#wv08

L.F. Gardner’s story from WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE puts the reader in the pelt of a werewolf prepared – eager, even – to defend its territory from particularly unwelcome invaders.

You would like to think you’re some sort of vigilante. A hero that swoops in to stop the evil-doers. You’re not; you’re just hungry. There is no line of reasoning that can justify what you do - you’re just hungry.

You smell Hemlock - Tsuga canadensis. The bark of this tree can be used to treat colds and fevers.

It’s not like you eat somebody every time. Only when somebody is stupid enough to be there. They know by now. The papers published it six months ago - GRUESOME ATTACK AT NATURE SANCTUARY. Really, if they’re here, they’re asking for trouble. Asking to see you. Asking for you to see them.

You smell White Birch - Betula papyrifera. The bark of this tree can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent. It is also a diuretic and a laxative.

It’s their own fault for being here. This is a State Park. They come here after dark to drink, and carve their names in trees, and have sex, and paint their names on rocks. They come here to destroy.

You smell White Oak - Quercus alba. This tree’s wood is popular for flooring, lumber, and interior woodworking.

The leaf litter crunches under your feet despite your best efforts. You are trying to walk slowly and purposefully, but you are excited. You’re excited because you’re hungry, and you’re excited because you hate them. They come here to destroy.

You smell Red Oak - Quercus rubra. The acorns of this tree offer a food source for a variety of animals, including humans who know how to prepare them.

A short laugh! You heard it! The laugh came from the northwest. There must be more than one if they are laughing like that. More than one here to destroy. More than one challenging you.

You smell White Pine - Pinus strobus. The needles of this pine tree are full of vitamin C.

Your paws are fast and your ears are sharp - you can hear their chatter. What are they talking about? School? Sports? Television? Will they hear your approach? You will need to be completely silent. They are not fools - they’ve seen the newspaper articles; they know it is not safe here.

WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE comes out next week! Pre-order it now on Itch.io or Gumroad and get some bonus content instantly!

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When the full moon escapes the mountainous horizon and floods the wilderness below, what will it illuminate with its bone-pale light? A car trapped in the mud as a lonely predator approaches. A painter struggling to complete his masterpiece before rougher hands take over. A group of friends in blood-soaked communion. Some campfire dipshits with spraypaint cans and death wishes. And much more!

Monsters newly-made and ancient prowl the 162 pages of our latest issue, featuring work by:

C. Schalk

Chris Maiurro and Cam Kerkau

Daniel Sokołowski

Daze

H. K. Luterman

JB Caine

JD Laclede

Kinseviing

L. F. Gardner

Papermelon

Parker Goodreau

Quebecoiswolf

Stephanie Gallon

V.T. Royal

Viergacht

The instincts of a newly-made werewolf are intense, but perhaps not as strong as the desire to be helpful to someone in a bad situation. Parker Goodreau’s story for WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE explores the different ways and forms that kindness can manifest.

We lunged forward, breaking through the trees. Our jaw stretched open, ready, yearning for an anchor. No more alone, adrift, empty. We would give them the bite.

The human’s head jerked up, tears and rain mingling on their face. Their scream struck me through like lightning, and somewhere within it, I heard Joah’s voice. If I’d been a year or two younger when I bit you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop.

My teeth snapped shut inches away from their skin. I held myself still, trembling, and met the human’s eyes. We both gulped shuddering breaths of the same air.

It wasn’t exactly that I had taken control. More that the wolf realized I was better equipped for this. We didn’t want to scare the human—worse—so it was willing to rein in its instincts. Some. We couldn’t help but lean in, snuffling through the human’s short, wet hair. They shuddered. Tears fell on my muzzle, warm, somehow so unlike the rain.

Finally, I got my wolf calmed down enough to take a step back. It felt like winning an argument with myself. We didn’t try to stop the human when they scrambled to their feet, stumbling and slipping. Their phone dropped screen-first into the mud, plunging us into darkness. I paced after the vague gray shape of them as they tore at the door handle, threw themself into the car, and slammed the door behind.

Gingerly, I picked the cell phone up between my teeth, curling my tongue at the thick, slimy texture of the mud. Looking down through the window, I met their gaze as they sat frozen, panic-stricken. I breathed deep, trying to pour every measure of calm, every bit of humanity still left to me into my eyes. I tipped my head, offering the phone.

Slow as the last stubborn ice in a thaw, the human came to life again, their gasps fogging the window. Without taking their eyes off me, they fumbled for key and ignition. The headlights blinked on, the car purred, and the window hissed, opening no more than a sliver. I set the phone against the gap, and they took it between two fingers.

You can read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE! It’s available for $1+ on Gumroad and Itch.io. Your purchase of this issue will benefit all of its contributors.

Darkest Nature

Here's the bottom-left corner of Kinseviing's artwork for WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE. The image might be an exploration of the struggle between who we are inside and who we wish to be. It might also be just a radical and gothic depiction of werewolves and flowery gore. Either way, it's worth seeing the whole thing! You can buy the entire 162-page issue for $1+ on Gumroad or Itch. Proceeds from each sale are shared amongst contributors.

Car trouble on a road trip through the Utah desert has left werewolf friends Paul and Oak stuck on the side of a back road. In this story for WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE by JD Laclede, things are going to get a lot weirder before they get better.

Paul stretched, whistled, and glanced sunward. No cars had passed them in the time they’d stopped here, which was nice and private, but not promising. If anyone did happen to report two automobile-deficient dog-people by the side of the road, he could have put on enough of a smiling, furless face for any police or animal control vans that dropped by to check. Then again, if nobody noticed the weirdos by the road, because no one was driving on this road, because nobody used this road, then that seriously impaired any chance of getting a tow. Or a mechanic. Or a cherry-flavored ice slushie.

Where was this place, anyway? Surrounding them were gigantic angular crags of red, brown, and peachy stone. The mile-long formations, with small juts at the top, sat like upturned battleships with their rock cannons pointing to the sky. The dust around them glared, in a cutting white, an almost pink or sugary thing, blowing in small, precious gusts. It snowed over the road, a road far more beaten than the interstate had been, its concrete pallid and cracking under what might have been a hundred years of murderous Utah sun.

He really didn’t want to have to call for a lift. He didn’t want to run into anyone out here. He didn’t want to have to explain himself, or act like an adult in front of anyone. He wanted to wear his fur again, feel the wind through it again, smell the everythings that hit his nose at those speeds. He didn’t want to ride to the next stop in someone’s truck cab, to hear them ask that stupid question about how two breastless and bepenised individuals could possibly ride in the same car together for a thousand miles, and he didn’t want to feel the urge to do something untoward with his teeth. He didn’t want to have to resist that urge. Again.

“Found it!” Oak barked, and chucked a rusty toolbox out the passenger-side window. Paul smirked at their playfulness, and got to work.

You can read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE! It's available for $1+ on Gumroad and Itch.io. Your purchase of this issue will benefit all of its contributors.

The protagonist of Stephanie Gallon’s WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE story has had a difficult life, and there are more hardships ahead for her, but luckily she does not have to face them alone.

The wilderness was kind to her. It gave her ripe berries to gorge herself on, bursting with saccharine juices that dribbled down her chin. In the winter months, when snow had killed the crops, it provided her dry wood for the fire and small prey to keep their bellies filled.

When her father died, it offered her a home. The tendrils of the willow trees consoled her; the moss offered her a soft place to rest her head. She raised herself under the protection of no man.

Only the wolf pack did not fear her.

They came to her one cold night, on the eve of Walpurgisnacht. She was seven years old now and had been the child of the forest for a year full and then some. She had made herself a fire. It kept most creatures away. Not the pups though. They had not yet experienced the cruelty of men.

One came from the bushes. Then his brother, and then another. Three of them, sniffing at the ground and the air, taken in by the herby smoke that canopied the clearing. The smallest of the litter walked to the fire. Lucille held her hand out cautiously. The pup growled at her until Lucille’s hand cupped his forehead and scratched at his pointed ears. The growl eased to soft pants of pleasure. He barked when she stopped. The others crowded her.

Their mother found all four sleeping as the last flame guttered their legs. When Lucille awoke, the mother had curled herself around them and buried her chin on Lucille’s lap.

You can buy the whole 162-page issue for $1+ on Gumroad or Itch. Proceeds from each sale are shared amongst contributors!

We are now accepting submissions for our eighth issue, WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE!

Werewolves are often used as metaphors for the subjectivity of nature’s “goodness”, or the duality of human and animal instinct. Maybe the tranquility of the forest soothes the violent, human-borne impulses of the lycanthrope... or maybe that state park is just another place where a werewolf can kill and eat you. Who’s to say? YOU ARE.

We need your stories, comics, and art about the conflict between werewolves and wilderness! As with all WEREWOLVES VERSUS issues, we are looking for a wide array of material from creators of all experience levels.

Submissions are open until Monday, August 3rd, 2020, 11:59 PM Eastern. 15 finalists will be selected for inclusion in the issue. For specifics about word count, image specifications, compensation, content guidelines and licensing, please see the WEREWOLVES VERSUS Submission Guidelines document.

Man's Muse, Wolf's Bane

This nine-page comic in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: NATURE is one of the funniest things I’ve had the pleasure of including in an issue. Writer Cam Kerkau describes what he and artist Chris Maiurro have wrought: “In our story, a 19th century romantic painter becomes obsessed with capturing a scene under the full moon. Unfortunately, he is also a werewolf.“