The Wolf Moon
Posted by: Loren Coleman on January 10th, 2009
What does tonight’s first Full Moon of 2009 foretell? This one is called the Wolf Moon, a Full Moon in Cancer, and it is indeed a precursor to a year that will be full of werewolf news.
“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” – The Wolf Man, 1941.
The word is slipping out.
Todd Campbell takes a look at the interplay between hidden forces, the Moon, in a Sirius vein, in his new notes delivered in “Bark at the Moon”, over at Through The Looking Glass.
In the new edition of Entertainment Weekly, January 16, 2009, reporter Tanner Stransky gives us a hint about how some of this will be reflected in the popular culture via his “Movie News”:
In 2009, Werewolves Answer Hollywood’s Call of the Wild
“The furry beasts are popping up everywhere, including the upcoming Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, New Moon, and more
“Take a gander at the big screen this year because you’re likely to spy a full moon — and we aren’t talking about Will Ferrell’s bare butt. If 2008 marked a comeback for the vampire, the next 12 months belong to the werewolf. On Jan. 23, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans showcases the woolly beasts, while a furrier-than-usual Hugh Jackman returns in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1). Later this year, Benicio Del Toro stars in The Wolfman (Nov. 6), and in the Nov. 20 Twilight sequel New Moon, heroine Bella moons over werewolf Jacob. TV loves a lupine too: Fox just ordered the ludicrously titled dramedy pilot Bitches — about a quartet of female werewolf friends in New York City — and it’s rumored that season 2 of HBO’s True Blood will get hairy.”
“So what’s with the comeback? ‘The last time this happened was World War II,’ notes Brad Steiger, author of The Werewolf Book. ‘It’s reflective. We want to worry about something that can get us besides bailouts. I’m eager to see [these projects]. Benicio, God bless him, looks like a werewolf without the makeup.'”
Steiger’s book is one of several similar books that have shape-shifted into our world lately, indeed, returning some old words in new presentations.
The just republished The Book of Werewolves by Sabine Baring-Gould is a new classic in hardback from a series from Cosimo Books.
Meanwhile, A Cryptozoological Study of the Shunka Warak’in by Mystical Mikal, published by BookSurge Publishing, late in 2008, looks at the overlap between one old saga of a werewolf-like creature and cryptozoology.
Skunka Warak’in
Yes, if Vampires seemed to rule in 2008, it appears certain the true Masters of the forests and the night, the Werewolves may be on the horizon.
Maleva: “Whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives becomes a werewolf himself.”
Larry Talbot: “Ah, don’t hand me that. You’re just wasting your time.”
Maleva: “The wolf bit you, didn’t he?”
Larry Talbot: “Yeah. Yeah he did!”
Stay tuned, for you have just been bitten.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I have long had a fondness for werewolves, whether in legend, fiction or film. I’m curious about the new Wolfman movie, though I’m not holding my breath expecting a product to equal the original Lon Chaney Jr. movie.
So, there’s going to be a wolfish take on Sex and the City? Wonderful. Oh well, time will tell how many of these offerings will be quality.
I just want to read “Vampires on the Moon” now.
Funny thing is, for the last 2 months I’ve been sort of seeking out werewolf stories.
My DVD rentals have mainly been treading that path of late. Just felt like time to reheat some good stories and review them all again.
Glad I’m not the only one!