Yet another Werewolf

 

cover artist uncredited

Last November, I wrote about a werewolf story by Karl Edward Wagner. I mentioned at the end of that post that it would be interesting to look at another classic werewolf tale--James Blish's "There Shall Be No Darkness." Well, it took me several months, but I finally got around to it.

The story first appeared in the April 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Blish usually stuck to science fiction, as opposed to fantasy. So when he tackled the werewolf trope, he introduced an explanation for the condition that strips it of the supernatural. Lycanthropy, we learn, involves a disease that affects the pineal gland, allowing the person suffering from it to shape change (including changing his clothes) and be unaffected by non-silver weapons. Silver, on the other hand, works as a poison. Wolfsbane activates a strong allergic reaction.

It's an explanation that does work quite well within the story, though it's so far-fetched that the story might as well be treated as a fantasy. That's not a criticism, by the way. The "rational" veneer does give the story a unique feel and works quite well. Blish opted to come up with a rational explanation for something that is inherently irrational and did as well as anyone could.

The story is set in then-modern day, when an artist named Paul Foote realizes a fellow guest at a house party is in fact a werewolf. He soon turns out to be correct and soon after manages to chase the werewolf off by wielding a silver candlestick.

A doctor also staying at the house backs up Foote's claim that a werewolf exists. This, along with tracks in the snow, quickly does away with initial skepticism. Silver is melted down and molded into bullets and the party goes a-hunting.

Stopping a werewolf is not that simple, though. He escapes this initial attempt to get him and--well, what happens to a normal human who is bitten by a werewolf? The situation quickly grows more complicated.

I don't want to give more details because Blish does an excellent job of building suspense and tossing in a few plot twists. "There Shall Be No Darkness" is a great werewolf tale and well worth tracking down to read.

You can read it online HERE.