Need something to repel supernatural beasties

Isn't garlic sort of a standard for keeping various creepies at bay?

Beta-mercaptoethanol stinks. Of course, it's difficult to obtain outside a laboratory.

The beauty of creating an otherworld is that you can (and pretty much need to ) make up all that stuff! I'd avoid using anything indigenous to Earth, as it will read false.
Now, to the means and method.....
You need something more clever than a mere disgusting scent. It's not powerful or interesting enough. Given time, I could come up with something, but hey, that's your job.

This made me think of the movie (can't remember which one, maybe Mars Attacks) where the 'beasties' (aliens) are scared off by Slim Whitman's singing. In case you don't know who that is - he's a country/western singer of the falsetto style. Very funny!

I know this doesn't help for odor.

My dog was skunked the other day and I've learned alot about that kind of odor. It's attached to the oils given off in the spray which are VERY difficult to remove. Oils are rather clingy. You could make your odor oily . ..

vixey said:

This made me think of the movie (can't remember which one, maybe Mars Attacks) where the 'beasties' (aliens) are scared off by Slim Whitman's singing. In case you don't know who that is - he's a country/western singer of the falsetto style. Very funny!

I know this doesn't help for odor.

My dog was skunked the other day and I've learned alot about that kind of odor. It's attached to the oils given off in the spray which are VERY difficult to remove. Oils are rather clingy. You could make your odor oily . ..

Click to expand...

I think skunk odor is a mixture of butane and butene thiols.
Bleach will remove the smell - but your dog will be blonde for a while

My BOOMSTICK!

waylander said:

I think skunk odor is a mixture of butane and butene thiols.
Bleach will remove the smell - but your dog will be blonde for a while

Click to expand...

Thanks!

The pet shop guy told me to mix oatmeal with tomato juice. I like your idea better.

vixey said:

This made me think of the movie (can't remember which one, maybe Mars Attacks) where the 'beasties' (aliens) are scared off by Slim Whitman's singing.

Click to expand...

Nah, I think it was Tom Jones. "It's not unusual to be loved by anyone" made their poor heads explode.

Ammonia is a good one. It can be quite shocking but tolerable to humans.

And on 'Sarah Jane Adventures,' they repelled/dissolved the evil aliens with vinegar from a chippie.

WARNING: THIS IS GROSS...Butyric acid is beyond nasty. It's the chemical in vomit that makes it smell so gross. I think you get it from a chemical supply catalog. In a high school chem class I had, a student took a wax-sealed, capped bottle of the stuff out of a sealed plastic bag (didn't even open the bottle!), and two rooms away it smelled like someone had done an epic puke right in front of us. Our class demanded that the student not use butyric acid for his experiment. It was used to devastating effect in "Zodiac" by Neal Stephenson. People can 'tolerate' it to a certain extent though. It's physically not harmfully, but its smell is nauseating and can start a vomiting "chain reaction" just like a sick person can. Fun facts!

I think anything that you have to burn would be cool-like burning sage, or burned toast, or something. Then your characters can have Fun With Fire!

efreysson said:

I've been trying to come up with something my fantasy world's monster killers can use to keep spirits, undead and such at bay. Since there is no Christianity-like religion in my world I've thought of maybe using an odor of some sorts. Something humans might find distasteful, but which would be intolerable to a creature with a sharper sense of smell.

However, I know very little of such things. Could someone give me suggestions on odors?

Click to expand...

Maybe you should dig a little deeper.

Christian solutions to the undead - crosses, hallowed ground, holy water, etc. - work because the undead we usually discuss are Christian, and Christian myth accounts for their origin. Vampires fear crosses because they are damned souls inhabiting human bodies; demons can be compelled by priests because priests hold the sacramental power of the Messiah who had defeated them before.

But if you examine the undead of other mythologies, you'll find different defenses against them - because their origins are different.

For instance, compare the legends of Navajo skinwalkers with that of European werewolves. The origins of the lycanthrope are different, so the defenses against them are different.

The origin of the undead will determine the way to stop them.

Supernatural beasts can be repulsed, in not banished, by creatures. You could create a repulsive smelly back talking semi intelligent critter. Your character(s) are constantly annoyed by the critter's antics, but they need it around as protection from the supernatural. Your critter is a new character introducing comedic relief and perpetual annoyances.

Not sure if this will work for you, efreysson, or if you've already given it a shot, but this very forum has the services of Diana Hignutt, who's an expert in all sortsa eldritch info like this. Her prolific thread can be found HERE .

I would also very much agree with Smiling Ted. Connections like that are GOLD for any story, and are one of the reasons legends such as vampires have withstood the test of time.

Also cuz vamps're neato.

Smiling Ted said:

The origin of the undead will determine the way to stop them.

Click to expand...

For a classic example, read A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Leguin. The big baddy in that book is a sort of undead/shadow creature that is fully and utterly grounded in the mythic structure LeGuin constructed for her story.

LeGuin's parents were famous anthropologists, and the background shows.

Salt.
Cultures around the world use salt here. It's the sort of thing I'd expect to transfer over.

If you use something that has real-world links, you get the historical and emotional depth of those links for free. Making something up is well and good, but you have to work a lot harder to make it stick, and it's really worth sticking to the most important things for that.

Well, this isn't an "odor" but I recall one older Dr. Who episode where a Russian soldier repulsed a vampire-esque creature by using his rank insignia, similar to a Christian's use of a Cross. It worked because the soldier had such faith in the Russian military.

So you could use something similar but you'd have to do a lot of world building (as Shweta mentioned) to make it work.

Or if you wanted to keep with the odor aspect, make it a rare plant or resin. Make the characters work to find it. Or make it something so ordinary that the characters overlook it and do a "well, duh" situation.

There are all sorts of herbs and plants that are considered to have supernatural aspects to them. Off the top of my head, vervaine, St. John's Wart, Blessed Thistle, etc. Maybe you could make a "tea" of different items. Google "witch herbs" or something along those lines for more ideas.

Shadow_Ferret said:

There are all sorts of herbs and plants that are considered to have supernatural aspects to them. Off the top of my head, vervaine, St. John's Wart, Blessed Thistle, etc. Maybe you could make a "tea" of different items. Google "witch herbs" or something along those lines for more ideas.

Click to expand...

Ginseng, mandrake root, spider silk, alabaster, sulphur, sweat and blood of specific creatures all can be components of a good potion.

Historically, you can't go wrong with salt, rowan, or silver. Maybe mistletoe. What's the nature of your supernatural critters? Something that might represent some opposite nature could work. Good luck.

Kitty Pryde said:

I think anything that you have to burn would be cool-like burning sage, or burned toast, or something. Then your characters can have Fun With Fire!

Click to expand...

That's what I was going to say.

If you wanted a nasty smell and something to bother your characters with you could have them taking turns burning their own hair. Burned hair smells awful.

"Hey, Trixa, it's your turn to give up some hair."

"Why me again? I gave some up last time!"

"Because your hair is the longest. Bob doesn't have any left to donate."

Eww. LOL

My favorite anti-supernatural substance is rosewood....

But anything rare or expensive should work...

FR

Burning pot has a rather unpleasant odor. You could have fun with the good guys having to stay stoned to keep the undead away.

Sulfur smells like rotten eggs and it keeps humans at bay very well. Stinky feet, I know sounds strange but with heightened senses, and musk.

Does it have to be unpleasant? Why not a nice, crisp, clean citrusy smell? Or, less pleasant but pervasive, some sort of cheap perfume? A cloying floral essence with a long, lingering 'after-smell'? Precedent: isn't the 'odour of sanctity' supposed to be violets?
Along the lines of smelly animals: don't really need to invent any, if you don't want to keep skunks, then old tom-cats can get pretty rank, or just keep your dog wetted down. Depends on how sensitive your monsters are, and to what.