Book 60. Two left. And once again it's a book I remember really liking. In fact I believe it was my favorite werewolf book of the ones from the original series. Does that still feel like the case. Well, put on your best costume, it's Werewolf Skin.
WEREWOLF SKIN
RELEASE MONTH: October, 1997
COVER STORY
This cover feels very simple. Basic Jacobus stuff all around. Warping, colorful uses of light and shadow. The Wolves banner above the bed for added nail on the head-ness. But then there's the Werewolf Skin itself, which looks really freaky in how it's all bundled up like that, with the werewolf head being the main focus, and it delivers on creep factor. A great cover.
IT'S A FULL MOON... DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR WEREWOLF IS?
Picture this—Alex Hunter, photography freak, hanging out in Wolf Creek. Who lives in Wolf Creek? Alex's uncle Colin and aunt Marta. They're professional photographers.
Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta are pretty cool. They only have two requests. Don't go into the woods late at night. And stay away from the creepy house next door.
Poor Alex. He just wanted to take a couple pictures. But now he's about to find out the secret of Wolf Creek. Late one night. When the moon is full...
STORY
While is parents are off on a "business trip", Alex Hunter is living in Wolf Creek with his Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin. Wolf Creek's a small, wooded town with stories about werewolves residing in the woods at night. Given that Alex is a would-be photographer, he is excited to get some pictures for a contest. Alex arrives in Wolf Creek and is soon picked up by Marta and Colin. Halloween is also coming up, so Marta and Colin wonder what Alex would like to dress up as. When he says a werewolf, they panic in a way that totally wouldn't give anything away early, surely. When Alex arrives, he sees that Marta and Colin's house is next to two houses. One is where a girl his age named Hannah lives while the other one is home to the Marling family. Colin and Marta tell Alex to stay away from that house as the Marlings have a bit of history in being weird.
Alex meets Hannah who is described as having a low, husky voice. She too tries to warn Alex about the Marling house. But Alex, being curious, decides to look in the window of another person's house like a total creep. He notices that the house looks like an animal tore through it. Hannah manages to get Alex away from the widow and says that she'll explain what's going on after Halloween, which conveniently is the night of a full moon. But we're way too early for someone to just say that there may be werewolves in the Marling house.
As Alex and Hannah go through the woods, they run into two bullies named Arjun Khosla and Sean Kiner. They pick on the kids for a bit before warning them that they saw a deer get torn apart by some creature in the woods. Alex mentions his interest in dressing like a werewolf for Halloween, the bullies say that there's already enough werewolves in Wolf Creek. That night, Alex wakes up and sees a light in the Marling's house and some sort of man or creature inside. Unfortunately for Alex, he doesn't have his camera nearby, remembering that he must have left it in the woods. But Hannah is suddenly in his house, saying she was allowed to look for stuff for a costume. Yup, nothing suspicious about that.
Alex runs out of the house with his flashlight and into the woods. He finds his camera, but also hears beastly noises. As Alex runs, he trips over an animal carcass. He does manage to make it home, but not before noticing large animal prints in the Marling's yard. Colin and Marta just claim that maybe the Marlings have a really big German shepherd and there couldn't possibly be any wolves of the were variety over there. Nope. Nuh-uh. Alex then promises to stop bothering the Marlings, but we're not even close to done with the book, so guess what promise gets broken?
Alex goes to school and meets his new teacher Mr. Shein (R.L. Shein?) who is talking about lycanthropy, the study of werewolves. Because I guess we really have to hit the nail on the head the reason this town is called Wolf Creek, huh? Alex is skeptical, despite the rest of the class believing in werewolves. Mr. Shein also talks about an item called Werewolf Skin, as in the literal skin of a werewolf. Whoever wears it becomes cursed by the skin, forced to constantly wear it every night and hunt. If the skin gets destroyed, the wearer will also die. Again, Alex is not buying it, but Sean and Arjun claim they can get him proof that night.
Unfortunately for Alex, he wakes up to see that his door is locked. Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin appear to be really tightening their security for some reason that couldn't be of the werewolf variety. The next day, Sean and Arjun tell him that they didn't even go to the woods that night as it was all a prank. Which, I mean duh, these kids are already known for being awful. The next night, Alex manages to hide in the bushes that separate Colin and Marta's house from the Marlings. And sure enough he sees two people exit the house wearing what looks to be a wolf's hide. It's the werewolf skin and it appears that his suspicions are correct. The Marlings are werewolves. Alex tries to get a picture of the faces, but he can't get a good look. He ends up dropping the camera, which catches the attention of the werewolves. Woops.
Alex runs into the forest with the werewolves behind him. But he manages to lose them as they instead turn their attention on a rabbit. A rabbit that they tear to shreds. It's actually a really gory moment, especially for Goosebumps. Snapping the rabbit's neck and feasting on its entrails. I told you Stine feels more inspired in these last few. Alex manages to get pictures of the werewolves and then follows them back to the Marling house. But when he looks inside, he gets a look at the two people who take off the costumes. It's Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin. They were the werewolves all along! Alex panics, obviously, and thinks to run away since living with werewolves might be bad for his health. He then notices the Marling house is empty. No furniture, no signs of life at all. There was never a Marling family living there at all.
Alex heads to Hannah's to warn her, but Marta and Colin catch him first. They act normal, still trying to hide any incriminating evidence that they're the werewolves. Halloween night arrives and Alex finally tells Hannah what's up. Hannah believes she knows how to stop the curse. If they can keep Marta and Colin from wearing the skins until the full moon passes, they might be able to break the curse. So the kids put on the skins and run for it, only for Marta and Colin to go after them. However, they manage to keep the skins away from them until the full moon passes and sure enough the spell breaks. Colin and Marta are no longer bound by the skins and are grateful to Alex for saving them.
TWIST ENDING
Alex and Hannah take the skins off at the Marling house. However, Alex notices something odd. There's a third skin in the closet. Hannah reveals that the skin she was wearing is her own, not Colin or Marta's. She's been a werewolf too this whole time. And the book ends with possible murder as werewolf Hannah lunges at Alex.
CONCLUSION
Werewolf Skin is the best werewolf story R.L. Stine has ever written, and he has written a ton. A lot of that has to do with the concept of the wolf skins themselves. How wearing them can curse you to an eternity of living like a werewolf every night. What I think is interesting about Colin and Marta is that even as Werewolves, they seem to be able to control their urges to feast on humans and eat animals in the woods instead. It's a neat touch. Though the episode definitely takes away that ambiguity. The episode versions definitely ate humans. I like how the book structures the reveal of Colin and Marta as the werewolves with the red herring of the Marling family. Although it also feels a bit too obvious that something's up, that maybe these Marlings don't actually exist (or at least not anymore), but the reveal still works quite well.
Alex is an okay protagonist. Not too unique given we've had kids with an interest in photography before. He's a fine enough character to follow through the story. The pacing for the story is also very well done with the right amount of slow and intense scenes. Never deviating too much. And the twist works really well with Hannah also being a werewolf making a lot of sense itself. I do wonder though, if Alex wore the skin, why didn't he get cursed? I guess that the pelts choose their wearers and doesn't just curse whoever puts it on. Though it does make me wonder the origin of the skins. Where did they come from, how did Colin, Marta and Hannah get cursed by them, and are there more werewolf skins in Wolf Creek? Given the town's love of lycanthropy, I can imagine so.
So yes, Werewolf Skin definitely holds up. It feels like it gives me what I didn't get from The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. More werewolf action, more horror, more intensity. Add in some decent characters, a solid mystery, some legitimately frightening scenes and you have another one of the best in the series as the original series wraps up. It's one howl of a book.
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