'They often said that the devil created the 'illusion' of transformation,' Cohen writes. Even educated churchmen who didn't believe human beings could really transform into other animals assumed that the devil was involved. It was commonly accepted that werewolves were in league with the devil. * Werewolves could be killed any way that a normal wolf could be killed. In other variations, the person literally turned into a wolf. * In some versions of the legend, the werewolf remained human, but took on wolf characteristics, such as fur, fangs, and paws. ''Real' were wolves didn't just bite people, they tore their victims to pieces and ate them.'

'The business about becoming a werewolf after being bitten by another werewolf is basically a creation of the movies,' says Cohen.

* A person could become a werewolf in a number of ways: if he was cursed, drank water from a wolf's pawprint, ate the meat of an animal killed by a wolf, wore a girdle made of wolfskin, or used a magic salve. 'Of all the world's monsters,' says Daniel Cohen in his book Werewolves, 'the werewolf is the one that has been most widely believed in, and the most widely feared.' Here are some of the things people commonly believed: No one (or at least hardly anyone) believes in werewolves today, but in the Middle Ages, they were taken quite seriously. Their spooky habit of howling at the moon made then that much more fearsome.

So it's not surprising that when Europeans told scary stories by the fireside, wolves were a common subject. As late as 1875, an estimated 160 people were attacked by starving packs of wolves in Russia. And when food was really scarce, they might even go after humans. As the wildlife that wolves depended on for food began to disappear, they often preyed on livestock. In Europe, wolves fit that profile: As the population grew over the centuries, Europeans settled in parts of the continent where wolves had roamed freely. Why are these animals singled out? 'In almost all case,' Nancy Garden writes in her book, Werewolves, 'the animal has these characteristics: 1) It is commonly found in the area 2) It is feared by the inhabitants and 3) It has been known to attack people and/or farm animals.'

In Asia there are tales about were-tigers, elephants, crocodiles, snakes, and even sharks. In Africa, they have were-leopards, were-hyenas, and were-hippos. In Russia there are stories of were-bears. Nearly every society has legends about people who can change into animals. We've all heard the werewolf legend, seen it in films and on TV. The following is an article from Uncle John’s Great Big Bathroom Reader.

The curse of the werewolves help