Loup Garou

The Loup Garou is a French form of werewolf that traveled to the US with colonialism. They are known to feed on blood and the flesh of humans. There are various distinct forms of Loup Garou. The oldest form starts out human and changes fully into a wolf with human intelligence. Often this version of transformation is induced by wearing a magic belt made of wolf skin. The next form, these stories starting in the eighteenth century, only partially transform, turning into human-wolf hybrids. This form had incredible strength, speed, and was very difficult to kill. The next form, these stories starting in the nineteenth century, were people who did not transform but were rather possessed by a wolf-like spirit. This spirit would lead their host to commit murder, cannibalism, or grave robbing. Sometimes they are thought to be a human being placed under a spell that takes human form by day and animal form at night. Oftentimes this spell would last 101 days before wearing off. Sometimes the curse is resolved by a person recognizing the Loup Garou and drawing blood from it, after this then neither can discuss the incident until the original length of time of the curse passed a second time, or the one who cured them will face severe consequences.

Citations:

Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2006.

Watts, Linda. Encyclopedia of American Folklore. United States, Infobase Publishing, 2020.