A new Story an old Fear!

After pondering on my new story and looking into myths and legends across Europe and pretty much the rest of the world I wanted to take something most people of many faiths, religions or simply folklore enthusiasts would easily recognise the witch!

But I did not simple wish to slap a stereotypical witch in there and call it a day I wanted to take the basic concept of what a witch represented and re shape it into my own twisted demonic force that conforms to the lore of my own dark fantasy universe, Spawn of Darkness.

What we perceive a witch to be in modern times has been shaped largely by the demagnification by the Catholic church and other monotheistic religions. Feeling that any mortal creature with supranational powers of any kind must be of the devil or under his control. The situation was made worse due to the fact that a witch was predominately female, which allot of monotheistic religions usually hold in contempt for bringing about the fall of man according to their beliefs. 

This theme of the superstitious primarily monotheists having a fear of a woman with power or knowledge seeking their revenge against society, the church or men in general is a common theme seen throughout folklore. A very good example outside of monotheism would be the Onryo, whose origins can be found in Japanese folklore. They were the angry and extremely disturbing spirits of frail and weak women beaten and abused in life, now seeking there revenge on the people who wronged them. Such spirits have featured in films such as The Ring, The Grudge and the Korean horror A tale of Two Sisters. Onryo have also made there way into games such as Project Zero and S-Ko from Guilty Gear. 

I also want to draw inspiration on the fear of going missing or being taken by an unknown possibly malevolent force. Tales in recent history would include witches, hags and strangely enough female sasquatch who carried large baskets on their hairy backs and used it to whisk away children into the night.

Modern versions of this fear manifest in the phenomenon known as alien abduction, films such as The Forth Kind, Fire in the Sky and The Mcphersons Tape all deal with the stress and anxiety associated with being taken against our will by an unknown force for unknown reasons. 

This fear can also be applied in a third person perspective e.g. seeing a loved one be taken by an unknown force. In recent history legends of changelings being found in the cribs of a children's bedroom was a sign the real family's child had been taken and replaced with a deformed and hideous parody of a human infant.

There are also the endless tales of children and adults being lured to their deaths by mysterious beings and creatures. Creatures such as mermaids, selky, kelpie and sirens charming sailors and unsuspecting villagers to their watery graves. Witches luring dazed and charmed villagers into the deep depths of the forests and dying of exposure to the wildness. History is full of such tales and legends and I intend to draw upon this primal fear to enhance the eeriness of the story.