A unique, fascinating examination of the Universal Monsters legacy in the form of a “biography” of Lawrence Talbot, better known as The Wolf Man.  This book is not written as a joke, or a gimmick. Dello Stritto weaves pop culture signposts in and out of the tale with the touch of an assured novelist. The overall story never seems contrived, or ridiculous….and I dare say it holds together far better than the scripts of the films that the author was inspired by. The creativity shown in it is astounding–I can’t tell you how many times I stopped reading and said to myself, “I wish I had thought of that!”

–Dan Day, Jr., The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

A fascinating pseudo non-fiction “documentary” account of the “Wolf Man’s life,” and how it interacts with much of the monster genre of almost two generations of films. “A Werewolf Remembers” also contains the “journal” of Talbot, detailing the many journeys of his existence. This is a work only a scholar could weave together.

–Doug Gibson, planninecrunch.blogspot

In his books, Dello Stritto always delivers so much more than he promises—certainly true of A Werewolf Remembers. Lawrence Talbot, filmdom’s Wolf Man, is in turns more human and bestial than we have ever seen him before. Through Talbot’s eyes—for the book is largely based on Talbot’s lost journals that the author found in a forgotten steamer trunk—we see new twists in the adventures in his movies, and new adventures with an array of characters (most from non-Wolf Man movies) that has to be read to be believed. And enjoyed.

–Mike Lamont, Mondo Cult Blog

FROM THE DUST JACKET OF
A WEREWOLF REMEMBERS

The Testament of Lawrence Stewart Talbot

Lawrence Talbot is the 20^th century’s most famous werewolf. Here for the first time is his full story, told by Talbot himself, from his long-lost personal journals.

Some of Talbot’s exploits were popularized in movies made by Universal from 1941 to 1948 (The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein). In his journals, Talbot tells of many other adventures as he sought first a release from his curse, and then revenge against the fiend that destroyed his savior, and his fiancé.

Entwined with Talbot’s quests is his relationship with his father, who banished 13 year-old Lawrence from Talbot Castle. Eighteen years later Sir John welcomed home his son, by then his only heir. It was then that Lawrence became—or imagined that he became—a werewolf.

Talbot disappeared in 1948. For 30 years, his journals, which cover the years before and after contracting—or imagining he contracted—lycanthropia, lay forgotten in a storage room of La Mirada, Florida.

In 1978, the journals came into the possession of Frank Dello Stritto. Unsure of whether the musty books were a factual history, or the fantasies of an unhinged mind, he set about researching Talbot’s incredible memoir, and delved into the archives of villages across Europe—Goldstadt, Visaria, and Vasaria—that figure in Talbot’s story.

He also interviewed Joan Raymond, the one known survivor of an encounter with Talbot.

Key to the research was the Talbot Museum & Archive, in Llanwelly, Wales, Talbot’s birthplace. The TMA uncovered many arcane records relating to Talbot’s tale. Incredibly, the documents—even those from small, obscure European towns—support the fantastic account in Talbot’s journals.

Central to Talbot’s tale is the Moon (always capitalized by Talbot in his journals). Talbot believed the Full Moon transformed him to a murdering man-beast. For two to five nights every lunar cycle—depending on the relative positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun, and the brightness of the Sun—his only desire was human prey. Apart for those hellish spells, Talbot—or so he claims—felt what he called his “beast-self” stirring within him. In his waking hours, he always remembered his beast-self’s ecstasy (and his human-self’s disgust) of a good kill, and the savage feast that followed.

The tale that emerges from Talbot’s journals is of a noble soul, who never surrendered to the forces that tormented him, be they supernatural or in his mind.