  Horror/Scary
This week: Horror with many faces 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."
~Dario Argento |
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If I could have any supernatural talent, it would be shapeshifting. It would be so much fun to be able to turn into a likeness of any other person or even an animal or bird. Of course, if I were a shapeshifter, I would only use my powers for good  , but what if an evil being could change forms at will? How do you fight a creature who could look like anyone or anything?
Some very powerful characters (both good and bad) in popular fiction have some shapeshifting ability. Examples include Mystique of the X-Men, the Trickster from Supernatural, Loki of Norse mythology and the Marvel Avengers series, Sam from True Blood, and Mercy Thompson from Patricia Briggs' series by the same name. Some are limited to animals or other people, while others can become anything at all.
Many creatures from folklore and mythology are able to change form. A werewolf is a type of shapeshifter, although the change is not voluntary at the time of the full moon. Vampires are thought to be able to transform into bats and some other animals. A selkie is able to change from seal to human form. A skinwalker is an evil witch in some Native American legends who is able to become an animal by wearing the animal's skin. Skinwalkers are considered especially evil, because they obtain their magic power by murdering other humans. Some fae or fairy folk do not actually change form, but put on a magical "glamour" which makes them appear human.
While Mystique has no problem duplicating the clothes of any person she becomes, clothing can be an interesting problem for shapeshifters. Mercy Thompson has been hindered by clothes, or lack of them, when shifting into her coyote form and back. In one instance she became tangled up in her bra. Because she is naked when she shifts back to human form, she needs to be someplace where she will not be seen.
Another unique challenge faced by shapeshifters is the change in body mass. If a 200 pound man changes into an 800 pound tiger or a one ounce hummingbird, how does the gain or loss of weight happen? You might explain it by pure magic, or it might impose some limits on the shapeshifter. Maybe he can only become a person or animal that has an equal mass to his own. Maybe he can become a swarm of smaller animals, such as a vampire transforming into hundreds of bats. Or maybe the change in size and weight comes with some energetic or magical cost to the shifter.
You might want to impose other limits on the shapeshifting character as well. Maybe he can only shift into a person or animal he has touched, or maybe he needs a part of them such as skin, hair, feathers, or blood. The change may be an instantaneous magical transformation, or maybe a slower, painful transition as bones and muscles are broken and reformed. An extended period in alternate form might weaken the character, so he is temporarily unable to shift again or fight.
The true horror associated with an evil shapeshifting character is the paranoia and mistrust they cause. If you know there are evil beings out there who might take the form of your best friend, your dog, or your grandma, who can you trust? People who fear the shapeshifter might do more harm to each other than the shifter himself.
Something to try: Write a horror story in which one or more characters are shapeshifters.
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Horror/Scary: April 06, 2016 Issue [#7569]
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