fandomhigh | Horror 101, Monday

Mitchell looked more than a bit less pale today; he had a flush in his cheeks and his motions were fluid, less prone to the occasional shake. At the same time, he was also quieter than usual, a little subdued, and, if you knew how to look for it, guilty. Still, he was standing at the front of the class today, serious, and ready to dive in.

"We're going to start talking about individual monsters and what they mean," he said. "We're going to start with-- werewolves. Lycanthropes. The wolfman." He took a breath. "The idea of werewolves dates back to some of our oldest fears. The idea of losing control, of becoming something other than ourselves, of killing without our own consent. From the outside, it's the fear of monsters in those around ourselves. Lycaon in Greek mythology became what he was because he ate human flesh, because he committed a foul act against nature."

He searched the class with his eyes. "So some considered it a divine punishment. Christian mythology, too, talks about God bearing down his wrath on those who commit evil, turning them into wolves, doomed to suffer and to live with impossible urges." A pause. "Of course, a man called Thiess once claimed that he and his friends were werewolves, sent down by God to strike down evil demons. If nothing else, the mythology of these kinds of creatures is distorted and twisted. Would it be a voluntary acceptance of a devil's favour? Or something involuntary, bestowed on us from up above? Is it just as simple as slipping on a piece of wolfskin? The Hungarians even thought that abusing young children would lead to them becoming werewolves."

"So there isn't a single interpretation of this monster that holds true across the world," he said, "But it all comes back to this fear of the savage in ourselves, of that driven, monstrous thing that simply wants. If you ask a scholar now, they might tell you these ideas were formed because of wolf attacks, but I doubt it's anything that... stark."

He nodded towards the viewing screen at the back. "That brings us to modern times," he said, "We've solidified an idea of the werewolf in the backs of our minds now. Turning only during the full moon, men who had this foisted on them through another werewolf's claw. Silver. Howling up at the moon. If that's the true picture of the werewolf, the Christians might have it right after all."

He shook his head. "Think about it: doomed to head out at every full moon, to sit there and wait for the change to come. Consider the physical changes it would take: A wolf's heart is about two-thirds the size of a human's. But can organs shrink without stopping? In other words, the man might have a heart attack. All of the internal organs are smaller, so while he's having his heart attack, he might be having liver and kidney failure too. And a wolf's vocal chords are far different from our own, so if he goes silent..." Mitchell paused, tapping his fingers against the back of his couch. "In a situation like that? Anyone would die of shock. But if the werewolf is real, that means that all these changes won't kill him. That's the thing about werewolf... lore that I find most remarkable."

"A curse like that would drag him through the fire and keep him alive and even conscious to endure every second. Maybe the Christians would be right after all. Nothing like that could just evolve. If we ever find such a thing as a werewolf, if anyone ever believed there was such a thing, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that they saw in it the finger print of God. It's an idea, isn't it? An impossible lethal curse spread by tooth and claw, victim begets victim begets victim. It sounds so cruel, it's..." Perfect.

Mitchell shook his head. "Anyway," he said, shifting his tone, "So much about werewolf myth. We'll be watching the Man Wolf today, and after that, I want you all to pair up. What is the werewolf to you? Why does the monster scare you? Why doesn't it? Do you think it might exist?" He chewed on his lip. "And what's your inner wolf, you think? That place that is so intense, so driven and savage that it rules out all else."

It was possible that last question was a little more rhetorical than the rest.

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*Facepalm* SHOT. Not hot. Ahem.

Jack nodded. "What about the other thing, though?" he asked, since they'd reached agreement on the first point. "The idea of the monster within? I admit I'd worry more if I thought I'd be turned into a werewolf than I would if I merely thought I might be killed by one."

Being in control was rather desperately important to Jack.

"Yeah, I could...see that being a problem." Alex didn't so much mind not being in control but he didn't want to turn into his father when he lost control, using his hands and words to hurt those close to him. That was what scared him. "Wonder if you have to be a literal werewolf to act like one what with the losing control and all?"

"I don't think Mitchell wants us to think so," Jack said, with a passing glance to the professor. "It's a frightening idea that there's something inside us that, if it came out, would just destroy. I don't know if I have that."

He hoped not. But he also knew what he could do if anyone he loved was hurt.

Alex kept quiet on the subject of having it or not. He was pretty sure he did. Had reasons to think so, in fact. Not something he liked to think about.

"I guess for some people it's more obvious?" he guessed. "And some people have to be provoked excessively. There's always going to be the chance, I guess, of that happening."

"You never know what you'll do at the edge until you're there," Jack said, not sure he even believed that.

"And you don't need the terrible looking face or fur to do that," Alex said, smiling a bit. "I dunno, if I were ever confronted with a werewolf, I'd be more stuck on the giant, killer dog aspect rather than the loss of control. The more physical thing rather than the fact that he's a loose cannon. Take that away and make someone focus just on the loose cannon part, the person becomes a little scarier."

"You're right," Jack said, hand going to his chin in thought. "If you look at it as, 'three days a month you'll want to hunt and kill' it's much more frightening than 'three days a month you'll turn into a dog'."

... which made his lack of fear of vampires utterly rational, yes. Jack shoved that thought down.

"Yeah. And I could maybe fear something like a werewolf if I thought that way. I just kind of don't." Far scarier things to occupy his mind. "I guess the whole physicality of the werewolf makes the hunting and killing easier."

"They're carnivores," Jack nodded. "They have the jaws, and the claws ... and now I'm rhyming."

The conversation was starting to disturb him, not so much because of anything Alex had said as because he was starting to really think about the idea of lycanthropy. It was time to shift the topic a bit.

"Never pegged you from a poet, Jack," Alex said, going with that subject change easily. "Must do you well in those romantic moments."

"I should write a poem for someone," Jack said, leaning back in his chair. He hadn't a romantic bone in his body. "It would make them wonder what I was up to."

"I dare you," Alex challenged, grinning. "Write a poem for someone that wouldn't expect it."

"What do I get out of it?" Jack asked, rolling the idea around in his head. "Besides amusing you, that is."

Which didn't mean he wouldn't do it.

"I'll pick and give flowers to someone," he offered. Not as personal as a poem but Alex wasn't a flower giving type of guy either.

Jack offered a hand across the desk for Alex to shake. "You have a deal."

... and some girls were going to be very, very confused.

"Sounds good to me," he said, shaking the offered hand and trying not to snicker at the whole exchange. The reactions would almost make everything worth it. "Poems and flowers. Romantics at heart!"

Horror 101, Monday

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