Title: The Wehrwolf
Author: Alma Katsu
Pages: 79
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction
Alma Katsu, the visionary author of The Fervor, The Hunger, and The Deep, brings readers a terrifying short story about monsters among men—and the thin lines that divide them.
Germany, 1945. In the waning days of World War II, the Nazis have been all but defeated. Uwe Fuchs, never a fighter, feels fortunate to have avoided the front lines as he cared for his widowed mother.
But Uwe’s fortune changes when Hans Sauer, the village bully, recruits him to join a guerilla resistance unit preparing for the arrival of Allied soldiers. At first, Uwe is wary. The war is lost, and rumor has it that Hans is a deserter. But Hans entices him with talk of power, brutality, and their village’s ancestral lore: werewolves.
With some reluctance, Uwe joins up with the pack and soon witnesses their startling transformation. But when the men’s violent rampage against enemy soldiers takes a devastatingly personal turn, Uwe must grapple not only with his role in their evil acts but with his own humanity. Can he reclaim what this group of predatory men has stolen from him?
Or has he been a monster all along?
Evenin’ Brave Bookworms!
I came across this short story by Alma Katsu while browsing Kindle, and honestly, it sounded right up my alley. WWII with a horror twist? That’s practically irresistible in this house.
Unfortunately, that spark of excitement faded far too quickly.
The idea is genuinely interesting, but the execution fell flat. I was pretty bored, which is not what you want from something that should feel tense and eerie. I get that it’s a short story, but there was barely any character development, and the setting didn’t feel immersive at all. I wanted atmosphere, something cold, heavy, unsettling and it just wasn’t there.
I also struggled with the historical inconsistencies. While the fictional village of Scharweg is never clearly placed, the interactions between Russian and American forces in early 1945 didn’t quite align. Certain character backstories, particularly regarding desertion and military service, felt off in ways that pulled me out of the story rather than grounding me in it. If you are going to incorporate historical information in your work, I think it should be accurate.
What makes this especially frustrating is that the concept had so much potential. The real WWII Werwolf program which was intended as a last-ditch guerrilla resistance, offers such a sinister foundation. Twisting that into something truly monstrous, could have been deeply unsettling. Instead, it leaned more into village folklore, which just didn’t hit as hard.
And unfortunately… it was predictable. I pretty much knew where it was going the whole time.
In the end, I appreciated the effort in blending historical fiction with horror, but this one didn’t quite land for me.
Hope you enjoyed the review and until next time…
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