The Wolf Man.
The Wolf Man or werewolf has taken a bite straight into the jugular of popular culture. The wound is deep enough to contain the original Universal monster movie, Werewolf of London, Wolf Man Jack across the radio air waves, Teen Wolf, numerous rock songs, American Werewolf in London, Werewolf by Night comic book, Wolf, and I could howl on.
I always return to Lon Chaney Jr. as the original Wolf Man, and his portrayal of a good man cursed to do terrible things against his will. Lon plays the tortured soul like no other (though Benicio Del Toro came close in the more recent version of the film). He battled Dracula and the Frankenstein monster and lived to lock himself up under another full moon.
Even a man that is pure in heart,
And says his prayers by night,
May become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms,
And the autumn moon is bright.
We all struggle with darkness at times, and can relate to the plight of the reluctant werewolf. Regarding the willing kind…there is no chain heavy enough, nor wall thick enough, nor hole deep enough to place that soul.
Brandon Jimison 