Welcome back to StarWarp Spotlight, a series of posts that runs each Monday to shine a spotlight on one of our titles, as a reminder of the awesome books and comics we publish and to introduce new SWC fans to our backlist.
This week, we look at the first title in our SWC Horror Bites ebook imprint…
White Fell: The Werewolf, by Clemence Annie Housman, was originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story.In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area?He may come to regret being so inquisitive…
What have critics thought of this unusual tale?
“White Fell is a powerful, independent woman, a fur-slinging, axe-wielding huntress descended satright from Hyperborea, [and] Housman shuns all of the werewolf traditions so dully repeated in many tales written before and after. White Fell is either a revenant from Valhalla or maybe just a good girl gone lupine.”—The Scream Factory
“For Housman, the female werewolf is a vehicle for her to present a strong feminist-inspired female character…. It is possible that Housman was telling the world that women had a hidden strength and that men should beware of their own hidden nature.”—The Nuke Mars Journal of Speculative Fiction
“White Fell is interesting because she subverts many of the tropes of the monstrous woman—i.e without maternal instincts, animalistic, lustful, etc. She is a femme fatale only in the most basic sense that she is a deadly woman.”—International Gothic Association
White Fell: The Werewolf is available directly from the SWC webstore, so visit its product page for ordering information.
