{"id":83095,"date":"2024-11-01T10:05:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T15:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=83095"},"modified":"2024-11-01T10:05:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T15:05:27","slug":"retired-history-professor-howls-about-the-unspeakable-horror-of-the-shapeshifter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=83095","title":{"rendered":"Retired history professor howls about “The Unspeakable Horror of the Shapeshifter”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Story by ADIA REYNOLDS Photos by RORY MOORE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retired history professor Robert Luehrs presented \u201cThe Unspeakable Horror of the Shapeshifter\u201d on Halloween. Luehrs, a self-proclaimed \u201cHalloween enthusiast,\u201d even came dressed as a Renaissance specter.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Retired FHSU History Professor Robert Luehrs leads the presentation about the “Unspeakable Horror of the Shapeshifter.”
<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Luehrs spoke to a full audience for his presentation on Halloween afternoon. More chairs were brought in to accommodate the unexpected boom of attendees, and even then, some still stood pressed against the back wall. He spoke about a well-themed topic to a well-dressed audience. Killer costumes were sprinkled amongst the audience as Luehrs discussed the history and cultural phenomena surrounding the myth of the shapeshifter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Unspeakable Horror of the Shapeshifter\u201d was a comedic and interactive experience. Luehrs\u2019 assistant (dressed as \u2018Anxiety\u2019 from Inside Out 2) handed out boxes of limited edition Halloween cereal before presenting Luehrs with an ancient tome to read from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right, I\u2019m speaking on something that was unspeakable,\u201d Luehrs began. \u201cOn the surface, we are polite, civilized. But what lies beneath the surface?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luehrs pointed out that shapeshifting is a universal trope that spans across global cultures and various timeframes. Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Ancient gods. Witches. And\u2026 the Incredible Hulk? Hello Kitty?<\/p>\n\n\n\n[\u201cDespite these pop-culture examples], today what I want to emphasize, what I want to work with, is the werewolf,\u201d Luehrs said. \u201cOur view of the werewolf is that of a hybrid creature. Half human, half creature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Luehrs speaks to an audience of sudents and faculty dressed up for Halloween.
<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Luehrs explained the myth of the werewolf began with the Greek myth of King Lycan, who attempted to serve the god Zeus human flesh. Zeus cursed Lycan and his fifty sons to become wolves. This is where the word \u2018lycanthrope<\/em>\u2019 is derived from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Luehrs migrated from Greece to Ireland, regaling the tale of The Three Daughters. For Samhain, the daughters would don wolfskin belts, kill livestock, and bring the fruits of their hunt back to their father. They were eventually tamed by flute song and the promise of a feast. But it was a trick. The music was a distraction. The daughters were killed by an army, and their spirits continued to dwell in the cave they called home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luehrs described the \u201cseam of time\u201d as the turning point between autumn and winter when the spiritual veil was thin. Halloween traditions of pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and dressing up are all vestigial habits that earlier cultures believed would protect them from spirits, ghouls, demons, and the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Luehrs, you might be a werewolf if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • You have red hair<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The ring finger on your hand is the same length as your middle finger<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The backs of your hands are hairy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You have a monobrow<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You love raw or rare meat<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You\u2019re fascinated by death and gore<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You\u2019re born with teeth<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You\u2019re the seventh daughter or son<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOne of the beauties of this myth is it continues to develop,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"
    Luehrs teaches the audience about the history of the Shapeshifter.
    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    The Shapeshifter is associated with many popular characters such as the werewolf, Hulk and witches.
    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most of the common presumptions surrounding werewolves were developed in the film \u201cThe Wolf Man\u201d (1960). The aversion to silver, the curse being transmitted through a bite, and the full moon transformation are all products of the 20th century. One participant chimed in, adding, \u201cnowadays it\u2019s often silver crucifixes that work against werewolves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cDo you have silver bullets?\u201d Another attendee taunted, to a general smattering of laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even up until the 1980s, werewolves were a prominent part of American culture. In 1988, the FOX channel opened a hotline for people to call in their werewolf sightings. 348,000 <\/em>callers responded, claiming to have survived encounters or witnessed werewolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWhen you\u2019re out tonight celebrating Halloween, you tell me if that dog at the end of the street is truly just a dog,\u201d Luehrs concluded to applause and even a howl or two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Story by ADIA REYNOLDS Photos by RORY MOORE Tiger Media Network Retired history professor Robert Luehrs presented \u201cThe Unspeakable Horror of the Shapeshifter\u201d on Halloween.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":83098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,3398,11],"tags":[15763,3431,15977,15700,15978],"class_list":["post-83095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-adia-reynolds","tag-halloween","tag-robert-luehrs","tag-rory-moore","tag-werewolves"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Luehrs-003.jpg?fit=1051%2C708&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83095"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83101,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83095\/revisions\/83101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}