First published 2013
This anthology brings together twenty-two stories spanning centuries of shape-shifter fiction. Classic authors like Rudyard Kipling, Saki, and Alexandre Dumas share pages with contemporary writers including Jay Lake and Nina Kiriki Hoffman. The collection moves beyond traditional werewolves to explore leopards, crows, and other transformations. Kipling's "The Mark of the Beast" appears alongside Saki's dual contributions "Gabriel-Ernest" and "The She-Wolf." Modern entries include Lake's "Leopard" and Hoffman's "Dumpster Diving." Historical pieces range from P'u Sung-ling's "The Man Who Was Changed Into a Crow" to Frederick Marryat's "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains." The anthology captures the evolution of transformation tales from folklore-rooted stories like Joseph Jacobs' "Morraha" to contemporary urban fantasy. Each story explores the tension between human and beast, civilization and wildness, control and surrender.
Genres: short-stories, anthologies, 20th-century, fantasy, horror, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, human-vs-beast
Period: Centuries
545 pages · Kindle Edition · Wildside Press