Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King

Got your nose!

Stephen King likes to write. That’s about as obvious a statement one can make when referring to a man who has written more than 50 novels since the 1970s.

But that’s not what I’m really talking about. I mean, Stephen King likes to write. This is why he’s given us massive books like The Stand, It, and Under the Dome. When Stephen King begins a book, it has to feel like climbing Everest to him. Most writers are satisfied cresting the 300-page limit, but King consistently produces novels more than 500 pages long. He likes to write stories, page count be damned. But between all those novels, there are dozens of novellas and countless short stories.

Cycle of the Werewolf is a strange amalgam of both novel-writing stamina and his short story acumen. On the surface, it looks almost like a slick children’s book: big print, glossy pages… lots of pictures. But it’s the content that proves it’s pure King. He weaves a single story across several (12) short stories to bring the reader to a classic conclusion to a classic monster story.

Basically, the book is a “year in the life of” tale of a small town werewolf, as told from the point of view of its victims. We don’t learn who the werewolf is until late in the book, but it’s really less about who the wolf is and more about a small town coping with a monster in their midst. Of course, the town is divided into two camps on what to believe. There’s your average folks who believe it’s an animal or some crazy person, and then there are the town’s fringe citizens who know from the start what they’re dealing with.

It’s a classic werewolf story with classic characters and a classic end. There are even silver bullets. If you haven’t read this book, you may have seen the movie based on it, Silver Bullet. The movie starred ’80s favorite Cory Haim as the book’s protagonist, Marty Coslaw.

Yes, even though it’s twelve short stories, there’s still a protagonist. Here’s where I’ll give King credit: Even though it’s a classic story, the hero is not a classical one. Marty Coslaw is only ten years old and wheelchair-bound. After more than 40 years in the business, many of King’s books have a child or disabled person (or, in this case and a few others), a disabled child as the story’s protagonist. This isn’t King exploiting special needs, it’s King honoring them and treating them like everybody else.

Look, Cycle of the Werewolf is an old story with old characters, but it’s still engaging. How does he do that? It’s an amazing talent, and I would love to challenge him to write a book about paint drying, because I know he could do it and it would be horrifying.

The story, for reeking of so much sameness as other takes on the tale, was well done. Even with its non-traditional format, there was a cohesive narrative that worked and a satisfying character arc for our protagonist. King admits the lunar cycle was jimmied to fit the narrative, and he doesn’t apologize for it. It’s a minor thing, and really doesn’t detract from the story.

So what’s the deeper meaning behind this book? What is King trying to saaaay? I dunno. Seems like he just had some fun writing a neat little homage to the classics. And there’s nothing wrong with that.