  Horror/Scary
This week: Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies, Oh My! Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can't be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious.
~ Dario Argento
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The old standbys of horror, vampires, werewolves, and zombies, have been done to death (pun intended) in recent years, to the point that some horror publications and contests will no longer accept submissions involving these creatures. These characters are too good to abandon completely, but if we do write about them, we need to recreate them in an original way. Here are some examples of ways that we can show the old favorites of horror in a new light (although they may not like that!)
Traditional vampires live forever by drinking blood and avoiding sunlight. The traditional vampire's modern descendants might have grown beyond the need to drink blood, and absorb energy just by being close to their victims. This type of vampire would be harder to recognize and kill. Have you ever known a person who seems to drain all the energy from a room? He or she could be one of Count Dracula's great grandchildren. The Weeping Angels of "Doctor Who" are a sort of vampire. They take the form of statues and are only able to move when they are not seen. If they touch you, they send you back in time, and feed off the energy of the time you lost.
Werewolves have two natures--one human, and one beast. During the full moon, the beast takes over, and the human assumes wolf form. These legends probably arose when primitive people observed mentally ill individuals or victims of rabies who appeared "wild". A werewolf is one form of a shapeshifter, but all shapeshifters are not werewolves. Instead of a werewolf, you might want to base your story on another lesser known form of shapeshifter. Other legendary shapeshifting creatures include the Scottish selkie and kelpie, the Japanese kitsune, and the Australian bunyip. Some of them have an magical object they need to make the change, such as the selkie's sealskin. Mystique of "The X-Men" is a shapeshifter who was born with the ability to assume the likeness of any other person, even imitating their voice.
Most zombies in modern horror stories and movies are the shambling, mindless flesh eating kind popularized by the "Night of the Living Dead" series of movies. This form of zombie is often infected with a virus or toxin which induces zombieism. The original zombies of African and Haitian folklore, however, were said to be corpses reanimated by magical means and used as slaves. In some stories, a sorcerer captured a part of a person's soul and kept it in a specially decorated bottle. As long as the soul fragment remained in the bottle, the zombie was under complete control of the sorcerer. In cases, sorcerers are said to have treated people with powerful combinations of drugs, which induced a deathlike coma. When the subjects awakened, the sorcerer convinced them that he had raised them from the dead, and they were now under his control.
If you want to write a story that involves one of these standard horror creatures, try to give it an unusual twist. For example, maybe other, even more sinister characters are using these creatures to practice dark magic of their own. Who knows what could be accomplished with the imprisoned soul of a zombie, the tooth of a werewolf, and the dust of a staked vampire?
Something to try: Write a horror story with an unusual form of one of horror's standard monsters. |
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Answers to last month's question: Are you afraid of the dark?
blunderbuss
Only when I can't see! That isn't meant to be flippant. I went to a carol concert last evening at an open air theatre (cold, but it was brilliant) - only trouble was that so many people participated we had to park outside on the road (I'm talking about minor roads/lanes, here in Cornwall UK), and there were no lights until you got across a gravelled, uneven track, followed by deep mud ruts, and a slippery grassy bank. It really was pitch dark - and I'm wearing these high-heeled knee length boots (for warmth). Even fiercely grabbing my other half's hand didn't really help. What if he stumbled into something, first? When you've stopped laughing - we got there OK (obviously). You have to be tough in these rural locations, but I'm only a wimp!
Many thanks for the newsletter and the question by the way. Oh and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
I am afraid of the dark. That's why I carry a Maglight with me to banish the darkness away, and club monsters with. 
Question for next time: What or who is your favorite horror villain/monster? |
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Horror/Scary: January 07, 2015 Issue [#6756]
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