Daniel Cohen (1) (1936–2018)

An engaging review of the history and folklore of lycanthropy, intended for younger readers (middle grade and up), Daniel Cohen's Werewolves is both informative and entertaining, covering a lot of historical ground, and a wide range of topics, and providing an excellent introduction to these legendary shape-shifters. From ancient stories, like the myth of Lycaon, as related in Ovid's Metamorphoses, to contemporary internet werewolf "packs," as well as everything in between - possible medical show more explanations for the werewolf legend (porphyria, hypertrichosis), lots of ghost stories, and tales of historical werewolf trials - this book has a little bit of everything, all collected together, and included in a narrative that manages to be both diffuse and coherently whole.

This is what I was hoping to find, when I picked up Thomas G. Aylesworth's Werewolves and Other Monsters, which ended up being less than satisfactory. I'm glad I happened upon Cohen's more recent work, as I now have an alternative to recommend, and think that it will be far more appealing to young readers. I liked that the author mentioned so many historical works, from the nineteenth century "penny dreadful," Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf, to Marie de France's twelfth century poem, Bisclavret. Many of the historical tales were deeply saddening to me, as I thought about how previous eras responded to issues of difference, mental illness, and (sometimes) crime. I found myself wondering whether many of the famous werewolf trials in France might have been the result of crimes committed by serial killers who may, or may not, have been the person accused.

In any case, this is just an engaging introduction to werewolves for younger readers, and possibly even adults, if they don't mind that's it a little simple in text and content. show less

Daniel Cohen's books on Fortean topics were extremely influentual on my intellectual development as a teenager. His work's combine exactly the right mix of enthusiasm for the weird tempered with skepticism. Now that I'm a professional writer, people ask me, "Where do you get your ideas?" This book is one of the places I got my ideas. For an overview of all things odd and strange, boiled down to everything you need to know about Atlantis, dowsing, crystal skulls, and Nostrodamus, there really show more is no other book to rival this one. show less

While this book is dated, I still very much liked it. Delving into Fortean topics, the author maintained a skeptical approach while dissecting with Occam's Razor. Topics range from the disappearance of the Mary Celeste to UFOs, and Jack The Ripper to Stonehenge.

Daniel Cohen is still probably my favorite writer on the paranormal. He manages to entertainingly cover all the basics of a "mystery", then point out the ways it's probably not a mystery, and then end on a note of "it's probably perfectly mundane, but either way it's still a good story." Which probably annoys hardcore skeptics as much as it annoys believers, but it fits just right with my own reasons for reading this stuff.

Riddle of the Stones is a short, ya-targeted overview of some of the show more standard "UNEXPLAINED", from King Arthur to the Mary Celeste. Doesn't go in-depth, yet still has enough to get you yelling at your screen at the next History Channel special.

All the ground it covers is topics that are also in his Encyclopedia of the Strange, which I practically memorized as a youngling, and mostly duplicates the info (with a few updates). show less