Chris Jags's Blog - Posts Tagged "mytholgical-creatures"
Myths and Monsters: the challenge
Rusalki. Naiads and fossegrim. A leyak. These four mythical beings figure heavily in my three works, beginning with the short story Rusalki, moving on to my first novel Hate Ghost, and continuing in my new serial Tales of Tourniquet. What do they have in common? They aren't vampires, werewolves, or zombies.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the VWZ horde (except maybe that they completely hog the tail end of the alphabet). They're as synonymous with horror as dragons, elves, and dwarves are with fantasy; they're not going anywhere. But man, the world of mythology is vast and rich, and there are so many creatures lurking in the outer reaches of folklore, just waiting to be dragged - kicking and screaming if necessary - into the public eye.
Yeah, some of them are insane; inarguably tough to work with. Let's take the A Bao A Qu, for example, a shapeless, translucent mass locked into a perpetual cycle of climbing and falling down staircases. No matter how you look at it, poor old Qu just doesn't have the raw, primal sex appeal of a vampire (if you're into the undead, I won't judge). It's not gonna be expanding The Big Three anytime soon.
But man, there are a ton of mythological entities out there which could easily take the limelight, it's just that no one outside of their home countries will give them the chance. They're like that bright-eyed starlet who no one in Hollywood can find room for because their leading lady quota is all full up, so she winds up squandering her potential in obscure porn. Case in point: rusalki, naiads, fossegrim, and leyak.
And here's the thing: these guys don't have to be slavishly re-created. In what I call Oh-Yeah?-MY-Vampire-Eats-Garlic-And-Wears-A-Cross-Syndrome, they can evolve to suit the times. Hell, even the A Bao A Qu could at least take the elevator if it showed up in a modern story.
When I settled on a leyak for my newest character, Tourniquet, I was ecstatic. Seriously, I thought, Why aren't these things everywhere? They're a vampiric creature whose head goes hunting at night, trailing their innards! Gross, sure, but come on! Creatures like that are a dark fantasy goldmine. And like I said above, you don't have to recreate these demons exactly. Mess around with them. I gave my leyak the bat wings of the similar Philippine Manananggal, removed the ability to turn into a pig (and the single-minded desire to attack pregnant women) and voila, updated!
So, my challenge to my fellow authors is, the next time you want to have a mythical creature starring in your tale - and I mean in a major role, either lead or support, not just some monster raging around in the background - crack open an encyclopedia of mythology and bring us something fresh. Or at least something which needs to have a layer of dust brushed off.
And then, I dunno, make them sparkle.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the VWZ horde (except maybe that they completely hog the tail end of the alphabet). They're as synonymous with horror as dragons, elves, and dwarves are with fantasy; they're not going anywhere. But man, the world of mythology is vast and rich, and there are so many creatures lurking in the outer reaches of folklore, just waiting to be dragged - kicking and screaming if necessary - into the public eye.
Yeah, some of them are insane; inarguably tough to work with. Let's take the A Bao A Qu, for example, a shapeless, translucent mass locked into a perpetual cycle of climbing and falling down staircases. No matter how you look at it, poor old Qu just doesn't have the raw, primal sex appeal of a vampire (if you're into the undead, I won't judge). It's not gonna be expanding The Big Three anytime soon.
But man, there are a ton of mythological entities out there which could easily take the limelight, it's just that no one outside of their home countries will give them the chance. They're like that bright-eyed starlet who no one in Hollywood can find room for because their leading lady quota is all full up, so she winds up squandering her potential in obscure porn. Case in point: rusalki, naiads, fossegrim, and leyak.
And here's the thing: these guys don't have to be slavishly re-created. In what I call Oh-Yeah?-MY-Vampire-Eats-Garlic-And-Wears-A-Cross-Syndrome, they can evolve to suit the times. Hell, even the A Bao A Qu could at least take the elevator if it showed up in a modern story.
When I settled on a leyak for my newest character, Tourniquet, I was ecstatic. Seriously, I thought, Why aren't these things everywhere? They're a vampiric creature whose head goes hunting at night, trailing their innards! Gross, sure, but come on! Creatures like that are a dark fantasy goldmine. And like I said above, you don't have to recreate these demons exactly. Mess around with them. I gave my leyak the bat wings of the similar Philippine Manananggal, removed the ability to turn into a pig (and the single-minded desire to attack pregnant women) and voila, updated!
So, my challenge to my fellow authors is, the next time you want to have a mythical creature starring in your tale - and I mean in a major role, either lead or support, not just some monster raging around in the background - crack open an encyclopedia of mythology and bring us something fresh. Or at least something which needs to have a layer of dust brushed off.
And then, I dunno, make them sparkle.
