werewolf
© unknown
Werewolves and Dogmen is the new book from Rosemary Ellen Guiley - and it's an excellent new addition to subjects that are as fascinating as they are undeniably controversial. There are a couple of reasons why I like this book: (A) it's actually a collection of Rosemary's favorite articles on werewolves; and (B) a lot of them were written not just years ago, but decades ago. On this latter point, many of these older features would, otherwise, be near-impossible to find. In that sense, Rosemary has done us all a great service by presenting these same articles to what is in all likelihood a new audience. So, what do you get in the pages of Werewolves and Dogmen? Let's take a look.

In the last decade or so, a great deal of attention has been given to the strange saga of what has become known as "The Beast of Gevaudan." It's a story that began in 1764 and tells of a monstrous creature that roamed Gevaudan, in southeastern France. Men, women and children became the victims of a deadly and violent predator. Was it a wolf of enormous size? Might it have been a hyena? A serial-killer using werewolf-themed legends to hide his tracks? Or, could it have been a real werewolf? Or, something else entirely? The controversy has gone on for centuries - and there is still no 100 percent consensus. In 2001, an excellent movie on the subject, Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte Des Loups in its original French title) was released. In 2009 monster-hunter Ken Gerhard starred in a History Channel show on the beast. Its title: The Real Wolfman. And, in 2016, Beast: Werewolves, Serial Killers, and Man-Eaters hit the bookshelves. Its authors: Gustavo Sanchez Romero and S.R. Schwalb.

book Werewolves and dogmen
© Rosemary Ellen Guiley
In Werewolves and Dogmen, Rosemary shares with us two excellent articles on the monster of Gevaudan. One is from cryptozoologist Loren Coleman. Penned in 1998, Loren's paper makes an intriguing observation. Loren and cryptozoologist Michel Raynal have suggested that the culprit may have been one Antoine Chastel, who Loren describes as "a hermit on Mount Mouchet (still untouched forest today), with a menagerie of beasts, including a hyena." Legend suggests that Chastel's father - Jean Chastel - killed the beast with nothing less than silver-bullets. Andrew E. Rothovius' article, originally published in 1961, is titled Who or What Was The Beast Of Le Gevaudan? It's an important paper, as it contains some intriguing nuggets of data that will be of interest to those fascinated by this enduring saga.

For more, go here.