Okay, maybe it’s the mad scientist I revealed during my recent visit to Mysteries and Margaritas that explains my initial reaction when I think of the monster from FRANKENSTEIN. To me the monster is the doctor, Victor Frankenstein, who assembled the creature from the assorted bits of humans and other assorted animals since the novel makes reference to taking materials from the slaughterhouses.
As a scientist, Frankenstein had a moral obligation to think about the consequences of what he would create much like Oppenheimer and those who worked on the Manhattan Project to create the atom bomb or the fictional scientists from Wardwell Laboratories who decided to experiment on innocent humans in the SIN HUNTER Series.
When I read paranormals or write them, that challenge of monster versus humans is often most interesting when it turns out, like in FRANKENSTEIN, that it’s the humans who are more monstrous than the demons and creatures in the stories.
What do you think of when you think of Frankenstein? The creature or the scientist?
Some interesting facts about FRANKENSTEIN:
1. It was originally published anonymously in 1818 and then again in 1823. It was substantially revised before being reissued by another publisher in 1831. The 1831 version is the one most commonly read.
2. The book was subtitled The Modern Prometheus as some scholars believe the book to be a warning against the adoption of science over civility and the expansion of machinery via the Industrial Revolution.
3. The author, Mary Godwin (later Shelley) was the lover of Percy Shelley who was a friend to Lord Byron. Rumor has it the writing of the book came about as the result of a challenge issued that each of them write their own supernatural story.
4. Mary was 18 at the time she created the novel.
5. The novel was rejected when submitted to both Shelley’s and Lord Byron’s publishers at the time.
6. The original work was not well-received and when the identity of the author was revealed, some attacked the work as being a product of her gender.
Hope you enjoyed today’s Dark Side Demon Monday!
Photo Credit: Frankenstein entry at Wikipedia; Tate Private Collection.
Today’s Dark Side Demon Monday is about an interesting aspect of one of our favorite kinds of demons-Vampires. There are many rituals and myths associated with vampires, but one of the more interesting myths seems to have fallen by the wayside except for Count von Count.
What does Count von Count have to do with the myth? It’s said that if you spread millet, mustard or poppy seeds around the vampire’s grave or your home, the vampire would become occupied with counting the seeds and leave you alone. Chinese vampires share a similar trait, although their OCD traits happen when a sack of rice is placed before them. Much like with the seeds, the vampire would have to count every grain of rice in the sack.
What about Count von Count on Sesame Street? The Count’s job on Sesame Street is to count everything he encounters no matter how annoying he is to the rest of the Muppets! That OCD counting is a nod to the myth about vampires and hot to protect yourselves from them.
Hope you enjoyed today’s not so Dark Demon Side Monday.
I think one of my all time favorite classic television shows is THE TWILIGHT ZONE. One of the best episodes was NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET which was all about a gremlin that was trying to sabotage a plane. Of course the only passenger on the plane that could see what was going on was a very young William Shatner.
The origins of gremlins is an interesting one. According to Monsterpedia, gremlins are fictional mischievous creatures that are “mechanically oriented and extremely devious.” Because of their interest in mechanical things, gremlins came to be associated most commonly with aircraft. In fact, since 1942 Royal Air Force journals make mention of gremlins that were sabotaging airplanes.
Interest in gremlins appears to have spread after author Roald Dahl wrote his children’s book THE GREMLINS that was optioned by Disney, but never made into a motion picture. Eventually the characters in the story were optioned to Warner Bros. who used them in several World War II cartoons.
During World War II, many pilots complained of weird creatures sabotaging their planes and mechanics noted missing tools that were being hidden by the weird little creatures. Because of their association with planes, gremlins have even been incorporated in the logos of various air corps and patrols.
In recent times, people are more familiar with gremlins from the 1984 motion picture of the same name: GREMLINS. In that movie, gremlins were fuzzy adorable little creatures who turned into menacing and deadly demons if you failed to follow three little rules: never expose the gremlin to bright lights, never put it in water, and never feed it after midnight.
You can read more about gremlins here:
Monsterpedia: http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Gremlin
Wikimedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin
GREMLINS, the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlins_(film)
Otherwise known as Caridad’s Dark Side Demon Monday!
We’re launching a whole new series of blogs here at the Danger Women Writing for our Dangerous Readers. Check back each day for a new theme and Dangerous Woman writer sharing insights on all kinds of topics.
For my turn at the plate, I’ll be offering up thoughts and insights on demon lore and some of the more interesting things happening with the creatures that go bump in the night.
Many readers wonder how paranormal writers manage to come up with their ideas. Sometimes you develop totally new creatures and later on during another Dark Side Demon Monday I’ll talk about how I went about creating the mystical beings that will stream to the Jersey Shore in Books 3 and 4 of the SINS series (which will be renamed the SIN HUNTERS series).
Sometimes you look at existing mythologies and tweak them to fit the needs of your story. That’s what I did in DEVOTION CALLS when I introduced a slightly different kind of vampire — a chupacabra.
Chupacabra (or chupacabras) means “goat sucker” in Spanish, but the creature has become quite well known throughout the United States and the rest of the Americas.
The first attacks attributed to chupacabras began in the early 1990s in Puerto Rico so the legend is actually not all that old. Additional sightings of the animal began to appear in other parts of South America as well as the American Southwest.
Farmers reported attacks on various livestock, but the animals were not eaten or taken to another location for dinner. The reports indicated that the animals were killed by being drained of blood through two small incisions, much like a vampire.
One theory as to the origin of the chupacabra is that it’s an alien pet that escaped. Another is that it’s either an alien genetics experiment that got loose or a human genetics experiment. Finally, others believe that the chupacabra is merely a coyote that has a skin disease, accounting for the lack of hair and strange coloration on those animals which have been found and called chupacabras.
Witnesses describe the chupacabra as being anywhere from 4 to 6 feet tall when upright, with green/gray scales. The beast has quills along its head and neck, possibly a long tail and clawed fingers. In addition, it has large glassy eyes that can be reddish in color. Way different than the supposed creatures being found in various areas of Texas!
Regardless of whether or not chupacabras really exist, the creatures have managed to embed themselves in our folklore and have even been written about in songs!
For more information on the chupacabra, you can click on one of the links below.
Okay, maybe it’s the mad scientist I revealed during my recent visit to Mysteries and Margaritas that explains my initial reaction when I think of the monster from FRANKENSTEIN. To me the monster is the doctor, Victor Frankenstein, who assembled the creature from the assorted bits of humans and other assorted animals since the novel makes reference to taking materials from the slaughterhouses.
Today’s Dark Side Demon Monday is about an interesting aspect of one of our favorite kinds of demons-Vampires. There are many rituals and myths associated with vampires, but one of the more interesting myths seems to have fallen by the wayside except for Count von Count.
I think one of my all time favorite classic television shows is 
During World War II, many pilots complained of weird creatures sabotaging their planes and mechanics noted missing tools that were being hidden by the weird little creatures. Because of their association with planes, gremlins have even been incorporated in the logos of various air corps and patrols.
Chupacabra (or chupacabras) means “goat sucker” in Spanish, but the creature has become quite well known throughout the United States and the rest of the Americas.
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