Alex loves photography. So when he visits his aunt and uncle in Wolf Creek, he hopes to get some hints - they are professional photographers, after all.
They only have 2 tips, though. First, keep away from the creepy house next door. Second, don't ever go into the woods late at night.
But Alex really wants to take some spooky pictures - and the woods look perfect. So he investigates. Late at night. On Hallowe'en. Under a full moon...
Plot
We open with our protagonist, Alex Hunter, arriving on a bus at the town of Wolf Creek, because his parents didn't think to drop him off with his aunt and uncle who he hasn't seen in, like, 4 years. Oh my God, this is the plot of The Visit. Anyway, Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta show up to collect Alex, who tells him that he wants to get some photography tips from them, probably in order to get Jameson those pictures of Spiderman he so desperately craves. When Alex mentions in the car how he'd like to be a werewolf for Halloween (thank you!), Uncle Colin almost crashes into an oncoming lorry out of shock. This guy should meet Greg Banks' dad from Say Cheese and Die. Apparently, the subtly named Wolf Creek is so called because there used to be werewolves running around there. So, what was it called before that? If nobody lived there before, how would they know there were werewolves? And if they did know, why would they settle there?
Arriving at the abode of Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta, Alex is informed that a cute (yes, that's Uncle Colin's wording) girl called Hannah lives next door. In fairness, that seems alright; I've never met anyone called Hannah who wasn't nice. Anyhoozle, their other neighbours live in an intimidating, ramshackle house, and are called the
Hannah and Alex nip into the woods for a stroll and explore. Suddenly, Alex hears the howl of a wolf. However, it's not a bloodcurdling-ly terrifying monster; it's a milk curdling-ly lame fake-out. Courtesy of this week's resident a-holes, Sean Kinjer and Arjun Khosla. They start pinching Alex's camera and telling him spooky scary stories about werewolves, before melting into the shadows, probably for a cheeky vape.
That night, Alex hears thumping coming from the house. Running to the attic, Hannah calls down, saying that the thumping is her; she's just popped over at, like, 6 in the evening. Suddenly, she reminds Alex that he may have inadvertently left his camera in the woods, so he runs off into the dark, cold forest against Hannah's warnings because he prioritises a bloody camera over his life. Is this the Goosebumps equivalent of Split, where the twist is that it's actually a Say Cheese and Die sequel?
Alex finds the torch on a stump, and begins to make his way back. Suddenly, he hears howling and snarling moving in his direction, so he runs. Suddenly, the creature pounces... except it doesn't. A bird's nest just fell on him and he mistook it for a werewolf. Luckily, we do get something other than fake-outs in this scene, as Alex comes across the butchered remains of 2 animals. He runs home, though he notices some footprints heading to the Marlings' house. That'd be jaw-dropping if it wasn't for the fact that this is so blindingly obvious, only Ray Charles could read it without developing sight loss. And Alex still doesn't realise all this until 2 chapters later, and even then it takes Hannah explicitly telling him.
Alex has to go to school in Wolf Creek, and the American education system reaches its all time low, as the subject in class today is werewolves. In this version, page 394 states that someone does become a werewolf by being bitten, but this time, they transform under the full moon and shed their wolfskin in the morning. Then they put it back on the next full moon. Sure, it's less convenient than having the fur on the inside of your skin, but it at least sounds less painful.
After the lesson, Sean and Arjun (oh yeah, they're in this story) catch up to Alex and try to convince him that werewolves are, indeed, real.
"Sure. The Easter Bunny exists, too. I saw him riding a bus in Cleveland."Because Alex isn't a clueless idiot (a first for this blog), he doesn't immediately buy it. They ask Alex if he wants to take photos of a real werewolf, but before they can elaborate, we cut to a scene of Hannah in a doll costume breaking it down to Aunt Marta busting some rhymes.
Alex then reveals that he's agreed to meet up with Sean and Arjun at midnight to get some werewolf snaps. However, when he tries to sneak out, his door is locked, and the window is barred. Since there's no ginger-packed flying Ford Anglia to get him out, he just goes back to bed.
That morning, Alex is surprisingly energetic for someone first thing in the morning. He yells at Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta for locking him in his room without telling him. Now that he mentions it, I'm pretty sure that
That night, Alex jams a bit of gum into his door to stop it from closing properly, and sneaks off into the woods. Outside, Alex spies 2 figures in wolfskin capes exiting the Marling house, much to Edna Mode's dismay. They turn into, you guessed it, blueberry people, and chase Alex through the forest, with some no-holds barred atmosphere. Example: there's a moment where the wolves snap a rabbit's neck and eat its guts. Finally, after Alex takes a bunch of photos, the wolves return to the Marling house, and seemingly vanish, as Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin come out the front door. Alex indulges in the ol' Goosebumps standby, and finds that a) the Marling House is abandoned, b)it's just somewhere for the werewolves to store their wolfskins, and c) the werewolves in question are actually Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin. Gotta say, I wouldn't have seen that coming if it hadn't been stretched out over 2 chapters.
Hannah comes round, and Alex explains to her the situation with the Marlings. He suggests burning the wolfskins, but Hannah points out that this idea will kill Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin. I mean, it was pretty big in the werewolf lesson. Anyway, Hannah has an idea, but this is muted by another jumpcut to Halloween night.
Hannah and Alex steal the wolfskins, and use them as costumes, figuring that, if Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta never transform, the curse'll be lifted. Which works out well... until Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta show up, demanding the skins. A chase ensues, until Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta fall to the ground, screaming in pain. Nice job, Alex. Except, they randomly stop screaming, and suddenly exposit that, since they didn't transform by the time that the moon was highest in the sky, the curse is lifted. That doesn't make sense, but, nevertheless, everything's lovely once again.
However, when Alex and Hannah go back to the Marling house to take off their suits (aren't they a bit young for this?), Alex notices a spare wolfskin on the floor. Turns out that Hannah hadn't used one of the wolfskins from this house; she used her own. Wait, then how come Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin didn't notice it? Anyway, then Hannah bites into Alex's shoulder and presumably kills him.
Extra Toppings
At the end of the werewolves lesson, the teacher asks if anyone believes in werewolves. Everybody except Alex puts their hand up, despite the fact there is no way they could all believe the whole Marlings thing.
Any Questions?
So, where do the wolfskins come from? Do werewolves have to peel their skins off after their first night of wolfing?
This one's more directed at Alex regarding that ending:
Conclusion
Werewolf Skin is actually pretty good. There are some decent instances of atmosphere, tension, and action. That being said, there are some gaps in the logic, but nothing too foreign to this series. Go check it out.
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