Fun Stuff

Fright Rags’ Newest Werewolf Pop Culture Crossover Tee—Limited Time

Fright Rags is best known for its wide variety of constantly-cycling horror shirt designs, constantly bringing in new designs while occasionally allowing their customers to “resurrect” designs from the out-of-print graveyard. They made the news (Werewolf News, at least) back in 2012 with their “Breaking Jacob” design, in which three classic film werewolves brutally eviscerate pretty-boy Jacob Black, of Twilight fame.

They have recently unveiled a new delightful werewolf pop culture crossover shirt design, appropriately titled “An American Teen Wolf in London,” featuring an appropriately fuzzy Michael J. Fox van-surfing atop a classic red British double-decker bus:

An American Teen Wolf in LondonThe shirt is available for pre-order right now on Fright Rags for $18 plus shipping.

The catch?

Unlike the rest of Fright Rags’ usual shirts, per their website, this is an extremely limited pre-order window, and there will be no other opportunities after today to get this shirt:

This is available for PRE-ORDER for 24 HOURS ONLY!

Once the clock strikes midnight on Sunday July 12*, it will be gone FOREVER. It will never be reprinted, and there will be no extras available for sale later. YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO PURCHASE IT AGAIN. Don’t miss your chance!

*If you’re in the Eastern Standard time zone, this is late Saturday night.

So, if you have any interest at all in getting this tee (available in both standard and fitted shirts), you need to jump on this opportunity ASAP. This is your only warning.

 

More Werewolf Booze, for all Your Werewolf Boozing Needs

The United States midwest is full of werewolves. Wisconsin has their Bray Road Beast, Michigan has its Dogman and Violin Monster. Michigan even likes the Violin Monster that they have an autumn ale named after him! Of course, that leaves the summer months devoid of most varieties of appropriately-themed alcohol for the discerning werewolf connoisseur.

Fret not. Michigan’s got your back, again.

 Michigan Dogman Moonshine

Introducing the Michigan Dogman Moonshine, from Northern Latitudes Distillery. Really what it is is more like whiskey (though not “properly barrel-aged,” per MyNorth), but Moonshine is a way cooler name for any werewolf alcohol, anyway.

MyNorth described this Moonshine thus:

“Since Northern Latitudes opened this past July in Lake Leelanau there hasn’t been time to kick out a batch of properly barrel-aged whiskey from the brand new pot still, so what the distillery offers is Dog Man (read moonshine). This subtly smoky and sweet white whiskey has raw fiery charm that can be thrown back straight or harnessed into a mean margarita. Mix two ounces of Dog Man with one ounce of Cointreau, one half-ounce of simple syrup and the juice of one lime. Shake, strain into a chilled glass and let the trouble begin.”

There have not yet been any anouncements as to when, precisely, or where you might get your hands on it, but if you’re in the area, it’s worth a trip to see when it’ll be available.

(By the way: miss me?)

Werewolf of Bulgaria

Werewolves and Europe tend to go hand in hand. Europe is where most of the research done on werewolves and lycanthropy takes place, and Europe is, for the most part, where the most well-known werewolf lore takes place. Certainly the most infamous werewolves in history were from Europe—France’s Beast of Gévaudan and Germany’s Peter Stumpp being the most well-known of all of them. While in most parts of Europe the belief in werewolves has died down a great deal since the 1700s, there are still some pockets in Europe where the legends live on.

Today’s story comes from Lycanthropology 101 reader and historian Filip Ganov who, on a research trip for his book on the Balkan Wars, spent some time in the small village of Novo Selo near Macedonia. While there, he met a farmer named Trayche who told Ganov that he’d found a box while plowing a new section of field. It had been chained shut, presumably to keep what was inside from breaking out: a werewolf skull, as pictured below.

Ganov took his pictures to a government wildlife official to inquire on them further. The official explained that, most likely, it was simply a regular wolf that suffered from Paget’s disease of bone, “which [caused] the skull to increase in size and appear more human-like.”

He went on to mention that it “wasn’t long ago [that] people or animals with malformations were thought to be demon possessed. So, it is not unusual that a wolf with bone disease would be labeled as a werewolf.”

Thank you Filip Ganov for sharing your photos and commentary with us! To see these photos as well as a few more photos of the location in which this “werewolf” skull was found, check out Ganov’s Google+ album right here!

Werewolf Booze, for all your Werewolf Boozing Needs

Well, autumn is just around the corner, which means October is just around the corner, and you know what that means it’s time for?

Werewolf alcohol, apparently.

First up is Newcastle’s famous and very popular Werewolf Blood-Red Ale, which was the top-selling limited edition import last year.

According to its distributor, Heineken, the ale is described as such:

Newcastle Werewolf features a seasonally advantageous palate – sweet berry fruit with roasted caramel notes up front followed by a bite from Fuggle and Golding hops at the finish. It is brewed with rye malts, making it naturally blood-red in color, and is 4.5 percent alcohol by volume with 23.4 International Bittering Units.

That means nothing to me because I don’t drink (because I’ve never found werewolf alcohol in my area, probably) but for those of you who do—there you go.

Heineken also mentions that Newcastle Werewolf will be available nationally (in the USA) from August to October in 6- and 12-packs (priced comparably to Newcastle Brown Ale) and will also be available on draft at bars and pubs in “most major markets.” Newcastle Brown Ale brand director Quinn Kilbury also wants it on record that Newcastle Werewolf “has certain magical qualities that not only make it taste awesome but also help you ward off werewolves. Just in case you’re worried about that sort of thing.”

They also have one hell of a cool logo for it.

They also have one hell of a cool logo for it.

The second returning werewolf alcohol is the Violin Monster Autumn Ale, produced by his local Arbor Brewing Company.

Violin Monster Autumn Ale is going to be a lot harder to get your hands on, unless you live in Michigan. Violin Monster, after all, has settled there the longest, so it only makes sense.

The Arbor Brewing company describes their local werewolf’s ale thus:

A geographical approach to the werewolf legends results in the identification of a major werewolf area stretching from mid-Germany into the Netherlands and Belgium.  With this in mind, we have created a strong, dark, spiced using ingredients from those regions. Brewed with Midnight Wheat, warming spices, and a hint of brown sugar, the Violin Monster is black as night and packs a punch at 9.5%.  Unleash your inner beast with Violin Monster Dark Ale, but beware…. it finishes with a bite!

Also how cool is the bottle design?

Violin Monster Autumn Ale is sold in stores from September to November (as you’d expect from an autumn ale), and is in fact having a release party on the 22nd with the Violin Monster himself present for photos and autographs! You can get more details on that on the Violin Monster’s Facebook page if you are so inclined. (And if attend and take pictures, I expect you to tweet them and tag me so I can see the festivities, too.)

Happy Canada Day!

AWOO! Happy Canada day to all my favorite Canadian werewolves including but not limited to Langren the Werewolf and the always-relevant folks over at Werewolf News!

Celebrate Canadian werewolves today with a Ginger Snaps marathon! Or go catch WolfCop somewhere! Or throw some money at the band “A Canadian Werewolf in“!

Or if you’re broke, here’s A Canadian Werewolf in Hollywood, a very obviously titled parody short film!

Friday the 13th Full Moon

It’s pretty rare (to my knowledge) to have the unluckiest day of the year be made even more unlucky with the presence of werewolves, so I thought we’d celebrate the occasion with a roundup of some cool unlucky Jason werewolves. Grab some horseshoes and silver bullets.

Anthro Jason Colorized by chezarawolf

Jason the Wolf Man by AntManTheMagnif

Jason by gyerfry-the-wolf

And don’t forget that it’s still #DrawAWerewolfDay today. Let’s see some more machete-wielding maniac werewolves before the day is out!

Delightfully Werewolfy Compilation from Graveyard Calling

If you’re a fan of werewolves, it’s probably a safe bet that you’re pretty into run-of-the-mill wolves as well. In that case, cassette/digital record company Graveyard Calling has a treat for you: Of Wolven Breed, a werewolfy compilation from the artists on the Graveyard Calling signed artists.

Of Wolven Breed

Look at that handsome wolfman.

The compilation will be available from the official Graveyard Calling website for only £2.50, a bargain for 22 tracks.

And those who like wolves will be pleased to hear the kicker: all proceeds from the sale are going to the International Wolf Center, which helps to raise awareness about wolves. It raises awarewolves.

The release will be 76 minutes long, and will feature an all-new exclusive track from our friend in Werewolves in Siberia.

The full track list, courtesy of Bloody Disgusting, is below the cut. (more…)

Seven Songs to Gently Nibble People to

My last “soundtrack” post was filled primarily with hard rock/metal, and I realize this. Those are usually the genres that I stick with, so by default, those are most of the types of songs I have in my playlists. But by no means are those the only songs I indulge myself in.

After all, you don’t always want to stick your snout into someone’s ribcage and gnaw on their internal organs while they scream. Sometimes you just want to dine on a quiet meal of long pig with some potatoes on the side.

Maybe with a nice merlot or something.

I digress. Here is the Lycanthropology 101 list of songs to gently nibble people to.

1. Werewolf—Tyler Lyle

Found by accident, actually, while flicking through werewolf-related songs on Bandcamp. After browsing the lyrics, I was expecting something a little more punk rock than what I actually got, but somehow it managed to work anyway.

And some days I am a mother fucking werewolf
I am a cannibal that eats himself alive
So if you see me tonight on the floor or the ceiling
It depends how I’m feeling, maybe you’ll take me home
and I’ll climb your mountains and build a castle around it
But bring your silver bullets just in case

(more…)

Werewolf Metal Resurgence: Pandemonic

Those who saw my Werewolf Band Roundup in February probably remember my short, bemused paragraph on the vanished werewolf metal band Pandemonic. Well, somehow or another, the lead singer of Pandemonic, Mikael Ullenius, stumbled upon the post.

And what do you know, he unearthed a lot of old Pandemonic material.

The first was, of course, putting some songs back online. Full-length album The Authors of Nightfear and the 2002 demo Ravenous have been posted in their entirety for free download from Last.fm, with an added comment from Ullenius that he’d post the 2004 demo The Art of Hunting as soon as he could find better bitrate versions of the songs.

Beyond that, he posted a pair of old videos to his YouTube channel as well: a live video of “Tower Bell,” and a video of “Changeling Eve,” as seen below:

Ullenius himself can be found on Twitter, which he appears to have joined only recently.

Interview: Werewolves in Siberia

For those of you who follow my Twitter, you have probably heard that lately I’ve been enjoying the hell out of an 80s-inspired synth rock project called Werewolves in Siberia.

It’s dark, contemplative, and delightfully evocative. You can definitely hear the 80s inspiration in the music as well; if you close your eyes you can practically feel the VHS player humming in the background. Still, it has a modern touch, with a clean sound and rock/metal inspired drums. For me, it’s perfect music for things like driving and writing: when I need something to set the mood, but doesn’t have distracting lyrics either. (I like to sing, what can I say.) What’s more, the project has a new album coming soon, so I got in touch with Chris Cavoretto, the man behind it all, to talk about Werewolves in Siberia.

(more…)