Cycle of the Werewolf

Cycle of the Werewolf is a short, illustrated book written by Stephen King, and illustrated by Berni Wrightson. Each short chapter of this tale represents one month of the year, starting in January and ending in December. In January we are introduced to the town of Tarker’s Mill and one of it’s residents, a railroad worker named Arnie Westrum. Unfortunately Arnie is the first victim to be attacked and killed by a new werewolf in town. As the story continues through the months, we continue to meet more residents of Tarker’s Mill who are either victims of the werewolf, or may be the wolf themselves.

I had high hopes going into this story because I am a huge Stephen King fan, and a big fan of graphic novels. Throughout the first 6 months of this tale, I was totally into the style and cadence of the story, and really enjoyed crafting theories about which towns-person the werewolf was. By the second half of the book though, it no longer becomes about who the werewolf is, but more about who is going to stop him and how. I thought it was a shame that they gave away the werewolf’s identity so easily, and I think that if King had kept that hidden till the end, it would have made for a better story. This book could have been a really fun and engaging mystery, and instead it’s a way more simple and straightforward tale.

As for the illustrations, I really liked the full landscapes for each month. I thought the black and white was beautifully used to create an atmospheric quality to each part of the story. As far as the illustrations within each chapter though, I didn’t personally feel like they added anything to the story. Overall, the Cycle of the Werewolf, while a unique and short read, was disappointing. I wanted more from this story, and it just did not live up to my high expectations.