Item - Night of the Werewolf

This is a fairly weak book. The writing isn't too good (which is disappointing, since Edward Packard is capable of doing better), there are several excessively long stretches which don't include choices, and some of the endings are extremely abrupt and unsatisfying. There is a certain b-movie charm to the book, but it doesn't help much.

More reviews by Demian

I was a little disappointed when I read the first few paths, and thought that Packard was using inconsistent endings. Luckily, I was mistaken, he establishes a rule for the werewolf that he spreads the lycanthropy almost like a vampire would.

There are a few mildly entertaining endings, and the book zips along very fast. So, even though it's not very good, at least it isn't a slog to get through it.

More reviews by Jordashebasics

Count on Edward Packard to be a good series architect, a role he took on once again for Choose Your Own Nightmares with Night of the Werewolf. You're spending summer break with your cousins, Tom and Karin, and Aunt Charlotte. Before your aunt even pulls in the driveway she warns you something is amiss. Police found a dead body near Paulding's Pond, with jagged teeth marks on it. Tom and Karin say the killer is a werewolf, and they want to track him down. Tom suggests going to the pond for a look around, but Karin wants to consult Mrs. Hadley, a strange old woman from down the road. Which of your cousins will you join?

Mrs. Hadley is alarmed about the murder, and recounts for you a similar incident years ago. There was an aggressive local man she believed to be a werewolf. The person who lived in Tom and Karin's house at the time was killed in the same vicious way as the man at the pond yesterday, but Mrs. Hadley wasn't worried; her "powers" could ward off the werewolf. Is she saying she’s a witch? It's getting dark and stormy now; if you call Charlotte to pick you up in her car, she heads right out afterward to find Tom at the pond, but the werewolf breaks into the house and traps you and Karen in her bedroom. Should you leap to the tree out her window? If you block the door with Karin's bed, you narrowly evade the snarling intruder, who runs off into the night. Go with Charlotte to warn Mrs. Hadley about what just happened and you'll witness an astonishing end to the werewolf problem, but staying home with a police guard could lead to a grim fate. If you originally walked home with Karin from your first visit to Mrs. Hadley, you meet Tom on the way, but something is wrong. Did he encounter the werewolf? Is he concealing his true lupine form, and will soon victimize Charlotte, Karin, and you?

Going with Tom to Paulding's Pond from the first, your path is impeded by police caution tape. Maybe you're better off investigating an overgrown dirt road Tom never noticed. It leads to a ramshackle cabin...where you come face to muzzle with the furious werewolf. You aren't likely to outrun him, but he may spare your life if you stay mum about what you've seen. You could hide under the werewolf's bed instead of running, but he's sure to catch your scent. What should you do when he insists you try the rabbit stew he's cooking? A daring escape might work, but what if you eat the greasy, stringy meat? Perhaps you never went down the dirt road, instead crossing the police tape around Paulding's Pond. If you get too nosy, a policeman and his German shepherd nab you. Otherwise, you wind up back at the house for a movie night with Tom, Karin, and Charlotte. Watching a flick called Night of the Werewolf is unsettling, given recent goings-on. Are the howls coming from the screen, or the yard? You may be sitting ducks for a monster poised to kill again.

This book could be buttoned up a lot better, but I enjoy the atmosphere, wondering if the werewolf is lurking just beyond the walls of Charlotte's house. Some scenes I recall vividly even if I haven't read the book in years. Night of the Werewolf isn't an innovative work of genre, but its internal consistency holds up, and the werewolf isn't overexposed. I reach for this book often on spooky evenings near Halloween.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74