I updated the last of my characters in the Pitch. Sophia was a mystery in the first drive, but for better or worse, she ended up being a lot like me in the character sketch.
A couple days ago, I was thinking "Why werewolves?" and I think I found an answer.
It was at least a decade ago - probably more. I could have been more than ten - probably less. My dad and I were at this race track down in Ohio, and it was getting dark and cold. I remember there were these men huddled around a barrel full of fire, trying to keep warm.
And in the flickering light, I could swear they were changing. Somehow, someway, they were different then they were before. Maybe their eyes were different. Maybe they had more hair. Maybe their finger nails had changed to claws.
I even leaned over and told my dad "Those guys are werewolves!"
And the strangest thing was, I wasn't fleeing the scene. I wasn't running away screaming. I wasn't scared.
I wasn't a brave kid by then. First time I had to cross the street, I ran across it screaming half-dragging/half-jerking my neighbor across the street by the arm. But here, I wasn't scared. I was fascinated.
Of course, my dad asked me "Why do you think there are werewolves?" - which is actually a better response than "No, they're not." In either case, I didn't have a good reason. Maybe it was trick of flickering fire. Maybe it was the night. Maybe it was just too many monster movies at Grandpa Pulfer's house.
Or maybe they were werewolves.
You tell me.
Anyone else have any campfire tales or close encounters with hairier kind to share?
Comments
16:22 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
I was wondering why werewolves even needed heat in the first place . . . they've got a fur coat after all!
On the other hand, I live near the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Rumor has it there's a werewolf sighting not far from there - the Beast of Bray Road!
The weirdest thing? I can believe a person is a werewolf - but not a vampire. I think the latter is just so sugar-coated in pop culture myth that it runs the risk of seeming literally in-credible to me, whereas werewolf . . . yeah, I can see that.
One of the items in the story is the belt of Peter Stump, who actually claimed to be a werewolf after painful torture under the Inquisition. The story acts under the assumption that the belt Peter claimed to get from a devil was in fact real, and linked to the origins of vampires.
17:05 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
I've encounterered too many people who claim to be vampires that it's diluted the mythology for me. Just because people like the taste of blood doesn't make them vampires, it just makes them creepy.
17:16 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
Good luck btw, with you and cyberwaste bouncing back and forth so often I'd hate to be your refresh button tomorrow morning:)
17:45 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
Thanks Ryaz!
I'm just going to ride this wave out either way.
Agreed on the vampires though - there's too many Lestrat's out there and not enough Bela Lugosi's in in my opinion.
21:59 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
Ironically, I've met plenty of people who were/are into blood fetish and blood play in a sexual context, and would never lower themselves to pretending being vampires. The whole concept is simply demeaning to them.
I guess at some point, you gotta lay off the whole Vampire: The Masquerade obsession and get on with your life.
22:19 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
That's interesting, Fetternity, although not surprising I guess. The mythology is too diluted, as Ryaz said. The stereotype has overtaken the archetype.
Ghost stories are just fine, mekikas. What have you got? Given how the standings are, I'm going to be up all night anyway!
02:49 Fri Jul 25th, 2008
No werewolf stories here, either, Puff Daddy, but like Mek, I do have a ghost tale or two.
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genrewriter
14:53 Thu Jul 24th, 2008
I've met people who claim to be werewolves. One person I know thinks his mother's a vampire, and she's never denied it. Did you see werewolves that night? Probably...unless you believe the rumours that werewolves hate fire.