History Literature / CycleOfTheWerewolf

* HandicappedBadass: The wheelchair bound Marty is good with his BB gun, remorseful and has strong arms.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Diner owner Alfie Knopfler thinks the werewolf is a man in a mask when it appears in his diner.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Neither Milt Sturmfuller nor Reverend Lowe get killed in the chapters that introduced them; the former's first scene is merely used as a EstablishingCharacterMoment to show [[DomesticAbuse what kind of person he is]], while the latter's first chapter merely focuses on a strange nightmare he has involving everyone in the church turning into a werewolf. This is both a build-up to Milt's upcoming KarmicDeath in later chapters and to the reveal [[spoiler:Lowe is the werewolf]].

* InfantImmortality: ''Averted''. While [[spoiler:Marty]] does make it to the end, one of the werewolf's victims is a child in both the book and the movie.

* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The full moon happens to coincide with an unusually high number of holidays.

* AssholeVictim: [[DomesticAbuser Milt Sturmfuller.]] The narrative lampshades this:

* DomesticAbuser: Milt Sturmfuller to his wife, in just about every way it can be done.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Neither Milt Sturmfuller nor Reverend Lowe get killed in the chapters that introduced them; the former's first scene is merely used as a EstablishingCharacterMoment to show [[DomesticAbuser what kind of person he is]], while the latter's first chapter merely focuses on a strange nightmare he has involving everyone in the church turning into a werewolf. This is both a build-up to Milt's upcoming KarmicDeath in later chapters and to the reveal [[spoiler:Lowe is the werewolf]].

* AssholeVictim: [[DomesticAbuser Milt Sturmfuller.]] The narrative lampshades this, saying that "And perhaps God is just after all, because if there is a first-class grade-A shit in Tarker's Mills, it is Milt Sturmfuller."

* DeathByIrony: Milt Sturmfuller congratulates himself on going out of town the very night murders tend to happen, thinking this will ensure he will be spared. Turns out this was the ''one'' night the werewolf got out of town as well to avoid the mob looking for him, and he just happens to be staying at the same motel than Milt.

* FairplayWhodunnit: Before [[spoiler:Reverend Lowe]] is revealed to be the werewolf, there is a chapter where the character [[spoiler:has an intense dream sequence showing several other townsfolk turning into werewolves.]] Experienced readers/viewers may recognize this as a symptom of lycanthropy.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Neither Milt Sturmfuller nor Reverend Lowe get killed in the chapters that introduced them; the former's first scene is merely used as a EstablishingCharacterMoment to show [[DomesticAbuser what kind of person he is]], while the latter's first chapter merely focuses on a strange nightmare he has involving everyone in the church turning into a werewolf. This is both a build-up to Milt's upcoming KarmicDeath in later chapters and to the reveal [[spoiler:Lowe is the werewolf.]]
* {{Gorn}}: Several of the illustrations through the book partly fall in this category.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: See CassandraTruth above. The town constable decides Marty has gone a little crazy from the shock of almost being killed, and his failure to follow up on the kid's testimony results in more deaths, [[spoiler:including the constable's own death.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:[[SinisterMinister Reverend Lowe]] is the werewolf]].

** The flower may well be a case of ShownTheirWork; a specific flower was classically said to carry the curse of the werewolf, a method which predates TheWolfMan acquiring an infectious bite.

A short story written by Creator/StephenKing and published in 1983, ''Cycle of the Werewolf'' is about a small town in Maine that is terrorized by a series of killings. According to ThatOtherWiki, King originally started the project when he was asked to write twelve short chapters that would accompany a werewolf-themed calendar. Apparently, no one told them that this is the guy who wrote ''Literature/TheStand''-- the "uncut" version of which is over 1,100 pages long. Inevitably, the decision was made to scrap the calendar idea, and release the story in GraphicNovel form with accompanying illustrations (by Bernie Wrightson, of ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' fame). The influence of the initial idea can still be seen in the format of the story, though, as each chapter focuses on one month in the year of the killings.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: The aversion of this is actually a plot point: [[spoiler: it's ''because'' Marty's Catholic that he doesn't figure out who the werewolf is until Halloween, since he obviously doesn't attend Reverend Lowe's Baptist sermons and so doesn't find out that the Reverend's now missing an eye.]]

* DeathByIrony: Milt Sturmfuller congratulates himself on going out of town the very night murders tend to happen in his town, thinking this will ensure he will be spared. Turns out this was the ''one'' night the werewolf got out of town to avoid the people looking for him, and he just happens to be at the same motel than Milt.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Not really different, however in the book, the werewolf does speak. The werewolf also spoke more in the script to the film adaptation but for some reason was not included.

A short story written by Creator/StephenKing and published in 1983, ''Cycle of the Werewolf'' is about a small town in Maine that is terrorized by a series of killings. According to ThatOtherWiki, King originally started the project when he was asked to write twelve short chapters that would accompany a werewolf-themed calendar. Apparently, no one told them that this is the guy who wrote ''Literature/TheStand''-- the "uncut" version of which is over 1,100 pages long. Inevitably, the decision was made to scrap the calendar idea, and release the story in GraphicNovel form with accompanying illustrations (by Bernie Wrightson, of ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' fame). The influence of the initial idea can still be seen in the format of the story though, as each chapter focuses on one month in the year of the killings.

In 1985, the story got a film adaptation called ''Film/SilverBullet'', starring Corey Haim as Marty, and Gary Busey as his alcoholic Uncle Red. In the movie, Marty is featured as a main character from the beginning and his experiences throughout the year receive just as much attention as the werewolf killings. This fixes the problem found in the book, which makes the film one of the better adaptations of one of King's stories, even though most reviews regarded it as good, but not great.

[[quoteright:315:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/344550_7219.jpg]]

A short story written by Creator/StephenKing and published in 1983, ''Cycle of the Werewolf'' is about a small town in Maine that is terrorized by a series of killings. According to ThatOtherWiki, King originally started the project when he was asked to write twelve short chapters that would accompany a werewolf-themed calendar. Apparently, no one told them that this is the guy who wrote ''TheStand''-- the "uncut" version of which is over 1,100 pages long. Inevitably, the decision was made to scrap the calendar idea, and release the story in GraphicNovel form with accompanying illustrations (by Bernie Wrightson, of ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' fame). The influence of the initial idea can still be seen in the format of the story though, as each chapter focuses on one month in the year of the killings.

* FairplayWhodunnit: Before [[spoiler:Reverend Lowe]] is revealed to be the werewolf, there is a chapter where the character [[spoiler:has an intense dream sequence showing several other townsfolk turning into werewolves.]] GenreSavvy readers/viewers may recognize this as a symptom of lycanthropy.

* ChristmasCake: Stella

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: King points out in a short author's notes section that anyone with just a little interest in astronomy can tell that the moon cycles portrayed in the story couldn't happen in reality. He freely admits that he ignored this because he found idea of setting the chapters [[HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday on various important holidays]] too appealing to pass up on.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: King points out in a short author's notes section that anyone who with just a little interest in astronomy can tell that the moon cycles portrayed in the story couldn't happen in reality. He freely admits that he ignored this because he found idea of setting the chapters [[HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday on various important holidays]] too appealing to pass up on.

In 1985, the story got a film adaptation called ''Silver Bullet'', starring Corey Haim as Marty, and Gary Busey as his alcoholic Uncle Red. In the movie, Marty is featured as a main character from the beginning and his experiences throughout the year receive just as much attention as the werewolf killings. This fixes the problem found in the book, which makes the film one of the better adaptations of one of King's stories, even though most reviews regarded it as good, but not great.

!!''Cycle of the Werewolf'' and ''Silver Bullet'' provide examples of:

* AdultFear: In the movie, Brady's dad comes into the bar and asks, "Has anybody in here seen my son, Brady?"

** Averted in the movie. Marty insists that the constable should question [[spoiler:Reverend Lowe]] after learning that they started wearing an eye patch after the 4th of July. After realizing that he doesn't have any other leads, he decides to take Marty's advice. [[spoiler:Of course, he's killed for his trouble anyway.]]

* ComedicSociopathy: In the movie, a hunter is attacked and dragged beneath the mist by the werewolf, and he makes a last-ditch effort to drive it off with his baseball bat. We see a human hand rising out the mist and hitting with the bat twice, there is a beat, and then we see the werewolf's hand holding the bat and striking its victim instead.

* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: In the novel, the full moon happens to coincide with an unusually high number of holidays.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: See CassandraTruth above. In the book, the town constable decides Marty has gone a little crazy from the shock of almost being killed, and his failure to follow up on the kid's testimony results in more deaths, [[spoiler:including the constable's own death.]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Not really different, however in the book, the werewolf does speak. The werewolf also spoke more in the script to the film but for some reason was not included.

* SinisterMinister: Rev. Lowe
* SuperWheelchair: Marty's uncle rigs up a wheelchair/motorcycle combo for his nephew in the film.
* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: A rodent startles Marty's sister into falling over and knocking down a stack of cans in the film. Her reaction seems a bit extreme, considering it's a ''gerbil''.