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| The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings | 
 enlarge | Author: Brad Steiger
Publisher: Visible Ink Press
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95 (51.67 RON)
Buy New: $14.93 (35.15 RON)
You Save: $7.02 (16.53 RON) (32%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 255699
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1578590787
Dewey Decimal Number: 398.245403
EAN: 9781578590780
ASIN: 1578590787
Publication Date: August 1, 1999
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good Book December 12, 2008
I like it, does a good job of telling much about werewolves and people who have been believed to have been a werewolf. My one complaint is probably stuff that has nothing to do with werewolves or even shape-shifters, but I suppose all knowledge comes in handy. All in all, a pretty good book with useful information if your interested in werewolves.
 Got horror? October 26, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R4RVFFTGTOWQR 397 pages of werewolf stories, films, folklore, history, and everything else. This one delves further into the human mind then the absolutely necessary Vampire Book that preceded it. There are several historical figures and serial killers within these pages that had a bit of a wolf fetish and manifested lychanthropic behavior to match. The obvious psychological and instinctive animal nature we all live with is perfectly encompassed by this particular horror metaphor. Also along for the ride are the requisite filmographies and lists of books, stories, historically relevant reports of werewolfism, and much more. From the real-life mystery of the Beast of Gevaudan to Hitler's delusions of lycanthropy there is a lot of fascinating material.
Granted, a large portion of this volume is dedicated to things other than werewolves and shapeshifters such as serial killers like Jack the Ripper and accused vampiress Elizabeth Bathory; but to be fair, there just isn't that much werewolf material out there compared to vampires and the book needed padding. Think of it as bonus horror material. This is still a step down from "The Vampire Book" any way you look at it, though. But I appreciate the thought.
Werewolves have always been a close second to vampires as far as my favorite horror creaures go. Interestingly, while vamps have all the sex appeal, popularity, and supernatural powers it's the werewolves who always win when the two fight in the movies. This is particularly interesting because more often than not, the lychans are servants of some kind to the vamps. I guess it's just our nature to root for the underdog (or wolf, as it were). Then there's always the fact that vampires are a metaphor for corrupt upper class nobility while werewolves -the beast within- are something we can all relate to. A working class monster.
Well, if you are a fan of the man-eating shapeshifer then this book is for you. It's not as jaw-dropping as the vamp edition, but it is still a gotta-have reference for anyone who wishes to increase their horror knowledge.
4 1/2 stars rounded up for lotsa pretty, pretty pictures.
 Awful, Awful, Awful August 21, 2008
Lord, where does one begin. The premise is simple and stated out front: "the encyclopedia of shape shifting beings." Problem is, the book does not even come close to filling that and if I could give it a zero or negative rating I would.
The author's writing style veers from the dry to overly pretentious, and a good deal of the references for each article are from his own previous works. Not that you can take a guy who tries to say that werewolves are possibly the result of an alien residual memory but still. He just seems to have a "I'm the writer and you're just the reader" chip on his shoulder throwing out terms and names he has little understanding of. Personally, I found the inclusion of so many serial killers quite offensive, almost bringing down what they did to a fantasy level. The author includes so many such accounts under his theory that there is a werewolf in everyone and expect to read this for the big articles on Ted Bundy and Manson, not genuine werewolf lore or myths.
And expect to find an incredible amount of errors and typos. One big example would be with the classic "Wolf Man" film - getting key points wrong, spelling the names of key characters wrong or errors in their bios, and each time he quotes the "even a man..." ditty he not only quotes it differently each time but still manages to be wrong each time. For the amount of mentions that film gets one would expect attention to the subject.
The lack of applicable graphics is appalling. The vast majority of photos are from B movie films with no relationship at all to the subject or a tenuous one at best - "Attack of the Killer Shrews" anybody? Really, why do we need reminding of that film? Or of this book.
So in short, avoid this like the plague and if one creeps up on you beat the crap out of it with the neareast silver tipped cane.
I Love This Book June 2, 2008
The Book contains coutless Movies, Myth and Legends based on Shapeshifters, Demons and Other Myths. I read through the entire thing the when it arrived and i was intrigued by the number of sources and information it had in it. I reccoment it to any fan of a good Moc-Historical Myth Book.
 More bloated than a hippo with a hernia July 15, 2007
I spent about an hour reading through this book. Not long enough to read the whole thing, but long enough to find out that it wasn't worth buying if you're looking for a book on werewolves. I picked it off the shelf based on its title and size, thinking it would be a comprehensive volume on you know, werewolves.
Many books on werewolves also cover other types of lycanthropic type monsters, so seeing stuff like weretigers and shapeshifting in totemic religions is to be expected, but the author is guilty of the literary sin of casting too wide a net.
As I flipped through the book, I frequently found myself asking, "Why is this included in a book about werewolves?" The grounds for inclusion seem to be 'hairy/savage/changes shape'. The contents include a long list of (decidedly human) killers both modern and historical, zombies, aliens, ghouls, bigfoot (under multiple entries), non-shape changing canines from myth such as Fenris and Cerberus, and vampires. Not only is there an entry on vampires, there's even a separate entry on Dracula. In spite of the sheer number of entries, there are several laughable omissions that really should have been included, such as the aforementioned term lycanthropy. There's also no entry for silver, though silver is mentioned in several other entries. How can you have an encyclopedic book on werewolves and not have lycanthropy and silver entries?
The serial killers I'll mention specifically, because there supposedly IS a psychological link between them and werewolves. In The Werewolf Book though, this is not explored. All we're given is an account of the crimes and maybe a short blurb about how their actions must have been caused by 'their inner werewolf'. To me it would have made more sense to lump the serial killers under one entry with specific supporting facts from different cases instead of having each one read like the world's shortest true crime novel. As for the historical killers, I noticed that in cases where there were conflicting reports from history, the only reports mentioned were the more sensational ones that made the subject seem less human.
What I did like about the book was that what was on topic was more or less comprehensive. There were entries on historical werewolves such as Peter Stubbe, as well as other shape changing animals from myth and religion. Not surprisingly, the best part was the documentation on movies and TV. If there's a shape changer as a central part of a movie or TV show, odds are you'll find it here. Each show or movie mentioned has a detail of the plot, as well as some behind the scenes info. However, like the overall book, the filmography is too broad. There are entries on sci-fi films like Terminator 2 and Revenge of the Body Snatchers, for example. There is a also book section, but of course there are so many books on werewolves, it can't begin to cover them all.
I also liked the illustrations, which there are many. Most of them are full or half page promotional materials or stills from various werewolf movies, though there are some historical illustrations as well. However, the illustrations don't always match up to the media they came from. For instance, you'll find screen shots from The Howling and its sequels all over the book, not just near the entry on the film.
Overall, the stuff that doesn't really pertain to werewolves or lycahthropy makes up too much of this book to make it worth recommending to someone looking for a comprehensive book on the subject. If you buy it for anything, then buy it as a guide for watching werewolf movies and TV shows. But even then, there are better books on the subject that cover them along with other types of horror films and shows.
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