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An Alternate History of Horror III: The Beast In Me

In comparison, other parts of the world used different kinds of predators for this niche: hyenas in parts of Africa and tigers in India, for instance. Were horror fiction to have its origins more drawn from Indian folklore than Europe, it is possible that feline shapeshifters would become the more prominent stock character than the canine ones.
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In Chinese folklore, the typical shapeshifting creatures are foxes and snakes, both of which manifest in human form as irresistibly beautiful women. However their motives might not always be sinister: the famous tale of the white snake, adapted numerous times as live-action and animated movies, involves a shapeshifter who merely wants to become human in order to ascend to Buddhist enlightenment.
 
Werewolves as punishment/curse for dark deeds sounds similar to the Wendigo legend but (outside of Hellboy) nobody seems to ever do a sympathetic Wendigo who didn't want to be Wendied. Werewolves got that angle into mass media early
 
Charles EP M. said:
Werewolves as punishment/curse for dark deeds sounds similar to the Wendigo legend but (outside of Hellboy) nobody seems to ever do a sympathetic Wendigo who didn't want to be Wendied. Werewolves got that angle into mass media early
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An interesting comparison, and should note (and will be mentioned in a later article) that one of the earliest mass media/pop culture depictions of a Wendigo happened in comic books around the same time as the company in question had begun doing werewolves. Marvel do differentiate them despite both being furry shapeshifters with sad backstories; my impression has been that Werewolf by Night is in the vein of a family curse and is a stand-up chap outside of the full Moon, where as the Wendigo is a direct punishment inflicted on those who consume human flesh in Canada (the curse presumably having no jurisdiction in Alaska or the rest of the United States).
 
Alex Richards said:
You know, I'd assumed The Wolf Man would have been based on some Victorian novel as well.
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It makes sense that it would be, but The Wolf Man was an original screenplay from Dresden born Curt Siodmak.

Really amazing to think that something as ingrained as silver being a werewolf weakness only dates to 1941. Not that its a unique case, as will be brought up in the next article sunlight outright killing a vampire was only introduced in 1922.
 
RyanF said:
Really amazing to think that something as ingrained as silver being a werewolf weakness only dates to 1941.
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Given that Kryptonite for Superman's weakness (which feels like a way more modern thing) was introduced in a radio drama in 1943, that's a fine case of chronausea.
 
Thande said:
I'm sure they must have done that in the Silver Age at some point. It was probably Jimmy Olson being transformed into one.
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I've checked, it does turn out that there was a Kryptonian werewolf- Lar-On- where the explanation was 'Kryptonian lycanthropy causes you to transform into the creature they most identify with.'
 
Alex Richards said:
I've checked, it does turn out that there was a Kryptonian werewolf- Lar-On- where the explanation was 'Kryptonian lycanthropy causes you to transform into the creature they most identify with.'
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Amazing. The Silver Age of US superhero comic is like an infinite phase space of possibilities where anything silly you can think of has been done, usually at least twice, usually involving Jimmy Olson.
 
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