Werewolves

THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF Chapter 13

[Featuring the continuation of the fight between werewolf and vampire] I had never seen one before. I have read, in the years since, that the vrykolakas has control over its physical form, a control the Doghead does not possess. Scholars attest that this fiend can become as insubstantial as smoke, can enter a room through…

Two Moons

Play along with me for a second. Now yes, the whole thing about the full moon and werewolves was largely if not completely made up by Kurt Siodmak for his screenplay for THE WOLFMAN (nee THE WOLF MAN). But the trope has become so saturating, so “over” in wrestling parlance, that it might as well…

THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF Chapter 12

[In which werewolf does battle with vampire!!!] I failed. My intent had been to destroy myself, or to see myself destroyed, and in that I failed. I still lived the following morning, though the beast had been sore tested. A group of Marmorcan soldiers had escorted me to the sacrificial site, the shrine of the…

Give me GIZZLY II!

I am an expert on Horror. And I loved the 70s creature-slasher GRIZZLY. But I had never heard that there was an unfinished sequel made, or if I had heard it I’d long-since forgotten about it. But not only does it exist, we may actually get to see it! How the movie disappeared from radar…

BEAST Abounds but PORTAL Goes Missing

A couple of movies I’m for sure looking forward to are BEAST and PORTAL. We’ll talk about the latter first, since any mention of it seems to have disappeared from the Internet. There was originally a post on Bloody Disgusting that alerted me to the project but “Error 404! The page you requested does not…

Habeas Corpus Sasquatchus

This article from Mysterious Universe asks a question that is repeated frequently among those of a skeptical bent: If Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, exists, then why have we—with “we” being human beings—never found any remains? There are some credible explanations for why this might be, and that’s assuming that no remains ever *have* been found, and…

Did a Dogman Kill A Kid In Kentucky?

I’m seeing lots said about this incident on the cryptid forums of ye trusty ol’ social media. Some are claiming it as proof not only of the existence of “Dogman”-type entities, but that said entities are out to eat us. This springs from the fact that there has, up to the point of this report,…

A QUIET PLACE and an Idiot

John Krasinksi is just a nicer guy than I am, because he didn’t rip this guy apart. Said some jabroni about A QUIET PLACE: “As horror films go [A QUIET PLACE is] the antithesis of ‘Get Out,’ inasmuch as its symbolic realm is both apparently unconscious and conspicuously regressive.” The movie, the jabroni said, is…

Movie Review: THE INVISIBLE MAN

It has begun. The modern reboot of the classic Universal Monsters universe has begun. I wouldn’t have expected it to be the Invisible Man who led the charge, served as vanguard, became the standard-bearer, but here we are. And it couldn’t be any better. Leigh Whannel’s THE INVISIBLE MAN is a modern masterpiece. It’s perfect,…

Director Schools Media on PLANET OF THE APES

After a website devoted to comic books stated in a report that the forthcoming PLANET OF THE APES movie would be a reboot, the director of that movie, Wes Ball, took to Twitter to correct them—and offer an indictment of what too often passes for journalism these days, especially in entertainment news: “It’s never been…

THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF Chapter 11

Not only did the Chieftain deign to talk to a slave, he came to me. The previous night, the beast had been most unhappy to find itself at the bottom of a hole. As I had dug down to sixty or so feet, however, it could not leap out. When it tried to climb out,…

Skinwalker Ranch

If you spend any time at all studying the unexplained and the paranormal, you will have heard of Skinwalker Ranch. Also known as Sherman Ranch, the site comprises some 500 acres in the wilds of Utah and is a veritable hotbed of supernatural activity. UFOs, cryptids—including werewolves—ghosts, cattle mutilations: you name it, the Skinwalker Ranch…

Caught on Camera: The Beast of Bray Road?

It doesn’t look that scary to me, honestly. The creature in the photograph looks to have T-Rex arms. But I might well have felt differently had I seen it while driving down Bray Road during my recent trip. Looking at the photo more closely, the creature’s right arm, or right forelimb, looks skeletal, denuded of…

THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF Chapter 10

Growing up, I had heard the term vrykolakas used as often in reference to one of the accursed, like me, as to the undead, animated corpse that rose from its grave at night to prey upon the living. The word meant both, or either, an unclean, evil thing driven by bloodlust. In fact the term…

Yes, THE NEW MUTANTS is a Horror Movie

Don’t take my word for it. Listen to what director Josh Boone had to say: “I’d say biggest influences for this movie were [One Flew Over the] Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining and Dream Warriors. I do love Dream Warriors, I loved the first [Nightmare on Elm Street] as well, but this is very much a…

THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF Chapter 9

The irony was not lost on me, how my circumstances presented a perfect metaphor for my life in general. My captors put me to work digging a hole. A well, to be precise. But to find myself standing in one place, digging myself deeper but never going anywhere, filthy, exhausted, muscles aching. My life. If…

Where to Put Wolfsbane?

The character, that is, not the plant. Disney has a potential problem with THE NEW MUTANTS. That’s probably why the movie, set to debut here in a few weeks, was previously shelved. If they release the movie and it tanks, then it’s no harm, no foul. Sure they’d lose money, but the movie’s already made,…

The Wulver, the Mr. Rogers of Werewolves

The Wulver is not technically a werewolf, as a werewolf is a shapeshifter, transforming from man into wolf or wolf into man or man into wolf-like beast of some sort or wolf-like beast of some sort into man. The Wulver is always in anthropomorphic beastlike form, or somewhere in between a human being and a…

Werewolves Within: From Game to Movie

There’s a virtual reality game called WEREWOLVES WITHIN. Apparently. I’d never heard of it before. And it is being turned into a movie. Apparently. The movie will be directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff…Stop. You’re kidding, right? No? Hey, wait a minute. I *have* written about this game before! It takes the…

Wendigo or Bigfoot?

This cursory article does raise one interesting question: Just how much conflation has there been between sightings of Bigfoot and the Wendigo of legend? The Wendigo has its own unique lore. According to Indian legend, when a human resorts to cannibalism to survive the brutal winters of the north woods, that person is cursed to…

Movie Review: BIRDS OF PREY (And the Fantabulous Inclusion of Victor Zsasz and a Hyena)

It’s Z-s and then S-Z. If I write it down (or type it out) maybe I’ll remember it. Zsasz. As in, Victor Zsasz. He’s a serial killer from the Batman comics. He cuts himself every time he murders somebody, and his body, sporting dozens if not hundreds of scars, testifies to his proficiency. I’ve long…

Political Correctness and the Wendigo

In a report from the Contemporary Folklore conference covered in issue 388 of FORTEAN TIMES, the go-to magazine for all things paranormal, weird, or unexplained, a complaint is voiced about the “cultural appropriation” of the Wendigo, likening it to the “sexualization” of the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. (Anything that isn’t outright vandalism…

The Witherell House and the Cult of Weird

You may recall the article I posted some time back about the Witherell House in Wisconsin and its connection to Jeffery Dahmer. There *should* have been a link in that article. When I pull it up on my computer, there is one. But I was contacted recently by Charlie Hintz over at the Cult of…

The Confessions of Saint Christopher: Werewolf Part 8

The Devil does enjoy his little jokes. The toe of a boot, kicking me in the side, the butt of a spear jabbing me between the shoulder blades, woke me. A voice, barking commands at me in a language I did not recognize. Cold water rolling over me, retreating. I opened my eyes. I lay…

Remaking THE THING?!

When I first heard the news that a remake of the classic was underway, my immediate reaction was a scowl and a snarl. Why, why would anybody think this was a good idea? John Carpenter’s 1982 film is one of the true greats of the genre, though it ironically is itself a remake. 1951’s THE…