The following version of this story was used to create the guide: Carter, Angela. "The Company of Wolves." The Bloody Chamber. Penguin Random House LLC, 2015.

In Angela Carter's "The Company of Wolves," the village people know the most terrifying thing in the forest are the wolves. Though they try to keep the wolves, and worse still, the werewolves, away from their homes, the beasts always find a way into the village. The creatures are particularly threatening and fierce in the middle of the winter, when the forest is devoid of food. The wolves often kill the villagers' livestock, and attack their children. Even the children know they must not venture out of the home without a knife.

The werewolves are the most frightening, because they are often disguised as humans, or turn from wolves into humans after being attacked. The villagers know that a naked man is as threatening as a salivating, snarling wolf. Once, a hunter thought he could trap a particularly ferocious wolf by digging a pit. He put a live duck inside the pit to bait the wolf. The wolf heard the duck and jumped in. The hunter jumped in after him, slit his throat, and cut off his feet. The wolf changed into a bloody, whimpering man.

Another time, a young woman married a man, and he disappeared on their wedding night while relieving himself out doors. Years later, after the woman had remarried and started a family, the husband returned. When the husband realized she had a new husband, he turned into his wolfish self and attacked one of her babies. The second husband attacked him with an axe, and the wolf changed back into a man.

These are the sorts of terrible things the village people believe will happen if they do not stay away from the wolves.

On Christmas Eve, a young girl in the village becomes determined to visit her grandmother. Though it is dusk, and her granny lives two hours away, the girl is undeterred. She takes a basket of treats and her carving knife, dons her red cloak, and sets out into the woods. On her way, a handsome young huntsman appears out of the brush. The girl, having just entered puberty, is immediately enamored. The two walk along together, talking as if they have known each other for many years. The man offers to carry the girl's basket, assuring her she does not need her knife, as he can protect them with his rifle.

A half mile from the grandmother's cottage, the man proposes a competition. He will take a short cut through the woods to Granny's, and the girl will stay on the path. Whoever arrives at the cottage first, wins. If he wins, she will have to give him a kiss. The girl agrees, taking her time once they part ways, in hopes that the man will win.

The man arrives at the cottage in advance of the girl. He imitates her voice, pretending to be the old woman's granddaughter, and she welcomes him in. Inside, the grandmother realizes the man is a wolf and becomes afraid. No matter what she does to defend herself, she cannot stop him from eating her. Afterwards, he tidies the cottage, dons the granny's nightcap and quilt, and waits for the girl.

Shortly after arriving, the girl realizes the man is not a human, and that he has eaten her granny. She feigns ignorance, and begins manipulating the man. She takes off all her clothes, and throws them into the fire. Then she begins undressing the man, remarking at the largeness of his arms and teeth. When he says he is going to eat her, the girl does not quake. Instead, she laughs, and tears off his shirt.

The two then spend an intimate evening together.