Unpublished John Steinbeck werewolf novel could become available

John Steinbeck has an unpublished work that may be published one day if fans get their way.

Steinbeck could be shelved alongside Stoker or Shelley if fans can convince publishers to release a previously-unknown early work of the American

Steinbeck wrote a werewolf mystery novel titled Murder at Full Moon when he was a struggling new writer, and it was never published, but avid fans are now petitioning for its posthumous release, according to The Guardian newspaper.

In 1930, a decade before The Grapes of Wrath was published, the werewolf mystery was rejected by publishers and the 233-page unpublished manuscript just sat in the archives of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin.

The novel is set in a California town terrorised by murders that seem to only occur during a full moon. Those investigating suspect something supernatural is responsible and as the story unfolds, a reporter, an amateur detective, and the manager of a local gun club get caught up in the mystery.

American literature specialist at Stanford University, Gavin Jones, along with Steinbeck biographer William Souder have joined forces with others in the literary community demanding the book to be published posthumously.

Despite the growing interest, fans will likely be waiting a while to read the werewolf story. Steinbeck’s literary agents, McIntosh & Otis, told the Observer: “As Steinbeck wrote Murder at Full Moon under a pseudonym and did not choose to publish the work during his lifetime, we uphold what Steinbeck had wanted.”