Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror

This searing anthology of horror fiction mixes the feminine with the feral as it explores lycanthropy, murder, and the transcendence of flesh. In “The Devil Has No Dogs” by Kailey Tedesco, a young woman realizes the only way to find liberation within the suffocating bounds of a colonial settlement is to embrace the power of a terrible transformation. Erika T. Wurth’s “When He Could Have Me” follows two sisters with a sordid personal history who find a brutal way of resolving their differences. “Vestigial” by Kristi DeMeester centers on a young woman who manages to find terrible closure over the cruel circumstances surrounding the removal of her vestigial tail in childhood. In Zin E. Rocklyn’s “Wolf Like Me,” a woman in dire straits discovers someone wild within the forest who may just prove to be her salvation—and the salvation of her unborn child. As with any anthology, some stories hit harder than others, but the guiding aesthetic principle—the repressed wilderness within women that manifests through fangs and claws—is a consistent revelation throughout and the cumulative effect is devastating. Fans of the cult classic horror movie Ginger Snaps will eat this up. (Nov.)