The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten

The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten

by Ritch Duncan, Bob Powers
The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten

The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten

by Ritch Duncan, Bob Powers

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Overview

Have you been attacked by a wolf-like creature in the last 30 days? Was it after the sun had set and under a full moon? If you answered, "yes" to both these questions, there's a very good chance that you were bitten by a werewolf. You now have less than a month before the full moon returns and with it your first transformation into a savage, bloodthirsty beast.
Survival is an option, but first, know this:
* Werewolves are real.
* The majority of lycanthropes who do not have access to this book die during or shortly after their first transformations, generally due to heart failure, gunshot wounds, exposure, drowning or suicide.
* Hollywood horror movies are NOT to be used as guides to living as a werewolf. Their goal is not to educate, but to entertain. As a result, they are largely ignorant of the realities of the condition.
* Ignorance creates monsters; lycanthropy does not.
* You are not a monster.
The Werewolf's Guide to Life cuts through the fiction and guides you through your first transformation and beyond, offering indispensable advice on how to tell if you're really a werewolf, post-attack etiquette, breaking the news to your spouse, avoiding government abduction, and how to not just survive, but thrive. You cannot afford to not read this book. Your very life depends on it.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780767931939
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Publication date: 09/15/2009
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 816,935
Product dimensions: 5.16(w) x 7.98(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

RITCH DUNCAN and BOB POWERS have devoted their lives to aiding and serving the lycanthrope community. They live in New York City.

Illustrator EMILY FLAKE is a New York based cartoonist and illustrator who is grateful to have gotten close enough to study her subjects for this book without being torn limb from limb.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
It was a nice night for a walk in the park. Bright. Big moon. Out by the picnic area, I heard this deep, low growling. Scared the hell out of me. Then I heard it circling. Rustling in the bushes. Moving around behind me. I began to think I was in real trouble. When I heard the howl, I knew it. As it exploded out of the bushes at me, I thought two things: It was a rabid animal, and I was done for. Wrong on both counts. We smashed straight through the picnic table, shattering it. I was found the next morning, barely alive, with a dead, naked man, impaled on a shard of the broken table, next to me. I've come around to believing that I was lucky. I didn't always feel that way.

—Marty H., Political Consultant

Age: 34, Lyc age: 10

GETTING STARTED

If you've been bitten by a werewolf or know someone who has been bitten, you probably have a head full of some pretty weird and wild questions. This section will go over the basics of what lycanthropy is all about.

WHAT IS LYCANTHROPY?

Lycanthropy is a biological condition wherein you undergo a cyclical physical transformation, experiencing sudden and drastic growth in all parts of your body until you appear to have been turned into a creature that is half-human/half-wolf. Those who have this condition are called "lycanthropes" or "werewolves." When you undergo this change you experience rapid hair growth; your teeth turn into large fangs and your fingernails grow into long sharp claws; and your body increases in height, girth, and strength, with longer limbs, a more pronounced brow, and in some cases, an extended snout. During the transformation, your mental state experiences a rapid deterioration, eroding all of your higher faculties until your mind is that of a bloodthirsty predator. You will become hungry for flesh and will maul and feed on animals or humans, given the chance. In your "wild" state you are extremely dangerous and hard to control. You remain in your wild state for approximately eight hours before you transform back to your normal or "dormant" state.

WHEN IT HAPPENS

You will experience a transformation three nights out of the month, on the evening of the full moon and the evenings before and after, when the full moon waxes and wanes. These nights are commonly referred to as your "Moons," and the monthly trio of Moons is referred to as your "Moon Set." On the morning following each transformation, you will wake up in your dormant state again, usually with little to no memory of the events of the previous night.

HOW ONE BECOMES A WEREWOLF

You can become a werewolf either by being born to a lycanthrope father or by having a werewolf's blood or fluids introduced into your bloodstream, usually through a bite. The fluids must enter your bloodstream while the werewolf is in his wild state. If you are bitten by a werewolf in his dormant state, or if the fluids of a werewolf are introduced into your bloodstream outside of a transformation day, you will not become a werewolf.

HOW IT HAPPENS

The blood and saliva of werewolves contain a contagion that acts upon the pituitary gland. After you've been attacked, this contagion travels through your bloodstream and causes your pituitary gland to release a rare and normally dormant thyroid-stimulating hormone called "lycantropin." Lycantropin acts upon the thyroid and other glands and organs to stimulate growth at a rapid rate, first by causing a breakdown of body structures and then by swift cellular regeneration and reproduction. This hormonal process makes the body grow to nearly twice its normal size and stimulates the hunger and rage receptors in the brain to such an extreme degree that you begin to behave like a starved, wild animal. The process continues for eight to twelve hours until the body counteracts the change and triggers another cellular breakdown, changing your physiognomy back to your dormant state.

For purebloods, lycanthropes who are born to a lycanthrope father, the pituitary gland is preprogrammed to automatically release the lycantropin hormone during Moon Sets after the pureblood reaches puberty.

WHO CAN BECOME A LYCANTHROPE

Any human being, male or female, regardless of race or background, can become a lycanthrope. However, the condition will not become active until you reach the age at which puberty begins. Nonhumans (animals) cannot contract lycanthropy.

WHY IS LYCANTHROPY TIED TO THE PHASES OF THE MOON?

The lycantropin hormone is released in measured doses throughout the month, hitting its peak after approximately _twenty-_nine days. During the first month, you will notice several changes in your body: hair growth, fingernail growth, and increased strength. Much more is happening internally, including a dramatic spike in the iron levels in your blood. The increase in iron changes the magnetic polarity of your chemical makeup, causing you to be far more sensitive to the phases of the moon. In the way that the ocean hits high tide at full moon, your body experiences a "high tide" of its own, triggering a sudden, massive surge of lycantropin to instigate your change.

IS THERE A CURE?

No, because lycanthropy is not a disease. It is a process involving the release of a hormone that is already present in the body.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE THIS CONDITION AND LEAD

|ANYTHING RESEMBLING A NORMAL LIFE?

Absolutely. Keep reading this book to find out how.
CHAPTER TWO
You Are Really a Werewolf

My first month wasn't scary, just lonely. I knew something wasn't right. I couldn't explain what was happening to me. I actually thought my Propecia had gone out of whack. But I knew the thing that attacked me wasn't what the police said. They said it was a bear. In a suburb of Atlanta.

The second month though, that was scary. Once I got through my first changes, and I realized I had a month to just wait to change again, nothing was more terrifying. At least I didn't need the Propecia no more.

—Joseph H., Physical Therapist

Age: 33, Lyc age: 6

AM I REALLY A WEREWOLF?

If you suspect that a werewolf has bitten you, if it's been less than a month since the attack, and if you have not yet transformed into a werewolf, this is the big question. While it might be comforting to ignore the inexplicable signs, avoidance of this issue can be deadly. If you were bitten by a werewolf, you contracted lycanthropy the instant the attacking werewolf's saliva entered your bloodstream, and as such, there are numerous ways to detect your condition long before your first Moon.

Did Something Attack You?

The only way one can become a werewolf, other than having been fathered by a male lycanthrope (see Chapter 4, "Purebloods"), is to have the blood or saliva of a fully transformed, wild werewolf enter your bloodstream, in most cases through a bite. If a wolf-like creature did not attack you in the past thirty days, chances are very good that you are not a lycanthrope. But if a ferocious, hairy animal attacked you, even if you were told that it was simply a dog, a bear, a wolf, or a coyote, read on. You need to be absolutely sure.

When Did the Attack Occur?

Lycanthropic transformation only occurs on the night of the full moon, as well as the nights before and after (the waxing and waning). If you were attacked on a non-transformation date or during daylight hours, then what you encountered was not a werewolf and you do not have lycanthropy. (For detailed information on full moons and transformation dates, refer to Chapter 6, "When It Will Happen and What It Will Feel Like," or if the attack happened before 2011, the back appendix.) If an animal of some kind bit you during a known transformation date, it's possible that you were bitten by a werewolf. Keep reading.

TRUE LEGENDS?

THE LYCANTHROPE DWARF

We would love to be able to say that all werewolves grow to a certain height and weight, that if you were attacked and bitten by something shorter than six feet tall, it wasn't a werewolf and you're in the clear. Unfortunately, the legend of Harold Greenfield makes that impossible to say with certainty. In the early twentieth century, Harold Greenfield was born with achondrophasia, a bone-growth disorder. While still in his teens, the 3'9'' tall Greenfield was attacked by a werewolf outside his rural Kansas home and contracted lycanthropy. After displaying rapid healing and enhanced senses, he was cast out by his terrified family. They believed these traits, along with his short stature, indicated that he was cursed by the devil. Tragically, at least for the first several years of his lycanthropy, Harold appeared to have believed them. When he changed into a werewolf for the first time, he grew no taller than a height of approximately 5'6'' while standing on his back paws, making Greenfield one of the smallest werewolves ever known. But what he lacked in height, he made up for in ferocity. He tore his way across the American Southwest like a feral tornado, leaving behind a trail of sketchy newspaper reports that told stories of men, women, livestock, and horses who were "mangled," "ripped to pieces," and "slaughtered in the most grisly way imaginable." While some reports were plausible, citing coyotes as the attackers, others were outlandish, describing the aggressor as a "badger," "a giant beaver," and in one exceptional case, "a mammoth prairie rat." Interestingly, the attacks stopped after several years. Many lycanthropes who claimed to have met Harold in his dormant state reported later in life that he had not only learned to restrain himself during his Moon Sets, but had grown to almost six feet tall. Speculation abounded that his monthly transformations had, over time, grown and regrown his bones enough times that he eventually healed fully from his disorder.
of Naked Human Corpses in the Area?

When a werewolf is killed in his wild state, he changes back to his dormant form and, if discovered, is found in the nude, since his clothing is usually torn off during his transformation (see Chapter 3, "The Stages of Lycanthropy"). In many cases, the only reason a victim survives the ordeal of a werewolf attack in the first place is that the beast was killed before finishing the job, leaving behind a nude corpse. If a nude corpse was found at the site of your attack, it is almost certain that you were attacked by a werewolf, and you will experience your first transformation within a month.

If no nude corpses were found, it is possible that the werewolf who attacked you is still alive. If this is the case, he may attempt to contact you, to offer guidance in the ways of lycanthropy. It might be the case that the only reason you're reading this book is that the lycanthrope who attacked you later tracked you down and slipped it into your mailbox. Despite how you might be feeling about your attacker right now, by giving you this book, he has done you a huge favor. For more on this, see Chapter 17, "So You've Attacked Someone."
If you do wake up next to a naked corpse, you're going to be getting a lot of attention from the police and possibly the media, since you're now the prime suspect in what they perceive to be a fantastic sex crime. On the bright side, you won't have to worry about anyone suspecting you're a werewolf, since the intense interest generated by sexual murders often distracts from any suspicion of a werewolf's involvement. People see what they want to see. Use this to protect yourself. Just be prepared to suffer through some very uncomfortable questions about your background and your "proclivities."
One of the primary symptoms of lycanthropy, and one of the first you will develop, is an accelerated immune system combined with extremely rapid healing. If doctors tell you they are amazed at the speed of your recovery or that they have "never seen anything like this," that should be a red flag. If you were bitten by a werewolf, your wounds will probably have healed within _twenty-_four hours, and in just a few days there will be no evidence you were ever assaulted. On its own, quick healing might not be evidence of lycanthropy, but combined with other indicators, it must not be ignored.

Your Dreams: What Are They About?

Many Stage 1 lycanthropes report having exceptionally vivid dreams and nightmares, often of an animalistic, violent, and sexual nature. You may experience dreams of hunting, hearing wolves or other savage animals speaking as though they were people, and seeing fleeting images of yourself running close to the ground at a speed far faster than you ever
Initial Sensory Enhancement

A heightened sense of smell will be the first thing you will notice as your condition advances toward your first transformation, and it will continue to evolve and surprise you as you enter the later stages. You will also notice a "layering" of the scents you experience, something that can be overwhelming in a hospital. As you lie there in your bed, wounded from the attack, you have nothing else to do but experience all the different smells, from wounds to medicine and chemicals to hospital food to the smell of sterile cleanliness. In fact, by using your nose, you may even be able to determine which spots around the hospital room were missed by the swipe of the mop or the squirt of industrial cleaning liquid.

As you learn to use your nose, you will find that things you previously thought smelled heavenly and that odors you found foul will become fascinating, as your nose will be able to unravel each element of a smell into its component parts.

A dramatically enhanced sensory experience is a very clear symptom of lycanthropy.

Do You See Dead People?

While odd dreams, nightmares, and quick healing can be easy to ignore, being visited by the chatty spirit of a dead acquaintance is pretty tough to get around. Many newly bitten lycanthropes claim to have both seen and/or conversed with ghosts, usually those who were recent victims of a werewolf attack. They arrive looking much the same way as after they were attacked (generally mangled and shredded) and often speak to you about your condition. In some cases, they urge you to kill yourself. Although this is very alarming, at this writing we have not been able to categorically prove that these experiences are anything more than intense hallucinations or exceptionally vivid dreams brought on by the onset of lycanthropy. Also, we have never had a report of a lycanthrope being physically harmed by a ghost. They can't hurt you.

Still, if you have been visited by a phantom who claims you are now a werewolf and if an animal has attacked you on a confirmed transformation date, you can pretty much stop wondering. You are going to become a werewolf on the night before the next full moon, and you need to start preparing for that. (For more on encounters with the undead, refer to Chapter 7, "Werewolf Dreams and Stranger Things," or Chapter 20, "The Trouble with Vampires.")

(Continues…)



Excerpted from "The Werewolf's Guide to Life"
by .
Copyright © 2009 Ritch Duncan.
Excerpted by permission of Crown/Archetype.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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