If I Google lycanthrope, it tells me this:
ly·can·thrope
/ˈlīkənˌTHrōp/
noun
noun: lycanthrope; plural noun: lycanthropes
- a werewolf.
Origin
early 17th century: from modern Latin lycanthropus, from Greek lukanthrōpos ‘wolf man’ (see lycanthropy).
So wolf man turned into werewolf. These days, in urban fantasy, it means werelions, werepanthers, wererats, pretty much any type of animal that the author decides a person can turn into.
I also know there are so many werewolf stories that many, many people are tired of them. They abound in romance and in urban fantasy. They used to be a staple of
horror (I think they were still a horror trope) but I am not familiar enough with horror to know how often they occur now.
The thing this, I am not tired of them. I am more careful than I used to be, yes, but I would really to find more good werewolf stories to read.
I am not quite so welcoming of the werewolf story close cousin: the vampire story. I continue to read series I started years ago, but I don’t look for new ones and I think I am pretty close to burning out entirely on vampires.
I am not sure why I should be so much closer to burning out entirely on vampires, but there it is. Maybe the concept of a person who can turn into an animal(s) is just a lot more interesting.
How about you?
I used to like the Wolfman movies. I still probably prefer vampires though.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
I actually thought the wolfman movies were kinda cheesy.
They were cheesy as are most of the other monster and fantasy movies. They’re all pretty dumb and silly if you really think about it. TheTwilight series, B sci-fi 50’s movies, or even somewhat respectable series such as The Hobbit movies–I watch them for the escapism and nothing more.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Wrote By Rote
True. I only watched the first Twilight movie and some of the second. But I don’t think it was quite so bad. Maybe it was the special effects.
im prone to vampires too!
yah!
Now I’m more of a vampire gal than a werewolf one, but then I’ve been addicted to vampires since The Lost Boys 🙂 First werewolf story I ever encountered was An American Werewolf in London, so they were firmly in the horror genre for me then, like vampires were before TLB, but I have written one werewolf story now, and that’s a short story urban fantasy rather than horror.
Sophie
Sophie’s Thoughts & Fumbles
FB3X
Wittegen Press
I have never seen lost boys!
If the story and its characters are well written and keep me interested, then I don’t mind more of either Lycan or Vampire.
That’s a good way to look at it!
I’ve never been big on werewolves or vampires, but if the story is compelling enough – I’m in. I also find it fun to see the differences that writers implement around the “rules” of these creatures. Sure, they might come and go as a fad, but I don’t think they will ever go away because we will always be curious about what it would be like to be only half-human. In the hands of a good story teller, these creatures still have a lot of good stories to be told.
Ha! Yes, that is one of my favorite parts of it!
I share similar sentiments. I’m not a big fan of vampires or werewolves either; firstly, there is just something disturbing with the concept of “humans with fangs” drinking human blood, and werewolves I feel are overrated. I don’t know, perhaps I may be doling out my words a bit loosely here. I would much rather read a narrative with repressive governments ha ha! 😀
Well, there are lots of those as well!
I love the werewolf stories by Kelley Armstrong (starting with Bitten) – if you haven’t read them, I would highly recommend them! I think vampires are getting overdone. Maybe because there’s a lot of focus on sexiness. Werewolves seem more real somehow.
I’ve never been a big vampire fan. And I agree, I think vampires have been done to death. I like wolves, so I find werewolves more interesting.
I think werewolf stories can be good if the writer just moves away from the expected, however my first love is vampires. Having said that I think it’s the true blood, Vamp Dairies and other teenage vamp stories that have really changed the view of vampires and softened them into what they really were not meant to be. Vampires don’t sparkle, they are hunters, killers who rip open a throat and don’t think twice about it – give me Bram Stoker’s Dracula anytime! Now there’s a real horror story!