Cycle of the Werewolf (original 1983; edition 1983)

A cliched, but intriguing account of a werewolf stalking the residents of Tarker's Mills over the cource of a year. Would have liked to see this as a calender, as originally inteded. Interesting that the text calls the town "Tarker's Mills." Blubs call it "Tarker Mills." ( )

A cliched, but intriguing account of a werewolf stalking the residents of Tarker's Mills over the cource of a year. Would have liked to see this as a calender, as originally inteded. Interesting that the text calls the town "Tarker's Mills." Blubs call it "Tarker Mills." ( )

A cliched, but intriguing account of a werewolf stalking the residents of Tarker's Mills over the cource of a year. Would have liked to see this as a calender, as originally inteded. Interesting that the text calls the town "Tarker's Mills." Blubs call it "Tarker Mills." ( )

I saw this at the library yesterday and snagged it, so excited to read it! I actually liked it very much, simply because it is so different from the usual King offering - lengthy, intricately described works of brilliance. Not to say that this wasn't brilliant, or up to par, it was just different. Like comparing a golf ball to a ping pong ball. Yeah, they are both small, round, usually white balls that are used in sport, but other than that, they are not really similar to each other at all.

From what I understand, this book was originally intended as a calendar, with each month telling a little bit more of the story. I read it in book form, and unlike a friend of mine did NOT wait for each month to actually read that month's story. I don't think that I could have done that even if I had had the actual calendar. I skip ahead with those Page-A-Day calendars, so a monthly story by King would never stand a chance. I have no willpower. *sigh*

Anyway, getting back to the story itself, I really enjoyed it. I feel like it might have been a little bit of a test for King to write something so short. He is used to writing short stories of course, but this is a bit different. Each month from January to August, we meet a different resident of Tarker's Mills, and learn about their run-in with the werewolf that has been stalking the town. Each story is only 2-3 pages long, and in my opinion, does a really good job of characterization, while still moving the story along at a pretty good pace. The writing is much simpler than I'm used to with King, out of necessity, but he still manages to get his point across and make me feel like I knew these people, even though many of them only live for about a page.

I really liked the artwork here as well. Bernie Wrightson does a great job of bringing King's words to life. There are pen and ink "month" drawings, which represent the month for each story, then there is a color story panel depicting a scene from each month's chapter, and then at the end, there is a little ink sketch which kind of sums up the chapter, and is generally a forgotten or cast aside "leaving" of one of the characters.

I did notice that there were a few typos and errors here, which brought this down from 4 stars to 3. I also wished that there was just a little bit more to the story, especially in regards to the origins of the werewolf. But all in all, I really liked it. :) ( )

Simultaneously my introduction to King, as well as my introduction to a lifelong love of werewolves.

I first read this in sixth grade and it haunted me quite a bit until I was able to come by my own copy. ( )

Stephen King is always entertaining. Ever time I finish a story of his, I marvel at the way he tells a tale. This short story is very good indeed, though short, it leaves you satisfied. ( )

Yeah you know that movie depicting a different stage of life as a Buddhist monk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring,) well Cycle of The Werewolf is ten times more exciting.I mean you’re following a werewolf not a monk for one. Each chapter takes place on a full moon of one month (usually some kind of holiday) comprising a whole year of werewolf attacks, and forming a single narrative. The small town of Tarker’s Mills, Maine doesn’t know what hit them. Is it a wolf? A man? A man in costume? And the one eye witness is a kid, and no one wants to believe a story from a kid in this town despite their gut feelings.

What I love is that the protagonist, Marty Coslaw turns out to be a ten year old boy in a wheelchair that everyone seems to treat in a patronizing sort of way. He’s a paraplegic; he’s not dumb despite people treating him differently. Except for his Uncle Al who buys him fireworks for the Fourth of July when the town cancels their usual celebration. Up until then we had six months of deaths: a railroad employee, a seamstress, a drifter, a small kid etc. Up until July the plot was sort of boring to be honest, but everything changes in the later half.

In July Marty is able to take out one of the wolves eyes by throwing a packet of firecrackers in it’s face (how cool is that?) Fearing some retaliation Marty’s family sends him to Vermont for three months, and while he’s gone law enforcement ignore his deposition and the killings keep happening (really?! He just told you the killer is walking around with one freakin’ eye, and you choose to ignore that?) It gets really exciting in October, because when Marty returns and goes trick or treating he figures out who the werewolf is. And he is pretty courageous about it. Really, he seems like a boy on a mission. Unshakeable.This is like the rated R version of Home Alone, I mean no one believes him so he takes matters into his own ten year old hands. I won’t spoil the ending by saying who the werewolf is but when he is human he has no memories of what he has done. Just evidence, a scratch here, a dream there…an eye blasted out all of a sudden.

The last six months of this story was when I began to notice the brilliance of Stephen King’s storytelling. It painted the story, and drew me in. Now that it wasn’t just following killings, but getting to the point of solving the problem, was it exciting. I didn’t like all the deaths (although I was happy when a man slut, wife beating, librarian got the axe,) but I like that it did have a happily ever after of sorts. ( )

Pretty good (and quick) read of the story which the movie Silver Bullet was based on. Didn't realize this was a short story when I first found it; a longer version would have been nice, but this was enjoyable nonetheless. Now I'm in the mood to watch the movie again. :-D ( )

I love King, but his short stories have never been my favorite. For me, King is at his best when he over analyzes, over writes, and over horrifies with his usual 500+ pages. This book just wasn't long enough to showcase King's writing. Good story...but anyone could haver written it. I'd still recommend it for a quick read. ( )

This book was great. Better than a classic werewolf tale. I loved the artwork too. ( )

The text of the book wasn't too bad. It started very basic, not great, but picked up a lot towards the end. I hated the placement of drawings! They showed what was going to happen before it happened! Hate that, and is the reason for the one star. ( )

An amazingly short novella/graphic novel, Cycle of the Werewolf follows a town in Maine as it suffers from the monthly visits of a werewolf, and the terror that follows. Starring an unlikely protagonist and an even unlikelier antagonist, the story shows all of the normal werewolf characteristics, while following a formula devoted to days that only fall on those during the (falsified for plot reasons) lunar calendar.

A very fun story with an easy to follow plot, Cycle of the Werewolf is a great work of Stephen King, one of his easier ones to follow. Definitely worth five stars out of five. ( )

This semi-graphic novel, which apparently started as a challenge to create a calendar, worked very well for me. Forced to be short and precise, King still manages to evoke the terror of a small town discovering it has a werewolf in its midst. The hero is a small boy and the villain, well, he's not. The illustrations are worth the price of the book and wow! this would have been a calendar that I bought. ( )

Cycle of the Werewolf is a fun, quick read that can easily be finished in just a couple of hours. Each chapter is only a few pages long and covers the supposed moon cycle for one month in a year of terror. The story centers around a small New England town that is being terrorized by the savage and violent attacks of a werewolf. Each vignette centers on the werewolf's activity for the full moon of htat month. King acknowledges that he manipulated the fall of the full moon to fit his own scheme of what dates he wanted to have events fall on and that he knows that his moon cycle is in no way accurate, but accuracy doesn't really matter in the course of the tale itself.

This story is very choppy as you might imagine with all of the time in between events, but overall, the storyline itself is fairly well thought out. The idea itself is very fun and the artwork for each chapter really enhances the tale and gives an almost comic book feel to it. In some ways, this is a sort of prequel to King's later works in continuing the Dark Tower series in graphic novel form with Marvel.

On a side note, it may be fairly cheesy (especially by today's standards) but I do also own and enjoy the film version of this book, Silver Bullet, starring Corey Haim and Gary (A)Busey. ( )

A novella that started as a calendar, Cycle of the Werewolf has got to have one of the most interesting backstories of any Stephen King work.

King was challenged to write a story made up of twelve short chapters, one for each month. Each chapter would be paired with an illustration by Bernie Wrightson in a 'Stephen King Calendar'. As a result, each chapter had to be short.

King tells of the year the small Maine town of Tarker's Mills spent under siege by a maniac who would kill under the full moon.

The first few months are self contained scenes, showing what the werewolf was up to the night of the full moon. About half way through, we meet our hero, wheelchair bound Marty Coslaw, the first person to survive an attack.

Marty manages not only to escape, but even manages to wound the wolf. The rest of the novel is spent setting the scene for Marty to take on the werewolf.

This is a quick, short read. Due to the length, there isn't the depth of character you would get in a Stephen King novel, but he still manages in quick sketches to pull off characters that are better than you will find in most horror fiction.

King's writing here is punchy and viceral, his use of the holidays marking certain months is fun, the discovery of the werewolf's identity is handled very well and Bernie Wrightson's illustrations (a remainder from the calendar origins) are fantastic. Easily one of the best werewolf tales I've read. ( )

This book was great. Better than a classic werewolf tale. I loved the artwork too. ( )

There is a werewolf hiding among and stalking the citizens of Tarker's Mill.

This review is based on a reread of the short novel, with illustrations by Bernie Wrightson. This is a gimmicky book, organized around the a full month during each month of the calendar year. As far as I know, it is King's only attempt at a straightforward werewolf story. He does the usual things well: the descriptions of the small town of Tarker's Mills and the inner lives of its ordinary folk. Each month, one of these folk has an encounter with a wolf-man under the full moon, and of course, the werewolf hides among the citizenry, someone no one suspects.

King does nothing much to elevate this rather ordinary story above what any reader already familiar with werewolf legends would expect. He doesn't even provide his werewolf with an interesting origin story. The illustrations -- particularly the pen-and-ink frontispieces for each month -- are lovely and make the book worth owning, if you are already a collector of all things Stephen King. But the story itself is mostly forgettable, and King has written much better.

Read originally in the mid 1980s because I like the author; reread 2011. ( )

Soft cover editon. ( )

This book is written very different. I believe that it's done in 12 chapters, each one having the title of a month. The story is very short so even if you don't like it you don't waste too much time on it. ( )

I bought this copy of ebay and it is very battered and smells like it was stored somewhere damp but it is still a welcome addition to my SK collection.
The small town of Tarkers Mills is being stalked by a werewolf. As the months pass by and the bodies pile up it takes an unusual hero to defeat an unusual villain and save the town.
I was really pleased to find this book even though it hasn't been cared for very well I love it. The illustrations are great and the story is facinating. I would recommend it to any SK fan. ( )

man, i wish i was stephen king. he can sit in the bathroom and write a simple, 10,000 word story, find a brilliant illustrator, wrap it in a perfect binding with glossy paper, and sell it for years. King's only werewolf book is solidly bloody and werewolfy. If you are a fallen Christian, you'll love who the beast turns out to be. If you cannot guess it halfway through, you're not trying. ( )

The book cycle of the werewolf is about a cursed town. A werewolf roams the streets of Tarker Mills, looking for victims to devour and mutilate. There is so much thriller and excitement that you feel like you want to kill someone to find out what happens. An example would be page 13: “The scratching comes again and again, the whimpering turns into growls:” “What is it he wonders.” “The door busts down into thousands of pieces, its quiet, nothing outside but the cold wintery snow.” “BOOM!” “The werewolf appears in the doorway with Gleaming yellow eyes, a snarl as big as a bowling ball:” “The Werewolf throws his razor sharp claws into the air…” If you found that exciting just wait until you read the rest of the book. ( )

This is a short, not particularly interesting novel told in twelve parts. It also has some illustrations by famous comic artist Bernie Wrightson.

When the killings in a small town in yes, Maine, keep mounting up, the townspeople come to the conclusion a werewolf is at work. Redneck drunk hunters aren't too useful though, and a young crippled boy has to work it all out.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/04/cycle-of-werewolf-stephen-king.html ( )

It's been many years since I read this, and don't remember a whole lot about it. Werewolf stuff, obviously, but I don't remember much about the plot. ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.asp?ID=483 ( )