I remember when I was a child, I had and still have a sizable collection of relatives. My parents would from time to time go and visit some of them. One of my favourite places to go was my uncle’s place. He had this book that I would flip through each and every time, utterly fascinated by the somewhat gruesome images within.
I didn’t read a word in english back then so i didn’t understand anything really that I was looking at. I did understand the mark of talent as I gazed so entranced at those images. I am not sure I even knew who the writer was at the time or had even heard of him, although later on I would go on to read his books with great interest.
The book that I am referring to is Stephen’s King cycle of the werewolf, one of his more unusual work. Actually, it was not even planned as a book and was rather an accident of chance. King was approached to do a short vignette for a calendar, where the comic artist Bernie Wrightson was to do the illustrations. King however felt this constricting and eventually turned his ideas into a short book which he later puplished along with the illustrations originally planned for the calendar.
One point about this book that I personally like is how King cuts it down to the calendar months, where the horror starts during a storm in january and climaxes during a december night. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated by bernies work, both by lovely black and white illustrations as well as stunning full color art work. Reading cycle of the werewolf is almost like a mix between reading a comic and a full blown novel where you get the best of both worlds when the two artists come together.
Along with the one at the top of post this is an example of the brilliant illustrations inside.
I am not going to go into detail when it comes to the plot. I personally hate it when someone spoils a book for me and thus I won’t do that to you guys.
Like I mentioned before, King breaks his book down to calendar months where a person falls victim to the werewolf each month. Initially we don’t get to know who the werewolf is but later on that is revealed as our main hero, a little boy in a wheelchair goes trick and treating.
Ok that is as much as I will say. Lets just say that it reads a little like a crime novel where the wolf is the culprit.
I’m not going to lie to you guys and tell you that this is the best that King has written. It is not. Without spoiling some of the plot for you guys I can at least tell you that it is far from his worst. Infact I personally love it and I just find something so magical about it, perhaps it is in part nostalgia from the past. To be honest this book does have it’s faults but in my oppinion the positives far out weigh them.
For those of you who want to rekindle some childhood magic or simply just like werewolf tales then do pick this one up:
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April 13th, 2012 
