Document Type

Creative Work

Publication Date

Spring 2025

First page number:

1

Last page number:

7

Abstract

What turns someone into a monster? Is it their nature—or what the world has taken from them? These are the questions at the heart of The Blood Moon, a short story that reimagines the origin of the werewolf myth through a tragic lens. Created for an upper-division honors course titled Monsters and Monstrosity, this project draws from literary research, folklore, and cultural analysis to examine how trauma, grief, and unresolved hatred can transform even the most innocent among us.

Set in a mythic past, The Blood Moon follows Warrei, a young, wolf-like creature known as a Wolven, who loses everything in a violent human attack. Consumed by vengeance, he transforms—physically and emotionally—into a being feared by the very people who made him this way. His final actions and words, misinterpreted by terrified survivors, give birth to the legend of the “werewolf.” Blending horror, empathy, and mythology, this story challenges readers to reconsider what makes a monster and who gets to define that term.

By humanizing the “beast,” The Blood Moon asks us to reflect on cycles of violence and the cost of unchecked hatred—not just for the world we live in, but for the futures we might lose when we fail to let go of our pain.

Controlled Subject

Short stories; Ethics; Folklore

Disciplines

Fiction | Folklore | Philosophy of Mind

File Format

pdf

File Size

189 KB

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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