A While Back...

...I was talking on Facebook/Twitter about the fact that when I try to think of what "I want" in a stand-alone novel--ie, the sort of stand-alone novel I'd write, given my druthers--all that comes up is a list of influences. I do think the generational idea for such a story would have to be similar to the sort of ideas I used to develop screenplays out of (though frankly, I haven't done that in a while), but OTOH, I don't want to paint myself into a corner where I have to do a shitload of research, either (which lets out things like taking my screenplay for Lilim and pulling a Johnny Gruesome with it, because I can just get away with handwaving things in script form that really would not fly if similarly handwaved in novel form).

So--something between the templates set by various novels I've liked a lot recently and various movies I continue to love. It'd be great, for example, to be able to create the novelistic equivalent of an Argento film, a completely crazy supernatural giallo, albeit without the reflexive misogyny...but is that even possible? Maybe if you cross-bred its driving aesthetic with the sort of intimate puzzlebox storytelling you get with Susan Hill and F.G. Cottam, a nu-M.R. James tone; Adam LG Nevill's very good at that, and his most recent book (The Ritual) has an intimacy and visual sensibility that makes it seem incredibly cinematic.

I don't know, though. So many of the things I love right now are multi-part narratives (Millennium, Locke & Key, etc.), I feel sort of defeated before I start.

Demon of the Week

Some time back, I found a list of demons, many of whom I hadn't actually heard of before--Asag the Sumerian plague-demon, for example, who has had sex with every mountain in the world (siring defensive litters of boulder-demons), and is so horrifying his appearance causes fish to be boiled alive whenever he appears near lakes, seas or rivers. My favourite, thus far, is--

Lady Midday
Origin: Slavic mythology
Also known as: Pscipolnista, Poludnica, Polednice

“Lady Midday” is certainly a unique female demon. She is said to pose tough questions to and make conversation with laborers working in the fields during the hottest part of the day in summertime. Any incorrect answer or unprompted subject change results in a beheading, either with a scythe, or a pair of shears. The “Lady” is also the personification of heat-stroke, and can also give people insanity or heat-sickness, in lieu of decapitation. Her description varies between that of a 12 year old girl, an old woman, or a generally beautiful woman.

Bad-ass, right? Yet another figure I'd love to use in something sometime--so gloriously odd and culturally specific, and obviously derived from some sort of pagan goddess. Sort of the anti-Marya Nox, too, when you think about it. They should meet.;)