Bisclavret
While Eggers certainly loves horror and the macabre, he rarely goes for straightforward scares.
Bisclavret begins with elements familiar to anyone who has heard an ancient wolfman story before.
Every week, a beloved Baron named Bisclavret disappears for three days, only to return without explanation.
The wife orders the knight to steal Bisclavrets clothes, forcing him to stay in wolf form.
With the husband gone, the wife marries the knight.
The king does not recognize the wolf as Bisclavret but admire the beasts inherent nobility all the same.
He brings the creature to his castle.
But soon that gentleness turns to savagery when the knight who aided his wife comes to a celebration.
The wolf attacks him and does worse to the wife, ripping off her nose.
The Account of Gerald of Wales
Do not be afraid!
There is nothing to fear!
Those arent words we often hear in werewolf stories, especially coming from the mouth (snout?)
of the wolf itself.
Gerald was a 12th century priest and historian who described the geography and animals of Ireland.
The wolf approached the priest because his companion was dying and needed last rites performed.
The priest agrees to come with the wolf, expecting to find another human being.
Instead he finds a dying female wolf who also seems to speak with a human tongue.
To show his gratitude, the male wolf revealed the best route through the forest.
On the other, the priest is scared enough for everyone, in part because of his religious superstition.
Gervase also describes Chaucevaire, a man who regularly leaves his friends and families to go into the woods.
He apparently got so intoxicated with evil that he made a deal with the Devil to commit more.
It leaned into gory details about Stubbes evil, too, including his tendency to eat his victims.
He also claimed to have lain with a succubus sent from Hell for his pleasure.
He was executed on Oct. 31, 1589, alongside his daughter and his mistress.
Again, Stubbes story occurs several centuries afterWerwulfs setting.
Werwulf is slated for release on Dec. 25, 2026.
