The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings (The Real Unexplained! Collection)

The media could not be loaded.  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.

This books is the companion volume to The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. While not comparable in sheer size to that other volume, it contains hundreds of references to werewolves and many other beast shapeshifters, including tigers, panthers, bears. It does to Werewolves what any good reference encyclopedia should to: provide nearly exhaustive reference to werewolves as found in popular legend, mythology, pop culture, films and novels. The books has a good number of black and white illustrations including some from medieval sources. This book is not only for those with a casual interest in werewolves but also for those interested in a more academic reference book. I highly recommend this book whether you are researching a term paper or, like me, you have an intense fascination with the supernatural and with werewolves in particular. My only critique is that I wish the book was bigger, but then again, this book will probably continue to grow and expand as The Vampire Book (now in its 3rd edition) has.

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"The Werewolf Book" is a comprehensive and exhaustive study on were creatures and other shape-shifting beings. The author Steiger divides each section alphabetically for easy 'look up' and indexing. At a hefty 350+ pages this book is fascinating edition to any werewolf enthusiast's library.I had two peeves: One, despite the title only about a third of this book seems to be about werewolves. The rest of it is divided between Psychological studies of serial killers and the mentally ill. The other third seems to be other shapeshifting creatures which is interesting, but could've been put in another volume.Still, this book offers quite a bit of interesting tidbits for werewolf enthusiasts, and I recommend it for those interested in the lore of the loup garou.One star has been deducted for the sections focusing on modern serial killers and sections on demonology which seem to be filler more than substance.

My son loves this book. He is really into the werewolf books. The book was nice and beautifully detailed. Great author. He says the book is very interesting and a great read. He hopes there will be more books published by this author for more reading.

I bought this for my husband. Out of all the horror genre, werewolves are his favorite and this one is one of his favorites. Great convo starter for the horror genre.

Very informative

This book has just as much information about non-wolf shapeshifters and other non-shifting supernaturals (ghouls, vampires, cannibals, etc) as it does werewolves, so the title is misleading. The subtitle really should've been the main title. If you're interested in a general supernaturals book, this one might be right up your alley. If you're looking for a book dedicated to werewolf mythology, be aware this book might not be what you're seeking.

I love this kind of literature since I was a kid.

wasn't quite what I presumed it would be, but very thorough detail, if werewolves per se are your thing this is ideal. Good book, well put together, exhaustive anecdotes on the reality of the werewolf phenomenon. A book that can be dipped into at random, bedtime reading.

Ok, to say that this book was strange and weird would be the understatement of the year (despite that it was only March when I finished it).Although the author left out some of the ridiculous examples of the first edition (like gargoyles) I still wonder why he included some entries and ignored other topics altogether. And what do many of them have to do with werewolves anyway or even lycanthropes? By what modus oparandi did he choose them?Many of his inclusions of serial killers and rapists only make sense if you equate such behavior with some sort of wolf inside humans. But why a wolf? The only part of the Canis lupus species that existed worldwide is the dog and that one he clearly doesn't mean. Most people in history never knew another kind of wolf, so why should it be an internal wolf? Why not a tiger, a crocodile or a wolverine?For some cases I definitely know that the referenced sources did not state what he said and many of the beings he described… well they don't really have connections to werewolves to begin with but rather have some sort of similarities to them and in my opinion that is not enough to justify having them in a book that claims to be an encyclopedia on shapeshifting beings, not when they are not even shapeshifters.He often just glosses over topics or seems to be selecting for the stuff that fits his views. Which makes me question whether he is really interested in the research on the subject or simply wants to collect the stories that fit his viewpoints. It seems as though he rather collects what he deems fitting; by whatever definition of werewolf he has because based on the book it seems to be so broad that the book should be thrice as thick.He might praise the artwork, personally I know hobby artists who can do better. In addition many of the pictures do not fit the text they are supposed to illustrate.All in all for a book of nearly 400 pages and such a wide variety of topics the sources are rather small of number and I have my doubts how much research he actually did. And there is the next big flaw of the book: it is not an encyclopedia and for the reasons already mentioned and it's no werewolf book either. For it to be one it would have to focus on werewolves but it doesn't and rather wanders in all directions in the realm of folklore and entertainment industry.All in all it's rather some weird collection of stories, sources and topics (often either citing the authors books or having no reference at all) which the author saw fit to collect for one reason or another.If you can actually think critically you might be able to use this book without just believing in what it says.If you have to keep this book, do it. But I beseech all who read it to not, I repeat not, stop at this book; use it as a sort of hint into certain directions but not more.Considered the nature of his book I am also highly skeptical of his "chrolology" (I didn't do a typo I swear) on werewolves.