In folklore, werewolf (Old English: werwulf, "man wolf") or occasionally werewolf refers to a person who has the ability or intention to transform into a wolf (or, especially in modern movies, a hybrid wolf like creature of humanization). Cursed or tortured (often bitten or scratched by other werewolves). An early source of belief in this ability or pain, known as wolfing, was Peter ronius (27-66) and Gervase (1150-1228) of Tilbury.

Werewolf is a universal concept in European folklore, which exists in many varieties, which is related to the common development of Christian interpretation of the basic European folklore in the middle ages. From the early modern times, the belief of werewolves spread to the new world with colonialism. In the late Middle Ages and early modern times, werewolf belief and witch belief developed at the same time. Like the whole witchcraft trial, the so-called werewolf trial appeared in Switzerland in the early 15th century (especially in Wallace and Waupaca), and swept across Europe in the 16th century, peaked in the 17th century, and gradually subsided in the 18th century.

Persecution of werewolves and related folklore is an integral part of the phenomenon of "hunting witches", although the phenomenon is insignificant, and the charges against werewolves only involve a small part of witchcraft experiments. In the early days, accusations of wolfing (turned into wolves) were mixed with accusations of wolf riding or luring. The case of Peter stumpp (1589) led to the culmination of interest in and persecution of so-called werewolves, mainly in French and German speaking Europe. This phenomenon lasted the longest in Bavaria and Austria, and persecution of werewolves was not recorded until 1650. The last cases occurred in the early 18th century in the states of kernton and Styria.

After the witch trial, werewolves became the highlight of folk literature and art research and New Gothic horror themes. As a genre, werewolf novels have precedents in the medieval romantic history (such as bislavret and Guillaume de palerme), and developed from "half novel" traditional novels in the 18th century. The trap of horror literature in the 20th century has become a part of the type of horror and fantasy in modern popular culture.