Cycle of the Werewolf is a horror novella by American writer Stephen King, featuring illustrations by comic-book artist Bernie Wrightson. It was first published as a limited-edition hardcover in 1983 by Land of Enchantment, and later as a mass-market trade paperback in 1985 by Signet. At 127 pages, it is King's shortest novel, technically a novella.
The story is structured as a series of vignettes, with each chapter covering a different month of the year. It chronicles a series of brutal murders in the small, isolated town of Tarker's Mills, Maine. The killings always occur during the full moon, and the townspeople slowly come to realize that a werewolf is responsible. The narrative culminates in a confrontation between the creature and a young, wheelchair-bound boy who has deduced its identity.
Bernie Wrightson's illustrations are a significant part of the work, with full-page black-and-white drawings accompanying each chapter. The collaboration between King and Wrightson, a legendary horror comic artist, made the limited edition a sought-after collector's item. King later adapted his own novella into the screenplay for the 1985 film Silver Bullet.
