Supernatural Friday: Binging on Horror: 13 Scary Films, Plus One More

I know there are many more good horror films, but here are thirteen, plus one more to get you started on binging for Halloween, beginning in September.

1. The Haunting (1963). Based on the novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Don’t rent the 90s stinkero remake. Get this one. But with Netflix to have The Haunting of Hill House as a TV series to binge watch beginning October 12, 2018, I think going back to watching the black and white film is perfect now. Premise: Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity. With him are the skeptical young Luke, who stands to inherit the house, the mysterious and clairvoyant Theodora and the insecure Eleanor, whose psychic abilities make her feel somehow attuned to whatever spirits inhabit the old mansion. As time goes by it becomes obvious that they have gotten more than they bargained for as the ghostly presence in the house manifests itself in horrific and deadly ways. The film doesn’t need special effects to scare you. So grab this film, turn off the lights, huddle on the couch or your favorite chair, and be prepared to be frightened.

2. Dog Soldiers (2002). No this is not a military film, though there are English soldiers in it. Plus a pack of werewolves they end up battling for their lives. And all set in the Scottish wilderness. Intense, this is one of the best werewolf horror films I have seen in a while. 

3.  An American Werewolf in London (1981). A horror film with werewolves that will make you think twice about traveling to English and hiking through it with your buddy at night and during a full moon.

4. Cabin the Woods (2011): The premise sounds old hat in horror films: “Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.” But honestly, it takes a surprising about-face, added with a dash of Lovecraft. I loved it. 

5.  30 Days of Night (2007). This is a vampire film that is intense from beginning to end. If you are looking for those breaks in humor, forget it, this movie won’t give it to you. If you’re looking for vampires that sparkle, forget it. These vamps are vicious and out for one thing you can give them, and it is not to love, but blood.

6.   Psycho (1960). Premise: a young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. Though black and white, this Alfred Hitchcock film will scare you as only Hitchcock can. Famous for the shower scene.

7.  Evil Dead and Evil Dead II (1981 and 1987–both by Sam Raimi). First one is more grade-B horror, while the second one, a kind of remake has humor in it. The second one is the movie that made Bruce Campbell a B-movie icon and won Sam Raimi a whole lot more directing gigs. This film has equal parts humor and gore, but when the scares happen, they happen on a grand scale. Ever wondered what it would be like to fight your own hand? You won't have to wonder anymore after watching this movie. But still, I thought I point out the first one, too.

8.  28 Days Later (2002). Undead, or zombies as they are calling the ghouls of these films these days, this is a good one. Many movies have tried to recreate what a major city could look like after an apocalypse, but not many do it as hauntingly well as Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later." The terrifyingly fast zombie-like creatures roaming the landscape proved to be so effectively scary that the movie spawned a wave of movies featuring fast-paced zombies. And the zombies don’t have to die to change and are logical in why they act the way they do.

9.   The Descent (2005). This movie will terrify you if:  1) You’re claustrophobic. 2) You’re scared of the dark. 3) You have a fear of being trapped under the earth.  4) You have a fear of being trapped under the earth with vampire-like creatures that can see you but you can’t see them. netflix has the sequel that you can watch too.

10. Trick 'r Treat (2007): Now it's after Labor Day, we can go full blown Halloween crazy. Premise: Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pulls a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband. Perfect Halloween horror tales that will make you nervous about answering the door to trick-or-treaters.

11.  Alien (1979): “No one can hear you scream,” as the crew is stuck on a mining spaceship nowhere near Earth, where they run across something on a planet, what remains of a giant alien and what appears to be eggs or weirdly shaped rocks. One of the objects opens and something leaps from it to clasp onto the helmet of the crewmembers. Nostromo battle something that proves ET is not so friendly.  

12. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982): This science fiction body horror movie is based on the short story, “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell that I had read back in college in an anthology, and John Carpenter's version is a more faithful adaptation than the 50s version with James Arness. It will make you question if your friend is really your friend or something that may want to take over the Earth.

13. A Quiet Place (2018):  Another science fiction horror movie with monstrous killing aliens. Premise: On a devastated Earth overrun by lethal and ever-hearing predators of a possible extraterrestrial origin, the Abbotts and their children struggles to survive in a desolate world in a new era of utter silence. As this new type of invader is attracted to noise, even the slightest of sounds can be deadly; however, it's been already twelve months since the powerful monsters' first sightings, and this resilient family still stands strong. To learn the rules of survival in this muted dystopia is essential; nevertheless, an otherwise joyous event is threatening an already frail stability. Now, more than ever, don't make a sound.

I am adding a 14th movie: Halloween (1978): with the new film by John Carpenter that says all but the first film never happened, where Jaime Lee Curtis returns and ready to battle Michael,  and releasing close to Halloween this October, this is a good time to watch the original film. Premise: This American slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. The film tells the story of Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister Judith Myers but escapes back the house he grew up in on Halloween.

Author Reading Feb. 16th on Speculative Fiction Cantina Blogradio

I will be reading from my urban fantasy novel, How the Vortex Changed My Life (#8 runner up of the Top 10 in the Science Fiction/Fantasy poll of P&E Readers Poll 2017) during one of the half hours of the blogradio show, Speculative Fiction Cantina on February 16, 2018. The time of the show is 6:00-7:00 P.M. EST, with other time zones being at Central: 5:00 P.M., Mountain: 4:00 P.M., and Pacific: 3:00 P.M. Author Judith Howell is the other author reading from her novel during that hour also.  The link is here.  

Supernatural Friday: Book of Imagination

Book of Imagination

By

Pamela K. Kinney

Book of imagination,

Nightmares carved in words

Darkly my soul covets,

Freely calling the need to read.

The ghosts haunt the pages,

Werewolves stalk the lines

Vampires hide among the paragraphs,

While chapters are mummified.

Come now, open that book,

The raven near you has the key

Beware what I tell you,

The story will haunt your dreams.

This poem is original and copyrighted. Please just share the link ad not the poem so others can come and read it. Thank you.

Supernatural Friday: Moon Phases and the Supernatural

The moon phases affect the tides. Said to affect how people might act. There is stories that maybe lunatics are affected by the full moon. Supposedly during a full moon hospital activity increases greatly, elderly patients become restless & agitated, children seem to act out & become more hyper, patients with mental illness & personality disorders seem to display erratic mood swings. A measurable change in geomagnetic activity at the surface of the Earth’s crust can be directly attributed to the influence of the gravitational field of the moon as it approaches its zenith.  As the moon becomes fuller the gravity field of the moon pulls on the gravitational field of the Earth and  “stretches” its geomagnetic field into an elliptical orbit.  

But does it affect the supernatural too?

Centuries of folklore  from the “old world” lay claim that the moon possesses strange powers and holds sway over all things strange & mystical. Well, there is the werewolf myth, of how a human can change at the full moon into a werewolf.  Among the Norse people, who coined the term werewolf, or “man wolf,” it was once believed that a warrior could improve his ferocity by donning a wolfskin belt and taking on the spirit of the wolf, while people in parts of western Europe said that anyone could transform into a wolf by sleeping out under the full Moon on certain days of the year.   Elsewhere, being a werewolf was seen as an affliction, brought on by a pact with the devil, divine punishment, or just having the misfortune to be born that way. The idea of werewolves creating other werewolves by biting ordinary people isn’t actually part of the old lore, but was a later addition by Hollywood, probably inspired by a similar belief surrounding vampires.

Legends lay claim that casting magic spells during the full moon works better. Had those who believed they were sorcerers and witches done this in times past, or do witch doctors in Africa employ the moon in any of its phases to conduct their practices? 
 

 
There are those who say weather & atmospheric conditions influence paranormal investigating by the amount of lighting, giving the investigator an advantage during full moons. Magnetic fields are said to be strangest around full and new moons. It is popular belief that a good time to ghost hunt is 2-3 days prior; the day of; or 2-3 days after a full moon & new moon. The best times for ghost hunting would also be during peak geomagnetic fields & solar storms. There is also a common theory that "psychic tendencies" increase during new & full moons.


Types of Moon Phases:

New Moon - The “new” Moon orbits between the Earth and the Sun in such a manner that the side which

reflects rays of the Sun faces away from the earth, hence producing the optical illusion that the Moon is invisible. This is also called a “Dark Moon.”

Waxing Crescent  - As the Moon moves along in its 28 day orbit into what is known as the first quarter, an illuminated crescent begins to appear on its right side.

Waxing Gibbous - Continuing to progress in its orbital path the crescent begins to grow until the whole of the first half of the Moon is visible.

Full Moon - As the Moon reaches the final portion of its 2^nd quarter orbit it can then be seen it its entirety                  as the whole of the daylight side is visible and appears as a full circle.

Waning Gibbous  - As the sunlit side of the Moon begins to turn away from the Earth it begins to darken again on the right side as it is now beginning to “wane.”

Last Quarter  - As the Moon passes from the waning gibbous phase of its orbit into the fourth quarter, darkness overtakes a larger portion of the surface of the Moon, moving from right to left.

Waning Crescent - This is the final portion of the Moon that is visible from the Earth before the Moon starts the new Moon phase again.

Whatever one believes if the moon does or doesn't affect the supernatural, still, it makes for good fodder for writing fictional stories. And on paranormal activity investigating teams can always do an experiment at one place during various times to see if it is true or not.

 
 

Supernatural Friday: Eleven Scary Horror Films

October will be here in a couple of days and at the end of October is Halloween. At this time of year there are those who will read scary fiction or nonfiction ghost books, or watch scary movies. Personally, I watch the movies all year round or read the books the same. But today, on this last Supernatural Friday of September, I will start with what I think are eleven films to rent or buy on DVD, and watch.(Yeah-right, only I could make it an uneven number. . . )

1. Cabin the Woods (2011). This film just came out on DVD last week and I have watched it twice already. With Joss Whelon’s name as producer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Serenity and The Avengers) attached to this film, I knew I had to have it, even though I didn’t catch it in the theaters this past spring. I heard it was worth the price of admission. And I will say, that is so true. Definitely a Whelon trademark, with some familiar faces too. The premise sounds old hat in horror films: “Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.” But honestly, there is a surprisingly difference. I loved it. Watch the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/

2. The Haunting (1963). Don’t rent the 90s stinkero remake. Get this one.  It is based on the novel, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Premise: Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity. With him are the skeptical young Luke, who stands to inherit the house, the mysterious and clairvoyant Theodora and the insecure Eleanor, whose psychic abilities make her feel somehow attuned to whatever spirits inhabit the old mansion. As time goes by it becomes obvious that they have gotten more than they bargained for as the ghostly presence in the house manifests itself in horrific and deadly ways. The film doesn’t need special effects to scare you. So grab this film, turn off the lights, huddle on the couch or your favorite chair, and be prepared to be frightened.

3.  Dog Soldiers (2002). No this is not a military film, though there are English soldiers in it. Plus a pack of werewolves they end up battling for their lives. And all set in the Scottish wilderness. Intense, this is one of the best werewolf horror films I have seen in a while. 

4.  An American Werewolf in London (1981). A horror film with werewolves that will make you think twice about traveling to English and hiking through it with your buddy at night and during a full moon.

5.  30 Days of Night (2007). This is a vampire film that is intense from beginning to end. If you are looking for those breaks in humor, forget it, this movie won’t give it to you. If you’re looking for vampires that sparkle, forget it. These vamps are vicious and out for one thing you can give them, and it’s not love!

6.   Psycho (1960). Premise: a young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. Though black and white, this Alfred Hitchcock film will scare you as only Hitchcock can. Famous for the shower scene.

7.  The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II (1981 and 1987–both by Sam Raimi). First one is more grade-B horror, while the second one, a kind of remake has humor in it. The second one is the movie that made Bruce Campbell a B-movie icon and won Sam Raimi a whole lot more directing gigs. This films has equal parts humor and gore, but when the frights happen, they happen on a grand scale. Ever wondered what it would be like to fight your own hand? You won't have to wonder anymore after watching this movie. But still I thought I point out the first one, too.

8.  28 Days Later (2002). Undead, or zombies as they are calling the ghouls of these films these days, this is a good one. Many movies have tried to recreate what a major city could look like after an apocalypse, but not many do it as hauntingly well as Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later." The terrifyingly fast zombie-like creatures roaming the landscape proved to be so effectively scary that the movie spawned a wave of movies featuring fast-paced zombies. And the zombies don’t have to die to change and are logical in why they act the way they do.

9.   The Descent (2005). This movie will terrify you if:  1) You’re claustrophobic. 2) You’re scared of the dark. 3) You have a fear of being trapped under the earth.  4) You have a fear of being trapped under the earth with vampire-like creatures that can see you but you can’t see them.

10. Trick 'r Treat (2007). Premise: Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband. Perfect Halloween horror tales that will make you nervous about answering the door to trick-or-treaters.

11.  Alien (1979) and John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). Since both are about creepy, monstrous aliens, then I think both should share equal billing, don’t you? In Alien, “no one can hear you scream,” as stuck on a spaceship not near Earth, the crew of the mining spacecraft, Nostromo battle something that proves ET is not so friendly. Same for The Thing, based on the short story, “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell that I had read back in college, it is a more faithful adaptation than the 50s version with James Arness. It will make you question if your friends are really your friend, or something that may want to take over the Earth. You can even download the short story here: http://www.whogoesthere.info/download.php

There are many more films I loved, but could only put down ten. Other scary films included Poltergeist (1982), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dracula (1931-with Bela Lugosi), The Wolfman (1941-Lon Chaney Jr.), The Grudge (2004), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), The House on Haunted Hill (1999), The Woman in Black (2012), The House of Wax (1953—with Vincent Price), Salem’s Lot (1979 and 2004), Rosemary’s Baby, so many more. What are your favorites?

Review of Wolf Song

I expected another book of vampires (the baddies) versus werewolves (the side of good) as seems to be the norm these days from the Twilight books and more. Many spots in this book by Frank W. Smith beautifully written, and though enjoyed it, I didn't get into it until mid-way. The title is based on the song werewolves chosen by God to sing, to defeat evil and calm down werewolves who lost themselves and remained in beast form. Though the old man is an interesting mix of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Van Helsing, it is Jon, the unsure, lost soul werewolf of the piece that the who book should be mostly about. It was when it became his story after the death of his mentor and friend the book became alive for me. This is why it earned four stars out of five for me. That, and the fact the vampires were scary enough. Next book, Mr. Smith, let go and let evil be evil.

4

Supernatural Friday: A Friendly Warning

The poem below is copyrighted to me, as the poem is my own original one, so please enjoy the poem and share the link to this blog so others may enjoy, but not take the poem itself off and put on your blog, forum, or wherever else. Thank you.

“A Friendly Warning”

By Pamela K. Kinney

Cool breeze of autumn

Darkness coming earlier,

October is just around the corner

With Halloween not far behind.

With this time come things,
Things unmentionable;

Scary and haunting too.

White and gray wisps,

Fluttering in the night

Leering grins from darkened areas

Hear that howl?

Is it the neighbor’s dog,

Or something else?

Blood-chilling;

Down right frightening.

Phantoms, werewolves, ghouls,

Many other kinds of fiends. . .

RUN! HIDE! SAVE YOURSELVES!

Or welcome these harbingers of fall,

After all, what’s a little fear among friends?

 

Supernatural Friday-Werewolf-Part 2

 

Time for Supernatural Friday-Werewolf, Part 2.

The word werewolf is thought to derive from the Old English wer (or were)-pronounced as wear, wiar, war, and wulf. Wer translates as "man." The second half, wulf, is the ancestor of modern English "wolf." in some cases, it also has the general meaning, "beast." An alternate etymology also derives the first part from Old English, weri, meaning to wear or wearer of wolf skin. related to this is the Old Norse ulfhedar, which denoted lupine equivalents of the berserker, said to wear a bearskin in battle. There are other sources that claim that it came from warg-wolf. Warg is cognate with Old Norse vargr, meaning "rogue," "outlaw," or "wolf." No doubt, in Norse society, an outlaw was called vargr, or wolf, as hje might have slaughtered sheep or even human members of a "herd."

Werewolves in European folklore had tell-tale signs in their human forms that they were werewolves. Traits like meeting of both eyebrows over the bridge of the nose. curved fingernails, low set ears, and a swinging stride. One way to tell a werewolf in its human guise, was to cut the flesh when it is a human and you would see fur in the wound. A Russian superstition says that you can tell a werewolf by the bristles under his or her tongue.

Appearance of a werewolf varied from culture to culture, though they are distinguished from real wolves as having no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal forms), are often larger, and retain human eyes and voice. After returning to human form, they are weak, debilitated, and undergo painful, nervous depression. Many historical werewolves are writen that they suffered severe melancholia and manic depression, being conscious of their crimes. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe had the werewolf devouring recently buried corpses, documented extensively, particularly in the Annales Medico-psychologiques in the 19th century.

Fennoscandian werewolves were old women whompossessed poisen coated claws and could paralyzed catle and chilodren with their gaze. Serbian vulkodlaks had the habit of congrgating annually in the winter months to strip off their wolf skins and hang from limbs of trees. They would take another's skin and burn it, releasing it from the curse. Haitian je-rouges try to trick mothers into giving away their childrenbyn waking them at night and askig their permission to take the child. This way the disoriented mother might say yes or no.

The werewolf can not be harmed by crucifixes or holy water, like vampires can be. But in many countries, it is thought rye and mistletoe are considered effective safeguards against a werewolf. Also mountain ash is believe to work. One Belgian legend states that no house is safe from an werwolf unless beneath the shade of a mountain ash tree. Werewolves have an aversion to wolfsbane, too. Werewolves can transformed during the winter solstice, Easter, and the full moon. And in Hungary, werewolves and vampires were closely related.

Various methods have existed for removing the werewolf form. In antiquity, the Greeks and Romans believed in the power of exhaustion to cure people from being lycantropes. The said werewolf would be subjected to long periods of physical activity to purged them of the malady. In medieval Europe, there were three ways to cure a person of being a werewolf. Medicinally (usually by use of wolfsbane), surgically, or by exorcism. Unfortunately, many of these cures proved fatal to the patients. Another came from a Silcian belief of Arabic origin: cure the monster by striking it on the forehead or scalp with a knife. Another way involved the piercing of a werewolf's hands with nails. In the German lowland of Schleswig-Holstein, a werewolf could be cured by addressing it three times by its Christian name. A Danish belief calims to simply scold it will cure the werewolf. Converting to Christianity was a common method of removing werewolfism in medieval times. A devotion to St. Hubert has also been cited as both cure for and protection from lycanthropes.

Some werewolves could not change back to human form if an article of clothing is taken from them. In Bisclavret by Marie de France, the nobleman, Bizunch, for reasons not described in the poem, had to transform into a wolf every week. His wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human shape, as she was cheating on him. He escapes the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for m,ercy and accompanies the king thereafter. His behavior at court was considered very gentle, that his hateful attack on his wife and her lover was deemed justifiable, and the truth revealed.

The Beast of Gevaudan, a loup-garou, terrorized the genreal area of the former province of gevaudan, now called Lozere, in south-central France, from 1764 to 1767. This monster killed upwards of eighty men, women, and children. It was described as a giant wolf by a sole survivor of the attacks. The murders ceased after several wolves in the area had been hunted and killed. Strangely enough, a TV show was done to prove what this "werewolf" was. It was determined that it might have actually been a hyena, maybe even trained to kill. Was this the sole survivor, or one of the hunters, who owned this creature?

Thye 1th Century Belarusian Prince Usiaslau of Polatak was considered to have been a werewolf, capable of moving at superhuman speeds. This was recounted in The Tale of Igor's Campaign.

Clinical lycanthropy (where a human considers themselves a wolf) is a mental disorder--due to psychological causes as opposed to supernatural means in myths and folklore. This is a deep depression that becomes aviolent form of insanity. Many werewolf cases in history were works of Lycanthropic Disorder victims. The Book of daniel describes King Nebuchanezzar as suffering from depression that deterioted over a sever-year period into a frank psychosis at which he imagined himself to be a wolf. Robert burton referred in Anatomy of Melancholy, that those suffering an advanced form of melancholy and believing to be werewolves, hid during the day time but at night, would go abroad, barking, howling, and they would have unusually hollow eyes, plus scabbed legs and thighs, very dry and pale.

Werewolves are a frequent subject of modern fictional books, movies and TV shows. Though these werewolves are distinct in their attributed traits from those of original folklore, like vulnerability from silver weapons. This feature did not appear in stories about werewolves, not until the 19th century. The claim that the Beast of Gevaudan was slain by a silver bullet, did not appeared in the origianl accounts, but later by novelists retelling the tale from 1935 onwards.

Two American werewolves talked about today in nonfiction books and even movies or TV shows are the Beast of Bray Road and the Werewolf of Henrico (in my books, plus online).

A good website to check up on some good werewolf movies (even where the werewolf is not the main character--some are good, some are terrible, and some I had never seen myself, but a good way to enjoy a Saturday night viewing): http://www.werewolf.com/vb/showthread.php?t=897 . There is currently a werewolf movie out in theaters: Red Riding Hood.

Supernatural Friday-Werewolf-Part 1

 

Today for Supernatural Friday, we're going to talk about that shapeshifter, the werewolf.

The belief in humans that turn into wild predatory animals exists in all major world cultures. So werewolves are just one way to shift into the shape of an animal. Modern science believes that the stories may have come about as a result of the physical or mental characteristics of humans under the influence of real-life illnesses that made them look or act like wolves.

For the supernatural version, there is several ways to make the change, according to the myths. One is, of course, the full moon. Another way is by being cursed or bitten—like those criminals cursed by priests then became werewolves. Though the bitten part is very rare, unlike the movies or fiction books.. A third way (and I read a book that had something found on a medieval manuscript) is by taking a belt made of wolf fur and chanting some words during the full moon to shift into the wolf form. Another way said they were possessed by demons. Some lycanthropes (according to tales from the 17th century) assured people that they really were wolves and that their fur grew inside their body. Also to drink rainwater of the paw print of a wolf or drink from enchanted streams also affected metamorphosis. There is a tale of a baroness who drank from a spring in Germany that caused her to become a werewolf and that her husband when hunting one night, cut off her paw and found her wife back in their home, her hand missing. This is the same spring legend says that Hitler urged his “little werewolves”, or Gestapo, to drink from. In Italy, France and Germany, it was said that a man could turn into a werewolf if he, on a certain Wednesday or Friday, slept outside on a summer night with the full moon shining directly on his face. In other cultures, individuals born during a new moon or suffering from epilepsy were considered likely to be werewolves.

The Navajo, Hopi, Ute, and many other tribes believe in the existence of skinwalkers - malevolent witches capable of transforming into wolves, coyotes, bears, birds, or any other animals. The witch might wear the hide or skin of the animal identity it wants to assume, and when the transformation is complete, the human witch inherits the speed, strength, or cunning of the animal whose shape it has taken.

Skinwalkers are considered evil. They do many horrible things—make people ill and even commit murders. They are grave robbers and necrophilics. Often a greedy person kills a sibling or other relative so they can be initiated as a skinwalker. Practitioners of witchcraft are believed to be real in the Navajo community. Few Navajo want to cross paths with naagloshii, otherwise known as skinwalkers. They will not speak of these beings, especially with strangers, so not to attract the attention of one.
Lycanthropy is often confused with transmigration; but the essential feature of the were-animal is that it is the alternative form or the double of a living human being, while the soul-animal is the vehicle, temporary or permanent, of the spirit a dead human being. Still, humans reborn as wolves are often classed with lycanthropy, as well as these instances labelled in local folklore.

There are also tales of humans descending from animals. This is common reasons for tribal and clan origins. One story has the animal assuming human shape so their human descendents retained their human shapes, while another one has a human marrying a normal animal. North American indigenous traditions mingle the idea of bear ancestors and ursine shifters. Bears would shed their skin and mate with human women in this guise. The resulting offspring might be monsters and yet again, may be born as beautiful children with uncanny strength, even become shapeshifters themselves.

One being, Pan Hu from various Chinese legends, is depicted as a supernatural dog, or a canine shapeshifter. Supposedly, he married an emperor’s daughter and founded at least one race. He can become human in shape in all parts of him, except for his head. The Chinese stories write that the race descended from him are monsters with combined human and canine anatomy.

The shamanic Turkic peoples believed they are descendants of wolves. The Turkic myth of Asena tells how in Northern Chinese village Chinese soldiers raided it, but left a baby behind. An old she-wolf with a sky-blue mane, Asena, discovered the child and nursed him. Afterwards, the wolf gave birth to half wolf, half human cubs. These were the start of the Turkic people.

In Middle Ages of Europe, not only were those accused of being witches prosecuted and burned at the stake, but those accused of being werewolves done the same. It was thought that lycanthropy was practiced by witches too. The stories were told that the witches morphed into wolves and roamed the countryside to frighten people, killing and devouring them, too, besides livestock of the humans. Lycanthropes were even believed to be minor demons, and some whose killer instincts were considered exceptionally strong, were thought to be the Devil himself. Even if the werewolf was not a morphed witch, it was still related to witchcraft: tales were told about witches who arrived at Sabbats mounting these creatures. The evil and wicked acquired, according to Paracelsus, a 16th century alchemist, the shape of a wolf upon death, or could become such creatures if they were cursed by a priest, remaining morphed for seven years.

There is so much more to go into werewolves, and I may do so next week, continue on werewolves. So, tune in next week for Supernatural Friday.

A note: if werewolves did exist, a good time to catch one might be this Saturday night, March 19th. It seems that the moon will be closer to earth that it has been since 1993—the moon’s orbit will bring it so close to earth, that it will appear larger, and fuller, than it has been in almost two decades. People say that the change in the moon’s orbit may have caused the earthquake in Japan—or worse—another natural disaster of even more epic proportions is brewing.