The Wolfen (1978), the debut novel by Whitley Strieber, tells the story of two police detectives in New York City who, while investigating the violent deaths of two policemen in a junk yard, discover that a pack of intelligent and savage wolf-like creatures are stalking the city. These predators are not traditional werewolves, as they are a separate race of intelligent beings descended from wolves that live secretly alongside mankind in our cities and quickly killing anyone who learns about their existence. What is unique about this novel is that some of the story is told from the point of view of the alpha creatures and this causes the reader to be sympathetic of the creatures' needs.

A film adaptation directed by Michael Wadleigh and starring Albert Finney, was released in 1981.