Results tagged “werewolf”

What does it mean when a book that seems to be almost universally dismissed as drivel by many in the publishing industry is probably the greatest driving force in the hottest genre on the market today?

I’m no expert, but I’m guessing it means that, somewhere, all those smart industry people are kicking themselves.

If you’re not sure which book I’m referring to (I know—there’s so many that could fall into this description, no?), than I’ll give you some hints:

• It’s about vampires.
• It’s set in a high school in the Pacific Northwest.
• If you have a teenage daughter, granddaughter, or niece, chances are they expect you to get them to the movie theater on November 20th—with gaggles of their giggling friends.
• If you have a middle-aged wife, girlfriend, or sister—ditto.
• If you’re a twenty-something young professional woman—ditto.

If you haven’t guessed by now, then I suggest you lift your hands high up over your head, as that’s the best way to get out from under the rock you’re living beneath.

Werewolves have always fascinated me as a literary metaphor for the subconscious. This wild part of ourselves that we cannot control, manifesting itself in animalistic shape, seems to haunt our collective dreams. While doing research for my novel Frostbite, I spoke with many people who responded quite strongly to the imagery of the wolf, of transformation, and of the moon. I even found people who truly believed they were werewolves themselves—just as I had met “real-life vampires” while working on previous books. These encounters always left me feeling vaguely uneasy, but it wasn’t until they started to intrude on my private life that I got scared. After one such interview, I went down to my mailbox the next morning and found a package waiting for me. There were no stamps on the envelope, so it must have been delivered by hand. Nor was there any return address. The package contained a book, The Werewolf’s Guide to Life, by Ritch Duncan and Bob Powers. There was a note tucked into the book that simply said, READ THIS. YOU’RE GOING TO NEED IT.

I have yet to discover who sent me the book, but I was able to track down the authors. Ritch and Bob graciously agreed to be interviewed. The following transcribed recording is what they had to say. I have not changed any of their words, or edited out any of their unnerving, frightening, or even threatening comments.

See what they had to say after the jump.

Last week, the life expectancy of newly bitten werewolves, (not to mention their friends, loved ones, and neighbors,) took a giant leap forward with Broadway Books’ release of The Werewolf’s Guide To Life: A Manual For The Newly Bitten.

My name is Ritch Duncan, and my co-author Bob Powers and I have devoted our lives to serving the lycanthrope community.

Yes, werewolves are real.

If you suspect that you may have been bitten by a werewolf, check the warning signs on our website immediately, and review our comprehensive table of transformation dates, as if you were bitten by something on a night other than than the three nights before, after or during a full moon, you can thank your lucky stars that the only website you will have to refer to for your future care and treatment is this one.

But if you were bitten by something on a known transformation date, we recommend taking immediate action, including the following:

For the most part, I hate remakes.

Why? Because I feel like if a movie has been done well before, there is no need to remake it. And, not only that, there are thousands of great original screenplays out there that never get the chance to be made.

But there is something primordial about certain elements of our storytelling and film history, where the most basic and animalistic elements that make up the human being are brought out externally into horror—and can be made over and over again without losing any power or mystique.

And the werewolf myth is one those!

Throw the fur and claws on such a great actor as Benicio Del Toro, and I already know my butt is going to be in a seat on opening night.

Here is the trailer for The Wolfman:

So? What do you think?

The Wolfman will be released on February 10, 2010.

Look out Valentine’s Day!

(These are in no particular order)

1. Tithe by Holly Black

Instead of vampires, we’ve got faeries in Holly Black’s Tithe, a gripping tale of sixteen-year-old Kaye, whose journey into the fey world begins when she rescues knight Roiben. As she explores the Seelie and Unseelie faerie courts, she finds out more than she ever bargained for. I know, I know, there will be cliffhangers galore in this post. Don’t want to ruin any of the fun for you guys.

Tithe also has a sequel, Ironside. For more info, check out Holly Black’s website.

So my friend was telling me she got a package in the mail that, for some reason or another, contained a dog biscuit with this url:

RUawerewolf.com

When she went to it, apparently it’s this funky web-site that has a bunch of links with mysterious phrases and whatnot. Knowing that I am both into the strange and tend to work with werewolves (as an intellectual pursuit, and not actually having co-workers who are werewolves), she showed it to me.

I was intrigued.

Luckily, we have this wonderful little tool called “Google,” and after some exploring, I came across this message board, where apparently a number of people have been getting these mystery packages.

Now I’m not naïve—clearly this is some sort of puzzle or game that’s promoting something, most probably an ARG (alternate reality game). The TV show “Lost” had done something similar to get viewers interested, and it seemed to draw a lot of attention to the program.

And, although I know my friend (and these others) is being messed with, I have to say, it’s kind of cool to be messed with like this. Especially because now I kind of have to know what the heck this game is promoting (rather like seeing an actor in a movie, and then it driving you crazy when you can’t place him right away, but without the satisfaction of going to IMDB to scratch your itch). Being the nice guy I am, I’m encouraging her to spend the time fretting over the clues, and I’ll hopefully reap the rewards.

One thing she pointed out was that a few places have seemed to have “figured” out who and/or what the book is promoting—the author S.A. Swann—but I’ve actually been able to contact him, and he claims to know nothing about it.

Granted, he’s fiction writer…

But if it’s for a book promotion party, as is being claimed, then why is it still going on after the official book launch party?

I mean, if you look at the message board, these people went to a great deal of trouble to hide their identity.

Point to them.

The website has a ominous count-down clock, a la “24.”

Another point.

It’s about werewolves.

Notch another point.

Whatever it is, the clock is ticking.

Honestly, I’m hoping I turn into a werewolf.

That would be a point to me.