Monstrous Monday

I love this picture. It's an illustration by S H Vedder of a story by a writer I don't know, S Carleton, for a story called The Wolf. You'll not be surprised to learn that it's a werewolf story, or more precisely a loup garou (or perhaps wendigo) story, since it is set in Canada. It's an effective little story and the illo shows the scene in which a priest cursed with lycanthropy is desperately seeking shelter in an isolated hut before he completely changes - but to his horror, he sees a light on in the cabin! He knows that whoever is in there will not be able to escape him once he transforms. Werewolf stories are comparatively rare in Victorian/Edwardian literature - this one appeared in Pall Mall Magazine in December 1901 - and this is certainly the best werewolf image I've seen from the period. Imagine my annoyance though when I saw the illustration had found its way on to a recent collection of short stories published by Wordsworth - someone else found it!