31 Days of Monsters - Day 27: Dwayyo

In Middletown, Maryland, a strange beast prowls the woods. Reportedly as large as a calf, with werewolf-like features and a long bushy tale, the Dwayyo has a personality as nasty as it’s appearance. It will tangle with any creature that gets in its way, and is very hard to track.

31 Days of Monsters: The Beast of Bray Road

Outside of Elkhorn, Wisconsin a fierce wolf-like creature haunts a lonely secluded road. Some say it is a werewolf, but others claim it is an escaped genetic experiment. Whatever it is, it's best not to spend too much time on Bray Road.

31 Days of Monsters: Werewolf of Bedburg

In 1589 in the village of Epprath near Bedburg, Germany, a farmer was apprehended and put on trial for witchcraft and murder. Peter Stumpp was tortured on the rack and eventually confessed to congress with the devil and 14 murders while in the form of a monstrous werewolf. After his confession, he was flayed and beheaded, and prior to death Stumpp's arms and legs were broken with an axe to prevent him from returning from the grave. 

31 Days of Monsters 2014: Rougarou

A Rougarou is a werewolf from Cajun folklore said to lurk around the swamps around New Orleans. Like a typical werewolf a Rougarou lives as a man during the day, forever fearful that his nature will become known by his neighbors and family. As night approaches however, a insane bloodlust overtakes them, and they must satisfy their craving or go mad. It is believed that a person becomes a Rougarou by way of a curse or hex put on them by a witch. Such curses are usually for a finite period of time, usually three cycles of the moon, after which the victim is usually either dead (hunted down or by their own hand) or they have passed on the curse to another through their bite. In some legends, just looking at a Rougarou in wolf form will turn a person into a Rougarou.

31 Days of Monsters 2014: Varcolac

Details about the Romanian Varcolac, like many mythological beats are hard to verify. A Varcolac is described variously as a vampire-like werewolf, a werewolf-like vampire, or something else altogether. Varcolaci (the plural form of the creature) are said to originate from the bodies of un-baptised children, from dust swept under furniture by slovenly housekeepers, or from children born out of wedlock. One thing common to many Varcolac legends are that they routinely fly into the heavens and devour the moon, thus explaining why lunar eclipses happen. And I thought it had something to do with the positions of the earth, and sun in relation to the moon. Stupid me.

31 Days of Monsters 2014: The Aswang

The Aswang is a vampire/werewolf-like creature from the Philippines. Variously described as taking the form a dog-, pig-, bat- or cat-like monster, the aswang is a shapeshifter, who lives during the day as an unsuspecting member of the community. At night, however, the aswang transforms into a horrific beast that thirsts for blood and decaying human flesh. Aswangs are ghouls and eaters of the unborn. Aswangs will raid graves and eat corpses, leaving wooden dummies behind in the empty graves. These dummies will take the form of the dined-upon victim and rise from the grave to help spread the aswang curse. Some aswangs are described as having a sharp proboscis or tongue that they use to suck the blood from expectant mothers and their unborn children.
Despite these unsavory habits, during the day, while in human form, an aswang is described as being quite a nice neighbor to have. They form close ties with other humans during the day, taking pains to hunt far from home so as not to harm those they call friends.

Pure imagination

I've been working on some portfolio pieces for an illustration conference and workshop I'd like to attend. These three illustrations are of a character I've drawn before, that ultimately, I'd like to do an entire book about. It was a good exercise to show the same character in different poses.

31 Days of Monsters: Day Five — Werewolf

In folklore, werewolves weren't always the tragic figures they are now. In the old days people, usually witches and warlocks, chose to become werewolves, by taking part in dark rituals involving animal skins and special ointments made from human fat and herbs.
Today however, most people know werewolves from the movies, where we get the standard mythology — full moon, silver bullets, etc.
To me, werewolves will always be cooler than vampires, which will become apparent when I cover them in an upcoming post.