Let's Talk Horror Monsters

Hi guys! So I noticed that the Horror subforum isn't exactly bustling with activity, so I decided to change that.

Let's talk horror monsters!

Basically, let's talk about our evil creations, exchange notes and tips and see who's scaring who the most!

Why not let's start with me, shall we?

My story is set in Singapore, in which a writer has been called up for military reservist duties (there's conscription in Singapore). But he's been transferred to a new unit in a new camp built on a remote island right at the border of the country's waters.

Cutting the long story short, people started changing in their behavior, becoming more aggressive, violent and greedy. The protagonist was haunted in his dreams (though they may not be dreams) by an entity that looks like some poor sod who's been dismembered and cut up and put together wrong (its torso and legs were facing backwards while its arms and head is facing the right way). It was a rotten thing, all emaciated and dripping with blood and bodily rot-water.

But that's not the end, after from it. To cut the long story short more successfully this time, it's basically about a cosmic-horror Cthulu level deity who claims Southeast Asia as her domain, the island as her palace, and takes pleasure from 'collecting' people, and twisting them and changing them for her amusement. She loves shaking the ship, and watching people scramble for their lives.

And she's been doing it ever since long before time memorial, long before even the old, forgotten civilisations of humanity started uttering their first words.

Her creatures were the result of people succumbing to her psychic influence, or dying and then raised with their flesh reworked in parts or whole. Those that succumbed to her change horrifically, starting with mere bleeding from the eyes and orifices, to necks elongating, toes growing to obscene lengths, twisting and turn such that body parts are all at the wrong places... Or in the worse case, exploding to cover the controls of an Armoured Personnel Transport with muscle fibres and appendages so that he could control it for the amusement of the ancient one.

What do you guys think? I hope I didn't ruin anyone's lunch or sleep.

Feidb said:

There's quite a bit of Lovecraft inspired icky bug out there (my word for monster-related horror). I like anything icky bug and don't have much interest in human killer types. I only like ghost or supernatural stories if there's some physical alterations involved as well. Slasher stuff is a huge turnoff. Same with torture porn stuff.

I grew up on B-movie creature features and Lovecraft fits right into that, though I don't personally write that style. I've read some that were pretty good though.

I wish you well with it.

As for myself, my icky bugs aren't actually bugs (long story how I got that name), but have supernatural elements that manifest into creatures or something possessed, sometimes humans as well.

All in the tradition of the B-movies, just without the naked chicks that have nothing to do with the plot (plus the hot chick that has sex and is always the first one to die).

Rock on!

Click to expand...

Lol, I like how you have a personal name for monsters.

Having supernatural elements in your monsters is a good choice. Opens up a lot of possibilities. It's like magic, you get to escape the confines of reality even more, and delay the explanation only right up to the end of the novel/series (just make sure you have an explanation handy at the end). Magic is unexplained science, and so supernatural elements can remain unexplained, and doesn't have to be unrealistic either. It's awesome to slide left and right on the Sci-Fi/Fantasy scale, huh?

But thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm glad that Lovecraftian horror isn't dead yet, even though there's plenty of parody to reduce its effect, to bring it down to the level of the vampire and werewolf.

Also, I forgot to mention that my Cthulu-like Ancient Deity/Cosmic Horror could block out the sun and control the elements in her domain As if flesh-sculpted undead horrors aren't enough.

L. OBrien said:

This is some grade A body horror. That would keep me awake for weeks, and I would probably read it anyways. How quickly do people transform? Can they fight, or are they stuck once she's claimed them?

Click to expand...

There's no set time for people transforming into one of them night terrors, as I call them. It's up to the whim of the Keeper. They could remain intact forever, even to the point of looking (almost) totally human, or they could explode in a cloud of viscera with with body parts shifting quickly right in front of someone's eyes. Had a girl once who was stuck in the cosmic deity's cavernous domain for two weeks entirely intact, only for her head, spine and gastrointestinal tract to evacuate through the neck to form a floating-head-like creature when approached by the protagonist and his (remaining) squadmates.

Or that time when a stillborn baby still attached via the cord to its dead mother- You know what? Nevermind. I think I've given you enough to last through the night...

Let's just say it decided to make a female soldier's womb its new home, and it crawled in through the mouth. Too bad that the unborn baby it replaced was displaced as a result, though.

Yeah, I better stop typing.

Then there was this once- Yeah, I'll stop.

L. OBrien said:

I tend to stick to sff, but I love making monsters. I've got one that I'm particularly proud of, which is a poorly assembled patchwork of different classical monster -bits (wings, tentacles, sometimes scales, too many arms, too many teeth) crudely grafted together. They only show up in mirrors, and they rip apart people's reflections.

Click to expand...

Wow, now that's something new. I've never heard of creatures that assault and kill your reflections before. Now that's something I'd read. They do sound like some kind of an eldritch abomination, no doubt

So... No more freaky stuff in the closet?

You know, here's something else to restart the heart of this thread...

Has Lovecraft-inspired eldritch abomination become the 'ultimate' in monsters?

How is creating a monster without drawing on Lovecraftian traditions different?

But most importantly, how do we create a monster that's effective without using Lovecraftian methods?

Ooh, nice, I like your style. And that demon giant sack thing? Awesome.

I've never really thought to create monsters in such a manner before, mixing and matching characteristics of different animals and... Us *gasp*. It gets somewhat technical, your style, and that's a good thing too. Wow, you've opened my eyes so much.

For what I hope would become my debut novel, I basically took a human being and mutilated him/her beyond what even the most depraved serial killers would shake his head and gag at. Well, I guess that's one way of doing things. Now, if I combine that with your method...

vanilla said:

I tried to read Lovecraft and couldn't get into it. On the other side of that, William Hope Hodgson's Night Land is my absolute favorite and I'm particularly fond of Clive Barker.

I wish I had more pics to show but this is what I have so far. One of my favorite monsters of my own creation is Ebb, the stilt-dog Nightmare. She's about 6 ft tall and looks like a skinned dog with her muscles exposed, although the colors are more muted grays and pink. Her feet end in points and her head is round and smooth. Her face is flat and human-like, but the proportions are off, giving her the vacant expression of a beluga whale. And since she's an emotion-eater type of Nightmare, she mimics her prey, namely humans. So, as she comes rushing at you with her impossibly fast feet, from her throat, like a bad radio signal, comes the voice of a mother comforting her child. Previous prey with emotion packed phrases that Ebb liked the delicious sound of and decided to repeat when she gets excited - usually at the sight of other prey.

Some sketches I did of her:

Her head was too big when I drew it, looked kinda phallic and ridiculous, so when I added paint, I made it smaller:

Click to expand...

Holy smokes, that's freaky! Not unheard of, but definitely one of the more original kinds of monster I've seen so far. If I had to take a guess, these Ebbs are either psychic such that they could affect how people perceive them or supernatural/demonic, considering their appearance, which defies biology.

Oh, the Keeper just texted me. She said she'd be interested in moulding some of her collected humans into the Ebb's form. lol awesomesauce!