Wolfcurse By Guy N. Smith

 

Wolfcurse
By Guy N. Smith
New English Library, 1981
Paperback, 176 pages

 

                This is one of my favorite non-Crab books by Guy N. Smith. Everything works. It’s a fresh idea and Smith barrels into it and doesn’t let up until the last sentence. The entire book follows the main character’s actions as his life falls into chaos.

 

                Ray Tyler is a milquetoast; a henpecked banker who is suddenly going through some changes. After beating up a trio of young thugs, he starts standing up to his wife, his neighbors, and his boss. In fact, he starts turning into a really violent asshole. A murderous asshole. He thinks he might be turning into a werewolf, thanks to a book on Folklore that he had recently purchased. Surely that would explain his sudden, violent bloodlust and overcharged sex-drive.

 

                GNS never really tips his hand as to whether Tyler really is a werewolf or if it is all in his head and that is part of what makes this book so readable. Stone cold crazy or bloodthirsty werewolf? He doesn’t skimp on the gore or sexual violence. In fact, the rape scenes are very vivid and made me squirm quite a lot. Not pleasant in the least. That is to say, very real and scary.

 

                This is GNS at his very best. The cover painting of the New English Library paperback is of a werewolf who is a dead ringer for Paul Naschy’s Waldemar Daninsky, too! This book gets my highest recommendation.