View source for Alt.Horror.Werewolves

{{Infobox list
|title=Alt.Horror.Werewolves
|moderator=unmoderated
|url=https://groups.google.com/d/forum/alt.horror.werewolves
|status=Active
|began=November 16, 1992
}}
'''Alt.Horror.Werewolves''' is the {{w|Usenet Newsgroup}} generally considered to be the birthplace of the [[therian]] community.

== History ==

Alt.Horror.Werewolves was created on November 16, 1992 as an extension of the existing alt.horror {{w|Usenet}} hierarchy.<ref name="faq">{{website|title=alt.horror.werewolves Core-FAQ|first=[[Katmandu]]|year=1997|url=http://ftp.gnome.org/mirror/archive/ftp.sunet.se/pub/usenet/rtfm.mit.edu/usenet-by-group/alt.horror.werewolves/alt.horror.werewolves_Core-FAQ|archiveurl=http://archive.is/lh0M4|publisher=alt.horror.werewolves|date=October 27, 2016}}</ref>.  Originally the group existed for the discussion of werewolves in horror movies and books, and more broadly in mythology.  A year after its creation, in November 1993, it began to attract users claiming to be "real werewolves" and other werecreatures.<ref name="therianhist93">{{website|title=History of the Therian Community - 1993|url=http://houseofchimeras.weebly.com/history-of-the-therian-community---1993.html|first=House of Chimeras|year=2015|date=October 27, 2016|publisher=[http://houseofchimeras.weebly.com]|archiveurl=http://archive.is/bbxFJ}}</ref>  Gradually this discussion took over the newsgroup, and the concept of "spiritual [[therianthropy]]" developed.

In December 1994, a [[windigos|windigo]] therian named [[James Harrion III]] suggested the term [[therianthropy]] be used as a more general term than the then-popular [[lycanthropy]].<ref>{{website|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/alt.horror.werewolves/-Bl7zmVezJs/fLFBF2r80J8J|archiveurl=https://archive.is/1zfXY|first=[[Katmandu]]|year=1994|date=October 28, 2016|publisher=alt.horror.werewolves}}</ref>  This would go on to be adopted as the general term for the community, with members calling themselves [[therianthropes]], later shortened to [[therians]].

== The Meow Wars ==

In 1996, Alt.Horror.Werewolves was attacked by a group of [[wikipedia:Troll (Internet)|trolls]] - or, as they were known then, "Usenet Performance Artists" - called the [[Meowers]], as part of what would come to be termed "The Meow Wars", one of the largest {{w|flamewars}} in Usenet history.<ref>{{website|url=http://xahlee.info/Netiquette_dir/_/meow_wars.html|title=The One True History of Meow|first=The 2-Belo|date=January 22, 2013|publisher=xahlee.info|archiveurl=http://archive.is/LTvke}}</ref> Ironically, some of the meowers were themselves members of the early [[otherkin]] community, including [[Tiernan]]<ref name="meowwatcher">{{website|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20030413150745/http://www.geocities.com/meowwatcher/who.html|url=http://www.geocities.com/meowwatcher/who.html|title=A field guide to Meower sightings|first=Tabaqui|date=January 22, 2013|publisher=www.geocities.com}}</ref> and [[Magpie Hrafnsdottir]].<ref name="lindsayusenet">{{website|url=http://groups.google.com/group/Alt.Horror.Werewolves/msg/e34b0c54f048b671?dmode=source|title=Meeeeeeooooooooooow!|publisher=Alt.Horror.Werewolves|first=Lindsay|last=Tart|date=January 22, 2013|archiveurl=http://archive.is/ZRe0l}}</ref>

This attack rendered the newsgroup largely unusable for some time, and began the migration of the online therian community to private IRC channels, mailing lists, and forums.<ref>{{website|title=Foundation's Edge: The History of the Online Werecommunity|first=[[Jakkal]]|year=1999|url=http://www.were.net/foundation.shtml|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20030219031305/http://www.were.net/foundation.shtml|date=October 27, 2016|publisher=[[WereNet]]}}</ref>

== External links ==
* [http://web.archive.org/web/19991104112047/http://www.furnation.com/lobo/forest/uh-ahww.htm Unofficial AHWW Archive] (Archived via the {{w|Internet Archive}}.

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Kintype-Specific Mailing Lists]]
[[Category:Therian Mailing Lists]]