Oh hi hello!! Welcome to The Werewolf Within quest!! This is a quest dedicated to celebrating our favorite furry friend, the werewolf!!!

I want to share a bit of the history and lore of the werewolf because without it, this quest wouldn’t exist, let alone the Team Jacob vs Team Edward debate.

The werewolf has been around for many a full moon. While there is no single origin story, one of the oldest mentions comes from The Epic of Gilgamesh, which was written nearly 4000 years ago. We see the werewolf pop up in cultures all around the world, from Ancient Greek mythology (story of Lycaon in The Metamorphosis by Ovid) to Nordic mythology (story of Princess Signe in the Saga of the Volsungs). Cultures across the world have their own werewolf lore. For example, in Serbian cultures, it was believed that you become a werewolf if you drank water from the paw print of one (Hemlock Grove on Netflix features this).

With the advent of Christianity, the ancient beliefs and legends were rewritten as pagan and thus sinful. The werewolf had become something to be disapproved or denied, whether by blaming mental health or more likely demonic influences. The first use of the word “werewolf” actually comes from the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of King Cnut, written between 1020-1023. It was used symbolically to warn the clergy about those who threaten the congregation (werewolves).

A turning point in werewolf history came in the 1400s in Europe when the farming and agriculture started focusing heavily on sheep. What animal really likes sheep and also now has easy access to said sheep? Wolves!! Wolves became a massive threat to farmer’s livelihood and the economy. As the wolves became a bigger threat, fear of them grew and wolves became more monstrous in the eyes of the people, leading to the idea that the transformation into a werewolf became a Very Bad™️ thing.

Humans have always been terrible, especially if they didn’t like you and had zero reason other than baseless rumors. Thus began the Werewolf Trials in Europe which took place 200ish years before the Salem Witch Trials in the United States. There is a famous story about Peter Stumpp, who was accused of being a werewolf in Germany in 1589 and was executed alongside his daughter and mistress in a brutal way.

It was during the industrialization of the 19th century that the werewolf from being a real threat to something that lived in books. From there, the werewolf started appearing on the big screen and in mass media, and it has not gone away.

For this quest I put together a variety of books from across genres that center our canine friends (or enemies in some cases)!

We are starting the quest with 47 books from several genres! I will be creating a separate post for suggestions and recommendations and will have a public shelf where you can find considerations for upcoming additions to the quest! Note: a spot on the shelf is not a guaranteed spot on the quest.

Thank you for being here and joining The Pagebound Pack with me!!! Now, let’s go run under the full moon!!!

Well now that this is apart of a quest…. I sorta have an excuse to pick it up… right?🫣🦞

Hello everyone! I am so excited to welcome you to the Poetic Stories Quest. This has been a labor of love and I'm so glad to finally get to share it with you and start chatting more about poetry.

I started thinking about this quest after interacting with multiple users who expressed interest in poetry but shared they felt intimidated by it or that it was too challenging. These conversations, plus some books I read for the 🔗Intro to Poetry Quest, got me examining the accessibility of different types of poetry and considering how a quest dedicated to fictitious poetry might enable less confident readers to explore this genre more. Thus, the Poetic Stories Quest was born! My hope is that this quest will make new readers feel less intimidated by poetry and encourage seasoned readers to explore stories they might not have before.

This post is meant to serve as a space for you all to introduce yourselves, get to know one another, etc. (But, of course, feel free to create your own posts as well!) I'd love to learn about y'all and your motivations for joining this quest. What type of poetry is your favorite? What are you hoping to get out of this quest? Which book(s) are you most excited to check out?

I ask that you also check out the 🔗Quest Intentions and Curation and 🔗Book Recommendations posts for more info! Additionally, if any of you ever feel like putting together a small or large buddy read, please feel free to make posts about it in this forum! This forum is a space for everyone to engage with each other and read poetry, so I would love to see y’all using it and welcoming others to do the same.

Thank you all for being here; I hope you enjoy the quest💛🪶

”In order to get to community, we have to go quiet, slow down, allow ourselves to be both vulnerable and brave, and approach one another with an idea as simple as, I’m me, you’re you, we are not the same, and yet perhaps we can feel safe here together talking about something as simple as a poem, [...] If we let them, poems also encourage the more difficult notion [...] that I can only truly honor and protect myself by honoring and protecting you.” Tracy K. Smith

welcome to the monstrous feminine! here, you’ll find visions of both monstrosity and womanhood deconstructed and haphazardly tacked back together again.

you can comment under this post to suggest works that you think would be a good fit for this quest. before you comment, though, here’s a little more information about how this quest was curated, and the research and intention behind it.

WHAT IS THE MONSTROUS FEMININE?

the phrase ‘monstrous feminine’ comes from barbara creed’s ‘the monstrous-feminine: film, feminism, psychoanalysis’. in creed’s hugely influential text, she interrogates the predominantly misogynistic portrayal of women in horror cinema, breaking the representation down into six categories: the archaic mother, the possessed monster, the monstrous womb, the vampire, the witch, the femme castratrice, and the castrating mother. the through-line? men finding monstrosity in how women fail to conform to gender expectations.

since the publication of the monstrous-feminine in 1993, the term has been reclaimed, by creed herself, along with countless others. where the monstrous-feminine was once representative of patriarchal and bio-essentialist notions of womanhood, it is now expansive and elastic, often strange, surprising, and queer.

NB: the monstrous-feminine was born of men reducing women to their perceived subservience and how well they performed femininity. there’s a tongue-in-cheek-ness to the term, as many monstrous feminine figures do not conform to these notion of femininity at all. monstrous feminine figures do not have to present as feminine.

WHY WERE THE BOOKS IN THIS QUEST CHOSEN?

the books in this quest use horror to redefine and reclaim the monstrous feminine. they are not just horror books featuring women; they use aesthetics of monstrosity in a way that challenges how women (and, in many cases, women of additional marginalisations) have historically been represented in horror and in life. sometimes this discussion around gender is at the forefront. in other places, it is subtler.

some of these books critique notions of monstrosity entirely, using visions of the monstrous feminine in a way that rejects the demonisation of experiences and characteristics that we don’t understand or relate to (e.g. our wives under the sea and the gilda stories).

in putting this quest together, i wanted to ask: what does it mean to be the monstrous feminine? who gets to reclaim the monstrous feminine, and who is forced into it? how can we use horror to redefine our relationships to gender, bodies, and desirability under patriarchy and cisheteronormativity?

WHAT IS THE SELECTION CRITERIA FOR NEW ADDITIONS?

• does this book contribute to a diversity of voices represented in the quest (i.e. is this a perspective that is over-represented?)
• is this book perpetuating misogynistic and bio-essentialist notions of womanhood, or does it challenge/subvert/reckon with these expectations?
• does this book tap into an interesting conversation, horror subgenre, style or thematic focus that isn’t already reflected in the list?
• there are many non-horror books featuring ‘monstrous women’, but that’s not what this quest is for - is this book effectively utilising elements of horror?

you’ll also notice that there are a decent amount of short story collections represented in this quest. some of the most famous monstrous-feminine figures have come from short stories, and i continue to believe that some of the most exciting work within this space is happening in short fiction. short story collections have been chosen based on the basis that the majority of short stories in the collection are monstrous-feminine texts. please don’t suggest short story collections that do not meet this criteria.

feel free to ask any questions, otherwise: let’s get monstrous!

Hi Everybody!! I'm AcidicChaos and I answer to any versions/variations of it!

I don't think I have the words to explain how ridiculously excited I am to do this quest with all of you!!

About The Quest A lot of these books feel like a fever dream on the first pass and it's not until your second time through that you may see the full picture and benefits, however for this badge you only need to read the books once! So, to try and help make that first pass through as fruitful as possible, I realized that these books thrive on discussion, and I wholeheartedly encourage it in the forums!!

Please keep in mind: there is no right way to read or interpret these books. All interpretations are valid, and discussions should stay respectful.

Monthly Buddy Reading Matching Because these books are so much more rewarding when we get to talk through them, but not every book will suit everyone's tastes, instead of quest-wide readalongs I'll be organizing a monthly buddy read matching to help facilitate readalongs and buddy reads at least until the buddy reads planning features roll out for Pagebound Plans. You can find more information on the monthly buddy read matching 🔗Here.

Quest Recommendations I'm always open to recommendations, but I do have a fairly strict set of criteria for inclusion. Out of respect for other quest makers with overlapping interests, I'm keeping the full criteria close to my chest for now until those other quests drops - but I promise I take every recommendation seriously. Because of this strict criteria I may be a bit slower to adding new recommendations to the quest than other quest makers, so please have patience with me. To make sure I don't miss your recommendation, please post your recommendations 🔗Here.

Where To Start?? If you want to ease in, short story collections are a great entry point!! You get a feel for the mode without committing to a full novel (please check content warnings before diving in, some of these are dark). Below you'll find 🔗links to some great starting places on this list: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges The Milk Bowl of Feathers: Essential Surrealist Writings by Mary Ann Caws The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Davila The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms by Daniil Kharms

If you prefer a singular story, but on the shorter side so it's not as big of a commitment, some of these short novels under 200 pages could be a great place to jump in! Pig Wife by Abbey Luck Note: Don't mind the page count on PB, it's incorrect at the time of posting this, the book is around 540 pages, but it's a graphic novel so it will fly by plus it has some gorgeous surrealist artwork! The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz Lobster by Guillaume Lecasble Froth on the Daydream by Boris Vian Temporary by Hilary Leichter Nadja by Andre Breton The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon Kangaroo Notebook by Kobo Abe The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

And, of course, there's a reason the word Kafkaesque exists! If you haven't read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, that's always a perfect place to start!

A Little About Me & This Quest I've been drawn to surreal and absurd literature since I was a teenager starting with The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka! I found it after watching a documentary about the books the Nazis burned, and figured if they wanted to burn it, I needed to read it. This kickstarted my love for books that feel like a fever dream, dense with metaphor and symbolism, that no matter how strange or silly they get are ultimately revealing a (often dark) truth about raw humanity and the world we live in. That thread doesn't belong to any one genre and this quest has been such a labor of love tracing is across many different genres!

I can't wait to hear all of your theories and interpretations in the forums!!!!!

AcidicChaos