I gotta get home to watch this video...

Shameful for me on two levels: I'm an SA native (didn't go to Marshall but close by) and I dated a guy in college (in Michigan) who openly identified himself as a lycanthrope. Facepalm.

Devolution:

'80s deathrockers > '90s spooky kids > '00s Hot Topic vamps > '10s mall werewolves

Blecchh.

never have I seen high school kids so in need of beatings

SEE?!?!?
-
I TOLD YOU that Furries and Cosplayers were a sign of things to come, but you wouldn't listen to me. You called me "judgmental" for griping about cosplayers, and then THIS happens.
-
Enjoy your local pack of Mall Werewolves embarrassing the hell out of you, guys. I tried to warn you. I really did.

I've always thought the whole thing about groups and gangs in US schools was a perpetuated stereotype I didn't realize it was true.

Must be something to do with a sense of belonging in Britain we don't have any gangs at all in schools really. Either way there must be something psychologically profound for people to dress in that way.

My friend and I were walking through a San Antonio mall (Ingram, for those who know) and we saw two girls with fake tails strapped to their belts. To which my friend commented, "If they were cuter it'd be sad, but as-is it's just depressing."

These "gangs" tend to crowd around the Dance Dance Revolution machines in the arcade. God, that place has become a cesspool for freaks--I once walked in wearing a Kakashi hoodie and some girl in full-blown anime/goth gear comes up and says, "Hey! Kakashi! I'm gonna start calling you Kakashi! We have a friend we call Naruto!" I believe the arcade closed recently, but I had already stopped going because of the oddballs that infested the place...and because they got rid of the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 cabinet.

This makes me feel ashamed to be a fan of lycanthropes...

is this who they listen to

http://www.theyoungwerewolves.com

*Shakes head* Now everyone who has seen this video is a winner of the contest.

Looks like teenagers being teenagers to me. On a slow news day.

Not ONE person has made a 'doggy-style' joke? Wow, that's sad...

Not as sad as this trend, but sad nonetheless...

Normally I'd roll my eyes and make a snarky comment about furries...

But I really get the impression that these kids owe more to the "Uuhhh, there was, like, werewolves in that last Twilight movie. They're cool now, right?" than anything else.

I guess vampires are just passe now...

I swear to Gob, if I have to share my zombie apocalypse mall with some teen-wolves, I'm taking a nose dive from the parking garage and joining the more human group.

God Damnit Teenagers.

Stop giving me reasons to hate my own people.

After reading and enjoying the hell out of this site for many, many months, I surprisingly feel compelled to call foul here.
This is a place that certainly boasts the "by nerds, for nerds" credo and is a main reason I appreciate if here.
I also appreciate the heckling of celebrities and cheesy filmmaking that goes on (made easier by the 'mean-spiritedness' button at the top of the page).
However, calling out these kids (what are they, 14 years old?) for being dorks and still expressing themselves creatively in high school? In TEXAS no less?
Everyone who reads and writes on this site shares a common interest in Star Wars, anime, comic books, etc. It'd be nice think that also doesn't include judgmental pricks.

I hate all these people.
Uncontrollably.

And yet again my city embarrasses me. Though I personally have never seen these teenage werewolves, I will be stocking up on silver bullets.

I truly hope that the Creature from the Black Lagoon becomes the next monster to be emulated by tragically attention-starved teens.
.
They all be just as annoying, but will hang out at the bottom of large bodies of water, and therefore, not bothering anyone.

sigh*....its not just me is it? Teenagers ARE getting more and more retarded.

I love werewolves ya know? books, tv...movies.toys....

but this....this makes me sad..

Oh man I thought they were making a new teen wolf.

this just shows that the need by the current generation to belong to some group has wound up going to now some are saying they are were wolves. what next mummies.

it's official we are a society are doomed. It appears that if you were born after 1990(I only give it that cut off cause my brother was born in 90 and he's functional) you are pretty much doomed to be an idiot. See what happens when they don't have awesome cartoon to watch growing up. It makes a difference, TV has doomed our future. I wanna cry right now. Also when that dude fell did he yelp?

Back when I was a kid, we put our lycanthropic abilities to use on the B-ball court. Ah, how times change.

Too much fucking time on their hands. Give those kids more homework.

First off I live in San Antonio.

And as I'm laughing as I'm watching the video I have to give these kids credit.
I mean I'm nervous just with public speaking.
I couldn't imagine walking around with a tail in public and howling.

The best sound bite "we're not to be feared"

Haha, that guy really didn't want to be on telly with his Mum. That was more tense than the scene in my bathroom after a mutton vindaloo.

I was about to say I'm going to have to stock up on silver bullets, but then I realized that it would probably make them happy. I want them to die slow deaths so that they have time to hear "wow you're human after all, who knew?" before they take their final breath...

Well Rob, I think you've found your most uncomfortable nerd moment act for the contest, haven't you?

Do werewolves where T-shirts? I mean t-shirts that aren't bought from Hot Topic.

Me thinks there is a South Park episode on the horizon.

It will be funnier 20 years from now when these kids will vehemently deny they were ever into this. Its this generations bellbottoms and platform shoes.

"That is, as long as mom and dad let them out of the house."
Ouch.

ehh they're teens. High school is the time when you're supposed to try lots of weird looks and "shock the mundanes." If they don't phase out of tails by the time they hit college then it gets icky.

i am now very ashamed of being fan a werewolves. stupid kids

...when will zombies go into style???

come on people! who's with me?? who's ready to go out with fake rotting flesh glued to their faces???

We're not a cult! we're not a gang! we're just family! and we can go out at night and pretend to eat the flesh of the living!!!

just be careful that you don't let one of the other zombies get caught with the skull of little Billy who dissapeared from his playpen a month ago!

The solution is obvious:
1-Invent time machine.
2-Go back in time a retroactively abort Stephanie Meyer.
3-Return to present and enjoy the 'wussed-out vampire/werewolf' free world.

How has nobody commented on the crazy chick who cut her neighbor's dog's head off and boiled it? That was by far way worse than a couple of misguided youths playing dress-up.

HAHAHA! "We're not to be feared"

Oh my god, I was a bit goth myself, but if anyone tried wearing a fake tail, they would have been eviscerated. Of course, the same would apply if they were hanging out at the mall... there was nothing to do in Tucson for teenagers either, but no matter how lame we may have been, we could always look down on the kids who hung out at the mall.

I'm just glad they were so reassuring as to not being threatening to anyone. Otherwise I might be too scared to go out at night if there's a full moon.

Sad. And lame.

Why can't they all grow a pair and play D&D in the basement like normal kids?

Funny, I still don't hate these kids as much as I hate local news broadcasts. Yes, KENS Live at 5, it was probably FUCKING VAN HELSING (or Twilight, maybe), but probably this lazy B-ROLL OF FUCKING VAN HELSING that caused a fire sale on tails at Hot Topic.

DAYKITTEN. WOLFRAM. LUPUS. WHAT?

i live in san antonio.
and have much shame for this...
jack daniels your my only friend

i too am i resisdent here in SA..i saw this when it originally aired and im just as embarrassed then as i am now..and James up there that made the Texas comment..fuck you sir fuck you right in the ear

Oh dear lord no. GET THESE KIDS TO PSYCHIATRISTS NOW WHILE THEY STILL HAVE A CHANCE AT BEING PRODUCTIVE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY

these kids are totally into Michael J. Fox...

What self-respecting wolf would allow themselves to be tethered to a leash, let alone their own leash. Kids, please for the love of God, if you want to be werewolves, go play the White Wolf game.

and I guess my last post didn't like my sarcasm tags .. sigh ...

I think the notion that we, as nerds, are inherently (or ought to be) nonjudgmental is fallacious. Nerds, generally defined, are some of the most contentious and argumentative people there are demonstrable by our willingness to take and defend polarizing aesthetic (and sometimes moral) positions about our particular areas of interest to the hostile exclusion of positions and groupings with which/whom we disagree.

I liken this to survival by intrepid settlers in wild and hostile environments--societally speaking in this case. We're on shaky ground in danger of alienation (starvation, exposure, etc.) and we're ever wary of our fellow nerd settlers squandering carefully accrued cultural capital and acceptance (resources) thereby bringing the entire community down by proxy.

The fact of the matter is that nerddom is a continuum stretching from the most casual, almost indiscernible fan of Star Wars or Batman to our splendid catalog of FFF writers with everything in between. Everyone draws his/her own line on that continuum somewhere, and I don't blame anyone who says these kids are "over the line" because they've crossed mine too.

I should be embarassed and threatened by these people who have nothing to do with me, why?

Yikes.

Like all silly fads ignore it and it goes away. However I did have a laugh at the kid wo said "we aren't trying to intimidate anyone or anything" lol the last thing those bony geeks do is intimidate anyone.

To those defending these wastes of skin. There is a line between "nerd" and "sad". I play videogames, but I don't dress like Tidus and go around bothering strangers about "how awesome FF X is". I read comic books, but I don't think I 'm from Krypton and blather about what each color of Kryptonite does. I watch anime, but I don't pretend to speak Japanese or try to kill people by writing down their names. Going out in public dressed like an animal and telling everyone you turn into a wolf is just sad. So very, very sad.

dude. Twilight called. They want their lameness back.

What a pretty young lady.

Oh . . . err . . . that's a boy?????

My wife just watched this video... we are now aware of the furgoths.... Actualy that doesnt sound like a half bad band name....

Damn, *sigh* damn. I know I've said this before but I think this, THIS, is the reason why the world hates the US. Goddamn, I hope Twiglight goes to he'll, it goes to he'll and it dies!!!

So being a werewolf is the new thing? Man, when I was in high school they would have been "Wiccans" and ran about with pentagrams and books by Silver Ravenwolf. Actually, that's a little less insane than this, because at least Wiccans still believe they're human (most of the time). Still it's just goth kids being goth kids-nothing has really changed, just the title of what they deem themselves to be and the accessories (furry tails instead of "magic" crystals). It does seem that fads are getting even more ridiculous as time goes on-at least Wicca could still be a reasonable belief system (it's better than Scientology) but thinking you're part canine is pretty ludicrous. As someone who went through the "I'm all dark and goffic" phase, I find myself wanting to punch every one of those kids because I know how fucking stupid it all is.

Sigh That was physically painful to watch but I made myself sit through the whole thing. I'm a fan of the werewolf genre in books and film, and this whole thing is really just...blech. I get they want to be individuals and this is their way to feel that way, but they still look like idiots. As most teenagers do.

At first I thought they were harmless. Aww, it's just stupid high schoolers trying to find a group they fit into and that they can derive their identity from. It's a unique example of a normal process. But then they said their 'alpha male' was found with the skull of a neighbors dog! WTF? Where did that come from? WTF happened?

They're like crappy emo kids with a hint of furry. Ugh. It's even nice looking fashion. Like most emos, they still fashion queues from the older and more well defined goth and punk movements. Plays that add on wolf ears that looks like rejects from an anime con. Not that I'm hating on all the anime con cat ear wearing fangirls, as I went out with a girl who did it for a con and she wasn't bad about it at all. Yet to do this so blindly without a fashion sense every day annoys the hell out of me. Ironically wearing Three Wolf Moon shirts are infinitely cooler than anything here.

There have been people long before these idiots who are into wolves and did something neat with clothing. Hell, I got a small silver wolf pendant myself. Yet this is just a fashion and social train wreck.

I have to note, it must have been a really slow news day for this to constitute as 'news.'

I'm going to prescribe a copy of Whitley Streiber's "The Wolfen" to be shoved down the collective throat of this pathetic subculture.
If the symptoms should continue or worsen I suggest a rock salt loaded shotgun blast at close range.

HELLO MY NAME IS TWILIGHT AND I AM A VAMPIRE WEREWOLF.

I went through that phase around age 12, though thankfully it was only a mental thing, no tails or goth stuff or any of that crap. Now I wonder what the fuck I was thinking.

Woah, woah woah. I recognize that I have a lot of patience for teenagers and that I cannot necessarily expect that trait from others. Having said that, please keep in mind that teenagers with functional hormone levels face high levels of disconnect between the reality they find themselves in and the reality of their neurochemical makeup. Everything in their bodies and minds is telling them that each and every day is a desperate fight. Every boy or girl they like is "the most" physically attractive. Every slight embarrassment is "the most" mortifying. Every wound is "the most" scarring... because their physiological and chemical reactions to these events are disproportionate. If you had everything in your being telling you something, you'd be hard pressed to ignore it, too. In addition, sandwiched between being able to own their adulthood and being able to be excused for being children, teenagers are desperately searching for meaning. I agree with this kid's mom. If this is the worst thing he does in high school, she is blessed. Did anyone notice that these kids seemed slightly more mentally at peace with their situation? And who are we to say whether a person's normal animal affinities might actually define a part of who their soul is. To me, this is way less embarrassing than the otaku in my Eastern Civ classes by far. Anyone reading this site is likely to have, at one time or another, desperately wished or even begun to think that some part of the world was magical. And these kids look rather fey and THEY LIVE IN TEXAS. I'd want to escape too. For shame, TR nerds. For shame.

meh. teenagers are impressionable, anyways. no surprise that some of the things they did would be moronic by adult standards. i mean, hey, i was a NERD in my teens, and STILL proud of it today! if not, i wouldn't frequent this place, now wouldn't i?

and now, for my shakira impersonation. ahem. "There's a she wolf in your closet/Awooooo/Open up and set her free" -belly dance hip shakes-

It puts me in mind of all of the women who like to call themselves “Cat” despite the fact that they are about as far from the slim, supple ideal of felinity as one can get. Why was it always the fat, dumpy chicks who wanted that nickname? They weren’t even named Catherine so there was really no excuse. They just wanted, no, NEEDED that little fantasy to feel special and beautiful. These kids aren’t much different; they’re just taking on a slightly darker fantasy because they want, they need to feel special and powerful.

see now why arent we all dressing up like wampas and ewoks gathering in malls

I think you need to re-award the "nerd embarassment" award to all of these kids. I'm ashamed just knowing that these idiots are breathing air that I could be using.

You guys better not make fun of them, or Wolfie Blackheart will cut your dog's head off, too...

I remember a year or so ago I was watching the local news do a story on vampires in the city. The people were absolutely serious, claiming to be "Energy Vampires who drank the good vibes off of people around them" They interviewed a couple where the mundane husband said he had always been hyper but since moving in with his vampiric girlfriend, finds himself more calm.

The point is that this woman claimed they had legitimate status as vampires and it was not to get attention or anything as silly as that. Then she went on to talk about how she had changed her name to "Ravenblood Moongoddess" BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT VAMPIRE NAMES ARE SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE.

WHAT THE FUCK???

WHAT THE FUCK???

wow..judgmental much?
I would love to see the high school pictures of all of you stellar examples of mankind.
how many of you sported the ridiculous multitude of "popped collars" or walked around one-handed because the other was needed to hold up your pants?
No doubt some of you are sitting there in your plaid walking shorts, brown knee-high nylon socks and Birkenstock sandals.
Want to crack on something appalling? Check your mirror as you're rushing out to the grocery store sometime.
Now young "Dexter" with the neighbor's dog's head is another matter entirely...

If I may share my own personal story about the rage this caused me:

I posted this video (via an article from Gamma Squad) on Facebook, and I ranted and raved appropriately. Or so I thought. I got called out my deserved hatred of these... let's call them "beings"... when I was reminded that Twilight (obviously the cause of this trend) is my friend Melissa's favorite book.

Melissa died in 2008.

I felt like crap, but I still hate Twilight. I will continue to do so, but every time I rage like this, it'll kill me just a bit because I know that it was so dear to my good friend.

"Bittersweet" hardly begins to describe it.

ROTFLMAO! Ok...so was it really necessary to do a news story about this? I mean really... are you trying to get this crap to spread? We just finally got rid of the glampires( Love of vampires = necrophiliacs) now we are going to have to see these individuals slinking around the local mall and coffee houses, *sigh* ( wolfpackies = bestiality) so what will be next? The frankenstieners? The Godzillers? Can not wait for the next silly teen angst rage...they are amusing, but they will also be running our country some day.

This is great - it reminds me of a girl I knew back in the day. She maintained that she was 'related to Wolverine' and also 'a werewolf' (I'm not sure where on the geek continuum those things crossed). It took me a while to realize that on some level she actually believed both things; perhaps the best part of the story is that she went to Harvard, which must have been really pushing the boat out for diversity if they were trying to up the werewolf contingent.

ironic, yet delightful, if a real werewolf decided to eat their faces

Exactly my point Superfecta.
A 'werewolf' that wound up going to Harvard.
Lighten up guys.

100+ posts and not a mention of the dog killing whore Blackie?
Sad.

In the video, LOOK at how far apart the boy's mother is standing from him. That speaks volumes to me. (I'm not convinced by her words.) Teenagers do not get enough love and support from their families, so it is only natural for them to create a family of their own among their peers. They cling tightly to each other for social and emotional survival. The tails and the leashes are just uniforms to show the world that they are part of a group and not alone.

Awesome, now I no longer have any regrets about any geeky thing I've ever done. Like some nerd Jesus, these "werewolves" have become the ultimate social pariahs so that the rest of us can seem normal... and they let it be aired on TV.

Why are they wearing leashes and collars? That would seem to be something more associated with domestic dogs than wild wolves!

I laughed way too much.

Also, I am pretty sure I've seen an emo girl wearing a tail before

Good for them but this is so f*ckin' lame. Serioulsly the only cool Werewolf i know is Captain Hans Güsche from the "Hellsing" Mangas. Oh, well Kids...

"It's not emo, and it's not goth..."

So when you pin a fake tail on an emo goth kid, they suddenly aren't an emo goth kid anymore... they're a "werewolf". Even though they're head to toe in Hot Topic clothing, wearing "scary" novelty contact lenses/fangs, and sporting sloppily applied heavy black eyeliner and lipstick?

Those tails must be MAGIC.

Having lived in the SA area (fredericksburg forthose who know the area) for several years I know that texas doesn't suck as much as some of you seem to think. SA is teeming with stuff to do. I had to move from WI to Texas in the middle of my freshman year of high school. You wanna talk about difficult adjustment I wasn't even accepted by the local nerds till I was a junior and helped them with world history. I graduated from the most communist school EVER I mean I would have thought Lennin and Marx were the principles! We had a VERY strict dress code and I could go on and on and on, but the bottom line is I survived and came out pretty normal but these kids are sad sad sad excuses for social outcasts I at least kept to myself and read RA Salvatore's entire catalog, most of stephen King's and was once stuffed in a trash can for trying to explain Hawkings to the varsity football team's center. Life in Texas is tough for a nerd but we can all agree that it aint easy anywhere, buÞ come the fuck on they aint making it any easier for themselves and surrounding nerds. At least they don't have a huge chance of procreating as inner pack love is most likely frowned upon by the alpha male

I hope someone is bullying these geeks. They deserve it.

I live in SA. OH MY GOD THESE PEOPLE LIVE IN THIS CITY!

AAAUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

No, no, no, no, no. If you can't actually change into a bloodthirsty best by the light of the full moon, you have no right to call yourself a werewolf. These people are a disgrace to all the Larry Talbots and David Kesslers of the world.

"I know why Jesus Wept".

Hmm...

Interesting, in that "Cool but what ON EARTH are they smoking?" way...

Sad. They're not even worth a single silver bullet to the heart. Even Van Helsing wouldn't bother hunting them down.

Oh its not emo and its not goth. Good to know. Cause wearing a fucking tail is definitely better than being a damn goth! Also good to know that the reporter is hip enough to know those words. It was a phresh to deth report on lycans too.

Sorry, gotta keep ranting here. So... Gangs who kill people and shit are posers, but the douchebags pretending to be werewolves arent...? Okay, that makes sense. And I love how that one girl is like "We go to each other for our problems." You could do that with these things called "Real Friends" and you wouldnt even need the outfits that look like a Hot Topic raped you.

I am actually more surprised how positive this story was and how it's overall theme was like look at these kids- boy are they strange, but they're alright. It just seems very odd for a news channel to view anything like kids dressing up weird and hanging out at the mall in a positive light. time must have changed.

huh... i was a teenage kid in high school... didn't realise that had become so old school.
im an aussie and we've picked up some of the more crazy american trends but i swear to god, if i start seeing werewolf children i will pack up and move to canada. or new zealand.
I remember when vampires and werewolves were SCARY.

I couldn't believe how calm and open minded that boy's mother was (I thought it was pretty awesome or her actually) The kids according to everyone around them are good kids.
And if you read into the dog's head story it's pretty much a witch-hunt on a girl who's strange.
I think it's getting harder to be unique, every style will be impacted by previous styles because there's only so much you can do to be shocking now. Chains (i.e. Hot Topic) want to profit from trends, until it becomes mainstream... It's just social evolution and they're probably better off than the future 17yr old cheerleader moms with no idea who owes them child support.

Man I remember growing up in SA (still live here actually) and the city had it's own Latin/Country/Mexican vibe to it. Around 2000 or so it seems like everyone just wanted to become a Clear Channel "gangsta" or a Hot Topic reject.