The Howling

Infobox Book |
name = The Howling


image_caption =
author = Gary Brandner
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = The Howling
subject = Werewolves
genre = Horror novel
publisher = Fawcett (1986 reissue)
release_date = 1977
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-449-13155-6 (1986 reissue)
preceded_by =
followed_by = The Howling II

"The Howling" is a 1977 horror novel by Gary Brandner. It was the inspiration for the 1981 film "The Howling", although the plot of the film departed significantly from that of the book.

Brandner wrote two sequels to the novel, "The Howling II" in 1978 (later republished as "Return of the Howling") and ' in 1985. Neither sequel was used as the basis for any of the subsequent Howling films. The fourth film in the series, ' made in 1988 is the closest adaptation of Brandner's original 1977 Howling novel, though even this differs in parts.

Plot summary

The novel opens in medieval Bulgaria, where an incensed mob attack and raze a village called Dradja to the ground, on account of allegations that the inhabitants were kidnapping and murdering children.

When middle-class Karyn Beatty is attacked and raped in her Los Angeles home, she suffers a miscarriage and a nervous breakdown. She and her husband, Roy, leave the city and go to stay in the secluded Californian mountain village of Drago whilst Karyn recuperates. Although the town offers Karyn a quiet lifestyle and the locals are friendly, Karyn is disturbed when she continues to hear a strange howling sound at night coming from the woods outside their new home. This puts further strain on her marriage as Roy believes she is becoming more and more unstable, but Karyn is adamant that there is something in the woods. As tension between the couple mounts, Roy begins an affair with one of the local women, a shopkeeper named Marcia Lura. However, on his way home, Roy is attacked in the woods by a large black wolf. Though the wolf only bites him, Roy becomes ill for several days and becomes (quite literally) a changed man. He was bitten by a werewolf, and has now become one himself. Karyn eventually discovers that the town's entire population are all in fact werewolves, and becomes trapped in Drago. She contacts her husband's friend and business partner, Chris Halloran, who comes up from Los Angeles to rescue her. Chris arrives with some silver bullets which he had made at her insistence. That night, the two of them fend off a group of werewolves (one of which is Karyn's husband, Roy) and Karyn is forced to shoot the black werewolf (revealed to be Marcia Lura) in the head. In the commotion, a fire breaks out at Karyn's woodland house which sweeps through the woods and the entire town of Drago is engulfed in flames as Karyn and Chris escape from its cursed inhabitants. However, as they flee, they can still hear the howling in the distance.