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northernfleabag's review against another edition
3.0
Not so much about werewolves as we'd know of them from pop culture but rather almost the illnesses behind perceived 'werewolves', or as close as they could get in the 1800's. But hey, if you're into stories of historical cannibalism and awful child murders written in 1865 then this is the awful little book for you. Three stars because Baring-Gould clearly did a lot of research for this, and I mean A LOT.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
First published in 1865, this really interesting study on the werewolf is notable for what it doesn't show. Ask a random person on the street today what they know about werewolves, and the answer will generally involve silver bullets and a full moon, but the mythos of earlier centuries is very different indeed.
Baring-Gould's assessment of the phenomenon comes from a place of rationalism - it is clear he ascribes symptoms of lycanthropy to mental illness rather than supernatural effect. However the folklore, legends and myths of lycanthropy - and how they appear in history (in the recorded criminal trials of those affected, for example) - describe populations and cultures where this rationalism was very far from a satisfactory explanation for the people involved.
Baring-Gould's assessment of the phenomenon comes from a place of rationalism - it is clear he ascribes symptoms of lycanthropy to mental illness rather than supernatural effect. However the folklore, legends and myths of lycanthropy - and how they appear in history (in the recorded criminal trials of those affected, for example) - describe populations and cultures where this rationalism was very far from a satisfactory explanation for the people involved.
auntie_terror's review against another edition
4.0
Many thanks to the ardent readers at librivox.
This book is not a novel. If it weren't for the werewolves, I'd class it as a historical overview. For it is a collection of myths, folklore and cases surrounding the werewolf.
As werewolves get a lot less coverage than vampires for being less glamorous, I was very happy to have discovered this.
This book is not a novel. If it weren't for the werewolves, I'd class it as a historical overview. For it is a collection of myths, folklore and cases surrounding the werewolf.
As werewolves get a lot less coverage than vampires for being less glamorous, I was very happy to have discovered this.
sebuktegin's review against another edition
This book provided me with horrific entertainment for many a night. I first came across this book about 5 years ago, but I did not read further than the author's preface back then, thinking it to be some medieval superstitious author's work. But this time, when I gave it a go, I was surprised that the author, despite being a churchman was a most rational and scientific-minded person (I am ashamed to admit that this was a discovery to me, that churchmen aren't superstitious bumpkins as a rule, but now I know better). This was a most informative work, and a pleasure to read. The medieval illustrations reproduced herein really helped make the "atmosphere". And this is not just folklore and myth, but the author of this work expends no small amount of efforts to bring to light the psychological conditions behind the were-wolf, that might have lead to the origin and sustenance of the myth.
caidyn's review
2.0
It wasn't very well put together and in the book I was reading, much of the important sections were not translated so I actually couldn't read or understand what was going on in the passage. Quite annoying.
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