[.ca] Cycle of the Werewolf (ISBN 0450058786)

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Hairy doings:
In the small Maine town of Tarker's Mills, on a snowy January night when the blizzard hides what would have been a full moon, a railwayman holed up in his cabin has his throat savagely ripped out. The same thing happens again on the night of the full moon in February, only this time the victim is a lonely spinster sighing over some valentines she sent to herself. And again in March, April, May... there's a monster afoot, but it's only Marty Coslaw, a small boy in a wheelchair, who first realizes it's a werewolf, and then guesses who it is. We guess, too, and Stephen King lets us know by the middle of the book just who it is. From that point, the book deals with how to stop the horror, as the months roll by and the bodies pile up on the night of each full moon. Most of the months are marked with special days in the calendar, and King tells us in a coda he realizes there is no way the lunar cycle could be skewed the way he tells it, but it in no way detracts from the fun. Copiously illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings and color plates by Bernie Wrightson, it's an enjoyable novella that can be read in an evening. Each little chapter is a story in itself, and together they make up a satisfying horror yarn.

Perfect King Primer:
This novel, or novella is an excellent introduction to Stephen King. It stays pretty true to Silver Bullet the movie based on it, or it was based on I forget which came first in this case. The book is quite short, so those that criticize King of having a propensity of being a ilttle verboise at times have no ammo in this case. Yet every word is vintage King, his language and style shines through clearly in this tale abaout a werewolve terrorizing the typical small town. I recommend this book as an introduction to King because its short and I find it has everything that has become his trademark over his literary career, just in little less quantity than some of his other works. Cycle Of The Werewolf I would say is the appetizer to whet the readers' appetite for Mr. King's literary smorgasboard of fiction. As an added bonus there are beautiful black and white and colour illustrations throughout story by Berni Wrightson.

King's novella is okay but Wrightston's art is a lot better:
Actually the chief attraction of "Cycle of the Werewolf" for me is the artwork by Berni Wrightston more than the story by Stephen King. In fact, I like the black & white drawings by Wrightston more than the color plates (remember the stunning black & white line drawings he did for his illustrated version of Shelley's "Frankenstein"?). The story is set in the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills where each month, starting with the first full moon in January, another victim is ripped to shreds. The key players are young Marty Coslaw, who is bound to his wheelchair, his Uncle Al, who has a fondness for fireworks, and the Reverend Lester Lowe, a guy who just screams "I have a deep dark secret! Ask me what it is!" Each month another person gets savagely killed and Marty is having a hard time convincing anybody else in town that a werewolf is doing the killing. That means that young Marty is going to have to have to be the one that lays the trap to catch the werewolf. "Cycle of the Werewolf" was originally conceived of as a story-calendar, and ended up as this beautifully illustrated 12-chapter novella. King plays around with the lunar cycle so that it came on the day that marks certain months (e.g, Valentine's Day, Fourth of July), but that is a legitimate conceit in a story that is about werewolves, even if it does mean the werewolf will not be caught until December. Although it was conceived of as a short work and the main character is a 10-year-old boy, King's description of the werewolf attacks is violent enough to convince me this one is not especially intended for kiddies. Then there are Wrightston's color plates. A cop getting his face ripped off by a werewolf and disemboweled pigs lying in the rain are not usually children's fare either. However, by King standards this is a cute little story, stripped down to the essentials and forgoing the elaborate character backgrounds and sundry subplots that bloated so many of his novels. Besides, in case you have forgotten, there are the illustrations (what fan of horror literature would not want a calendar of Berni Wrightston's artwork?)

King for Kids:
I had not heard of this short novel before seeing it on the shelf one day. I at first thought it must be by one of those authors with the same name as famous author Stephen King but no it is actually by the same man who wrote Carrie, Christine, It and other classics. This is also the first Stephen King book I have found which also has pictures. It is sort of like a children's book written by Stephen King although it is still a horror story. It is basically just a short story released on its own instead of as a collection together with other stories. Cycle of the Werewolf is not his greatest short story ever written. That title would have to go to The Mist, Autopsy Room Four, Riding the Bullet or Trucks but this story is better than a lot of his other sort stories and the illustrations are brilliant. This would be an excellent novel for either kids who are moving up from junior fiction or for your self to read as an adult.

An excellent short story...:
King does a superb job at composing a scary yet fun short story about a werewolf who attacks once a month when the moon is full. King isn't trying to allude to anything and isn't tryiny to make any deep comments about society he is simply, with this story, writing to entertain, and he does it with vigor. The story is easily read and enjoyable all the way through, check it out! By the way the illustrations are excellent and bring the story to life before your very eyes!