Writtenbyavenerableauthorofoccultstudies,TheWerewolfinLoreandLegendisthefirstdefinitivebookonwerewolferyandtheremarkablesuccessortoMontagueSummers’spopularwork,TheVampire.Unsurpassedinitssheerscopeanddepth,itemploysanextensiverangeofhistoricaldocumentationandfolklorefromthroughoutEuropetopowerfullyportraythehorrorassociatedwithbeliefinwerewolves.Summersadoptsacomprehensivetheologicalandphilosophicalapproach,catalogingaseriesofliteraryconnectionsbetweenwitchandwolf.Drawingupontheworkofanthropologists,totemists,andrationalists,heexaminesthesupernaturalpracticeofshapeshifting,notesthefinerdistinctionsbetweenwerewolferyandlycanthropy,andexploresthedifferencesofopiniononexactlyhowordinaryhumansaretransformedintocreaturesof“unbridledcruelty,bestialferocity,andraveninghunger.“Theauthor’sGothicstyle,richinfascinatingexamplesandanecdotes,offerscompellingfareforloversofesotericlore.EventhemostskepticalofreaderscanappreciatetheevocativewaysinwhichTheWerewolfinLoreandLegendconveysthedreadofthoseforwhomthesemonsterswerenotmeresuperstitionbutterrifyingreality.
