Do you believe in werewolves? I certainly do. Not that I believe that somewhere out there is a human being who physically transforms into a wolf or wolf-like creature once a month, or ever (although it’d be pretty darn cool if there were). But I believe werewolves exist, without question. You should, too. Chances are you’ve met one. You might meet one today. And as Warren Zevon cautioned us, “You’d better stay away from him. He’ll rip you lungs out, Jim!” Only he might use a knife rather than claws to do it. Then again, he might use his teeth. Human blood drinkers cannot attain the immortality of the fictional vampire, but the human werewolf can easily match the werewolf of film and literature in its savagery. Some even manage to top them.
Werewolves didn’t start walking around on two legs in the movies until THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON and its contemporaries. But they have ALWAYS done so in real life. Nor do they need a full moon to slough of their masks off humanity, their skins, if you will, to reveal the beast within. They are always beasts. They just don’t look like them. That makes them all the more dangerous. At least the werewolf of the cinema howls to let you know it’s coming.
