For this first blog I thought I’d talk about the huge werewolf that’s currently terrorising the Yorkshire Wolds, mostly because supernatural creatures in this area are the subject of my book Cat Flap. Some people scoff at the paranormal, but not any longer. Reports of a genuine 8ft werewolf were recently published in the local papers and then the British tabloids. People have seen the monster running around and eating Alsatian dogs near the rural waterway known as Barmston Drain near the market town of Beverley. Apparently the Wolds are notorious for werewolf sightings and Barmston isn’t far from me. During the next full moon I’ll be heading there with my camera at dusk and I’ll post any lupine evidence here in this blog. How hard can it be?

This werewolf is just one of many that have been reported near here over the centuries. It looks as if supernatural creatures have a liking for York and the Yorkshire Wolds, Flixton, north of Scarborough, being a notorious spot. A coach was attacked there in 1800 and in the 1970s a werewolf tried to smash its way through the windscreen of a truck.

During my research, I came across this medieval woodcut print from the British Museum. The Yorkshire wolf here is depicted in human form, with his wife at the door yelling: 'Your dinner's almost ready. What the hell have I told you about snacking between meals?'

There’s also this 1858 painting by Maurice Sand entitled Werewolves. Is it just me, or do these characters look like prostitutes waiting for kerb crawlers and other 'passing trade' in the red light area of town? I don't imagine they'd do much business. Imagine one of these leaning into your car window like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

The only thing that has me questioning the validity of these recent news stories is the way all the ‘witnesses’ are constantly referred to as ‘a woman said’ or ‘a local claimed’.

Well, that and the 8ft werewolf.