movies, werewolves in, 8390
Munch, Peter Andreas, 35
mystery cats, 61
The Mystics Menagerie (Web site), 11
N
Native American folklore, 5859. See
also folklore of specic tribes, e.g.: Al-
gonquian folklore
Navajo Indians, 22, 85
Nelson, Kevin, 95, 98
New Orleans, Louisiana, 39
New World, werewolf legends in, 39
Nigeria, 28, 104
Norse folklore/mythology, 3435, 60
Norse Mythology (Munch), 35
North Wales, 13, 104
O
Oaxaca, Mexico, 14
ODonnell, Elliott, 11
Ojibwe Indians, 2526, 46
Oprah, 79
P
paranormal phenomena, 101
Parks, Nick, 8687
Patterson, Roger, 63
Paulding County, Ohio, 70, 104
Paulding Light, 62
phantom dogs, 6061
phantom wolves, 6061
plantigrade footprints, 80, 108
plaster of Paris, 100
Pleistocene, 21
Poirier, Marguerite, 31
Pont-Saint-Esprit, France, 54, 105
porphyria, 52, 108
Potawatomi Indians, 46
public opinion polls, 12
Q
quadrupeds, 7677, 109
R
Ragnarok, 60
Ramos-Gomez, Gabriel and Victor, 51
Reed City, Michigan, 14
Rein-Hagen, Mark, 90
religion, 34
Riggs, Robb, 62
Rock County, Wisconsin, 17, 93
role-playing games, 87, 90
Romulus and Remus, 50
Rowling, J. K., 60
Russia, 36
S
St. Anthonys Fire, 55
St. Patrick, 35, 103
Sanderson, Ivan T., 68
santu sakai, 2930, 105, 109
Sasquatch. See Bigfoot
Scotland, 66
searching, for werewolves, 93102
Serbia, 38
shamans, 22, 109
shape-shifter, 20, 22, 5859, 85, 109
Sharon, Wisconsin, 5960
j
Shawnee Nation, 58
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 47
shrine of Saint Anastasia, 61
Siberia, 3638
sightings
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 7576
Elkhorn, Wisconsin, 4145
northern New York, 44
North Wales, 13
Rock County, Wisconsin, 93
Sharon, Wisconsin, 5960
southern Georgia, 44
Wisconsin, 1718
Sikandra, India, 50
Silver Bullet (lm), 86
Singh, Joseph Amrito Lal, 49, 51
Siodmak, Curtis, 8485
skinchanger, 22
skinwalker, 20, 22
Slemen, Tom, 13
Snorri Sturluson, 35, 103
Snout-Nose, 65
Solyman II (Ottoman emperor), 38, 104
Spider-man (comic book series), 91
spirit messengers, 34
spirits, 45, 5766
Stone Age hunting societies, 34
Stringfellow, Laura, 78
Stringfellow, Reuben and Jude, 79
sumangat, 30, 109
Summers, Montague, 32, 35, 36, 39
Summit Springs, Battle of, 59
Superior, Wisconsin, 71
Sweden, 35
T
Tales from the Crypt (comic book), 91
Teen Wolf (lm), 85
telepathy, 5960, 109
therianthropy, 109
Timor folklore, 30
tools, for werewolf searchers, 98102
Traverse City, Michigan, 44
trials, 3738
trield meter, 101
U
Underworld (lm), 86
Underworld: Evolution (lm), 86
Universal Pictures, 84
Upper Peninsula, Michigan, 62
V
vampires, 38
Van Dyke, Richard, 65
Van Helsing (lm), 84, 85
vargr, 35, 109
The Vault of Horror (comic book), 91
video games, 87, 90
Voss, Noah, 95, 98, 100
voukoudlaks, 38, 109
W
waarwolf, 39, 109
Wales, 13, 104
Walks-As-Bear, David, 5859
Walworth County, 42
The Werewolf (lm), 85, 104
Werewolf at Large (comic book), 9192
Werewolf by Night (comic book), 91
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend (Sum-
mers), 32
Werewolf of London (lm), 85
Werewolf: The Apocalypse (game), 90
Werewolves (ODonnell), 11
Werewolves, Witches and Wandering
Spirits (Edwards), 35
Wild Dogs of the World (Bueler), 50
Williamson, Neal, 7172
window areas, 61
Index 125
126 WEREWOLVES
i
Wisconsin, 4648, 104
witch trials, 3738, 104
With a Little Faith (Stringfellow), 79
Wolf, Fred Alan, 1415
Wolf Brothers, 51
Wolf Lake (TV series), 87
Wolf Man (Siodmak), 84
The Wolf Man (lm), 84
wolves fury, 53
Y
Yakuts folklore, 3638
yenaldlooshi, 22, 109
YouTube.com (Web site), 77
Yu Zhenhuan, 51, 52
Z
Zahn, Katie, 1719, 106
Zeus, 38, 104
i
127
j
LINDA S. GODFREY worked as a newspaper reporter and columnist
for The Week, a county newspaper published in Delavan, Wisconsin,
for 10 years. She won National Newspaper Association rst-place
awards for feature stories in 1996, 1998, and 2000. She is the author
of The Beast of Bray Road and Hunting the American Werewolf, as well as
two volumes in the Barnes & Noble Weird series: Weird Wisconsin
(co-authored with Richard D. Hendricks) and Weird Michigan. She
has appeared on many national television and radio programs as an
expert on anomalous creatures, including Inside Edition, Animal Planet
Channel, The New In Search Of (SCI FI Channel), Travel Channel,
Discovery Kids, Northern Mysteries on Canadas Global Network, and
the Jeff Rense, Clyde Lewis, Rob McConnell, and Coast to Coast AM radio
shows. She is also an illustrator and artist, and she maintains a Web
site on werewolf sightings and news at www.beastofbrayroad.com. She
lives with her husband, Steven, in rural southeastern Wisconsin.
About the Author
i
128
j
ROSEMARY ELLEN GUILEY is one of the foremost authorities on
the paranormal. Psychic experiences in childhood led to her lifelong
study and research of paranormal mysteries. A journalist by training,
she has worked full time in the paranormal since 1983, as an author,
presenter, and investigator. She has written 31 nonction books on
paranormal topics, translated into 13 languages, and hundreds of ar-
ticles. She has experienced many of the phenomena she has researched.
She has appeared on numerous television, documentary, and radio
shows. She is also a member of the League of Paranormal Gentle-
men for Spooked Productions, a columnist for TAPS Paramagazine, a
consulting editor for FATE magazine, and writer for the Paranormal
Insider blog. Ms. Guileys books include The Encyclopedia of Angels,
The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy, The Encyclopedia of Saints, The
Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters, and The En-
cyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, all from Facts On File. She lives in
Maryland and her Web site is http://www.visionaryliving.com.
About the
Consulting Editor