(We're all Goin' on a) Wolf Hunt

Let me tell you somethin',
When this town goes out a-huntin',
It's in pretty unconventional ways,
You won't forget the sound,
It kinda echoes all around,
And it happens every twenty-eight days.

Shadows growing longer,
As the crowd is getting stronger,
Just a-waitin' for some blood to get spilled,
Full moon in Kentucky,
Maybe some'll strike it lucky,
Although most of them are gonna get killed.

[The Wolf Refrain]
Hillbilly Werewolves comin' down the mountain,
Stalking Appalachia tonite,
Just a little sippin' at the crimson fountain,
Then we head on into town for a bite.

Guns a-goin' "Blammo!"
Shootin' deadly silver ammo,
As the crucifixes wave in the air,
Man, they're really trying,
But they just keep on a-dyin',
While the gore 'n' guts are flyin' everywhere.

Silence in the morning,
As a brand new day is dawning,
And the body count is being assessed,
Unfortunately it's true,
A wolf does what he has to do,
(Though we're really sorry 'bout all the mess.)

[The Wolf Refrain Reprised]
Hillbilly Werewolves comin' down the mountain,
Stalking Appalachia tonite,
Just a little sippin' at the crimson fountain,
Then we head on into town for a bite.

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Another great story :W
[wl]247452[/wl]

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[Notes]

Along with Massachusetts witchcraft and Louisiana vampires, the Appalachian werewolf is one of the truly great examples of European folklore that has found a new home in North America and (at least in my opinion) is all the better for it.

Not all of the above is fiction but because its so dreadful to contemplate it inevitably creates new archetypes when we tell stories to frighten each other (and the closer to home it is, the scarier it will be).

Some of the actual fiction is exceptional (thank you Anne Rice, we miss you) and there are some fantastic all-American tropes within the genre that will long endure. There are, of course, plenty of other cultural imports into the scary-end of American story telling from the Wendigo to the Chupacabra to the Skinwalker and quite a few contemporary inventions like the New York sewer-gator...

But for me, classical European gothic horror transplanted into the new world and properly grounded is hard to beat.

We had the genius of Poe in the nineteenth century producing work to rival the best of Shelly, Stoker or Walpole and an entire section of Hollywood in the 20th century dedicated to (and often shamelessly altering) the kitsch end of euro-horror, primarily aimed at getting your date to snuggle a bit closer at the theatre.

When I read Stephen King in the seventies people looked down their noses at me, now he's seen as one of America's great authors. And quite right too - since the end of the 20th century I think we've seen a real change in attitudes to this kind of storytelling and a clear desire to both embrace it as part of the culture and to give it a proper home.

Appalachia is a picturesque part of the United States (and Canada BTW) that follows the Appalachian Mountains as they stretch from Alabama in the south up through around a dozen states (including Kentucky) all the way to Labrador. So lots of mountain tops to frame full moons and plenty of woodland as well as isolated communities that have suffered hard times and persecution over the years.

If you really were an American Werewolf, this is where you would live.

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