W is for Werewolf

Most-Wanted Monsters is thrilled to be one of more than a thousand blogs taking part in the 2012 A -Z Blogging Challenge - 26 opportunities to help you survive a paranormal apocalypse. Don't let our epic monster odes fool you - the lore we share about the beasties featured in each daily post could literally save your life. Know them before they GET you!

WEREWOLF

Oh, the hunger of the moon

How she makes them howl and croon

Cursed to feed on human flesh

They hunt and feast. Make quite the mess.

A popular shapeshifter, the werewolf is an oldie, but a goodie, and has seen a resurgence thanks to the jean-wearing, shirtless packs in young adult fiction. Yet, werewolves aren't to be considered domesticated. Far from it.

These beasties have bite and they've been around for a long, long time.

From the jackal-headed, Egyptian god, Anubis, who protected the dead and their tombs, to the founding brothers of Rome, Remus and Romulus, suckled by a she-wolf, and the Christian, dog-headed, Saint Christopher, who in his younger years consumed human flesh and used a guttural mode of speech - believe us when we say werewolves deserve more respect than being regarded as hot-guy eye candy.

Most aren't boy-friend/girl-friend material. Ruled by the moon, cursed to transform, to kill - werewolves come with a lot of baggage. But as with our modern take on the vampire, lately these fierce beasties are seeking redemption and falling in love with humans - it's almost an epidemic.

Werewoves are not to be confused with those suffering from the congenital disorder known as hypertrichosis which causes abnormal and excessive hair growth over the victim's entire body. Including the palms of their hands, likely the origin of one main method of werewolf identification - hairy palms.

SURVIVAL TIP: Werewolves are equally attracted to and repelled by the wolfsbane plant - use it wisely. Silver bullets or even a silver dagger, butter knife, or spoon to the heart will take one down.

Think werewolves make good pets? Not so much? What other "W" claws at your insides?

Now, lope on over to some of the other blogs on the A-Z Blogging Challenge.

Monster Monday: Werewolves

Evolution and sophistication may have stifled man’s bestial nature, but every now and then it rises to the surface to reclaim its skin. The werewolf is one of the most ferocious of the shapeshifters, and though pop culture may suggest it nothing more than an oversized, best-in-show, domesticated wolf – a creature that can shift at will…beware the moon.

The silver orb has control over more than the ebb and flow of the sea - she calls to werewolves, bringing the beast out of the civilized man. Worried you might be taking nightly walks on the wild side?

Do you….

- have hairy palms? (and not for the reason you’re thinking…oy!)
- have a recent allergy to silver?
- wake with blood in your mouth and no clothes upon your person?
- have a hankering for raw meat?
- experience memory gaps around the full moon?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, consider yourself WARNED. You are AT LARGE and join the others on our list of Most-Wanteds.