A Thousand Hacking at the Branches

Henry Thoreau is attributed as saying, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." It's a quote that I've always found fascinating ever since I heard it from the lips of Captain Howdy in Dee Snider's "Strangeland". I believe the meaning is that it is better to get to the core of the evil and deal with it than waste time with minions. I prefer to twist it around in a kind of reverse. I like the idea of it being about tapping into evil rather hacking away at it to get rid of it. There are thousands brushing against what it is to be evil and amongst them is a true monster. In a recent interview to be posted next month I brought up my dislike of pathetic punk and rabble sort of evil. I have a real taste for the boogeymen the monsters fear.

Every now and again there is a story or a movie where a group of ne'er-do-wells or even outright miscreants are out doing their damage, sowing chaos, and/or generally ruining other people's lives. Then they come into a situation like so many others before, except that this time they will be the victims. There is more than one way for the worse evil to prove that it is worse. It doesn't always have to be the stock answer that they are more violent, more sadistic, or more perverted. Here is where manipulative and insidious is more fun, even if eventually it comes down to a gruesome end for the lesser evil. Another choice I find less than desirable is for the victims to be brought down by their own in-fighting. Some find great satisfaction in that, but I find it wears thin. This leads to one of the defining elements of hard-core evil.

Like anything else, it's easy to overuse it, but I find the worst evil that villains can do is bring out the evil in otherwise good people. It's nothing to make the selfish and the uncaring to commit heinous acts, but if you can make upstanding people willingly do the wrong thing, what they would never do on their own in most other situations, then you're getting somewhere, evil-wise.

There is an unasked question here. Where does the protagonist fit into this story? A lot of the time there isn't one; not in the sense of a hero. Sometimes it may be the least offensive of the victim villains. Some other good person caught in the middle and able to provide a sense of urgency or heightened tension is a good choice. Things can get complicated. That is a consideration to keep in mind. Tying back to last week, it is a more relatable, good, person that provides for a greater anchor to the horror for the audience. Finally, the three-way conflict has its own pros and cons. The dynamic is different, and it affects the warp and weft of the mood, pacing, and character requirements as much as it does the narrative fabric.

Mood: meditative.
Music: Original Sin by Meat Loaf and Instruments Of Destruction by N.R.G.

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Take Out the Garbage

*** Disclaimer: The following in no way means to disparage the people of lower class income or who live in certain kinds of homes. It is specifically about the character of some people and speaks to the common and likely even stereotypical view of such groups of individuals. ***

Previously we took a look at the unsavoury subset of the already looked down upon white trash group. For note some of this applies to disaffected urbanites, the rich who live in their own world practically, and just the general malaise affecting much of the civilised world that rises to the very aptly named legal term called depraved indifference. Further, this is different than the uncivilised groups that frequently partake in wanton destruction and consider defilement commonplace and desirable--the villain/monster perhaps. This is really about those who have the veneer of decency and civility bare in spots or ripped away and sitting askew. With that in mind, it's time to look at how exactly they change the horror in a story or movie.

One consideration is that the horror should offset or counterpoint the grungy, dirty, immoral quality of these characters--this of course is if they are prevalent, which is certainly true with their natural habitat as the setting. The first possibility that comes to mind is a slasher who is much the opposite, who is moralistic in that sinners and the improper die by his or her hand. Thematically, or better yet even literally/visually, the blood spilled washes away or hides the dirt with clean, placid-smooth red, though of course this is temporary as it dries and becomes just more grime worsening what was there--don't forget the added element of blood smell to this--a chink in the armour of this "purity" if you will, belying it's masking nature, and foreshadowing the physical rot to come to match the moral rot.

Overall the most important consideration in creating terror with these types of characters is how to overcome the audience's dislike of the characters. It dulls the horror when people don't identify with the characters. It's even worse when the audience wants to see them come to a bad end--though there are readers and movie watchers who do that on purpose, but even they frequently want nice, undeserving victims, when the point isn't to punish the impure. Also, unless you're looking to have shades of grey in frightening conflict you want to be clear just who the metaphorical monster is. Make your horror really horrific and evil. Enough to scare the hardest heart and make them look almost cuddly in comparison. Lastly, in film at least, fear is infectious and characters who show their fear illicit it from the audience. These are just some of the things to keep in mind in this kind of setting.

Mood: solemn.
Music: Sweet Pain by Kiss and Poison by Alice Cooper.

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Two Shades of Good

Conflict is not always between good and evil. Sometimes the most gripping or poignant conflict is between people who both think they are doing the right thing. Keep in mind that a lot of villains believe they are doing the right thing. Very few of them believe themselves to be evil. They get downright confrontational if anyone suggests they are doing evil. This does not include the masses of selfish users and takers who flaunt the law simply because they do not think it applies to them or plain do not care if it does, until they end up incarcerated. No, this is about the evil masterminds, when they're not delusional or caricature take over the world types, who want to mould the world into the vision they have for it. This is about the despots, the mafia don, the cult leader, and the countless others who are not introspective enough to see the harm they inflict.

To reiterate, and it may be a matter of opinion--it certainly isn't something to be overused without cause and enough originality--the most exciting conflict, with great impact and resonance is between two forces for good. Some of the excitement is in-built just because it's different. Some of it is because it's harder to decided for which side to root. There is also the matter that the cost and results are different depending on which side is victorious. The audience--been a while since it was said but the audience could be readers of your short story, novel, comic book, or role-playing game or your video, movie, TV show audience--will pick a side and a significant number of them will decry the other side as being in the wrong, if they don't go so far as to equate them with villains. This is true even if there is a three-way conflict including a definite evil person or group.

The three-way conflict gives the most flexibility in crafting a sinuous, whether that is convoluted or not, plot. The sides can play off of each other, go for outright manipulation of each other, and generally get in the way so much that not a one of them can reach their goal. The potential to derail all of their plans could lead to a disaster that none of them wants to see. This in turn will cause one or more sides to reverse course to some degree, switch sides, or pull out--this will be common among the villains who can just try again later or do without that particular victory. The dynamics of the conflict can change dramatically, turning heroes into villains, and turning expectations entirely on their head. The best thing to do in creating one of these conflicts is to make it so that there is a painful decision/aspect to one of the good sides confronting the other good side.

Mood: scrupulous.

Music: Peace Sells by Megadeth and Distant Skies by Stratovarius.

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The Modern Witch Conspiracy

The surface has been brushed for period piece settings and stories with evil satanic witches. What though of the modern day? Has the ghastly horror witch gone the way of the dodo? The answer is a resounding no. They are certainly about and still practicing their nefarious ways. They do have their work cut out for them in some fashion though. Their brand of wickedness pales in comparison to the likes of serial killers, mass genocide in foreign lands--though honestly those kinds of atrocities have always gone on, if not as efficiently bloody as now--and the general moral slide of society with a total disregard for the value of courtesy, freedom, humanity and life not seen in centuries. Where then is the place for witch when the Adversary seems to be doing fine without lifting an apparent finger?

As with everything that slides into the present and looks to the future the ways and the wants of the witch have become more complex. Things are subtler now than ever. Part of it has as much to do with the witch hunters as it does the witches and their master. Staying covert went from a matter of privacy to one of downright survival. As would prove later to be beyond prescient the greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he did not exist. Thus too was it for his witches. The witch scare died down, past some unknown point, but likely earlier than now expected, the bulk of the victims of the stake were left to the innocent and the witches' own chosen scapegoats. Beyond that need for discretion was the need to find ever new, ingenious, and complicated ways to waylay and corrupt a populace that was continually growing savvier and more educated by the decade.

That formerly mentioned moral slide may have occurred all on its own, but the levels that it reaches and the ways that people are led, or driven, to act on the worst impulses that it represent can, and is, tweaked by the slyest of witches. There is a new, more ambitious, agenda at work. It is hard to nail down what it is precisely, but it is insidious, widespread, and broken down into a vast array of cogs that work as a monumental mechanism of evil the likes of which hasn't been seen before. Trying to chip away at those cogs is hard work and there are multiple redundancies. There are whispers and innuendo in certain circles about the nature of the witches' endeavours. The most frightening hypothesis put forward about this Machiavellian project is that even the attempts to derail it at every turn are pushing it toward its nefarious goal.

Mood: sly.

Music: Everything Louder Than Everything Else by Meat Loaf and Pure Evil by Iced Earth.

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From Coven to Grave

The witch's mark is an intimate marker that warns of an unholy alliance. Very few will have opportunity to see that nipple from which the familiar suckles blood. Those who need to discover a witch before it is too late must look for more external signs. Some are very blatant and others more subtle. When the witch is discovered then he or she must be captured, a job best left to the witch hunters. That requires special equipment if the witch is very powerful, and sometimes even when not. After that there is the trial, which has its own equipment needs. The capture in many ways is the easy part thanks to the skill of the hunters. The confession is paramount but not easy to attain. These are the devotees of the Adversary (the Devil) after all--lies come to them naturally. The last step, passing sentence on a confessed witch has the simplest parts requirement.

In the dead of the night they gather. Travel out to the woods, away from prying eyes. Around the fire they dance and cavort. No special garments denote them for they must be skyclad, their nakedness full and complete beyond mere skin, their wicked souls fully on display. The nudity strips them of rank and importance; they are all supplicants to their evil Master. The rituals of which they partake are dark and ominous, many of them in stark contrast to proper behaviour, such as the Witch's Sabbath. Their vileness knows no bounds as exemplified by the Unholy Water--made in a hole in the ground from the urine of the Master and the members of the coven. They fornicate with all abandon at these gatherings. Yet by day their wantonness remains hidden just as the rest of their fiendishness. No, they must be caught in small lies and tiny sick acts.

The hunt begins once a witch is discovered. Oddly enough holy water doesn't play into our hunter's bag of tricks, due to these hunters not being Catholic--though they have their share of hunters--think instead Protestants, Quakers, or perhaps for a change of pace, Mormons. Other holy items are used. Some of them are not your run of the mill crosses. They include pieces of the cross from Calvary and in the same vein nails from the crucifixion, perhaps even the famed missing fourth nail. There may be other reliquary of more esoteric history. The equipment of the trial includes dunking devices, stocks and legs irons among other painful bindings, and different torture chairs such as the pyramidal Judas Cradle. In the field all it may take is a length of rope and a stream. When it's all done it's off to the stake to burn in the soul cleansing fire.

Mood: judgemental.

Music: One by Metallica and Let Me Hear You Scream by Ozzy Osbourne.

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The Witch Hunter General Rides In

Witches are only one part of the equation for many stories. Out there lays the one thing that even the forces of evil fear, the Witch Hunter General and his men. These men are both stalwart champions of good and scourges of evil. Turmoil and death follow in their wake to a degree only paralleled by the most fiendish witch. Their arsenal is vast, their knowledge of their prey complete, their interrogation skills consummate. None dare to stand against the General and his cadre. There is no hiding. There is no pleading--except to plead guilty. There is nowhere that their influence and power does not reach. Wicked, beware. Who are these enigmatic paragons? How frequent are they encountered? How many are there? Most importantly, how do they impact the horror expressed and demanded by witches, singularly or even by the coven? All will be revealed for goodness' sake.

The question of how many will depend on your setting. More witches mean more witch hunters in only some cases. More hunters could mean lesser skills or more dangerous witch powers. It is important that the hunters do not overpower the setting and dissipate the horror. They can be so powerful and unstoppable that witches have no chance against them when push really comes to shove, but this might be mitigated by the wait for the Witch Hunter General and his men to come to the rescue or the level of collateral damage created by the conflict between the two sides. Do not forget the flip side that where the hunters go the innocent fall prey to them as well over hysteria, jealousy, and other general finger pointing. They are feared by all who do not feel they measure up to that level of righteousness. Pride comes before the fall as well, be warned.

Secrecy is one of the weapons in the witch hunter's arsenal. Fear of the unknown extends to the wicked just as much as the virtuous. Stories from the witches' perspective doing away with hunters are possible if not mainstream. Extended stories of the witch hunter's training and seminaries will tend toward a more fantasy than horror feel, especially with the hunters working from such a strong base position. Even with a story from a hunter's perspective--regardless of whether high or low in rank--less is more to maintain the mystique. The line between folklore surrounding the hunters and their true power can be revealed, but benefits from being unleashed little by little--much as the most spectacular part of any story must be the climax. Come back next time for a look at the signs of witchery, witch's habits, and the tools of the witch hunter's trade.

Mood: seasoned.

Music: Fear Is The Key by Iron Maiden and Catch Me If You Can by Alice Cooper.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-19: Spelling Horror

Let’s talk about some actual spells now. Rather than retread the usual ones how about something a little more original? First up, what villain hasn’t wanted to flay someone alive? It needs to be little more interesting though. Some ancient, angry, master of the arcane decided that it would be better instead to have a spell that caused his enemy’s skin to pull away from their muscles and stretch but not to tear open anywhere. The result was beyond painful and continuous. It led to a long agonising death due to internal bleeding. It had two added benefits dealing with the increased fear it caused. No ordinary man could achieve such a bizarre thing; it had to be the work of dark magic. It also looked really terrible, especially as the space between skin and flesh filled with blood.

Curses are popular. There’s endless itching, having no reflection, and permanent bad luck. A vengeful Mayombe (evil voodoo priest) decided to make an enemy’s life an actual living nightmare. He set upon this man a powerful curse to make him forever see everything as if it were dead and rotting. This extended to the man’s senses of touch, smell, and taste. Things that don’t exist capered and leered threateningly from nowhere and circled around in the man’s peripheral vision. Voices whispered constantly, saying terrible things and inviting the man to do terrible acts. The last bit was the worst. It constantly ate at the edges of the man’s sanity and tried to drive him to visit evil upon others. It caused the man great guilt long before he gave in to the voices.

Here is a twist on an old stand by. There is a powerful spell used to turn people into slavering, violent, monsters. However, a great and powerful being from another realm of existence, who was capable of great guile and viciousness, had a better idea. This nameless being came up with an alternative. It cast the spell upon some random man, who upon touching his beloved wife changed her. That night the man was awakened to see his wife change into a monster and run off into the night. He went after her, but the local villagers caught her slaughtering the neighbours. The husband found his wife just as the villagers moved to destroy the monster. The man had to chose to die with his beloved or to fight his friends and neighbours, even as true to the spell’s form she attacked them.

Mood: excitable.
Music: Losfer Words (Big 'Orra) by Iron Maiden and Silver Wings by Bruce Dickinson.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-15: In All Things Balance, Or Not

The presupposition has been put forward that in a horrific magical setting there will be a moderate to great discrepancy in the quantity of evil versus that of good. This is especially true as it pertains to non-human beings. What has not been discussed yet is a matter of balance in the quality of power between good and evil, and to a lesser degree human and non-human. In the psychic horror setting there was frequent discussion about the balance of power. The power between the two moral sides was equal for the most part--there were no non-humans, negating that issue. Balance was something considered at practically every stage due to the great flexibility of the powers. This begs the following question. Why is there no talk of balance in the magical horror setting?

Magic is essentially an unbalancing thing. This is especially true of a world where the rules of science and physics hold sway. Since magic is an external force its limitations are not all that limited in terms of what it can accomplish. The actual limitations it has tend to be in knowledge, rather than power--though need not always be. For the sake of drama and conflict there are times of greater power upon which great miracles of light or darkness can be enacted, even when power is normally an issue. These high times of magic are used more often for evil. Good and beneficial acts mostly have low power requirements, or they are geared toward undoing evil magic. The horror nature of the setting also predicates that greater amounts of good energy are required to undo evil things.

The inclusion of non-human beings in a magic horror setting also needs to be inherently unbalanced overall. For them to be less powerful than humans, in the realms of magic specifically, puts them in a role as minion. This has its place, and numbers can make up for a lack of ability. When they are more powerful, such as when they are full-fledged devils, it puts them in the role of lead threat if not actually lead villain. These powerful positions call for them to be powerful, obviously, but beyond that can even require them to be a named individual. This means they are a renowned and specific creature, at least beyond the Earth. This renown on the surface may be as little as the being’s name appearing in an earthly magical tome, or that its name is whispered among those of power.

Mood: relaxed.
Music: Trouble by Material Issue and Lightning Strikes Twice by Iron Maiden.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-14: Of Good and Evil

The last section of the previous discussion about things from beyond presupposes that the morality of otherworldly creatures is evil. This is certainly advantageous to the creation of horror, but by no means is it a necessity. Inhuman beings can be starkly good or evil, or they can be more like humans and exist within the grey areas in between to the two. Likewise, horror also can have a distinct preponderance of evil in general. This goes beyond the usual narrative conflict of person versus person, or in many of these cases, person versus the supernatural. In the magical horror setting, more so than the psychic horror setting, the question of morality applies more directly to both the schools of magic as well as to the spells and rituals themselves.

Magic can be thought of as a force of super-nature--beyond nature as we understand it. If magic is such a thing then like gravity or magnetism it is neither inherently good nor evil. In such a framework the morality of magic, and of the spells cast using it, is entirely dependent upon the intent of the being bending the force to his, her, or its will. This need not be the way that magic is approached in a horror setting though. Magic can be something integral to the force of some being’s wills, which doesn’t change its moral dependency on the user. Alternatively magic can be directly a force of evil. It may be born of evil supernatural beings, or is an expression of chaos or entropy, or it may come about because evil is a distinct commodity or force all its own.

Magic need not be a singular force either. It is entirely possible to work with a world/setting view where there are two magical energies, good and evil energies. In such a case it is even more important to consider the power of setting up kinds of resonance between the energy being used, the modes and methods of the rituals, and the emotional state and intent of those harnessing the magic. A physical component such as a ritual sacrifice is then something more than just tapping into a battery. The sacrifice now imparts its qualities to more than just the formula of the spell; it infuses the entirety of the process. This in turn affects other parts of the setting. Following the theory that like attracts like leads to a need for some kind of balance, if only for the safety of the spell caster.

Mood: heavy.
Music: Power and the Glory by Twisted Sister and Children of the Damned by Iron Maiden.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #14: A Terrifying Example of Complexity and Control

The following is an exercise in pulling together the last two articles of this series along with a smattering of ideas from the rest of the series in one sprawling, spiralling example of horror. It all begins with an average man named Doug. Doug lives an ordinary life. He works a nine to five job while his wife Cynthia works from home and watches their children Melissa and Jake. One night Doug brings home a friend from work, Aaron. Aaron is quiet, polite, and unassuming. Doug and Aaron spend most of their time in the basement where Doug has a small shop set up in which to tinker around with things. Everybody likes Aaron--he's the perfect guest. Within a week Aaron is there every night. Within two weeks he almost never leaves.

Aaron is a powerful and amoral psychic. The first night that the children are out of the house--at a cousin's birthday party--he uses his hypnotic suggestion to convince Doug to stay in the basement. Then he goes to Cynthia in the illusory guise of Doug and tells her Aaron has left and they have some alone time. Going forward Aaron replaces Doug in the night with Cynthia a few times before his next move. He replaces Doug--who merrily works on things in the basement--with all of the family, in his disguise. This part of the first stage of his plan culminates in Aaron convincing the wife and children that he is Doug and Doug is Aaron. The real Doug continues to go to work unaware that anything is wrong. To cover himself and his treachery Aaron begins a new stage in his plan.

Aaron cajoles, convinces, and controls Cynthia to break off contact with her friends and family and has the kids pulled out of the public school system. He alienates Doug's family, and Doug's reclusion except for work pushes his friends away. Then the next-door neighbour mysteriously commits suicide. The house won't sell--stories come out about it being haunted. The house whose lot backs onto the haunted house becomes empty next. Next another neighbour is sent to jail for hiring out, via an intermediary, the murder of another neighbour. Aaron has taken over Doug's entire private life and has no further interference because of the buffer of vacant unsellable homes completely encircling his. Aaron has his own little kingdom, and the kicker is Doug never knew Aaron before that first night.

Mood: sprightly.
Music: Rock & Roll Saviors by Twisted Sister and Never Say Never by Twisted Sister.

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