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O.G. Elder

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occult
/okult, okkult/
• noun (the occult) supernatural beliefs, practices, or phenomena.
• adjective 1 relating to the occult. 2 beyond ordinary knowledge or experience; esoteric. 3 Medicine (of a disease or process) present but not readily discernible.
• verb /okult/ 1 cut off from view by interposing something. 2 Astronomy (of a celestial body) conceal (another body) from view.

cryptozoology
• noun the search for animals whose existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Loch Ness monster.

In an effort to replace a thread which has quite recently fallen from grace, and refocus the efforts of supernatural and horror fiction writers from all points of the WF we, the Foundation for the Betterment of Things That Make Little Sense, do Hereby present the... this thread.

The stated purpose of this thread is such:

1. To assist in the research of those who do knowingly pursue the fiction of the supernatural and horrific.
2. To render assistance to those same people in the form of useful advice on the usage of these subjects in fiction.
3. To find the Holy Grail. Wait, what?

And in the knowing pursuit of these noble and lofty goals, these people, noble knights of the odd and kinda freaky, keepers of the X-files DVD box sets, and readers of Vampire bad-fiction have been certified Less Stupid Than Average, and are thus permitted to utilize the full power of our organization and the interwebs for the Good of All Man-kind:

1. Me.
3. Makai447
4. Mobster Lobster
5. Vita est somnium
2. MajKai Nis
[There's something wrong with these here numbers...]

Now, by our powers combined, we declare this thread: OPEN FOR BUSINESS


[All of this in English: Come here for help with your writing as it pertains to the genres of Horror. Dark- or Supernatural-
This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the subjects of vampires, werewolves, bigfoot, black magic, cult religions, ghosts, mythology and folklore, and pornogr- scratch that last one.

Have fun.

-BG.]

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Whee! First question!

In the story I'm working on, I'm trying to find a type of creature to use that is similar to a sphinx. The problem is, I want it to be similar in the riddle aspect (a la Oedipus), not in appearance. As I'm trying to research / look for something like the sphinx, all that I'm able to find is creatures that look like it instead of having the riddle association. If I have to, I could just use a sphinx, but I'd rather go with something a little lesser known so that readers don't immediately do all the Greek/Egyptian associations.

So, newly born CORIC, any ideas of creatures that could be used in place of a sphinx? I'm open to creatures from any culture's mythology/folklore, I just don't want something about which people already have a ton of preconceptions.

O.G. Elder

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One of the issues here is that the "sphinx" really only has a limited association with riddles. As time has passed, a great deal of attention has been paid to the one sphinx who asked one riddle [the infamous Riddle of the Sphinx, that I trust doesn't have to be recited here.]

In the rest of mythology involving the sphinx, riddles aren't mentioned. The sphinx is just a manner of demon.

The magic resource Pantheon.org has provided me with a couple other answers to my riddle query.

The Queen of Sheba posed several questions to King Solomon. This, not so helpful.

A certain Baltic deity is the subject of a riddle, but again, no parallel like you're looking for.

A northern European figure, Holler, tested his Goddess bride with a riddle when she came to him, but again - no real dice.


I'm minded of faeries being fond of riddles, among other tricks and games, in English lore, but I don't have a source on this one for you.

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I'm interested in creatures like wraiths, or something similar that can cause fear in people, and take their souls. As dementors are copyright to JKR, I would like further information on wraiths instead.

I also need some ideas about fairies/pixies. I intend to make them evil little figures that chew at your skin, and wondered if there was anything similar in the mythology, and I would like to avoid the idea of gremlins in my fantasy book.

Also, the only thing I knew about banshees as they're the departed soul of a woman, trapped by grief and I can only find small information on them. Any further information on how they are created would be wonderful.

Please and thank you for these!

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I am subscribing to this topic. I heart the Occult. Don't mind me if I just hang around and talk or whatever.

O.G. Elder

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Nyxix
I'm interested in creatures like wraiths, or something similar that can cause fear in people, and take their souls. As dementors are copyright to JKR, I would like further information on wraiths instead.

I also need some ideas about fairies/pixies. I intend to make them evil little figures that chew at your skin, and wondered if there was anything similar in the mythology, and I would like to avoid the idea of gremlins in my fantasy book.

Also, the only thing I knew about banshees as they're the departed soul of a woman, trapped by grief and I can only find small information on them. Any further information on how they are created would be wonderful.

Please and thank you for these!



Wraiths don't actually suck souls or anything, they appear to relatives of people who are about to die, as an omen. They're pretty simple critters, with a lot more literary value as a metaphor than an actual plot element.

There is in almost every religion or mythology a sort of grim reaper figure that guides souls to the afterlife, a manner of God or angel or spirit, but these aren't usually depicted as malicious or dangerous to the living. There are also fey creatures that MISguide souls that have lost their bodies, but by nature aren't particularly frightening.

I don't know about flesh-eating faeries, but there are a few extremely malicious varieties - the Redcap comes to mind immediately, a form of Goblin known for their died caps.

The members of the Unseelie Court are faeries of the, I suppose, typical variety that perform intentionally evil deeds, but again - I don't know much about no flesh eating.

I'm somewhat iffy on banshees. I can direct you here, but for any depth you'd have to wait for someone else. I trust the others will be around at some point. xD

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Vita est somnium
Whee! First question!

In the story I'm working on, I'm trying to find a type of creature to use that is similar to a sphinx. The problem is, I want it to be similar in the riddle aspect (a la Oedipus), not in appearance. As I'm trying to research / look for something like the sphinx, all that I'm able to find is creatures that look like it instead of having the riddle association. If I have to, I could just use a sphinx, but I'd rather go with something a little lesser known so that readers don't immediately do all the Greek/Egyptian associations.

So, newly born CORIC, any ideas of creatures that could be used in place of a sphinx? I'm open to creatures from any culture's mythology/folklore, I just don't want something about which people already have a ton of preconceptions.

If you know you don't want it to look like a sphinx, do you know what kind of thing you do want it to be like? That would help a lot in looking things up. Thing with ideas--moving away from something is hardly effective if you don't also know where you want to go.

If we can't find a creature that fits perfectly, you could mod two together and sort of mix something that does fit perfectly if necessary. But lets stick to figureing out what you want?

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@Gabe: Thanks for the try. Actually, if I can't find anything, I may end up going with just a (rather cantankerous) fairy.
@Makai: Actually, that's my biggest issue; I don't quite know what I want. sweatdrop Appearance of the creature doesn't actually matter at all; primarily, I just need something that is associated with riddles, and I don't want people to automatically think of other associations they have with sphinxes. I know a lot of mythology, but I can't for the life of me think of anything that fits, so I'm thinking there might not even be anything. I was just curious if anyone else knew of any riddle-creatures.

Nyxix
I'm interested in creatures like wraiths, or something similar that can cause fear in people, and take their souls. As dementors are copyright to JKR, I would like further information on wraiths instead.

I also need some ideas about fairies/pixies. I intend to make them evil little figures that chew at your skin, and wondered if there was anything similar in the mythology, and I would like to avoid the idea of gremlins in my fantasy book.

Also, the only thing I knew about banshees as they're the departed soul of a woman, trapped by grief and I can only find small information on them. Any further information on how they are created would be wonderful.

Please and thank you for these!

Gabe seems to have covered your wraiths. As for the fairies, the only flesh-eating ones I can think of off the top of my head are Lipsipsip. I was able to find a Google Books page with sections of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies online. It lists out, with brief descriptions, all sorts of fairies. I'd suggest either looking through the sections available there to find something that could suit your needs, or trying to find it (or a similar book) at the library.

As for the banshees, they're usually cited to be either the spirits of dead women (usually an unnatural death, I believe) or a type of fairy. The banshee's cry is an omen of death, and they usually only come to the more noble or supposedly "true" Irish families. While there some stories of banshee cries being heard during the day, most happen at night/after dark. They're supposed to be wary of human presence, and flee when people come near; rightly so, because according to some tales if someone catches the banshee, she has to confess the name of the person who is going to die. In terms of specific appearance details, they vary from story to story.

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Nyxix
I'm interested in creatures like wraiths, or something similar that can cause fear in people, and take their souls. As dementors are copyright to JKR, I would like further information on wraiths instead.

I also need some ideas about fairies/pixies. I intend to make them evil little figures that chew at your skin, and wondered if there was anything similar in the mythology, and I would like to avoid the idea of gremlins in my fantasy book.

Also, the only thing I knew about banshees as they're the departed soul of a woman, trapped by grief and I can only find small information on them. Any further information on how they are created would be wonderful.

Please and thank you for these!


Looking at the posts above me, I'll just respond to the banshee bit right now.

I don't know exactly what you were looking for, but from what I've seen, banshee was another name for other similar creatures (same thing as Bean Sidhe, or Nighe. Basically a type of farie woman). It's not solid, but some call them fallen angels, other's say they're spirits of nature or the anscestors.

Sorry that's not more specific, but it's a start.

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Vita est somnium
@Makai: Actually, that's my biggest issue; I don't quite know what I want. sweatdrop Appearance of the creature doesn't actually matter at all; primarily, I just need something that is associated with riddles, and I don't want people to automatically think of other associations they have with sphinxes. I know a lot of mythology, but I can't for the life of me think of anything that fits, so I'm thinking there might not even be anything. I was just curious if anyone else knew of any riddle-creatures.


That does make it harder. Is there any specific assosiation you do want there to be, a certain feel or something? Why can't you have it associated with the sphinx and that whole jazz? It's great to be more original, and I don't know what you're doing, but using the common idea people are familiar with might not be bad. Granted, I don't know anything about the story in question, but slight re-imaginings can do wonders.

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Ah, this is my kind of thread.

I was under the impression that banshees usually attached themselves to particular noteworthy families, and weren't just a being that went around bugging people (though hearing one still meant serious business).

Dementors were basically a furthering of wraiths, given particular "gifts" like soul sucking and the like.

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Nyxix
I'm interested in creatures like wraiths, or something similar that can cause fear in people, and take their souls. As dementors are copyright to JKR, I would like further information on wraiths instead.

I also need some ideas about fairies/pixies. I intend to make them evil little figures that chew at your skin, and wondered if there was anything similar in the mythology, and I would like to avoid the idea of gremlins in my fantasy book.

Also, the only thing I knew about banshees as they're the departed soul of a woman, trapped by grief and I can only find small information on them. Any further information on how they are created would be wonderful.

Please and thank you for these!


Banshees are also often depicted as women in a torn grey hooded cloak/robe of the unshriven dead, young women with fair hair--at times a flaming Irish red--, or a matron. She could also appear to others as a washing woman that is washing blood stained clothes. When appearing in that guise they're known as the bean-nighe. Irish seers that foretell the death of someone are, too, considered to be Banshees in human guise; these are refered to as the bean-chaointe (Keening woman).

The best Banshee site I have run across has been here.

As for Faeries: the only flesh eating ones I can think of would be Brownies. Brownies, however, have a long standing opposition to the likes of Faeries. Pixies tend to bite, but they don't eat flesh. Brownies, though, do take huge bites. >.> They're evil little guys. Worst of the little-folk.

-Hope this helps!

O.G. Elder

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Temisar Fen
Nyxix
I'm interested in creatures like wraiths, or something similar that can cause fear in people, and take their souls. As dementors are copyright to JKR, I would like further information on wraiths instead.

I also need some ideas about fairies/pixies. I intend to make them evil little figures that chew at your skin, and wondered if there was anything similar in the mythology, and I would like to avoid the idea of gremlins in my fantasy book.

Also, the only thing I knew about banshees as they're the departed soul of a woman, trapped by grief and I can only find small information on them. Any further information on how they are created would be wonderful.

Please and thank you for these!


Banshees are also often depicted as women in a torn grey hooded cloak/robe of the unshriven dead, young women with fair hair--at times a flaming Irish red--, or a matron. She could also appear to others as a washing woman that is washing blood stained clothes. When appearing in that guise they're known as the bean-nighe. Irish seers that foretell the death of someone are, too, considered to be Banshees in human guise; these are refered to as the bean-chaointe (Keening woman).

The best Banshee site I have run across has been here.

As for Faeries: the only flesh eating ones I can think of would be Brownies. Brownies, however, have a long standing opposition to the likes of Faeries. Pixies tend to bite, but they don't eat flesh. Brownies, though, do take huge bites. >.> They're evil little guys. Worst of the little-folk.

-Hope this helps!



Are you sure? These brownies?

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Makai447
Vita est somnium
@Makai: Actually, that's my biggest issue; I don't quite know what I want. sweatdrop Appearance of the creature doesn't actually matter at all; primarily, I just need something that is associated with riddles, and I don't want people to automatically think of other associations they have with sphinxes. I know a lot of mythology, but I can't for the life of me think of anything that fits, so I'm thinking there might not even be anything. I was just curious if anyone else knew of any riddle-creatures.


That does make it harder. Is there any specific assosiation you do want there to be, a certain feel or something? Why can't you have it associated with the sphinx and that whole jazz? It's great to be more original, and I don't know what you're doing, but using the common idea people are familiar with might not be bad. Granted, I don't know anything about the story in question, but slight re-imaginings can do wonders.

I could probably use a sphinx if I absolutely had to. The biggest problem is that sphinxes were seen as being bearers of death, destroyers, and usually bad-luck-bringers. (The word itself means "strangler;" the Greek one near Thebes that Oedipus eventually met, at least, strangled anyone that couldn't get her riddle.)
The creature I'm writing is concealing knowledge that one of my MCs needs (or at least, thinks she needs), and the only way she can get it is to solve the riddle. However, the creature actually wants her to be able to solve it, and is only sticking to the riddle game scenario because it's what it is obligated to do. With a sphinx, you get the premade assumption that it's in more of an antagonistic position, whereas I want friendly bordering on indifferent. (I'm considering using a cranky fairy - not overly friendly, but clearly on her side in the long run.) Plus, far too many people hear "sphinx" and just think of the giant statue, unfortunately.
I don't think I'm making sense anymore. XD

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Vita est somnium
Makai447
Vita est somnium
@Makai: Actually, that's my biggest issue; I don't quite know what I want. sweatdrop Appearance of the creature doesn't actually matter at all; primarily, I just need something that is associated with riddles, and I don't want people to automatically think of other associations they have with sphinxes. I know a lot of mythology, but I can't for the life of me think of anything that fits, so I'm thinking there might not even be anything. I was just curious if anyone else knew of any riddle-creatures.


That does make it harder. Is there any specific assosiation you do want there to be, a certain feel or something? Why can't you have it associated with the sphinx and that whole jazz? It's great to be more original, and I don't know what you're doing, but using the common idea people are familiar with might not be bad. Granted, I don't know anything about the story in question, but slight re-imaginings can do wonders.

I could probably use a sphinx if I absolutely had to. The biggest problem is that sphinxes were seen as being bearers of death, destroyers, and usually bad-luck-bringers. (The word itself means "strangler;" the Greek one near Thebes that Oedipus eventually met, at least, strangled anyone that couldn't get her riddle.)
The creature I'm writing is concealing knowledge that one of my MCs needs (or at least, thinks she needs), and the only way she can get it is to solve the riddle. However, the creature actually wants her to be able to solve it, and is only sticking to the riddle game scenario because it's what it is obligated to do. With a sphinx, you get the premade assumption that it's in more of an antagonistic position, whereas I want friendly bordering on indifferent. (I'm considering using a cranky fairy - not overly friendly, but clearly on her side in the long run.) Plus, far too many people hear "sphinx" and just think of the giant statue, unfortunately.
I don't think I'm making sense anymore. XD


No, it makes sense, though I'm not sure how many people associate that particular deadly sphinx with all sphinxes. Most people just think, THE Sphinx, and yes, assume the statue.

Cranky fairy would work. Or just a mischievous one.
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