Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-10: Who Do? You Do.

Any discussion of magic in a horror setting must eventually set upon the one kind of magic that is intrinsically horrific. This particular type of magic isn’t its own school, but more of a subset. It is a small discipline within the framework of invocation magic. This kind of magic is commonly known as Voodoo, which shouldn’t be confused with the religion commonly known as Santeria or other real voodoo beliefs in the real world. Horror voodoo works within a few different veins. Four examples include spirit mounting, curses, voodoo dolls, and zombies. With the exception of spirit mounting voodoo is particularly physical component oriented as far as the casting of spells go. Parts of it also slip into the school of necromancy and others the realm of psychic ability

Spirit mounting is essentially a person allows a spirit to possess them. The spirits range from the possessive’s ancestors, to their gods. This is not very horror oriented, due to the willingness of the possessed, and the goodness of the spirits that are called. Spirit mounting is in line with the Mediumship psychic ability. Alternatively it may be linked to necromancy when they are human spirits. Curses can similarly be more akin to psychic-styled attacks depending on the focus. Symptoms of a plague or disease based curse may be psychosomatic, as can curses of bad luck. They can also be frighteningly real and defy logic and modern medicine. A psychological curse may be beaten by force of will, magic cannot. You don’t need to believe in magic/the supernatural, it believes in you.

Voodoo dolls, referred to as poppets rather than puppets, are common to magic in horror. They require bits and pieces of the person to be affected to be a part of the doll or otherwise attached to it somehow. They were a part of some mystical traditions prior to the creation of voodoo--some tribal, others European. A voodoo doll is always a focus upon which spells are cast, even if such further rituals besides its creation only require concentration and puncturing of the doll with sharp objects or burning it with hot irons. Then there are the zombies of voodoo, which generally are not actually walking corpses, but instead, people held in a state between life and death. Or they may just be the living dominated by magic. Voodoo zombies are always created with the use of mystical powders.

Mood: exhausted.
Music: Wake The Dead by Alice Cooper and Twist My Sister by Murderdolls.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-3: Evocative Invocations

Let's use the definition, discussed previously, that calling upon some being is Invocation, while calling upon energies is Evocation. This division can also cut a straight well defined line between the requirements for each kind of spell casting. This is a matter of preference and builds specific rules into the setting. To this end the components needed for an Invocation will be verbal components alone. Evocation will require verbal, somatic, and quite often material components. Somatic components involve movement and gesticulations. They run the gamut from inscribing shapes in the air, to specific hand formations, to full body motion like dancing. Material components are such things as wax, incense, and bodily substances ranging from hair, blood, bits of skeletons, and fluids.

If Invocations are the result of the influence of supernatural entities, the first order of business to cast spells by this method requires knowledge or acquaintance with just such a being. How this is done varies by the exact being to be invoked. The first place to look is religion, whether it is the bright spiritual kind or the belief and honouring of malevolent creatures. In a horror setting there is unlikely much of a call for angels or friendly god figures to be involved. Though it shouldn't be written off for all settings. Trucking with higher powers can be frightening even when dealing with the benign if only due to the otherworldliness. Of course also such higher powers may hold characters to difficultly high standards and as such drive the story in that manner.

Evocations on the other hand may be much more almost mundane to deal with. Putting thoughtless, and potentially moral-neutral energies, to use removes a lot of certainty and fear from the equation. This is something easily mitigated by the kinds of material components required. For instance ritual sacrifice may be required, to obtain and to prepare a material component, or as some kind of catalyst, if it isn't actual part of the energies being evoked. There may also be a less tangible material component, that being time. Many are the rituals that must be done at a certain time, whether it be a phase of the moon, the alignment of celestial bodies, or a time restriction such as before so long has passed. This is all without dealing with the horrific dimensions of what spell is cast.

Mood: indecipherable.
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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-2: No Porcine Blemishes Here

There are a number of choices when dealing with schools of magic in a horror setting. The options start with the author of the setting and move from there to the recipients of the magical skills, the characters, whether they be novel or movie character's or the characters played in a role-playing game. As previously mentioned there are some sticking points or ways in which there is some fundamental semantic confusion about where the ways in which magic is cast ends and the so-called schools of magic begin. Setting those aside, some solid examples of the kind of magic suitable for a horrific setting include Invocation, Conjuration, Summoning, Necromancy, and Alchemy or Alteration. Even among these there is some overlap and defining necessary.

For instance, Invocation is a loaded term with more than one avenue covered by its use as a name for a kind of magic. What the person is invoking can essentially be one of two things. The first is some tangible or discrete-unto-itself kind of entity or being whether it is a god or a devil, a spirit being, or the caster's ancestors. The second is to invoke just power, or the essence of magic itself, to perform the magical act. The division could be made that calling upon some being is Invocation, while calling upon energies is Evocation.

Likewise there is a connection between Conjuration and Summoning. Both involve making things appear. Conjuring something could lend itself to a physical result, or in only an intangible manifestation such a spirit depending on how those are defined. Summoning typically involves the bringing of a living creature, or some kind of being from some other level of existence, to the spell caster. Using that as an anchor, and casting aside the conjuring of spirits to the realm of the Necromancer, Conjuring should be the creation of materials and inanimate objects through the use of magic.

Necromancy--aside from conjuring, summoning, and forcing the appearance of spirits--covers such magical areas as the raising of zombies, binding spirits and entities, and gathering power from death. It is the darkest school of magic and prone to the worst atrocities committed in its pursuit. Desecration of the dead is a must, and eternal torment is their forte. In contrast to the creation of Conjuring, Alchemy is about altering existing things. The prime example of Alchemy is transmutation--turning one element into another, such as lead to gold. Alchemy basically is the chemistry of magic. It should cover magic powders, potions, ointments and anything of a direct physical nature. It would also cover the mystical arts of healing via draughts on through to converting emotional and spiritual energies.

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