One Hot Mess

In 1998 researchers conducted a study on maximum-security prisoners at Armley prison, Leeds, England. The results of the three-month psychological study on 1200 inmates showed a significant rise in violent incidents during the first and last quarter of the lunar cycle, the days either side of a full moon.

Other studies shows an increase in criminal activity on full moon nights, with most researchers attributing this simply to the full moon providing more light by which to commit crimes. As a werewolf aficionado, I have to ask if there’s another, more primal explanation. Does the full moon call to some deeply buried, instinctive part of our nature, bringing out the beast in us?

I’m not suggesting people can literally be turned into wolves by the light of the moon, but lets face it: human beings are weird creatures and the brain is a powerful organ. Powerful emotions such as rage can override our common sense, making us capable of inhuman acts of violence and destruction. And the wolf, having long (and wrongly) been a symbol of fear and darkness, is an ideal avatar for the manifestation of these less-than-human traits.

In medieval Europe, countless people were burned at the stake, tortured and persecuted for witchcraft and, more importantly to me, for being werewolves. What could have caused such widespread belief and panic? Could it possibly be the knowledge that beneath our civilised masks lurks something deadly and untamed? Something more beast than man?

In honour of my obsession with the wolf within, I’m dedicating this month to werewolves, both fictional and real. Real, you ask? Stay tuned…

I've noticed that a lot of the complaints Laurell K Hamilton's work gets from her so-called negative readers is that nobody ever dies anymore. None of the characters are ever in mortal peril - an about-face from the early books. It's true; she has a massive cast of characters who are never in danger anymore.

Is this a problem because her later books differ so much from the earlier ones? Is it a problem because her cast is so large? Or do we as readers just expect death in urban fantasy/paranormal novels? Is it a requirement of the genre that characters get killed off?

Obviously all stories need conflict, or they're not stories. And personal danger makes for great conflict, as well as adding tension and excitement. But is death absolutely necessary? What do you all think?