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I've discovered that modesty goes out the window when it comes to a crisis or bizarre circumstances. I work in the ER, and people coming in in dire circumstances are not worried too much about their clothing when it interferes with critical care. Similarly, I would expect that under paranormal circu...

To a dog, a werewolf as I generally picture one would appear to look like a person but smell not quite like a dog, but a lot more dog-like than any other person. Dogs generally interact with humans as if we were fellow dogs as is--sometimes friendly, sometimes aggressive, depending on learned behavi...

Addendum, on the puppy issue: Wolves turned human generally follow wolf biology rules, whereas humans turned wolves seem to be more flexible overall--mainly because most stories today tend to favor humans turned wolf. Rules regarding species apply to naturally occurring species. In my own storyline,...

On the broad topic: I agree with the general consensus, and in fact a lot of werewolf lore, both classical and modern, focuses on wolves that assume human form. Contemporary examples would include the Anime Wolf's Rain , the short-lived TV series Wolf Lake , Werewolf: the Apocalypse (Garou derived f...

The reluctant werewolf is a popular fantasy, and I'm just as guilty. But, what's really interesting is the psychological transformation. In writing my own novel, I considered the "five stages of grieving" concept--often applied to those mourning the death of a loved one, but applicable to ...

Infectious lycanthropy, as much as I love the idea, does present the problem of explaining why it's not already an epidemic. It kills the competing popular notion of the "dying breed." If a werewolf can make a human into another werewolf, one has to come up with an explanation why humans a...

An American Werewolf in London defined a lot of the modern shapeshifting conventions; it's become the standard to which we compare all other shapeshiftings. I think this has been the case because it's the most believable transformation scene done to date. There are better-looking wolf forms out the...

If the sky were the limit, I'd use digital CGI to polish and perfect traditional puppeteering and costume effects; pure CGI still looks a little artificial. I'd get the guys who did Underworld and put them through Goldenwolf boot camp. As screwy as the werewolves looked in Underworld , they looked l...

Wolves and humans are both omnivores, so a werewolf would likely be omnivorous as well. In my interpretation, werewolves are able to eat chocolate normally. But, it would make an interesting subtle plot point to have werewolves intolerant of it. Caffeine is similar chemically to theophylline in choc...

My werewolves have fluid forms rather than a fixed half-wolf state. They can shift all the way or to any intermediate form. But, the most common form I picture, outside of outright human (with slightly lupine traits dismissable as interesting coincidences) and outright wolf, stands on two digitigrad...

Real world canines have a partial color-blindness; they can see blue, violet/purple, and red fine. But, orange and green both seem to blend with yellow. Wolves (and domestic dogs) are also nearsighted. It's the trade-off for getting such excellent night vision--more rods but less cones. (Think of it...

Clothing serves a protective effect, but it also serves a tremendous cultural purpose. In fact, I put it to you that its primary purpose is cultural; the protective effect is secondary, since we spend so much time indoors in air-conditioned comfort. I suspect that contemporary laws against public nu...

A werewolf movie with creature designs based on werewolf fan wishes? About [bleep]ing time you showed up!!! Where've you been? :D I am Jon Coolidge, though I've used the name Scott Gardener on all the lycanthropy and therianthropy BBSes, since its the name of my lead character in my novel. (See my ....