I think I can trace my love for all things wolf shifter and werewolf to when I was a child. I had a book – a carousel pop up book – of the story of Little Red Riding Hood. This book was so beautiful. It had a ribbon at the top to carry it around – and each page contained detailed pop up scenes. The best thing about it though was that you could open it up to make a circular storyboard and tie it together that way with the ribbon.
I adored that book! It went everywhere with me. I used to spend ages looking at the drawings and the story fascinated me no end. I think even as a child I picked up on the possible Freudian overtones – the warnings to girls not to talk to strange men and never to stray from the path!
Instead of scaring me, though, it drew me in and began a life long love of all things werewolf, and wolf shifter. I would be much older before my love of vampires would begin, and I have Anne Rice to thank for that! But my fascination with all things werewolf can be traced back to that childhood book that I used to drag with me wherever I went.
If you want to see some of the different versions of Little Red Riding Hood – the University of Southern Mississippi has the Red Riding Hood project where they have collated various versions of the story. You can find it here: http://www.usm.edu/media/english/fairytales/lrrh/inventt.htm
My favorite is this poem version: http://www.usm.edu/media/english/fairytales/lrrh/lrrhb.htm which carries some of the undertones of sexuality that Angela Carter highlighted in her works such as the Company of Wolves.
Happy reading 🙂
And don’t forget to check out the latest stories in the fantastic House Of Manlove blog hop:
14th: Jena Wade and Heloise West
15th: Amelia Bishop and Mina Kelly
16th: Kimber Vale and Shiloh Saddler
17th: Eva Lefoy and Azalea Moone
18th: Dakota Trace, Jade Crystal, and Crane Hana
19th: JT Hall and ND Wylders
20th: Evelise Archer , Kate Lowell, and Skye Jones
