The following are books on the subject of werewolves and shape-shifting. We probably missed some, since there are many books out there. We also try to to highlight the books that are well-reviewed and highly recommended. We will continue to search and update our database to help you on your journey for information.

You can either buy the books through Amazon, as we have provided the link, or just write down their name and find them at your local bookstore or used bookstore.

The Werewolf in Lore and Legend (Paperback) 

By Montague Summers

The first definitive work on werewolfery, this book was written by a venerable author of occult studies. Unsurpassed in its sheer scope and depth, it employs a theological and philosophical approach, incorporating an extensive range of historical documentation and folklore. Summers examines the supernatural practice of shapeshifting, notes the finer distinctions between werewolfery and lycanthropy, and explores the differences of opinion on exactly how ordinary humans are transformed into creatures of "unbridled cruelty, bestial ferocity, and ravening hunger." His Gothic style, rich in fascinating examples and anecdotes, offers compelling fare for lovers of esoteric lore. Unabridged republication of the classic 1933 edition.  Amazon.com

The Book of Werewolves (Paperback)

By Sabine Baring-Gould

With the shocking histories of 10 famous cases, this classic blends science, superstition, and fiction to tell the full story of the werewolves among us. The first serious academic study of lycanthropy and "blood-lust" written in English, this book draws upon a vast body of observation, myth, and lore. First published in 1865!  Amazon.com

The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings (Paperback)

By Brad Steiger

WHEN THE FULL MOON INHERITS THE NIGHT SKY, THE TERROR IS JUST BEGINNING... From movies to the game, to folklore and case histories, The Werewolf Book is the encyclopedic guide to all things lycanthropic. The author takes you back to the 15th century to uncover the origins of the werewolf legend. From there he leads you on an eye-opening world tour through the ages to the modern-day monstrous duality of creatures like cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Does the wolf live within each of us? Learn how the legends of the werewolf can mirror the animal that exists in each and every one of us. Some have given in to these primal animal urges. Find out why. The answers lie within this book.

The Werewolf Book contains nearly 250 entries, a filography, and a resource guide with web sites. With more than 125 photographs (including 16 pages in full color), ranging from folk art to movie stills, this book will have your hair standing on end.The Werewolf Book pays homage to the beast within each of us, and provides a full moon of fact and fiction for the lycanthrophile in all of us.  Amazon.com

Werewolves (Paperback)

By Elliott O'Donnell

Includes: What is a werewolf; werewolf metamorphosis compared with other branches of lycanthropy; spirits of werewolves; how to become a werewolf; werewolves and exorcism; werewolf in the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Balkan Peninsula, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Lapland, Finland, Russia and Siberia; werewolves and vampires and ghouls; lycanthropous brook in the Harz Mountains, or the case of the Countess Hilda Von Breber; werewolves and Maras of Denmark. First published in 1912.  Amazon.com

True Werewolves Of History (Hardcover)

By Donald F. Glut

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This is Donald F. Glut's brand new companion to his classic volume, True Vampires of History. As in his first book, True Werewolves of History, uses contemporary chronicles and new research to bring to life the stories of over 100 werewolves from the pages of history. This new 21st Century tour-de-force brings together real tales of werewolves (not to mention "were" bears and "were" jaguars) from throughout the world and across the centuries. You'll find them all in this volume for your historical delectation and gruesome enlightenment. Even if you are pure of heart you may find that these tales awaken the ancient fears when the moon is full and the wolfbane blooms.  Amazon.com

Hunting the American Werewolf (Paperback)

By Linda S. Godfrey

He’s out there… a malevolent beast with the head of a wolf—walking upright like a man! Don’t believe it? How do you explain dozens of verified sightings throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and nationwide? In this fascinating book, best-selling author and award-winning journalist Linda Godfrey continues the hunt she began in The Beast of Bray Road. With only her investigative mind and her wry sense of humor, she takes on weird creatures too bizarre to be real—and too well documented to be mere fairy-tales. Amazon.com

The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin's Werewolf (Paperback)

By Linda S. Godfrey

In the early 1990s, the small town of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, made national headlines with reports of strange, hairy, wolf-headed creatures that sometimes walked upright and seemed not afraid of man stalking the cornfields just outside of town. The canid sensation was soon dubbed "Beast of Bray Road," after the location of the first reported sightings.

Nobody has ever been able to prove whether the beast is a flesh-and-blood werewolf or will-o'-the-wisp, demon dog, or noble animal. But the author gives the reader plenty to chew on. Drag these stories into the safest recesses of your private den. Then make up your own mind, if you do so at all, only after the marrow has been extracted and well digested. Amazon.com

The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature (Paperback)

By Brian J. Frost

In this fascinating book, Brian J. Frost presents the first full-scale survey of werewolf literature covering both fiction and nonfiction works. He identifies principal elements in the werewolf myth, considers various theories of the phenomenon of shapeshifting, surveys nonfiction books, and traces the myth from its origins in ancient superstitions to its modern representations in fantasy and horror fiction.

Frost’s analysis encompasses fanciful medieval beliefs, popular works by Victorian authors, scholarly treatises and medical papers, and short stories from pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Revealing the complex nature of the werewolf phenomenon and its tremendous and continuing influence, The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature is destined to become a standard reference on the subject.  Amazon.com

Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures

By Jamie Hall

Where is the multicultural shapeshifter? So far, there is nothing out there that covers different species of shapeshifter in all parts of the world. If you want anything other than a European-style werewolf, you must look up individual legends in dozens of separate books. Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures collects the best of these far-flung tales into one volume.

It is laid out in a format where only the first chapter is devoted to werewolves. Each of the other six chapters is devoted to a different animal, except for the last chapter where a bunch of herbivorous shapeshifters are grouped together. The majority of the book is occupied by the legends themselves, but it also includes information about the historical and cultural context behind these beliefs. The book also acts as a reference guide; each chapter includes a list of novels and movies (with a short synopsis of each) about the creature covered in that chapter. Such lists are practically nonexistent, except in the case of werewolves. It is next to impossible to find a list of fiction on the theme of people who turn into foxes, but a collection of 21 novels and 6 movies are included in the fox chapter. Amazon.com

Werewolves, Witches, and Wandering Spirits: Traditional Belief & Folklore in Early Modern Europe (Sixteenth Century Essays & Studies, V. 62) (Paperback) 

By Kathryn A. Edwards

Bringing together scholars from Europe, America, and Australia, this volume explores the more fantastic elements of popular religious belief: ghosts, werewolves, spiritualism, animism, and of course, witchcraft. These traditional religious beliefs and practices are frequently treated as marginal in more synthetic studies of witchcraft and popular religion, yet Protestants and Catholics alike saw ghosts, imps, werewolves, and other supernatural entities as populating their world. Embedded within notarial and trial records are accounts that reveal the integration of folkloric and theological elements in early modern spirituality. Drawing from extensive archival research, the contributors argue for the integration of such beliefs into our understanding of late medieval and early modern Europe.  Amazon.com

Deerdancer: The Shapeshifter Archetype in Story and in Trance  (Paperback)

By Michele Jamal

In her third book, Jamal explores 12 shapeshifting entities in history and myth and invites the reader to expand his or her own self-awareness and spirituality. Throughout history, says Jamal, shamanic men and women have practiced shape-shifting, the powerful process of taking on the physical and psychological aspects of an animal to access its strength and perceptions, to achieve wisdom and spiritual power, to heal, to prophesy, to communicate with the divine.

Each chapter covers a different animal ally - including the bear, wolf, cat, serpent - and begins by tracing the ally's role in world cultures throughout history. Then Jamal lyrically recounts shape-shifting stories that have pervaded folklore, legend and superstition all around the world from the mysterious seal shifter of Celtic myth to the mercurial dragon of classical Chinese culture.

Every chapter ends with a poetic visualization of the animal - that goes along with the final chapter, a how-to-guide for readers to find and work with their animal allies. ghastly_tales_for_adults.htm interested in shamanism, mythology or just plain self-awareness will enjoy Jamal's thorough exploration of shape-shifting. She allows for the appreciation of the power within oneself and other living creatures and ably demonstrates how the two may be integrated for deeper insight. - Publishers Weekly  Amazon.com

Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages (Paperback)

By Claude Lecouteux

This is one of those rare delights, a book as readable as it is scholarly on a subject appealing to general readers, especially to those interested in folklore and magic. Although he emphasizes European wonder tales in his search for understanding of the worldwide phenomenon of the spirit double, Lecouteux's approach is cross-cultural. Tales of the phenomenon stem, he maintains, from the very widespread belief that the soul isn't trapped in the body but can move about at will or, sometimes, even against a person's will. Common beliefs in spirit doubles, and werewolves, witches, and fairies, can be traced to that idea, the origin of which may lie in shamanic soul travel.

Filled with unusual narratives - such as that of the churchman who challenged a Lapland magician to prove that his skills were no superstition, whereupon the man traveled in spirit to the minister's house and stole his wife's wedding ring, a theft confirmed by the woman in question - this book may ask more questions than it answers but is always absorbing. Patricia Monaghan  Amazon.com