Before literature, many myths about werewolves passed through Europe, Germany especially being involved in the lore. In Germanic folklore, shapeshifters were believed to be able to take on wolf’s skin to terrorize humans. Many legends spread locally, especially that of “The Wolf of Ansbach”. Inspired by a real event in 1685, the tale centers around villagers being targeted by a wolf, believing it to be a recently deceased and hated villager coming back from the dead.
Before Germany, however, there was the Greek mythological tale of Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, who murdered his son, Nyctimus, then cooked him and fed him to Zeus to see if the god was all-knowing enough to recognize the taste of human flesh. Angry, Zeus turned Lycaon into a wolf and revived Nyctimus.
With the rise of Christianity, people believed that if supernatural power did not come from god, it came from the devil. It was believed that these supernatural beings were simply foolish delusions, hallucinations, and nightmares. But as superstitions grew in the 15th-17th centuries, beliefs shifted: that through Satan’s power, people could transform into other beings, and similar to the witch trials were the werewolf trials, which mostly took place in France and Germany.
Before the publication of big titles like Dracula, the word vampire originated in Western Europe in the early 18th century, following reports of mass hysteria about the undead. People were searching for reasons for the plague and finding figures that fit vampiric descriptors, like Vlad the Impaler of Romania.
It is believed that people wanted to make sense of violent reports and turn atrocities done by humans—such as cannibalism—into something only a monster would be capable of, like Peter Stumpp. Similarly, there were reports such as Arnold Paole, a Serbian man believed to be responsible for 16 deaths in his village was thought to become a vampire post-death. Similarly, in 1950’s Mexico, there was the Tlahuelpuchi, a female witch-vampire that feeds on infants, originating from the state of Tlaxcala with associations to the indigenous Nahua culture.
The beginning of the aristocratic vampire was born on a stormy night during a storytelling contest, the same one that birthed Frankenstein. John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) was published three years later featuring Lord Ruthven, a charming and morally corrupt man depicted as a predator within the high class. Polidori’s depiction of the vampire was much more horrifying than the Serbian folktale’s bloated and rugged appearance; Lord Ruthven was described as an ordinary human, a monster hiding amongst men.
Then came Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s gothic novella, Carmilla (1872), originally published as a cautionary tale for young women about the dangers of temptation and seduction regarding lesbianism. The novel utilizes Victorian societal expectations and Christian values to depict the relationship as demonic, though most modern readers have reclaimed the novel as a sapphic classic.
And finally came Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). The novel is told in an epistolary structure and reflects fears from the Victorian era about science and superstition, foreign invasion, and sexual repression.
Werewolves aren’t as lucky when it comes to popular media from the 19th century. Adaptations of Little Red Riding Hood continued, many interpretations becoming cautionary tales about rape. Short stories about the creatures, and references to them, were read—one popular story being H.P. Lovecraft’s The Ghost Eater (some speculate he was in the beginning stages of writing a werewolf series).
Werewolves were popularly recognized in movies, including The Wolf Man (1941), an American gothic horror film that reflects themes of puberty and the dangers of sexual passion. Typically, the wolf in werewolf tales brings danger to others, as seen in a later film, An American Werewolf in London (1981). Most werewolves in the media live tragic lives, even those in modern media like Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series.
We have come so far in supernatural media, including movies, books, and shows. Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles is a popular book series, followed by a film adaptation, Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the hit TV series that released in 2022 that features Louis and Lestat as a confirmed queer couple.
Of course there was Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga (2005-2008), and the films that later followed in 2008-2012. The actors were beloved by fans, fanfiction was at an all-time high, and everyone had a crush on Robert Pattinson.
After the Twilight craze, popular teen shows like The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017) and Teen Wolf (2011-2017) blew up afterwards, with fans of Twilight chasing the vampire and werewolf buzz, and productions releasing more to consume. My personal favorite was Wolfblood (2012-2017), a British-German television series that challenged the stereotypical aspects of werewolfism like the bite.
Today, werewolf and romance books aren’t as big as they were during the 2010s, but they are still being published. Some young adult titles have gained popularity amongst readers, like the Crave series (2020) by Tracy Wolff and The Coldest Touch (2021) by Isabel Sterling. Most werewolf romance novels today are targeted towards adults, including much steamier romances like Bride (2024) by Ali Hazelwood and Court of the Vampire Queen (2022) by Katee Robert. Though vampires still dominate the supernatural genre over werewolves, there is much more inclusion of werewolfism, especially in fanfiction.
After going through the history and folklore of these supernatural creatures, it’s astonishing how much we’ve evolved as a society in terms of werewolf and vampire media. We’ve gone from legends and horror to romance and erotica. As a monster-romance lover, I’m not entirely opposed to this; however, I would like to see more modern werewolf and vampire horror stories. Hopefully you learned something new or found an interest in my favorite genre.
Anasofia Alejandro, Pine Reads Review Writer