Fantasy-Hive

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Interviews
    • Author Spotlight
    • By Author Surname
  • Book Reviews
    • Latest
    • Hive Reads
    • Self-Published
    • By Author Surname
  • Writing
    • Write of Way
    • Worldbuilding By The Numbers
  • Features and Content
    • Ask the Wizard
    • BookTube
    • Busy Little Bees Book Reviews
    • Cover Reveals
    • Cruising the Cosmere
    • Excerpts
    • News and Announcements
    • Original Fiction
      • Four-Part Fiction
    • SPFBO
    • The Unseen Academic
    • Tough Travelling
    • Women In SFF
    • Wyrd & Wonder
  • Top Picks

logo

Fantasy-Hive

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Interviews
    • Author Spotlight
    • By Author Surname
  • Book Reviews
    • Latest
    • Hive Reads
    • Self-Published
    • By Author Surname
  • Writing
    • Write of Way
    • Worldbuilding By The Numbers
  • Features and Content
    • Ask the Wizard
    • BookTube
    • Busy Little Bees Book Reviews
    • Cover Reveals
    • Cruising the Cosmere
    • Excerpts
    • News and Announcements
    • Original Fiction
      • Four-Part Fiction
    • SPFBO
    • The Unseen Academic
    • Tough Travelling
    • Women In SFF
    • Wyrd & Wonder
  • Top Picks
Book ReviewsHorrorThe Stephen King Project
Home›Book Reviews›The Stephen King Project – Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)

The Stephen King Project – Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)

By Shona Kinsella
November 13, 2019
3414
1

About the project

I will be reading all of Stephen King’s books in order of publication (with the exception of The Dark Tower series which I will read together, at the end of this adventure) and writing a review of each. I’ll be looking at the recurring themes, the tricks he likes to use, the way he develops character and the way that his craft has evolved in the 44 years since Carrie was first published.

This is one of the King books that I had never read before the start of this project. In fact, I don’t think I had even registered that it existed, although no doubt I had seen it listed in the front of other books at some point. Either way, I knew next to nothing about it, so when I ordered a paperback copy and it came through the door, I was shocked by its small size. King isn’t exactly known for his brevity, after all. Through the years, I have come to love the length of his books as much as anything else.

Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen KingCycle of the Werewolf is a novella-sized book, which was the first surprise. The second was that it is packed full of wonderful illustrations. Intrigued, I did a little research and found out that this tale has a particularly interesting origin.

At the World Fantasy Convention in 1979, Stephen King was approached by Christopher Zavista, from Land of Enchantment Press. He asked if King would consider writing twelve linked vignettes to be accompanied by illustrations from Berni Wrightson and produced as a calendar. King was intrigued (and drunk) and agreed straight away. The idea of monthly divisions led him to the cycle of the moon and from there, it wasn’t much of a jump to the titular werewolf. But the vignette style didn’t work for King and he really struggled to write the sections – until he hit July, grabbed onto the story and let go of the wordcount.

He got in touch with Zavista who was more than happy to end up with a short, illustrated book rather than the agreed-upon calendar. Who wouldn’t be?

The book itself showcases King’s ability to sketch in a whole town despite the small space. I love how he manages to establish character with a few short sentences. There’s nothing particularly original about the werewolf itself but I was delighted with how he is eventually brought down. Marty Coslaw, the young hero of the story, reminded me quite a lot of Mark Petrie in ‘Salem’s Lot. I do enjoy the trope of the precocious child and the slightly outsider adult who appreciates them.

There’s not too much I can say about the story itself without spoilers but it’s well-paced, fun and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s an attractive book with some powerful artwork and although it wouldn’t make it into my top-ten King books, I still enjoyed it.

TagsBernie WrightsonBook ReviewsCycle of the WerewolfHorrorNovellaStephen KingThe Stephen King Project

Shona Kinsella

Shona Kinsella is a Scottish fantasy author who lives on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond with her husband and three children. She is the author of Ashael Rising (Unbound, 2017), Petra McDonald and the Queen of the Fae (Fox Spirit, 2018) and Miranya’s Oath (an illustrated web serial). You can find out more about her work at www.shonakinsella.com and she loves talking to new people on Twitter www.twitter.com/shona_kinsella 

1 comment

  1. Bob 13 November, 2019 at 16:53 Reply

    Not surprised you hadn’t read it – it seemed to become a sort of lost classic there for a long time. I bought the original trade paperback with the full-color illustrations when it first came out (near the height of my SK fandom), but then never saw it on bookshelves again for ages.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Welcome

Welcome to The Fantasy Hive

We’re a collaborative review site run by volunteers who love Fantasy, Sci-fi, Horror, and everything in-between.

On our site, you can find not only book reviews but author interviews, cover reveals, excerpts from books, acquisition announcements, guest posts by your favourite authors, and so much more.

Have fun exploring…

The Fantasy Hive Team

Visit our shop

Features

Support the Site

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok