Why Are Werewolves So Scary?
Derek Newman-Stille a senior tutor at Trent and graduate of Ancient History & Classics department says the Greeks and Romans portrayed the werewolf in their literature as frightening because it is a liminal symbol - being between one state and another.
He notes that werewolves and other transitory creatures are often viewed by us as monstrous because they show our humanity mixed with the animalistic. “What is frightening to us is that idea that there IS some humanity to the werewolf; that it is a blending of the two states and that it may symbolize a bestial nature in all human beings,” he said. Being liminal creatures, werewolves embodied the suspicion and fears of ancient civilizations, a characterization that only became less monstrous when the werewolves were associated with purification rituals in these stories.