Customer Reviews

The Were-Wolf

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I stumbled across this short story for free on Kindle, and I am very glad that I downloaded and read it. With its period settling and rich language, this story involved me very deeply. It is the story of two brothers: one tall, muscular and handsome; and the other, not handsome at all, slight of build and blessed with the incredible ability to run swiftly over long distances. Sweyn is the beautiful, well-admired brother, and Christian is more than happy to walk meekly in his shadow. But when a beautiful, young, white-haired stranger arrives, she drives a wedge between the brothers. For Christian soon suspects that she is the werewolf he has been tracking, and Sweyn quickly falls in love with this mysterious female who calls herself White Fell, and believes that Christian's ravings are induced by jealous madness.

This story inspired a mix of emotions of me, from dread, to anxiety, to deep sadness. It was one of those stories where you are thinking, "This can't end well," when you get to a certain point in reading it. Indeed, the ending is hardly upbeat. But for a story that starts out as one of thrilling suspense and horror, it has a very meaningful message. It's a story about the power of love and sacrifice, and it was very well-done. A great free find on Amazon Kindle. Recommended to fans of classic genre fiction with a deeper, even spiritual message.

An amazingly beautifully written story. Set in a scandanavian middle age, It's almost poetry in some places. It is one of the stories that people who don't think of horror as 'serious' fiction should read.

This is a refreshing gem of a novella. It's nice to read a story on werewolves in which the werewolf is almost secondary to the idea behind the story. Sacrifice, redemption, good and evil....it's also nice to read a story written at a time during which writers could create sentences more complex than, subject/predicate! Great little book.

This is a requirement for any collection of werewolf tales.

"The Were-Wolf" by Clemence Housman is a quick-paced story about the travails of blind-love and the truth one brother bears in regards to the true identity of a lone traveler. The horror of the tale focuses more on this blindness rather than the gore-heavy visuals we come to expect from werewolf lore. The prose is crisp with imagery, although a bit heavy-handed with its grandiloquent diction at times. Regardless, it is a melancholy tale that encompasses death and life amongst the endless harrowing of snow and the chicanery found in beauty. Beware the wolf behind the proverbial sheep's clothing! An easy hour-and-a-half reading. You'll enjoy it!

I'm not going to go into the story since it has been sufficiently covered in the other reviews. I am, however going to offer a glowing recommendation. This is a wonderful story and shouldn't be missed.

Werewolves are usually considered less seductive and alluring than vampires. After all, they're big and hairy and presumably smelly. But apparently Clemence Housman didn't get the memo. His haunting novella "The Were-Wolf" introduces us to a beautiful werewolf who threatens to tear a family apart, assuming she doesn't eat them all first.

A mysterious woman arrives at a country farm, calling herself White Fell. All the human inhabitants are immediately charmed by her, particularly the golden boy Sweyn. But Sweyn's twin brother Christian isn't nearly as impressed, especially since he saw "the footprints of a wolf leading up to the door; none leading away." Since Sweyn is an idiot, he refuses to even consider it.

Then members of their household, including a little boy and an old lady, go missing -- and Christian is convinced that White Fell is responsible. Sweyn is still besotted by the beautiful woman, and assumes that Christian is just jealous that White Fell likes him better. But Christian is determined to stop White Fell, before his brother becomes her next victim.

"The Were-Wolf" is a pretty simple story -- if anything, it's a Nordic fairy-tale, with some occasional moments of horror. There's also a hefty dose of religious symbolism (it's not a coincidence that the hero's name is "Christian"), and a simple but powerful fable about the redeeming power of love and sacrifice.

His prose is full of beautiful moments, even in the darkest parts ("towards the vast wastes of snow, where no living thing but they two moved under the stars of night"). And Housman did a brilliant job with the atmosphere -- you really feel that something horrible is wandering through all the nice, ordinary people, and bloody gruesome evil is lurking just around the corner.

Perhaps the only downside is that since this is so brief a story, Housman doesn't flesh out the characters very much, except for the twins. Sweyn is a "perfect" hottie who is actually pretty stupid, and thinks with his naughty bits; the moody, brash Christian is a much more likable character.

"The Were-Wolf" is an underrated little classic, centering on brotherly love, sacrifice, and a sexy werewolf who kisses and kills. Come to think of it, it would make a good movie.

I enjoyed this book! A very descriptive, quick read. I would read this book again. Though it did not necessarily explain the magical world of werewolves, it did provide a gripping encounter with one. The story has sibling rivalry and jealousy themes embedded in it as well.

If you find that you enjoyed Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and want a shorter story with the same flavor, this is a good choice. I wouldn't spend money for the hard copy, but for a Kindle download, it is a good value for the read.

This is the first book I got for Kindle that I had a hard time reading. It wasn't my type of book