It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have become romanticized, quite why is a mystery. Likely it began with film where they were perceived to be sexy, when the truth is that they were never fully intended to be considered as such. In the greatest of Vampire tales, Dracula, the epynomous character is not presented in that light but rather as a monster.
I quite liked The Frankenstein Chronicles. I wish it had gotten more than just two seasons. I also thought Penny Dreadful did a good job with the Frankenstein monster.
Glad you liked Chronicles, I honestly thought the exact same; it needed 2 more seasons.
As to Penny Dreadful, I didn't like it last time I saw it, but maybe I need to simply re-watch it. It could be that in my youth I was mistaken, my best friend certainly loved it and he has similar taste to my own (he often said, 'give it time, you'll come around to it).
Think maybe I should do articles on both shows going forward?
Glad to hear you think there's a cool story idea in here, and like this way of looking at horror, there's many ways of looking at them I think and each of them are interesting in their own right.
I'll admit, I don't often find myself thinking about these types of characters but there is a deep fascination with these archetypical monsters that I think many people have, myself included. Interesting that you tied them to the deadly sins!
Thanks, and yeah they are very archetypal, that's what I love about them! I'm glad you liked it that I tied them to certain sins. I'm hoping to also tie heroes to virtues in the future.
Okay just spoke with Dan, he likes your idea and though I'm not as into Superheroes, looks like we're also doing that hahaha. Starting this Friday you'll see the first superhero essay. I'm going to conclude my Power-Ranger stuff over the next few weeks, all this while we write regular Star Wars stuff on Fridays. All for you mon ami.
This is a solid breakdown of the ways these monsters represent five of the seven deadly sins. The vampire, werewolf, and Frankenstein's monster are the strongest of these comparisons, followed then by the mummy and lastly by the death knight. This isn't to say your reasonings for either are bad, more that there's some points or parallels that seem somewhat obvious to me which were missed.
In the case of the lich side of mummies, you overlooked the single most common depiction of a lich's greed: the wizard or sorcerer who thirsts so strongly for knowledge that he surrenders his mortality, and thereby his humanity, to pursue ever greater knowledge through eternity in a pitiful mockery of life. They directly represent those who's greed for greater knowledge drives them to give up anything and everything which makes them human, effectively turning them into a twist on the typical Faustian pact.
Where the death knight is concerned, there exists a choice of classic monster with its roots in Irish folklore that was overlooked - the dullahan. Or, as the creature is better known in North America, the Headless Horseman, as depicted in the classic story surrounding Ichabod Crane and the town of Sleepy Hollow. Whether we're looking at the Irish unseelie spirit or the American version, both are depicted in a similar fashion and represent the same things: a dark spirit which takes the form of a decapitated black horseman or coach driver, the spirit either aims to unleash its wrath on any who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in its path, or marks the coming of their impending doom. In either case, wrathfulness tends to follow in this spirit's wake. Given how hands on the monster is in some depictions, I think it can be argued that this spectral rider is an even better fit for the concept of wrath than death knights, which tend to have their roots reaching back to Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné more than they do any classic monsters.
Good points, I definitely should in a follow-up essay highlight those points, I do agree that the Lich has its roots in terms of lit with Faust and the Death Knight in the Dullahan. Hmmm, shame on me for not thinking of them at the time of writing. Thanks Man, I really appreciate your pointing out this oversight on my part, as always your criticism is much appreciated, and only helps X).
I quite liked The Frankenstein Chronicles. I wish it had gotten more than just two seasons. I also thought Penny Dreadful did a good job with the Frankenstein monster.
Glad you liked Chronicles, I honestly thought the exact same; it needed 2 more seasons.
As to Penny Dreadful, I didn't like it last time I saw it, but maybe I need to simply re-watch it. It could be that in my youth I was mistaken, my best friend certainly loved it and he has similar taste to my own (he often said, 'give it time, you'll come around to it).
Think maybe I should do articles on both shows going forward?
I would certainly be interested in your thoughts.
That settles it, I'll have to do those. Hmm, might make for good content also for the horror channel (I forgot about it, might have to dust it off).
In turn what about you? Any chance you might write something about stuff like House of Frankenstein 1997, or the old Golden Age Monster movies?
Man, I haven't watched House of Frankenstein in ages, but I remember liking it. If I ever watch it again, I just might be inspired to write about it.
Fair enough, what about Solomon Kane 2009?
Yeah, I liked Solomon Kane. I've been thinking about re-watching that one lately. Again, I wish there was more than just the one movie.
Seeing the classic monsters as the seven deadly sins is a clever way of looking at it. That’s a cool horror story idea there in itself. Great essay!
Glad to hear you think there's a cool story idea in here, and like this way of looking at horror, there's many ways of looking at them I think and each of them are interesting in their own right.
I'll admit, I don't often find myself thinking about these types of characters but there is a deep fascination with these archetypical monsters that I think many people have, myself included. Interesting that you tied them to the deadly sins!
Thanks, and yeah they are very archetypal, that's what I love about them! I'm glad you liked it that I tied them to certain sins. I'm hoping to also tie heroes to virtues in the future.
That would be awesome! I'm a sucker for comic book heroes and all that. Looking forward to seeing that :)
Okay just spoke with Dan, he likes your idea and though I'm not as into Superheroes, looks like we're also doing that hahaha. Starting this Friday you'll see the first superhero essay. I'm going to conclude my Power-Ranger stuff over the next few weeks, all this while we write regular Star Wars stuff on Fridays. All for you mon ami.
Haha amazing! Power rangers?? Think I’m gonna have to check that out too haha
Yep we've got 2 essays already out about them, one about the Red Rangers the other about the Blue ones.
Oh, interesting. I was a huge Power Rangers fan. I'm interested in giving those a read.
I didn't mean comic book heroes but horror heroes, such as Jonathan Harker, Rick O'Connell, and such. Whoops
This is a solid breakdown of the ways these monsters represent five of the seven deadly sins. The vampire, werewolf, and Frankenstein's monster are the strongest of these comparisons, followed then by the mummy and lastly by the death knight. This isn't to say your reasonings for either are bad, more that there's some points or parallels that seem somewhat obvious to me which were missed.
In the case of the lich side of mummies, you overlooked the single most common depiction of a lich's greed: the wizard or sorcerer who thirsts so strongly for knowledge that he surrenders his mortality, and thereby his humanity, to pursue ever greater knowledge through eternity in a pitiful mockery of life. They directly represent those who's greed for greater knowledge drives them to give up anything and everything which makes them human, effectively turning them into a twist on the typical Faustian pact.
Where the death knight is concerned, there exists a choice of classic monster with its roots in Irish folklore that was overlooked - the dullahan. Or, as the creature is better known in North America, the Headless Horseman, as depicted in the classic story surrounding Ichabod Crane and the town of Sleepy Hollow. Whether we're looking at the Irish unseelie spirit or the American version, both are depicted in a similar fashion and represent the same things: a dark spirit which takes the form of a decapitated black horseman or coach driver, the spirit either aims to unleash its wrath on any who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in its path, or marks the coming of their impending doom. In either case, wrathfulness tends to follow in this spirit's wake. Given how hands on the monster is in some depictions, I think it can be argued that this spectral rider is an even better fit for the concept of wrath than death knights, which tend to have their roots reaching back to Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné more than they do any classic monsters.
Good points, I definitely should in a follow-up essay highlight those points, I do agree that the Lich has its roots in terms of lit with Faust and the Death Knight in the Dullahan. Hmmm, shame on me for not thinking of them at the time of writing. Thanks Man, I really appreciate your pointing out this oversight on my part, as always your criticism is much appreciated, and only helps X).