Werewolf by Moonlight
By Guy N. Smith
1974 New English Library
Paperback, 110 pages
NEL 1974, artwork by Lucinda Cowell BHB 2024 artwork by Mike McGee
This landmark novel is a short, quick read that isn’t perfect but satisfies on so many levels. The very first published horror novel by The Master, Guy N. Smith, this book was originally written when a friend told the author that NEL was looking for a werewolf novel to publish. Guy sent them an outline; it was accepted, and the rest is history. He wrote this in three weeks, and he didn’t stop going until his death 56 years later.
A neighbor’s new dog (of a mysterious breed) bites Philip Owen on the leg. They then develop an odd kinship and Philip starts getting strong sexual urges for the women in town. So does journalist Gordon Hall, who is bonking a village wife. Philip’s urges become more than sexual; he starts to feel outright bloodlust, so he eats a few sheep. Then a girl. The town and Scotland Yard blame the dog and put it down but when the next full moon arises, they still have the problem. Just what is responsible for the savage killings?
OK, most of these characters are thin, but the narrative is strengthened by having the setting a very familiar one to Smith. He utilizes the small town and its surrounding hills to great effect. Hall seems to be GNS himself, with a few extra eccentricities (like adultery!). He’s a writer, a hunter, smokes a pipe and is a hero. There is never any question to the reader that Philip is the werewolf. We are with him during his changes and his kills. We live through his confusion and torment, together with him. No other characters in the book make a huge impression, save maybe Peter Pike, a leather-jacketed interloper that becomes a red-herring to the police for the murder of a girl he was seeing. Nope, we know the werewolf did it!
Being Guy’s maiden voyage in novel writing, there are a few problems, but nothing that deter the reader from having a grand old time. The wad of bloody clothes that Philip hides under his bed seem to live in a timeline of their own, and a gratuitous decapitation by electric saw is only there for us gorehounds, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with that!
Fast moving and loads of fun, this is a wonderful introduction to the horror world of Guy N. Smith, one of the most important voices in the genre over the last 100 years. This is the first book in his werewolf trilogy, followed by Return of the Werewolf and Son of the Werewolf. All three books have been collected into Werewolf Omnibus (Sinister House, 2019), along with a short story. It’s also on Kindle for you freaks that like that sort of thing. Best of all, Black Hill Books have recently reprinted this title so you can forget about all of those expensive originals. The Mike McGee cover captures the spirit of the novel perfectly!
This landmark novel is a short, quick read that isn’t perfect but satisfies on so many levels. The very first published horror novel by The Master, Guy N. Smith, this book was originally written when a friend told the author that NEL was looking for a werewolf novel to publish. Guy sent them an outline; it was accepted, and the rest is history. He wrote this in three weeks, and he didn’t stop going until his death 56 years later.
A neighbor’s new dog (of a mysterious breed) bites Philip Owen on the leg. They then develop an odd kinship and Philip starts getting strong sexual urges for the women in town. So does journalist Gordon Hall, who is bonking a village wife. Philip’s urges become more than sexual; he starts to feel outright bloodlust, so he eats a few sheep. Then a girl. The town and Scotland Yard blame the dog and put it down but when the next full moon arises, they still have the problem. Just what is responsible for the savage killings?
OK, most of these characters are thin, but the narrative is strengthened by having the setting a very familiar one to Smith. He utilizes the small town and its surrounding hills to great effect. Hall seems to be GNS himself, with a few extra eccentricities (like adultery!). He’s a writer, a hunter, smokes a pipe and is a hero. There is never any question to the reader that Philip is the werewolf. We are with him during his changes and his kills. We live through his confusion and torment, together with him. No other characters in the book make a huge impression, save maybe Peter Pike, a leather-jacketed interloper that becomes a red-herring to the police for the murder of a girl he was seeing. Nope, we know the werewolf did it!
Being Guy’s maiden voyage in novel writing, there are a few problems, but nothing that deter the reader from having a grand old time. The wad of bloody clothes that Philip hides under his bed seem to live in a timeline of their own, and a gratuitous decapitation by electric saw is only there for us gorehounds, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with that!
Fast moving and loads of fun, this is a wonderful introduction to the horror world of Guy N. Smith, one of the most important voices in the genre over the last 100 years. This is the first book in his werewolf trilogy, followed by Return of the Werewolf and Son of the Werewolf. All three books have been collected into Werewolf Omnibus (Sinister House, 2019), along with a short story. It’s also on Kindle for you freaks that like that sort of thing. Best of all, Black Hill Books have recently reprinted this title so you can forget about all of those expensive originals. The Mike McGee cover captures the spirit of the novel perfectly!
