Dressed in Sheep’s Clothing: Something About Them Wairs

Photo by Darshak Pandya

In Something About Them Wairs, a new horrific and spine-chilling book from Everett D. Wair Sr., everyone seems like they are wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing.

In Lancaster, California, a quiet horror is beginning to terrorize the town, and bodies, lots of them, have been piling up, strewn about in various states of dismemberment. Something is happening, but the three people of the Wair family that might know are keeping mum about it and not letting their secrets out.

Fast forward a few years, and the three men have become fathers to teenage sons. As members of the African-American community, they’re no strangers to harassment, belittlement, and discrimination–but the Wairs, each and every one of them, are not your ordinary citizens.

What are the secrets the Wairs are trying to hide? What is the terror of Lancaster? And are the Wairs in some way related to it?

That is the spiel for Something About Them Wairs, a horrific and spine-chilling new book from Everett D. Wair Sr. that puts a new twist on the myth of the werewolf.

Dressed in Sheep’s Clothing

Something About Them Wairs tries to take the werewolf myth through a novel spin and a fresh modern coat of paint, but why are werewolf stories so appealing in the first place? 

• Firstly, as humans are quite curious creatures, werewolves embody a fear of the unknown. Werewolves, in their most basic stories, are half-human, half-bestial creatures that walk both worlds as cunning predators. This ambiguity around their nature makes them quite unsettling and compelling. It does not help that the werewolf is often associated with violence and savagery.
• Werewolves also make for excellent vehicles to explore the conflict between good and evil. As creatures that have a foot in two disparate worlds, werewolves often struggle to control their baser instincts and their human side, which can map to the good and evil within everyone. This theme makes the werewolf a very powerful, thought-provoking character.
• The conflict between man and beast within a werewolf also makes them a very interesting framing device for discussing the human condition. Through the eyes of a werewolf, stories can explore themes of identity, transformation, and human will. On the darker side, they can also provide glimpses of the violence and savagery that is inherent in the human soul.
• Another way that werewolf stories spark interest is that they are often quite exciting and suspenseful. Of course, this is due solely to the nature of being a werewolf, a dangerous man-beast that excels greatly in violence and is constantly shrouded in an air of thick mystery. What could be scarier lurking in the shadows than a beast who can think like a man? A wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing?
• A more modern trend regarding werewolves is their rehabilitation as Monster Husbands, similar to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Werewolves are often cast as misunderstood gentlemen, valiantly fighting against their evil natures. This dichotomy makes romantic and sexual tension ripe and intriguing. 

At the end of the day, werewolf stories have such a solid grasp on the human subconscious because they tap into their deepest fears, desires, and fantasies. Malleable and ever-changing, werewolves have been explorations of human nature, objects of romantic relationships, terrifying monsters in the dark, and a glimpse of hope and redemption. With the recent paranormal boom, werewolves aren’t going away anytime soon.

Something About Them Wairs

Something About Them Wairs is a horror story. This book follows the enigmatic Wair family. They might look like your average African-American family, but they have a deep and dark secret, one that they viciously and unquestionably hide from foreign prying eyes. 

The world of Something About Them Wairs is beautifully realized, written in simple but compelling prose and always with crumbs of a deeper, more intimate history that author Everett D. Wair Sr. dangles in front of readers. Something About Them Wairs presents a dark and violent world where the paranormal permeates, and werewolves live quietly alongside humans, hidden in plain sight: horrific predators dressed in sheep’s clothing. A lot of thought has been put into the world, and it is extremely obvious in the writing. 

The characters, members of the eponymous Wair family, are well-crafted and multi-dimensional. Each and every one of them is quite relatable and sympathetic despite their glaring flaws. The entanglement between them is extremely compelling, and when the knot is untangled, it is terribly satisfying.

Whether you are a fan of urban fantasy, werewolves, or horror, or you are just looking for a great read, Something About Them Wairs is worth checking out.