Monster Myths to Monster Movies: The Tales That Inspired Harryhausen

10 Friday May 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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7th Voyage of Sinbad, Aeschylus, Apollonius, Arges, Argonautica, Aristophanes, automaton, Boreades, Brontes, bronze bulls, Catalogue of Women, Clash of the Titans, classics, Crete, Cronus, Cyclopes, Cyclops, Dead Man's Chest, Diodorus Siculus, Euripides, Euryale, forging, giant octopus, Gorgons, Greek, harpies, Helen, Hephaestus, Hesiod, Homer, hydra, Iliad, Jason and the Argonauts, Johnny Depp, King Phineus, Kres, magic, mechanical minotaur, Medusa, mermaids, metal-smith, Minoton, Moby Dick, monsters, myth, mythical creatures, Neptune, Odysseus, Odyssey, Orpheus, Penelope, Phinneas, Pindar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Polyphemus, Poseidon, Ray Harryhausen, sea monsters, sea snakes, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Sicily, Sinbad, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Siren's Song, Sirens, Steropes, Talos, Tartarus, Tauric Chersonese, Tennyson, The Erinyes, The Fates, The Golden Fleece, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Griffin, The Kraken, the sun, Theogony, Titans, Underworld, Uranus, Uriel, volcanoes, Vulcan, Zeus

Like most of you, I was first introduced to the ancient Greek monsters through watching films like Sinbad, Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts. I was also fortunate enough to end up doing a degree in Classics, so I got to find out more about the origins of the mythical creatures Ray Harryhausen magically brought into our hearts and minds, fascinating and captivating us with his animations. Because of him, pretty much most of you reading this will know what the Cyclops and Medusa look like.

I was so sad to read about Harryhausen’s death earlier this week, and it is to him that I dedicate this article. In the words of a friend, thank you for the magic Ray.

Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Sirens

By John William Waterhouse

The name Sirens comes from the Greek Σειρηνες which translated is ‘seiraô’. It means ‘entwiners’ or ‘binders’. They are first mentioned by Hesiod in his Catalogue of Women, but they appear in many texts including the Argonautica, Euripides’ Helen and Homer’s Odyssey. The myths describe them as being three sea creatures who lure mariners to their deaths with enchanting songs. Jason and his Argonauts manage to pass by with the help of Orpheus who drowns out their singing with his music. Odysseus manages to pass by unharmed by asking his men to tie him to the mast of the ship, while they put wax in their ears so that they will not hear the Siren’s Song and perish. The Sirens are so upset that a man hears their song, but escapes, that they throw themselves into the sea and drown! What an odd tale indeed! And, of course, there are many theories on what it might all mean.

For starters, the word has survived in modern language. The siren is the sound of a warning bell or alarm, and generally means that there is trouble somewhere ahead. Did the Sirens foretell the coming of danger? Sometimes the Siren is a woman, or a woman with wings. Could it be warnings from women about dangers, or is it a warning that beautiful women are dangerous, or that men can be tempted into dangerous situations by beauty and desire? Certainly, Odysseus faces many temptations before he returns back to his dutiful and faithful wife Penelope. She is certainly more faithful than he is, that’s for sure!

Sirens, like the tales of mermaids, seem to be a symbol for dangerous seduction; the kind that lure men to their deaths. In this respect, therefore, they represent the desires of a man that he cannot have, or should not have, which will ultimately be his demise.

The Cyclopes: The Elder and the Younger

The Cyclops by Redon

There are two breeds of Cyclopes, the one-eyed monster: The Elder and The Younger. The Elder Cyclopes first appear in Hesiod’s Theogony, a Greek creation story. Their names are Arges, Steropes, and Brontes and were cast into Tartarus (a part of the Underworld where people are tormented) by their father, Uranus, along with all the other Titans. They assist Cronus in usurping Uranus’ government, but Cronus then also throws them into Tartarus. Because Zeus releases them during his war with Cronus and the Titans, the Cyclopes give Zeus his thunderbolt and lightning, as well as a helmet for Hades (god of the Underworld) and a Trident for Poseidon (god of the sea). The Elder Cyclopes are eventually killed. Later, their tale appears in the Argonautica where they are shown to be metal forgers.

The Younger Cyclopes appear in Homer’s Odyssey. Here they are a giant race of lawless shepherds who live in South West Sicily and eat humans! They neglect agriculture, have no laws or political institutions and completely disregard Zeus (Hom. Od. vi. 5, ix. 106, &c., 190, &c., 240, &c., x. 200.)

They seem to represent natural forces, both destructive and creative. I can’t help wondering if perhaps volcanoes play a part. They too have one eye, and there are many in the area of Sicily. That they had a destructive force is obviously a given, but they do also possess the power of creativity. After eruptions, ash and lava form rich soil and land is fertile. Its power of creativity is, therefore, enhanced. Many different kinds of metal deposits are also found near underwater volcanoes and geothermal springs. Most of the metallic minerals mined in the world, such as copper, gold and silver, are associated with magmas found deep within the roots of extinct volcanoes located above subduction zones. It doesn’t take much of an imagination to envisage the possibility that settlers in these areas would mine for metals and be inclined to go into trades such as metal-smithing and forging, hence the association with Hephaestus (Gr)/Vulcan (L.). Furthermore, with just another little stretch of our imaginations it would be perfectly plausible to assume that these ancient people, who worship Vulcan, god of volcanoes (where the name comes from), might have drawn or tattoed an eye in the middle of their foreheads to represent their god, and the eye of the volcano…. These are how myths are born!

There’s probably much more to discover on this subject through studying the cults of Hephaestus/Vulcan. I’ll leave that for another day, though.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)/The Argonautica

Talos

Talos

A bronze automaton (see Minoton). Talos is forged by Haephastus. He is a massive statue from Crete who is given the task of patrolling the island three times a day and driving pirates away with rocks or a fiery death-embrace (see Cyclopes). His first appearance is the Argonautica. He was eventually destroyed when he tried to stop the Argonauts from landing on Crete. In one poem he is the son of the Cretan sun-god, Kres, as well as the father of Hephaestus, the fire god. His name means ‘the sun’ but also ‘to cut down’ in the Cretan dialect.

Harpies

The sons of Boreas, Kalais and Zetes, are hunting the Harpies.
Laconian cylix 550 BC. Villa Gulia

Harpies are the spirits of sudden gusts of wind. They are known as the hounds of Zeus and are sent by him to snatch things, including people! In Greek mythology, they are often blamed for sudden mysterious disappearances. They are usually shown as winged women or women with the body of a bird. They are mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, by Hesiod in his Catalogue of Women and later in the Argonautica. The Harpy Eagle is also named after them!

Two harpies were assigned by Zeus to torment King Phineus of Thrace. In the film he is depicted as the blind prophet Phinneas. The King is punished for revealing the secrets of the gods by having his food snatched away by the Harpies. In the film it is for abusing his power of prophecy. They are captured by Jason and his crew in exchange for information. King Phineus is mentioned briefly in Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women and he was the subject of a play called Phineus by Aeschylus which is unfortunately lost. This story told of the arrival of the Argonauts at Phineus’ court, where the Boreades kill the Harpies and save Phineus. Thankfully a few fragments survive at least. The Harpies are mentioned in many other ancient texts including the Homer’s Iliad and Hesiod’s Theogony, both from round about 8^th c BCE.

Hydra

By Ruth_Tay (deviantART)

In mythology, the Hydra is an enormous nine-headed water snake. It is one of the twelve labours of Heracles (Gr.). Whenever he cuts off one head, two grow in its place! Eventually he cauterises the heads with fire. During the battle he crushes a giant crab, which has come to assist the Hydra, beneath his heel. Afterwards Hydra and the Crab became the constellations of Hydra and Cancer.

The Hydra first appears in Hesiods Theogony (8^th/7^th c BCE), and appears also in Apollonius’ Argonautica, as well as many other stories. The Hydra is certainly representative of some kind of obstacle, however it has also been suggested that it represented ancient serpent worship. This is something I would appreciate more information on, if anyone can enlighten me.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

Griffin

By Jim Nelson

The Griffin is a beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. A tribe of Griffins guarded gold deposits in northern and eastern mountains of Greece, which could have the same significance as the story of the men who guarded the Golden Fleece (see Minoton). The Griffins are mentioned by several ancient Greek writers: Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound, Aristophanes in Frogs and Herodotus in Histories.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Minoton: The mechanical Minotaur

Of course, most of us will have heard of the Minotaur from the Theseus myth, but Automotons also existed in the ancient world. They are creatures crafted out of metal and given life by Hephaestus, the Greek smith-god. There are four fire-breathing bronze bulls, which Hephaestus makes for King Aeetes of Colchis. These appear for the first time in the Argonautica.

Diodorus Siculus informs us what they are a couple of centuries later. He tells us Aeetes puts up a wall where the Golden Fleece is and has it guarded by men of the Tauric Chersonese. He says that it is because of these guards that the Greeks invented monstrous myths. A rumour is spread that fire-breathing bulls and a sleepless dragon guard the fleece. The imagery of the bull breathing fire is used by these men because of their strength and also due to their cruel way of murdering strangers (2).

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Medusa

By Caravaggio

Medusa is one of three Gorgons. She has snake hair and her gaze turns men to stone. The first written account appears to be by Hesiod who pictures The Gorgons as sea demons who have the ability to create reefs. They are therefore the personification of dangerous reefs which are a threat to sailors. In fact, another of the Gorgons is called Euryale, which means “she of the wide briny sea”. Medusa is possibly a personification of the sea storms that drive sailors to their deaths. It is also possible the three Gorgons are connected with The Furies, three ancient goddesses who represent drought, ruined crops and famine.

Interestingly, though possibly not important or relevant, the angel Uriel is the angel of wisdom who is associated with helping people to resolve conflicts. In The Erinyes by Aeschyles, The Erinyes (Fates) were transformed into goddesses of good judgement and wisdom. I just wonder if Uriel and Euryale have anything in common…

According to later classical poets, such as Pindar, Medusa is a beautiful maiden, “fair-cheeked”, who is turned into a monster by the goddess Athena for lying with the god Poseidon in Athena’s shrine. Poseidon is the god of the sea, as well as earthquakes, so there is another nautical connection. Could the myth simply mean that Medusa once represented the calm sea, and later represented the stormy sea? The fact that she was mortal might also tie her to animal or plant and certainly her totem animal must be considered to be the snake. Perhaps sea snakes. I would need much more time than I currently have to really look into all that, but if anyone already has information, please do post a comment. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Kraken

Release the Kraken!

I had to save the best for last! Oh, but I am so sorry to disappoint you. The Kraken was never a part of Greek mythology. It first appeared in early Norwegian stories from the 12^th c CE. In 1752 it was described as being like a floating island, with arms, about a mile and a half across. Later stories depicted it as a giant octopus. There is a reference to it in Moby Dick, and Tennyson wrote a poem about it.

It seems Ray Harryhausen just nicked it for Clash of the Titans, as did the the producers of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest with Johnny Depp.

It probably just represents the dangers of the ocean from predatory creatures. There have been several accounts of large creatures wrecking boats, such as the giant octopus, which can grow to about thirty feet long. Tales of the Kraken probably grew from mariner’s tales and fears about sea creatures.

Recommendations

If you want to read more about Greek myths, I highly recommend you start with reading Hesiod, Homer (particularly the Odyssey), Aristophanes and Euripides. They are much easier to get through. I probably wouldn’t recommend the Argonautica – it’s not a big book, but it is pretty taxing to read.

Please do feel free to post comments, as it is impossible to fully cover such a vast subject in just a couple of days.

Until next week… As always, your friend, A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Fleece

http://www.theoi.com

http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/volcanoes/theadvantages.shtml

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/PlusSide/mineral_resources.html

http://www.rbhs.w-cook.k12.il.us/mancoff/sirens.htm

http://monsters.monstrous.com/kraken.htm

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/release-kraken-what-kraken-kraken-origins-history-2600156.html

REFERENCES

(1) Strabo (first century BC) Geography I, 2, 39 (Jones, H.L. (ed.) (1969) The Geography of Strabo (in eight volumes) London

Tran, T (1992) “The Hydrometallurgy of Gold Processing”, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews (UK), 17, pp. 356-365

“Gold During the Classical Period”

Shuker, Karl P. N. (1997), From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings, Llewellyn

Renault, Mary (2004), The Bull from the Sea, Arrow (Rand)

(2)Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 47. 2 – 3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.)

CURSE OF WHITECHAPEL: Jack the Ripper

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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3 New Court, A Study in Terror, Aaron Kosminski, Aberline, Anne Chapman, Annie Chapman, Catherine Eddowes, Christopher Plummer, crime, Dark Annie, Dorset Street, Duke of Clarence, Dutfield's Yard, Elizabeth Stride, Fear, freemasonry, From Hell, Ginger, Horror, Jack the Ripper, Jack the Ripper (1988), Jack the Ripper Documentary, James Mason, John Neville, Johnny Depp, Juwes, Leather Apron, Long Liz, macabre, Mary Ann Kelly, Mary Ann Nichols, Mary Jane Kelly, Michael Caine, Mitre Square, murder, Murder by Decree, mutilations, Polly Nichols, prostitutes, Ripperologists, Sex, sex crime, Sir William Gull, terror, the queen's physician, The Real Jack the Ripper, Victorian London, Whitechapel murders

Few events have inspired crime and horror writers as much as the Whitechapel murders of 1888. From August to November of that year, the East End of London lived in complete and utter terror. Though there were other murders that year, five in particular were attributed to the hand of one suspect, known only by what was to become his most infamous name: “Jack the Ripper”. It is a name that should strike fear and loathing in even the bravest of people, for the vilest acts were committed by this one person. If, indeed, it was one person.

His victims were all penniless, alcoholic prostitutes, who walked the foggy streets of London’s East End. In order of murder:

Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols: 31^st August

Mary Ann had gone out on the streets, after an evening of drinking, to earn her lodgings for the night. She was seen by an acquaintance at 2.30am. By 3.15am she was found, in the spot where only half an hour earlier a policeman had passed by. Her throat and abdomen were both cut open, but there was very little blood, leading police to conclude she had been murdered elsewhere.

Anne Chapman (“Dark Annie”): 8^th September

Anne Chapman, also drunk and in need of money for lodgings, went out at 1.45am, was last seen at 5.30am and was found in a back yard at 6am. Her face and tongue were swollen, indicating that she had possibly been gagged or suffocated. Her abdomen had been cut open, intestines lifted out and placed on her shoulder. All her pelvic organs were removed with one clean incision, leading investigators to conclude that The Ripper had knowledge of anatomy. The attending pathologist, Dr George Bagster Phillips, said he himself could not have performed the task in anything less than an hour. If the precise anatomical removal was deliberate, it was done at lightning speed.

Elizabeth Stride (“Long Liz”): 30^th September

Elizabeth had been drinking up until 6.30pm with a friend, before going out on the streets for her lodgings money. She was seen in another pub later, around 11pm, drinking with a man. By 1am she was found in a Dutfield’s Yard, behind the International Working Men’s Educational Club. Her throat had been slit. It is thought that the killer was disturbed by a salesman entering the yard with his horse and cart, and that the mutilation was probably left unfinished. It’s highly likely because simply killing Elizabeth was not enough to satiate the thirst of The Ripper that night.

Catherine Eddowes: 30^th September

Within half an hour of killing Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes was also murdered. Last seen at about 1.35am, after being let out of her police cell at 1am where she had been taken earlier in the evening to sober up, giving her name as “Mary Jane Kelly”, one of the pseudonyms of the fifth and final victim of the Ripper. Approximately ten minutes later, at 1.45am Catherine was found dead by a policeman in Mitre Square. Her throat was slit, her vocal chords were severed, abdomen ripped open, and intestines placed on her shoulder in a similar manner to that of Annie Chapman. Furthermore, the inside of her thighs had been sliced open. Her left renal artery was cut through, and the left kidney removed. Catherine’s womb was also partially removed. Her face, eyes, nose and ears were mutilated. The pathologist declared that someone with anatomical knowledge must have carried out the murder. It would have been a truly gruesome sight to behold. However, it was nothing to the next, and final, horror the police would encounter.

Mary Jane Kelly aka “Ginger” and “Mary Ann Kelly”: 9^th November

(Artist’s Impression)

Mary Jane Kelly was the only victim who had permanent lodgings. She lived at 3 New Court, an alley off of Dorset Street. Of all the Ripper murders, Mary Jane Kelly’s is the only one that is committed indoors. Because of this it is likely that The Ripper had time to carry out his sick deeds undisturbed. It’s possible that Mary Jane was drinking heavily all evening. There are a couple of unconfirmed sightings between 8 and 11pm, in two different pubs, and in the company of several gentlemen throughout the evening and the early hours of the following morning. By 10.45am her body was discovered. She was mutilated beyond recognition. The surface of her abdomen and thighs had been removed, her abdomen emptied, breasts cut off, arms slashed, face completely mutilated and unrecognisable, her neck was severed to the bone. Her organs were found in various locations in the room: her kidneys, uterus and one breast were underneath the bed, the other breast by her right foot, her liver lay between her feet, her intestines by her right side, her spleen to the right, skin from her abdomen and thighs lay on a table.

The room was a blood bath. The bed was saturated and the floor was a pool of about two feet square. There were several spatter marks on the walls in line with the neck. Her face was gashed all over, many times, as were her arms and calves. It was a truly horrific murder. Of all the macabre killings, Mary Jane Kelly’s murder was probably the most abhorrent and ghastly of them all.

Ripperologists generally agree that out of all the murders going on in London at that time, these five were committed by the same person known as Jack the Ripper. Who he is depends on who you talk to. There are more theories than the five murders he committed! The eyes of suspicion fell upon the Jewish community as Londoners looked for a scapegoat, preferring to believe it to be a foreigner than one of their own people. This may have been the case, but it is far from certain.

The royal and masonic theory is obviously a colourful and exciting angle, and very film-worthy. Several enjoyable movies have been made around this theory. On just a quick research of events, however, it would seem that the evidence is sketchy at best…disappointingly so! Still, never let the truth get in the way of a good story, eh?

So who, then, if not the Queen’s physician, or indeed the prince himself? Well, there was certainly an abundance of dodgy characters roaming the East End of Victorian London. The Ripper murders were not the only ones being committed either. It would be fair to say that the East End was poverty stricken, filthy and no doubt disease-ridden to boot. The fact that so many penniless prostitutes walked the dangerous foggy streets after sunset, looking for money to buy a bed for the night, some food the next day and enough left over to drink away all their troubles, gives us some idea of what kind of life those poor women were leading. They were extremely vulnerable, with few people who would miss them and probably drunk enough that they were incapable of defending themselves very much. Together with their trade, which forced them into the streets, a trade which had to be done in private, in the middle of the night, these women were easy prey for The Ripper.

One popular theory is that he killed them in a carriage before dumping them. One thing I’d say is that he had to be pretty confident of his surroundings and probably lived in the area. Most of the killings were done in what appears to be a very short time frame of 15-20 minutes. He was really very quick. Either he did have access to a carriage, or the killings were done by more than one man. It’s true he may have had a relative knowledge of anatomy, but possibly not any more than he’d read in a book. That he seemed to know where certain organs were, to me, proves nothing about any professional knowledge on the matter.

One of the more plausible theories is that The Ripper was a man called Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jew. Kosminski had been named as The Ripper by police, but a witness who saw him with one of the victims, would not testify against a fellow Jew. Kosminski could not therefore be tried, but he did suffer from some kind of paranoid psychosis and so was taken to an asylum. There were no more Ripper murders after that, and the police closed down the investigation. This was despite the fact that more time had elapsed in between murders than it had between the last murder and the end of the police investigation, pointing to the suggestion that the police knew something they weren’t saying.

Regardless, everyone has a theory and a belief. 125 years later Jack the Ripper continues to strike fear into the hearts of those who read the story of the Whitechapel murders. He is the ultimate villain and the stereotypically demonic serial killer. His barbaric crimes will no doubt continue to inspire future writers as they always have done, everyone attempting to claim a piece of the truth for posterity, but it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. What’s important is that the conditions were right for someone to take advantage of those innocent women: squalor and poverty which we should never allow to happen again. What matters most of all is that he stopped. Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror was over, but his rule of only 10 weeks will never be forgotten.

Until next week, hit the road Jack! Your friend, A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.casebook.org/

FILMS

Murder By Decree (1979) with Christopher Plummer as

Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Terror (1965) with John Neville as Sherlock

Holmes

Jack the Ripper (1988) with Michael Caine as Aberline.

Click here to watch online.

From Hell (2001) with Johnny Depp as Aberline.

Click here to watch online.

DOCUMENTARIES

The Real Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper Documentary (Part 1 of 6)

MORTUARY & CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHS

Mary Ann Nichols, died 31st August 1888, aged 43.

Anne Chapman “Dark Annie”, died 8th September 1888, aged 47.

Elizabeth Stride “Long Liz”, died 30th September, aged 45.

Catherine Eddowes, died 30th September 1888, aged 46.

Mary Jane Kelly/Mary Anne Kelly/”Ginger”, died 9th November, aged (approx) 25 years old. In the article above, there is only an artists impression available to ascertain the appearance of Mary Jane. However, with modern technology it has been attempted to reveal what she might have actually looked like.

* With special thanks to Andy Young for introducing me to this subject. Miss you.

FEMINISTS OF HORROR: Final Girls and Their Mad Men

26 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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A Nightmare on Elm Street, Alien, Aliens, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Black Christmas, crime, Doctor Loomis, drugs, Ellen Ripley, feminism, feminist, Final Girl, Freddy Krueger, Ghostface, Halloween, Hannibal Lecter, Horror, intelligence, Jason Voorhees, killer, knives, Laurie Strode, Leatherface, Lila, Mad, Mad Man, Madness, Michael Myers, misogynist, Nancy, Norman Bates, psychiatric illness, Psycho, Psychological, resourceful, Sam Loomis, Scream, Sex, Sidney, Sigourney Weaver, Silence of the Lambs, slasher, stabbing, strength, strong women, thriller, twists, victims, virgin, weapons

Slasher movies are a favourite with horror fans. Even if you’re not an outright horror fan, it’s likely you will have seen at least one of these in your life! The slasher has elements of thriller and crime, so can be appealing to audiences who also enjoy these genres too. In turn, some thrillers and other horrors, which are not really slashers as such, may have elements of the slasher in them.

What you may or may not realise is that there is a set of rules that come along with slasher and slasher-type horror films. During my post graduate in film and television, I had fun studying the “Final Girl” in horror. The Final Girl is a strong, independent female protagonist, the peer of the victims, but seen to be virtuous. She does not indulge in the sex and drugs that prove to be the downfall of the others. She also tends to avoid any kind of bullying. She’s just an all-round nice girl, sometimes slightly “put upon” by others who take advantage of her good nature. She is known as the Final Girl because, well, she’s the last one standing at the end of it all. The Final Girl either escapes or overcomes the threat, showing her power, strength and intelligence for whatever scrape she’s managed to land herself in.

Final Girls share many characteristics: they are often sexually unavailable or virgins who avoid any illegal or illicit activity and often, though not always, have a non-gender specific name such as Laurie (Halloween) or Sidney (Scream). The Final Girl can even be found in non-slasher horrors such as Alien, with the masculinised female character of Ellen Ripley (known only as Ripley); although, it has to be said that Alien does have many other characteristics of a slasher too.

The Final Girl is “watchful, intelligent and resourceful”. She is, pretty much, the perfect horror movie heroine. She is a character the audience can admire and she is a survivor. Many critics of the slasher might say that it is a misogynistic genre, as it often has naked and vulnerable women being overpowered by men. However, the Final Girl proves this not to be the case at all, quite the opposite. The Final Girl is a very smart and dignified character, who usually always outwits the killer in the end.

However, the character of the Final Girl has evolved over time. In Halloween Laurie’s ability was to simply remain alive until Doctor Loomis got there to save her. By the time A Nightmare on Elm Street came along the Final Girl was starting to take steps to protect herself, and defeat the threat. In the latter, Nancy is ready to take on Freddy!

Not only do Final Girls take on the killer, they also often protect young children too, showing their maternal side into the bargain. Just as there are monstrous maternal figures to be found in horror, the Final Girl is the complete opposite. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) in Halloween has two young children in her care that she is babysitting for, whilst Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Aliens protects Newt with the famous line: “Get away from her, you bitch!”

As time has gone by, various differences have crept into the genre to allow it to evolve, and also to create unexpected twists at the end. The first slashers had the Final Girl discover and help to capture the killer (Psycho), escape the killer until another day (Black Christmas), and finally, killing the killer, after the killer had killed all her peers, so that the Final Girl is also the Final Killer; this has further evolved so that some Final Girls turn out to have been the killer all along, although this is a little bit more unusual.

In slasher horror, usually the weapon used by the killer is a blade of some kind, hence the term ‘slasher’. It could also be argued that in, for example, Halloween, Laurie attacks Michael Myers with weapons that are phallic: a knitting needle; a coat hanger, which she fashions into a spiked object, and a knife – all intended for stabbing. In the final sequence, Laurie takes over the dominant role using very masculine weaponry.

Probably the first Final Girl appeared in Psycho (1960), in the form of Marion’s sister Lila. Lila appears with Marion’s boyfriend Sam Loomis (in Halloween a character bearing that name would also step in to save the day, as has previously been mentioned…!). Along with other conventions that were built up over time, Psycho also saw the appearance of the human monster in the shape of the serial killer. The serial killer is necessarily dangerous and frightening, an almost supernatural killing machine, usually with a severe psychiatric illness and a grudge to bear, often caused by a traumatised childhood. The Final Girl is confronted with her every nightmare in the flesh: Norman Bates, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees (well, actually, his mother…but his legend lives on regardless!), Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, Ghostface, Hannibal Lecter. Sometimes they have a supernatural side, like Michael Myers. Most often they are the scariest thing of all, real-life people! But, always, always, always, they are not just bad, they are completely and utterly insane. The Final Girl has her work cut out for her, but through it all she prevails.

Every horror fan has got their favourite Final Girl/Psychotic Maniac movies, whether slasher or not. Here are some recommendations. I don’t suppose they are really in any particular order. Silence of the Lambs and Psycho, though not slashers, have my favourite psychotic serial killer characters, whilst Alien has my favourite Final Girl – a good, strong performance from Sigourney Weaver. Black Christmas is actually, to my mind, probably one of the best and earliest of the genre. I really have no idea why I love Halloween so much. I just do. I think it’s the atmosphere, but I just can’t quite put my finger on it. Nevertheless, I have lost count of the number of times I’ve watched it – at least once a year at, yes you’ve guessed, Hallowe’en! And I just loved the twist in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

I’ve actually written my own slasher horror movie script! If any budding film directors or production companies wish to get in touch, I’d be delighted to hear from you!

I’d also love to know about readers’ favourite slashers, psychological horrors, Final Girls and serial killing maniacs. Do feel free to post comments!

Until next week. Don’t go anywhere…I’ll be right back! Your friend, A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Muir, J K (2007) A History of the Dead Teenager Decade in Horror Films of the 1980s McFarland & Co: USA (Chapter 2).

QUEER STORIES: Hidden Homosexuality in Early Horror

20 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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Anubis, beast, bi-sexual, buggery, Carmilla, Dark Fantasy, Desire, disguise, Dorian Gray, Dracula's Daughter, Egyptian mythology, Finding Delphi, gay, gothic, Greek, homoerotic, homoeroticism, homosexual, homosexuality, Horror, Hyde, jackal, James Corden, Jekyll, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, lesbian, Lesbian Vampire Killers, monster, Oscar Wilde, Paul McGann, queer, Robert Louis Stevenson, secrecy, secrets, Sex, sexual, Sexuality, sodomy, Stephen Fry, the love that dare not speak its name, Underworld, Vampire, Victorian, Werewolf of London, Wilde

As I mentioned in a previous article, horror is the perfect place to find a secret subtext. In some parts of human history, it became unfortunately necessary for the subject of homosexuality to remain hidden in the world of literature and film. The UK 1533 Buggery Act made sodomy punishable by death. In 1861, this was changed to life imprisonment rather than hanging. However, in 1885 the laws were extended to include all sexual activities between males (Queen Victoria did not believe there was such a thing as lesbians!). It was in this very dark era that “the love that dare not speak its name” had to find other ways to communicate itself. Gay and bi-sexual writers were able to give expression to the subject of homoerotic desires using the medium of Gothic literature. In fact, many of the early Gothic romance writers were linked to homosexual scandal. “Secret and unlawful desires” became euphemisms for homosexuality. Three such tales, where one may find allusions to homosexuality, are Carmilla (1872) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde. A few years later in 1935, with the advent of film, the gay theme can be found in a couple of horror films such as Werewolf of London (1935) and Dracula’s Daughter (1936).

Carmilla is the story of a young woman’s susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire called Carmilla. The young woman, Laura, whilst living in a castle in Styria, has a vision of a beautiful woman when she is six years old. She claims later in the story to have been bitten on the chest by the visitor, although no wounds are visible. Perhaps this signifies an initial pang of attraction. Twelve years later, Laura finally meets Carmilla face to face, when Carmilla’s carriage is involved in an accident. The two women recognise each other from the dream.

Carmilla and Laura start to become close friends, although Carmilla has very sudden mood swings, and makes unsettling advances towards Laura. Of course, Carmilla exhibits vampiric tendencies, such as sleeping during the day, being awake at night and becoming enraged at hearing religious songs. Furthermore, Laura sees a portrait of an ancestor from the 17^th century: Mircalla, Countess Karnstein, who looks identical to Carmilla. Laura begins to have nightmares of being bitten on the chest by a fiendish cat, which transforms into a female figure. It would seem Laura’s feelings are being disturbed by an aggressive sexual predator.

Laura becomes very ill following these nightly visitations. Her father is told by a friend that his own, recently deceased, daughter had similar symptoms and goes on to describe the situation which involved a young woman named Millarca, who became friends with his daughter. He came to the conclusion that his daughter was being visited by a vampire, and upon a surprise attack the ‘cat-like creature’ took the form of Millarca and fled.

It all unravels that Carmilla, Mircalla and Millarca are one in the same person. All are anagrams of the same name. Of course, it is clear that lesbian attraction is the force between Carmilla and Laura:

Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, “You are mine, you shall be mine, and you and I are one for ever”. (Carmilla, Chapter 4). (1)

Carmilla confined her attentions to female victims, was more comfortable at night-time, was very beautiful, able to walk through walls, could shape-shift into a cat and slept in a coffin. She was, most definitely, a lesbian vampire! A few films have been made in her honour. Some attempt to keep to the original story, but you may remember Carmilla making an appearance as the antagonist in Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009), starring James Corden and Paul McGann.

I had never thought of The Strange Tale of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, as being homoerotic. Up until now, as one of my all-time favourite stories, I had viewed it as a tale of the classic ‘beast’ or monster within. What that monster was, I had put down to some sort of message about insanity and split personalities. However, it is thought that one reading can be interpreted as that of a queer tale, so let’s look at the evidence for homoeroticism within the story. It is said to be a story of disguise – and not only in the form of Jekyll and Hyde: ‘a Gothic tale is disguised as a moral fable; the moral fable is disguised as a monster story’ (1). It might be safe to assume, therefore, that there is much more going on beneath the surface than the initial reading of it might suggest – I’d expect nothing less from such a stylish writer as RLS.

Thanks to a potion invented by Dr Jekyll, he is able to lead a double life in the form of his alter ego, Mr Hyde (obviously the name ‘Hyde’ is the same in sound to the word ‘hide’, which is exactly what both Jekyll and Hyde are doing, depending on who is visible. Hiding. As for Jekyll, well…the only word I can think of is ‘jackal’ and it wouldn’t surprise me if this was indeed the intended meaning. In Egyptian mythology, the jackal-headed Anubis, is the god of the Underworld, protector and judge of the dead. Ultimately, I suppose, Jekyll is a doctor who leads himself to death, but is he also judging himself as well?

The story is commonly thought to be a tale on the horrors of the unleashed sexual appetite, and here is my initial mistake. Having only seen the film, I assumed that the sexual debauchery Hyde demonstrated were towards women. In fact, in the original text there are no female characters, apart from a cook and a housemaid – both peripheral to the story. However, Stevenson himself rejected the notion that Hyde was about sexuality of any kind, maintaining that the only reason people would read it that way is because they can think of nothing else! A trap we should be careful of when reading Gothic fantasy… Nevertheless, some people do believe that Hyde is a closet homosexual and RLS does include some suspicious markers of homoeroticism within the story:

The suspected blackmail of Jekyll by his “young man”, his “favourite”; the “very pretty manner of politeness of Sir Danvers Carew” when approached in the street – terms that may have denoted forbidden liaisons to a Victorian readership. The hidden door by which he enters Jekyll’s house is the “back way”, even “the back passage”. It happens that the year of composition, 1885, was the year in which an amendment to an act of parliament made homosexual acts between men a criminal offence.(3)

On closer examination it looks like there is much more to discover within the pages of the story, and I think it might be worth returning to this subject in full once I’ve had the chance to read the original text thoroughly. It would seem there are several possible interpretations, and I wonder if this in itself was deliberate. Quite often a writer has more than one message he/she wishes to convey.

Most people know of Oscar Wilde and the circumstances which led to his imprisonment, after being convicted of homosexuality. He spent two years in prison for the sake of the “love that dare not speak its name”, famously quoted in Wilde with Stephen Fry playing the lead role. Fry gave a very beautiful and moving speech on being brought to trial for daring to love a man. He explains that in ancient Greek times it was perfectly natural, and the purest of relationships, for a teacher and his student to share a bond.

It has been suggested that the name Dorian, the protagonist in The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a reference to the ancient Greeks, who had a very different and more accepting view of homoeroticism. Both Lord Henry and Basil compete for Dorian’s attention, praising him for his good looks and youthfulness. Basil even states: “as long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me.” Nevertheless, Dorian does claim to have only ever loved one woman in his lifetime: Sibyl Vane. It could be that Dorian, like Wilde himself, was actually bisexually inclined. The fact that he is as attracted to her when she is dressed up as a man, as he is when she is dressed as a woman might point to that. Wilde was very happy and in love with his own wife for the first few years of their married life. Although I do wonder if the use of the word Sibyl is another nod to the Greeks and their prophetess, the Sibyl, the priestess seer who pronounced her oracles in ancient holy places like Delphi. (In Finding Delphi the Sibyl plays an important part in the story). Either way, it would seem the attraction Dorian feels for Sibyl is as a result of her ability to be all things, and as an actress she is well-placed to “mask life”.

Although it remains obscure, Basil asks why Dorian’s “friendship is so fatal to young men” and mentions the “shame and sorrow” of one of the young men’s fathers. Basil also tells Henry how he worships Dorian, begging him not to “take away the one person that makes my life absolutely lovely to me.” In the 1890 edition, Basil is more focused on the love he feels; whereas in the 1891 edition the following year, this has been changed to reflect the influence Dorian has on his art: “the one person who gives my art whatever charm it may possess: my life as an artist depends on him.” (4, 5, 6, 7).

Like Dr Jekyll, Dorian has another side to himself, his hidden sexual menace, which lives in the portrait of himself he keeps locked away. About the secrecy of his portrait, Dorian says: “I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvellous.” In both stories, the protagonists enjoy the pleasures of leading a double life, whilst in Carmilla, the vampire is known as having three different names and with the ability to disguise herself in the form of a cat. Although these are necessarily inexplicit about the subject of homosexuality, in the Victorian era when these stories were written, it is of much use to the interested reader to read them bearing in mind the zeitgeist of 19^th century Britain. To those who don’t see (or wish to see) the homosexual content in these stories, I’m sure you’ll find another interpretation and there is certainly much more to discover.

In the meantime, it is only by studying those dark times that we begin to see the horror of equating any kind of love with evil and ugliness. No character who hides away their repressed natural emotions ever meets a happy end.

Until next week, be true to yourself and love with pride. Your Fag Hag friend, A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(1) Le Fanu, J S (1872) Carmilla in “In a Glass Darkly” (Kindle edition).

(2) Halberstam, J (2000) Gothic Surface, Gothic Depth: The subject of Secrecy in Stevenson and Wilde in Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and The Technology of Monsters Duke Uni Press: USA.

(3) Campbell, J The Beast Within in The Guardian (13^th December 2008)

(4) The Picture of Dorian Gray Book Notes: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/dg/

(5) Literature (TPODG): http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/index_p.html

(6) TPODG: http://www.novelguide.com/ThePictureofDorianGray/index.html

(7) TPODG: http://www.gradesaver.com/the-picture-of-dorian-gray/study-guide/short-summary/

Mary Magdalene – High Priestess and Sacred Prostitute

13 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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The Goddess of Sacred Sex

My awareness of the Goddess came to me somewhere in my early 30’s and deciding to seek her out academically many years later has been an awakening, as are all major truths in our lives. To my surprise I discovered that much of the world for millennia lived in a world where their God was female and she was the Goddess – benevolent, fertile and above all sexual. Very sexual! Today we have a profound difficulty in associating the profession of the prostitute with anything vaguely associated with sacredness, but in ancient times these women were held in the highest esteem in the temples of the Great Mother Goddess. The sacred prostitute or temple priestess became the representation of the goddess in physical form and with their bodies entered into sacred sexual rituals with the men who came to worship.

My studies have shown me that long before Christianity (which…

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MARGARET THATCHER MEETS MEDEA: Witches and Monstrous Mothers throughout the Ages.

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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Blood, Carrie, Christianity, Colchis, curses, demonisation, Dracula, Euripides, feminism, Greek, Hekate, Horror, Jason, Lucy, Magi, magic, Malleus Maleficarum, Margaret Thatcher, Medea, menstruation, monsters, monstrous mothers, periods, powerful women, prophesy, Psycho, Religion, sacrifice, Sex, sexism, sexual predators, Stephen King, supernatural, The Devil, Vampire, vampirism, witch, witchcraft, women

Margaret Thatcher is nothing, if not memorable. She is both loved and reviled, depending on which side of the fence you stand on. It is not my intention to pay a tribute, though it does seem like a fitting topic this week, following the death of Thatcher, to discuss legendary women who fall into the category of ‘monstrous mothers’. Their deeds are outwith the accepted boundaries of what it means to be a woman. They, therefore, become known as a witch or monster.

Medea, wife of Jason, in the classical tale of the same name, is one such witch. Written in 431 BCE by the Greek playwright Euripides, Medea tells the story of a foreign witch betrayed by the man she loves. She gives up everything, her wealth and status, for Jason; everything, that is, except her magic. In fact, Medea is a priestess of Hekate from Colchis. This was the special domain of sorcery known as Kolkha. In the 6^th century BCE Colchis came under the Persian Empire†. In Greece, foreign religions were treated suspiciously and given the name ‘magic’; terms which arose from the name of the Persian priests, The Magi. Medea is treated badly throughout the story, both by the suspicious women of her new town and from her once beloved Jason. The townswomen do not like that Medea dresses differently from them; and Jason betrays her when he decides to marry Princess Glauce. Glauce is deemed to be more of an appealing match. After all, Medea is only a ‘barbarian woman’ in the eyes of the Greeks. By this point in the story, Medea has raised Jason’s two sons, and gets her own appalling revenge on him by murdering his wife and her father on the wedding day. She goes on to murder the two sons that she and Jason have together. Medea is shown, however, to be an oppressed victim, appealing for the sympathy of the audience. In this tale, she escapes in a blaze of glory, astride dragons, having wreaked her revenge on the philandering Jason.

The Sun himself, the source of all life and warmth, vindicating the cause of passion, disorder, violent cruelty, against the cold, orderly, self-protective process of civilised man, is a reminder that the universe is not on the side of civilisation; and that a life combining order with happiness is something men must win for themselves in continual struggle with an unsympathetic environment. (1)

This week, I’ve read the line: “Ding dong the witch is dead…” so often I can’t now seem to get it out my head. Interestingly, it was not until The Wizard of Oz, that we had the introduction of the witch as a terrifying character on the silver screen.

The witch has always inspired dread and fear, going back to ancient times, as can be seen in the case of Medea. The earliest known witches were feared only because they were thought to have magical and terrifying powers, not because of any association with The Devil. This was a later-added Christian fear (both The Devil and the association of The Devil with witches).

In some cultures, young girls who experienced prophetic dreams during menstruation were thought to be witches. There was often this association with blood and the supernatural. Menstruation was linked to the ‘witches curse’, something Stephen King explored in his much celebrated story Carrie. Historically, the curse of a woman who was menstruating or pregnant was believed to be much more powerful. It was known as a ‘Mother’s Curse’, and meant certain death. In the 14^th century, the secret feminine knowledge of midwifery became associated with witchcraft and in 1484 The Malleus Maleficarum stated that witches were castrators. Clearly men, therefore, had much to fear from these devil women! Witches, during those years, were often accused of such things. The main reason given for a woman’s ‘otherness’ is her natural carnal nature. Here is a shining example of the demonisation of women and sex, rolled into one convenient package. Burn the horny cock-thieving bitches!

In horror, the witch still has an essentially sexual nature, with supernatural powers and a wish to harm, wreaking destruction on the community. Being closer to nature than man, she can control such things as storms and hurricanes. In Carrie, the anti-heroine is a young menstruating woman, although not a mother. The monstrous mother role is given to her mother, who desires to control her daughter through a warped sense of religious morals. At no point in the story does she ever really show a maternal bond with Carrie. In both Psycho and Carrie the monstrous child is a product of the psychotic, domineering and monstrous mother. There is, incidentally, another important similarity between Carrie and Psycho. Both Marion in Psycho and Carrie, are punished severely after enjoying sensual pleasures in the shower, and both these scenes end in blood-shed.

Having been given no prior warning about periods from her mother, Carrie is then subjected to a lecture on the sins of women when she returns home. Raving about sexist religious beliefs, Mrs White goes on to blame all human evil on women. Woman is the universal scapegoat, and Carrie is, therefore, the sacrificial victim at the Prom, where she is baptised in the blood of a pig as a joke by her bullying classmates. Carrie is ‘crowned queen and anointed with pig’s blood’ before going on to wage her terrible and monstrous revenge. Like Medea, we are encouraged to view her display of monstrosity with sympathy because, like Medea, Carrie has been treated appallingly by her female peers and (not her husband) her mother.

Both women desire a fresh start at the end of their vengeful outburst: Medea in Athens, and Carrie, pictured as a trembling child washing off the indicators of her womanhood, kills her mother and returns to the ‘womb’ of the dark closet.

It’s pretty safe to conclude that the monstrous female is a patriarchal invention. Women tend not to be frightened of themselves, usually. In horror, the monstrous nature of women is undoubtedly linked with her place as man’s sexual other (2).

The dark side of maternity is also explored in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Count, described by Almond as a ‘monstrous baby’, suckles on women, turning them into bad mothers: ‘non-maternal sexual predators’ such as the vampirised Lucy, is later destroyed by honourable men. Furthermore, the three female vampires encountered by Jonathon Harker are representative of rampant female sexuality, much reviled by Victorian society. In such a society, they symbolise the corruption of motherhood. With witch-like qualities Shakespeare would have been proud to see, the terrifying power these three possess is female sexuality. Furthermore, Lucy goes from unconscious flirtatiousness to becoming blatantly seductive and, therefore, dangerous. Shortly after her death there are newspaper reports of children going missing who later, returning with bitten necks, report having met a beautiful woman who turns out to be Lucy. When confronted vampirising a child at night, Lucy callously discards the child and attempts to seduce her husband, Arthur. This is a scene which shows female sexuality is incompatible with maternity, a strong Victorian notion. It also reverses the roles of the mother and child. Instead of the child feeding from the mother-figure, the mother feeds upon the child (3).

Powerful and/or sexual women are often seen as a threat to a patriarchal-dominated society, whether or not they and their behaviour deserves to be viewed as ‘monstrous’. Like her or loathe her, Margaret Thatcher was a successful politician from the late 1950s, gaining the ultimately most powerful position possible in 1979 when she became Prime Minister of the UK. Thereafter, she became a Monstrous Mother, suppressing the power of her ‘children’, sending them to be killed in unnecessary wars, increasing their poverty and manipulating them with well-timed elections. Eventually, 200,000 of Maggie’s children demonstrated against her policies. There’s definitely a gothic horror story in that! I doubt, however, that Maggie would get as much sympathy as Medea or Carrie…

I’m not sure either if she had an ‘essentially sexual nature’, though no doubt she was the wank fantasy of some BDSM pervs…

Well, anyway, I’m even more grateful to have such a loving mother when you see what’s out there! Mine even gave me a kidney – she’s a keeper!

Until next week: More power to MILFs! Your friend, A.D.

(1) Euripides, Medea & Other Plays Penguin (1963 edition) p9.

(2) Creed, B (1993) Woman as Witch in “The Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis” Routledge pp73-83.

(3) Almond, B R (2006) Monstrous Infants and Vampyric Mothers in Bram Stoker’s Dracula in “The International Journal of Psychoanalysis” 2007:88:219-35.

† The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd Ed, Ronald Grigor Suny, p 13

FEAR, RELIGION & EXORCISM: Demonic Possession and the Battle of Good vs. Evil in Horror

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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Assyria, Babylon, bad, Damien Karras, Demon Possesion, Demons, djinn, entity, Evil, Exorcism, Exorcist, Fear, Gabriel Byrne, genie, genii, Good, gothic, guardian spirits, Horror, Merrin, mythology, negative, pagan, Pazuzu, positive, psychology, Regan, Religion, Satan, superstition, The Devil, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Gemini Killer, The Vatican, William Peter Blatty

(Contains Spoilers!)

I read two things this week that made me decide to write about the role of religion in horror. Firstly, my idol Gabriel Byrne said that he thought the Catholic Church was evil. Secondly, parks have a calming effect on the mind, apparently! What have these got to do with one another?

Well, although I’m pagan I have to both agree and disagree with Gabriel. Religion, like every entity, has a good and a bad side. Both positive and negative psychology exists in most religions. Many people have horrific or depressing experiences within the confines of a place of worship or due to the beliefs held, but just as many have hugely fulfilling life-long relationships with their God(s); despite my lack of Christian belief, I never fail to feel spiritually at peace in beautiful big Italian churches. They are designed that way deliberately, to give you a sense of peace. In much the same way as Nature is.

Over the years, many stories have been penned on the fight between good and evil. Like all horrors, they are intended to frighten the reader, or viewer. What better way to terrorise than through deep-rooted religious beliefs and superstitions? Therein, lie many supernatural beings, ready and willing to take your soul. The gothic horror novel can be scrutinised for the plentiful evidence of the much larger fears of society, and the horror genre in general is awash with (often) Christian symbolism. Sometimes, if it’s being especially clever, a story will throw in the debate of religion vs. science, with psychology being the obvious choice for the reasons behind baffling and frightening behaviour.

Truth be told, religious horror absolutely scares the beejeezus out of me, but I absolutely love it. Religion was never forced down my throat as a kid, so I can only imagine how devout Christians feel! I know many Catholics who just won’t watch or read, for example, The Exorcist, even though I tell them the Church is painted in a very good light and defeats Satan in the end. I first remember reading The Exorcist as a teenager, probably around the age of fifteen or so. It was a book given to me by my grandfather, who knew I liked Hammer Horror and Christopher Lee. My love of The Count was positively encouraged by my father, and I have many fond memories of our Dracula film nights! I don’t think my grandfather had any idea of what The Exorcist was about, or what lurked between the pages of that book. I’m sure he’d never have passed it on otherwise. I found it shocking, disturbing and highly entertaining, though it might have caused me some bouts of insomnia for a few weeks!

The Exorcist is the tale of a little girl, who becomes possessed by the Devil, and the fight of the priests to save her soul. The author, William Peter Blatty, supposedly derived inspiration from the exorcism of a young boy by a Jesuit priest in 1949.

However, Blatty chose not to go with Christian mythology when deciding on which evil spirit to use. The demon he chooses for his story is Pazuzu, a wind demon from Babylonian and Assyrian mythology. Demons, in ancient Iraq – where the story begins – are also called Djinn or, as we know them, ‘genie’. The genii in Assyro-Babylonian mythology were inferior to gods but played a major role in the daily lives of this ancient civilisation. There were both good and bad genii. The good ones were guardian spirits, but there were also evil genii from the lower world who overwhelmed people with disease, made them become criminals, split up families and decimated livestock. There was no way of appeasing them, and it was thought they did not heed either prayer or supplication. Seven of them were thought to be particularly dangerous: ‘…they dwell in holes in the ground, they live among the ruin of the earth’. They appear to mortals as terrifying creatures and can only be driven away by incantations performed…by an exorcist! (1)

Father Merrin, in The Exorcist, finds a small statue of Pazuzu and a St Joseph’s medal whilst on an archaeological dig in Iraq. Immediately the story is introduced as the fight for good against evil. As this is happening, in Georgetown (USA), a little girl and her mother start to experience disturbing events. As the story progresses the little girl, Regan, appears to be possessed by a demonic entity. Her mother immediately has various psychological tests carried out, as this is the obvious reason for her daughter’s behaviour. Eventually, at her wits end and seeking out another cure, she enlists the help of Damien Karras, a Jesuit priest trained in psychiatry; someone with a foot in both camps. Damien, however, is easy emotional prey for the demon. He has a crisis of faith and is guilt-ridden about the death of his mother. The Vatican enlist Merrin, an experienced exorcist, to drive the demon out of Regan and save her from the Hellishness she has succumbed to. The outcome is the death of Merrin and the ultimate sacrifice of Karras, who persuades the demon to take him instead of Regan. He then jumps out of the girl’s window, in an attempt to kill Pazuzu….

…and we think that’s it, until Legion (Exorcist III), also written by Blatty, but this time directed by him too. It is also a pretty good film. Particularly terrifying in this story, is the notion that evil has the ability to enter holy places, which most people like to believe are calm and spiritual havens of protection. Suddenly, nowhere is safe from evil and chaos, neither churches nor hospitals; devout clergy are as vulnerable as anyone from attack by powerful evil spirits.

Police are baffled when the trade-marks of the now dead Gemini Killer, which were kept secret, start appearing on victims’ bodies. It turns out to be a demon (presumably Pazuzu) possessing different people, making them commit horrific murders. It also turns out Damien didn’t die, but is still possessed by the spirit of a serial killer alongside Pazuzu. Damien is trapped in Hell, but still saves the day in the end.

I think this film is an absolute gem. The tension built up in some scenes is very well done. The “Nurse Scene” scared the crap out of me when I first watched it, and again when I watched it this very afternoon – even knowing what was coming. It is creepiness at its very best. The film won a much deserved Saturn award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA for Best Writing. The acting of Brad Dourif, for which he at least received a nomination, is utterly fantastic. It definitely should be on your list of books to read, and films to see.†

Another exorcism story, which keeps me awake and terrified, is The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Again, it is good vs evil, science vs religion. What I love about this story is that it leaves you to make up your own mind about the events that occur.

These events are based on the true, and very tragic, story of Anneliese Michel, an unfortunate German girl who died following an exorcism. It is thought, by some, to have been a case of misidentification of mental illness, negligence, abuse and religious hysteria (2). In the film, it is brought to the attention of a jury, and there is a fairly good case on both sides. The outcome is similar to the real outcome. In the film the exorcist is found guilty, but deemed to have suffered enough.

What I loved about this story is that it really draws upon the viewer’s beliefs at every point. It borders, like the best scary stories, on the edge of possibility; because the events, or ones very similar, actually took place.

What do I believe? I believe that demons and mental illness are the same thing dressed in different clothing, and I believe that in order to defeat anything you need to start with the beliefs of the affected person and adopt a holistic approach to treatment. The real horror is that science and spirituality seem to be forever at war, rather than forming an amicable ‘opposites attract’ partnership, defeating the cause on all sides – physically, mentally and spiritually.

Yes, I believe… I believe in death. I believe in disease. I believe in injustice and inhumanity and torture and anger and hate. I believe in murder. I believe in pain. I believe in cruelty and infidelity. I believe in slime and stink and every crawling, putrid thing… every possible ugliness and corruption, you son of a bitch! I believe…….in you (Lt. Kinderman, Exorcist III: Legion)

And I believe, even if you don’t believe, it is best not to be too arrogant about it.

Until next week readers. Your friend, A.D.

New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (1986 edition) Guild Publishing: London p65.
– Duffey, John M. (2011). Lessons Learned: The Anneliese Michel Exorcism. ISBN 978-1-60899-664-3

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneliese_Michel

† And what of The Exorcist II…? Well, we don’t really like to talk about it…

Power Shorts Daily: The Night Mare

04 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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A funny little tale…

A funny little tale…

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Werewolves: Narrative and Symbolism in Film and Literature

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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allegory, anarchy, Berserkers, bitten, classics, criminal, curse, delinquency, Devil, film, folk lore, folktales, forest, full moon, fury, God, hallucinogens, Herodotus, hooliganism, hypertrichosis, infection, literature, Luna, Lupa, lycanthrope, lycanthropy, Madness, menstruation, metamorphosis, Norse, Ovid, Pausanius, pentagram, Petronius, Pliny the Elder, pornography, prostitute, psychiatric illness, puberty, scratched, sexual, symbolism, transformation, tranvestitism, Viking, Virgil, werecats, werejaguars, werelions, weretigers, werewolves, witches

By Sergey Kalinen

Werewolves! Where does one start?! These supernatural creatures have as vast and varied a history as vampires, probably even more so. Early tales of transformation from man to wolf, can be read in the classical literature of Herodotus, Pausanius, Ovid, Virgil, Pliny the Elder and Petronius.

Depending on which part of the world you live in, the curse of the werewolf is either given by God or the Devil. Also, depending on which part of the world you live in, humans may metamorphose into any number of creatures. In Europe, and subsequently Canada via Viking migration, America via European migration, Haiti via French migration etc, wolves are the most likely were-animal. Were-cats are also mentioned in the texts. In Europe they are mostly associated with witches, whereas in Africa and Asia they are mostly associated with big cats – weretigers and werelions. Werejaguars are also mentioned in the Americas. In Thailand, there are even folk tales of werecrocodiles!

There seems to generally be a big difference between werewolves of film and werewolves of literature. For example, in film werewolves are most often infected or cursed from being bitten or scratched by another werewolf. In literature, they are cursed through a pact with the Devil, parentage or because they have a psychiatric illness (lycanthropy); also, in literature, religious symbols are usually no protection whereas, for example, a pentagram was used in the film An American Werewolf in London. Traditionally used as a symbol for protection, it is often misunderstood to mean something Satanic. In later (20^th century) literature, the silver bullet was added as a means of killing a werewolf. Prior to that, wolfsbane and exorcism were often tried on people believed to be lycanthropes.

From the original texts to current visual storytelling, it should by now be obvious that werewolves represent many varied things, and I’m not going to get too arsy about the differences because as I see it, most stories evolve and metamorphose themselves in the process. Plus, films have to be written by someone before being put on the screen….

It has been suggested that rabies is one origin of werewolf beliefs. It’s a great hypothesis, and there are several aspects of infection and symptom that would suggest this theory is correct. Even though being bitten and infected was a later addition, and not present in origin myths and legends, the infection does curse the victim to a state of madness and is also often associated with canines.

Another possibility for the origins of the werewolf legends lies with the medical condition hypertrichosis. This condition is caused by a genetic mutation of chromosomes, as well as various diseases such as cancer and anorexia. In the most severe cases, the face and body are covered in thick hair, giving a very animalistic appearance. In days gone by, people who suffered from this condition often ended up in circus shows, labelled with such names as “Wolf Man”.

Thirdly, The Berserkers, were Viking warriors described in Old Norse literature who dressed in wolf and bear skins. They were said to enter an almost uncontrollable, trance-like fury, thought by some historians to be induced by drugs. In one saga, they are described as being “tasters of blood”. Their fit of madness is described here:

This fury, which was called berserkergang, occurred not only in the heat of battle, but also during laborious work. Men who were thus seized performed things which otherwise seemed impossible for human power. This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of the teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its colour. With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into a great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend or foe. When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feebleness followed, which could last for one or several days.(1)

This is interesting, in that not only do the Berserkers transform in the same way as werewolves do, but they are also weak when the effects wear off, in the same way that werewolves appear to be weak when they transform back to their human form. The state of going ‘berserk’ is explored in Finding Delphi, when one of the protagonists is forced to confront his past and the guilt that remains with him because of his actions. The effects of a hallucinogen experienced by him and other protagonists in the story, cause him to shapeshift into various animals, including a wolf.

The werewolf, in storytelling, has to be some part of the human being – a part of us which is deep-rooted and potentially accessible. In some cases, it could be madness, and we have the full moon symbolism to thank for the association with the lunatic. The word luna is Latin for moon and the goddess of the moon. It is also, incidentally, the alchemical name for silver! The full moon has long been associated with psychiatric illness. It has never been proven to be anything more than a mythical link, although there is no accounting for the effect belief has on a subject. In American Werewolf in London, the unfortunate David Kessler suffers psychologically through nightmares and supposed hallucinations, after straying off the path onto the moors, disregarding the full moon and being attacked by a werewolf which kills his friend, Jack, and turns David into a werewolf. His reign of terror throughout the streets of London seems to be linked to delinquency and hooliganism, with some transvestism, anarchy and porn thrown in for comic effect. In this case, the werewolf is the parts of an eighties society that London was either uncomfortable with or did not take very seriously, possibly both. Certainly it represents the ‘Other’ in that society.

As well as furious, strange and criminal behaviour, the werewolf represents our most base instincts; our untamed wildness. It represents the animal side of our nature. It is really what is going on, or what we have the potential for, underneath our civilised exterior. Of course, this includes our sexual nature which seems to have been demonised some couple of thousand years ago…. In very ancient times, the wolf was associated with prostitution, and this is one theory for the background story of the wolf that raised Romulus and Remus, the founding brothers of Rome – that is, that Lupa may in fact have been a prostitute.

Folk tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, are full of amazing allegory, warning unsuspecting adolescent girls of the dangers of not sticking to “the path”. In the original fairytale there is a clear distinction between the safety of the village and the dangers of the forest. The tale is symbolic of an innocent female victim being lured by a dangerous male criminal from a place of safety to a place of isolation. Charles Perrault, writer of the earliest version (1697) explicitly explained the meaning of the story at the end:

From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, And it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with an amenable disposition – neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!

There is no doubt in my mind that Little Red Riding Hood is a warning to pubescent girls on the awakening of sexual maturity, the red cloak symbolising the blood of menstruation; the wolf, therefore, a sexual predator.

The literary tale was beautifully brought to life in Company of Wolves, which was an absolute dream for the discerning symbologist (yes, I know it’s a made up title – please don’t write in!). Unlike the fairytale the charismatic wolf is first encountered as a Prince Charming, later metamorphosing into a wolf. Throughout the story there are several transformations from human to wolf, introduced through other folk tales within the story. The main point, according to the old-fashioned thinking of her grandmother’s generation, is for Rosaleen (Red Riding Hood) to be wary of wandering off the path (of righteousness) as there are wicked men ready to take advantage of her. However, Rosaleen’s mother has a different attitude. Nowadays it’s okay to run off with the man (or werewolf!) you love.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes, and the moral of the story, from Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood:

Little girls, this seems to say,
Never stop upon your way,
Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you’re pretty so be wise;
Wolves may lurk in every guise.
Handsome they may be, and kind,
Gay, and charming – never mind!
Now, as then, ‘tis simple truth –
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!

Until next week, stick to the path and beware the moon! Your friend, A.D.

Footnotes

(1) Fabing, Howard D. (1956) On Going Berserk: A Neurochemical Inquiry in Scientific Monthly 83 [Nov.] 234.

Fear, Madness and Repressed Sexuality in Dark Fantasy and Horror

22 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Alyson Dunlop Shanes in Uncategorized

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Tags

Blood, Dark Fantasy, Demons, Desire, Dracula, Fear, Hallucination, Horror, Madness, Psychological, Repressed, Sensuality, Sex, Sexuality, Sleep Paralyis, Vampire

“In a world which is indeed our world, the one we know, a world without devils, sylphides, or vampires, there occurs an event which cannot be explained by the laws of this same familiar world. The person who experiences the event must opt for one of two possible solutions: either he is a victim of an illusion of the senses, of a product of the imagination – and the laws of the world remain what they are; or else the event has indeed taken place, it is an integral part of reality – but then this reality is controlled by laws unknown to us… The fantastic occupies the duration of this uncertainty. Once we choose one answer or the other, we leave the fantastic for a neighbouring genre, the uncanny or the marvellous. The fantastic is that hesitation experienced by a person who knows only the laws of nature, confronting an apparently supernatural event.” (Tzvetan Todorov: The Fantastic, A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Press of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 1975 p25).

In order for horror and dark fantasy to be remotely compelling to the reader, it should be somewhat believable and a tad inexplicable, enough to make us feel ‘creeped out’ or on the edge of our seats, at any rate. Those who read these genres, particularly vampire stories, are often deeply aware of the significance of the literature, if indeed they have not had an experience of sleep paralysis accompanied by hallucination; if hallucination is what demons are, springing from the mind of the victim. The experience of them is every bit as real as you sitting here reading this blog. Throughout literary history there have always been souls who understood what vampires and demons symbolised, as well as how to defeat them.

Our most disturbing fears, if awakened, will teach us something of our present circumstances. These fantastical events never occur without reason. Like attracts like – negative environments and people very often bring their negative influences to our own psyche. Our beliefs, fears and unconscious mind do the rest. By allowing ourselves to remain in that state of mind we open ourselves up to terrifying experiences (or dark energy is attracted to us, whichever you choose to believe). Either way, writers of dark fantasy and horror are often your guiding light in Hell.

These writers usually have a deep understanding of the Otherworld and reader’s darkest fears. They take you there in order that you may better understand the many possible dangers and demons that can be encountered in life; and they hopefully end the story with a solution of how to defeat these monsters.

One of the most famous horror writers is Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. We’ll come to the Count in a minute, but it is interesting that the subject of the disturbed mind is present in the form of Renfield, who has some very important information for the reader. Note too the eccentric figure of Van Helsing, a slightly mad, but genius doctor, who also has the required knowledge of the fantastic as well as the mundane. In fact, many of Stoker’s characters question their sanity throughout the story.

Blood, as the mad Renfield informs us, is the life. By consuming blood, he says, you gain the vital powers of the person whose blood you are draining. This is proved by his Master – Count Dracula – who becomes younger after drinking the blood of the youthful Lucy. She becomes weaker, eventually dying, as he becomes stronger. Mina drinks his blood in some kind of perverse and unholy communion. Dracula is very clearly placed in opposition to God, and we can assume that he therefore represents the Devil himself. In fact, Dracula is indeed compared to the Devil several times. As for Renfield, he is the unfortunate mad man who speaks the truth: the ‘Cassandra’ of this story.

Of course, blood is symbolic of so many things. On the subject of transubstantiation, in some pagan faiths, such as Sioux, there is a long-held belief that eating the flesh of a certain animal empowers you with that animal’s vital essence and spirit, a superstition that undoubtedly found its way around the world in many other guises. Bram Stoker was probably aware of the legend of Countess Bathory who, regardless of whether she did or not, supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth (See Footnote 1). In our modern world, we are well aware that blood transfusion saves lives. This was only a recent discovery in Stoker’s time, but he does mention, and describe, the procedure in Dracula. Most importantly, blood symbolises the potent life and energy we possess. Without it, we die. That life and energy is required so that the figurative vampire may live. In other words, if we let our fears take us over, or repress our innermost desires, we will be drained, disempowered, possibly depressed and eventually die.

Sleeping and night time are, of course, the places you will encounter vampires and other night demons, and in Dracula it is no different. Disturbed sleep is touched upon with the somnambulistic Lucy, who is easier to control when she is in this state. Sleeping people cannot defend themselves, like the state of sleep paralysis mentioned earlier. It is in this state that people are also very often prone to hallucinations. This is a condition which has been described for centuries by those who have reported incubus and succubus attacks. These creatures are night demons who feed upon our energy or have sex with us, in much the same way as Dracula does with Lucy and Mina. Dracula, therefore, is bound up not only with our fears but also with our repressed sexuality. The vampire’s teeth penetrating the neck of his or her victim, is symbolic of sexual penetration and shows our deep-rooted primal desire to be fucked. Hard. By a sexy, charismatic guy with a castle and pet wolves. Possibly. You get the picture. In the half-asleep world of sleep paralysis we are bound, helpless to our inner desires and fears. It is then that the vampire is free to strike, and the hallucination takes over.

Never fear, there is hope, and Stoker et al give us some clues on how to defeat the darkness in our lives. I suppose it’s up to each of us to take what we will out of that, but you’ll have to take a deep breath, pick up the books and face your fears for yourself….

In Sisterhood of the Wolf there is an appearance of a mysterious stranger. To begin with, he is not identified as a vampire, but there are many tell-tale signs. He is dark, with penetrating eyes, and there is an enticing quality about him. Channing knows she should not be anywhere near him, but she simply cannot help herself. There’s also something strange about Channing which, again, the reader will no doubt suspect long before it happens. She should be able to smell the stranger from across the street. That’s some super-power! Nevertheless, even although she cannot, she still gets a warning, a tingling, before she sees him. He has a magical super-power too! He is able to influence her senses and actions. Channing needs no persuasion to follow his command, even though the impression is of a strong independent woman.

This short opening scene is intended to be sensual, sexual, tense and dangerous. I have deliberately cut off the reader at this point, hoping it will leave you all wanting more! What I can say, for now, is that Channing is not scared for her own wellbeing. She’s a woman well able to take care of herself, and that dark stranger better watch out. He is about to bite off much more than he can chew! This is definitely a book for feminists!

Until next week, your friend… A D.

Footnote

1. He was certainly aware of some of the history of eastern Europe, as is evident with his lead character, based on real life Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, also known by his patronymic name of Dracula. A name he inherited via his father Vlad II Dracul, a member of the Order of the Dragon. The real Dracula’s cruelty was renowned, and his preferred method of execution was impalement, where Stoker no doubt derived the classical image of the stake – one of the methods used to kill vampires.

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Author Archives: Alyson Dunlop Shanes

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