REALizing Rage/3

Let’s further consider these epitomes of rage, these vampires and werewolves. It is enjoyable to be frightened by them from the security of our favorite chair or a movie theater seat surrounded by friends. These wild creatures allow us to experience our inner rage, to feel both the wonderful power and the horror of rage unleashed. And, in most stories civilized behavior wins out over the demonic forces, even though the protagonists may have to briefly embrace their own inner wolf to defeat the demons. Yet these tales are short releases, brief respites from the occurrence of real rage. While they let us succumb to it, join with it for some period of time, they serve mainly to remind us that we are supposed to be civilized, social beings who do not give in to dark powers. Rarely do they show us how to understand or deal with rage in our daily lives; we just get through it. It is time to revisit the stories, the myths, and our own inner urges and see whether a path to understanding, to treatment when necessary, is available.

The literature regarding werewolves and vampires and such is too large and too diverse to examine in detail here, so only a small portion will be mentioned and just a few of the most extensive works referred to, without detailed citation. The majority of the existing literature has taken a theological or philosophical position. The authors try to prove or disprove the existence of such creatures, and whether they are abominations or are objects of intrigue. Montague Summers’ The Werewolf in Lore and Legend published in 1933 is a vast compendium of earlier records. It is recent enough that it is presented in concepts at least slightly comprehensible to 21st century thought. Yet reading it requires a strong comprehension of Latin, Greek, German, Olde English, and other languages, thereby greatly limiting its audience. More recent books, in particular Charlotte Montague’s Vampires (2010), aim to compile a complete guide to the mythology of vampires (with some references to werewolves) in 21st century terms and embracing the new wave of interest in these wild and powerful creatures.

These compendiums are interesting to read. What is very clear, however, is that vampires and werewolves comprise a wide variety of characteristics and ideas that do not coalesce into any single story. These reviews make it clear that it would be fruitless to try to cobble together all the different ideas into one story. And yet there are many overlapping and recurrent images that indicate that there is a commonality, not based on philosophical or…