Gene Wolfe’s “The Hero as Werwolf” (1975) is a vicious and odd take on the werewolf story. Smacking of less is more, this dystopian setting is full of resentments, unsettling notions of virtue and the qualifications of being counted as living, and hints of stagnant yet significant progress sinking in decay and dehumanization. The main character, Paul, cannibalizes genetically-sufficient humans for food and, presumably, cruel sport. To be honest, there is no flattering way to describe the difference between the werewolves and the humans except that one hunts and lives off of the flesh of the other. Without giving too much of this brief story away, I gotta tell y’all I geeked out about something mentioned about tainted genitalia (one might guess that the genetically modified humans’ sex organs are taboo to the non-modified humans that are mutating or inbreeding because something is poisonous/wrong about their sperm or eggs) and living for a while after dying. Each of these details lends this quick tale a haunting vibe. I’m always impressed w/ how quickly Wolfe can establish what appears to be a meandering or too-unreal story as the most intensely believable thing you’ve ever seen set on paper. This short story is an impressive display of low cunning. We’re not given much that is human in this monster story, but the ideas of hunger, violence, and ambivalence as the baseline for where the story leaves us is tremendous. You can’t help but wonder if Wolfe was trying to say something about the necessity of suffering for healing & improvement, but you do wind up w/ the sense that you don’t want to have to consider where you’d morally align yourself in a world such as this. 4/5 because you really do want to read more in the world Wolfe creates here.
Bonus: it is oddly satisfying that Wolfe took a rare pause to explain why he chose the title for a story that very definitely unlocks the story for anyone that may not have “gotten it.”