Werewolf Fact of the Day

Since the very earliest accounts of werewolves, those who would seek to explain the onset of such frightening behavior have stated with authority that it is the light of the full moon that serves as the catalyst for the transformation of human into wolf. The ancient Greeks and Romans associated the moon with the underworld and those human and inhuman entities who used the night to work their dark magic. Witches, werewolves, and other shape-shifters received great power from the moon--and just as the moon changed its shape throughout the month, so could these servants of the underworld transform their shapes into bats, wolves, dogs, rats or any creature they so chose. In addition, they could also change their hapless victims into animals.

There have been a number of studies which indicate that the full moon does make people more violent. In 1998 researchers observed prisoners in the maximum-security wing at Armley jail, Leeds, England. Claire Smith, a prison officer on A wing, carried out the psychological study of all 1,200 inmates for more than three months, and the researchers found that there was a definite rise in the number of violent and unruly incidents recorded during the first and last quarter of each lunar cycle, the days on either side of a full moon.

Ms. Smith expressed her opinion that she believed her study to have proved that there is a link between the moon and human behavior. "The best theory I have heard to explain why this happens is that we are made up of 60 to 70 percent water," she commented. "And if the moon controls the tides, what is it doing to us?"

From Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside by Brad Steiger, (c) 2011 Brad Steiger Bloodcurdling, bone-chillingly fascinating, true monster stories.