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Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.
-Mary Shelley,
Frankenstein (1818)
"Among the rugged peaks that crown down upon the Borgo Pass are found crumbling castles of a bygone age."
-Transylvanian tourist brochure
Dracula (1931)
For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius.
-Dr. Frederick Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Father give me the Bull of Heaven,
So he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling.
If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven,
I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,
I will smash the doorposts, and leave the doors flat down,
and will let the dead go up to eat the living!
And the dead will outnumber the living!
-The Goddess Ishtar
Epic of Gilgamesh (an unimaginably long time ago) |
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UNDEAD
With Halloween just a few days away, let us take the time to consider that place where Fantasy and Horror merge, the exploration in fiction of that which persists beyond the grave...
The undead have long been a staple of fantasy and science fiction; the Ringwraiths of Tolkien can be considered undead; and science fiction began (I would argue) with the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus which, as we all know, features a character that has been reanimated from the dead.
Classically, there are three broad types of undead in fantasy literature: those that have been reanimated by some form of magic, such as zombies; those whose time is extended by supernatural means, such as ghosts; and those whose power enabled them to survive in some fashion past death, such as vampires.
So I present the following list - necessarily incomplete, as different authors present different interpretations - of the undead population of a fantasy universe:
 Zombies are classically nonwilled and single-purpose reanimated corpses. The real-world inspiration for zombies comes from the Caribbean / African practice of Vodou (Voodoo, Voudoun), where it is believed that certain sorcerers can reanimate the dead and use them for their own purposes. The popular conception of zombies owes its form to the classic 1968 horror movie, Night of the Living Dead, wherein the zombies bear little resemblance to their Vodou origins - but are scary enough because they will eat you.
Skeletons in fantasy and horror fiction are similar to zombies in that they are usually nonwilled and reanimated; however, they're distinguished from zombies because they lack even the mortified shreds of flesh that cling to the average zombie. Their animation relies more heavily on sorcery, and their parody of life depends on the will of the sorcerer. Historically, skeletons are important symbols of life and death when depicted in art and mythology. In fantasy, skeletons are important because they will mess you up.
Ghosts may take many forms and can be known by other names: wraith, revenant, haunt, spirit... perhaps the most mutable of fantasy undead, ghosts in literature may take forms ranging from insubstantial and ethereal to tangible and able to affect the mundane world. At base, though, a ghost is the spirit remnant of a once-living person, attached to the mundane world for some supernatural (or, on a practical level, plot-driven) reason. They have will and purpose, but usually limited ability to do anything, and they will, by definition, scare the living crap out of you. Reports of ghosts in the real world stretch back from prehistory; as yet, efforts to place these haunts within the boundaries of accepted scientific thinking have failed miserably. And yet, the stories persist; so just because you think you see the blue apparition of your grandmother floating disapprovingly above the foot of your bed doesn't mean you didn't.
Golems aren't technically undead, historically being made of clay and animated by the spirit of God through the will of a rabbi (though rabbis don't tend to talk about this aspect of their job nearly enough to suit me). However, the Frankenstein monster is enough like a golem to be considered in this group: unlike a zombie, he's self-willed; and a scientist (sorcerer, priest, whatever) made him the way he is. Still, with extraordinary strength, durability, and purpose, a golem will destroy you if you tick him off.
Vampires are perhaps the most popular and ubiquitous undead in fantasy literature, having seen a spike in popularity in part thanks to a hack named Anne Rice. While overused in popular fiction (in my opinion), the vampire, a self-willed undead being who has traded an appetite for chocolate croissants and beer with one for your blood, can be a powerful villain or a tragic protagonist - and sometimes, both at once. The classic vampire can be destroyed by garlic, sunlight, religious symbols and a wooden stake through her non-beating heart, which at my count is four times as many things as Superman can be destroyed by, so authors have had great fun coming up with their own lists of Things that are Bad for Vampires, such as shared needles or formula writing.
Liches are, in fantasy writing, perhaps the most powerful of undead. The classic lich is something of a cross between a zombie and a skeleton in appearance, but its unassuming appearance belies its true power: sorcerous spells. And their spells are of a higher level than yours, so you'd better hope to find the box containing the gem which contains their soul. Liches, by this definition, are relatively recent compared to the other forms of undead listed here, being a direct invention of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game about 30 years ago. I'm including them to show that you, too, can come up with an entirely new form of undead if you think about it.
So there's a starting point for your undead bestiary. There are, naturally, more; and variations abound on the above. But there's certainly a place for the undead in fantasy writing - if not in your dreams. |
Some dark matter for your Halloween reading pleasure:
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Last time, my newsletter was about the possibility - or lack thereof - of alien life. As expected (and encouraged!), some of you disagreed:
billwilcox: Aliens! Aliens! Aliens! Well, I saw me some of them thar alien fellas once. Nice enough bunch, I guess, until they tried to explore Uranus.
While the tenacity of that particular astronomical pun is astounding, I'm surprised more people don't write stories about that planet being infested with asteroids. (Hey, in my other life I'm also a Comedy newsletter editor  )
maryelle: I doubt seriously, that in all the galaxies, that we mortals being are the only live, intelligent entities - and more, I doubt that these fragile imperfect bodies are what other beings would pretend to emulate. It's not Star Trek, folks. Good writing.
Thanks! We all need to reach our own conclusions about this, especially if we write science fiction - and really think about the ramifications.
AliceNgoreland  : I wish we had a Sci-fi newsletter. I think SF is so hard to write but it is the most important genre because it us wonder about the future and has directly affects our lives. I do not know how many times I have heard a scientist say they were SF fans from an early age.
Engineers, too - as I can attest from personal experience! I love both fantasy and science fiction, and have tried with the Fantasy newsletter to cover science fiction from time to time (I don't call it sci-fi, though that's the official genre name here), even though they're not the same thing - still, they have enough in common that one can often apply ideas from one to the other. The other thing about science fiction is that it can easily incorporate other genres - romance, mystery, horror, and yes, even fantasy - and still be science fiction.
Lauriemariepea : wow--love this newsletter's topic! i found an interesting webpage discussion about the evidence to support existence of extraterrestrial life:
http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-207948.html
thought-provoking stuff. i like to think that this universe, just this galaxy, is too immense not to support some kind of life other than ours...maybe not carbon-based, maybe we can't sense it yet, but the odds just seem to me to support a different conclusion than yours, Waltz Invictus .  hang loose, and thanks for an intriguing newsletter!! also, BIG thanks for the douglas adams quotes and mention--he was a big, big man with an even bigger soul. 
While I don't doubt the existence of extraterrestrial life of some sort, my point was more that the tool-using, flying-saucer-building kind may be rarer than we can imagine. Glad you liked the newsletter and the Adams references.
T. Elizia : Another excellent newsletter! I wanted to thank you for opening my mind to another view point. I never thought of the universe and existence in this way. My view had always been the opposite: I believe there must be life out there simply because of the sheer numbers of stars and galaxies outside our own. According to the little we know, the universe is infinite. Of course, this is useless, since I have no evidence. Its just my belief and we know too little. But in any case, it's good to look at it the other way as well, which you aided me in accomplishing. Thank you!
Some also dispute the idea that the universe is infinite - though we know that it's bigger than what we can see, and if you consider the unlikelihood of ever exploring it all, it might as well be infinite from a purely practical perspective. But who knows what the future holds? That's one reason why we write science fiction!
333rd Legend : Though life on another planet is unlikely, think about just how big the universe is. It is just as unlikely that Earth could be the only life-bearing planet. Evolution is mysterious and who knows what the smallest of organic life-forms can be capable of just to survive.
To remark on the comment in this weeks installment: no matter what world someone creates, all are going to have to follow the same rules in order to make the story believable. Most rules have to do with geography, for instance; finding certain animals in a geography that doesn't fit with their habitat would make the story hard to believe. So all worlds, no matter how different, will always seem similar to those created before it. As for the story itself; yes, they mostly follow the same style of plot, but I've also noticed many authors of today have striven to escape this trap. A good example of this is the Prince of Nothing trilogy by Canadian author, R. Scott Baker.
Good points, 333rd Legend ! I'm sure there are many other stereotype-breaking plots. Personal favorites of mine are the many books by Steven Brust set in the world of Dragaera.
That's it for this week! Happy Halloween, everybody, and until next time...
DREAM ON! |
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Fantasy: October 29, 2008 Issue [#2680]
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