The Devil's Cliché

Rayne Hall's next Ten Tales anthology, Cogwheels, is soon to be released and since accepting my "Hole in the Sky" story she's now after another. This time she's requested a dark story involving a demon.

Two things I already know, and I've not yet scribbled any ideas:

• This story will give you a peek into the world of my novel, The Shadow Fabric, just as "Ten Minutes Till Deadtime" (featured in Hell's Garden anthology) and also "Seeing is Believing" (featured in Sirens Call eZine).

• I intend to avoid every cliché there is.

Below, I've listed several of my personal grievances when it comes to demon and supernatural stories, both in literature and on screen.

Possession.

Yeah, this is first on the list. I am not having a dribbling, white-eyed levitation scene anywhere in my story. 

Freaky children.

How many times have we seen, especially in film, weird children, floppy arms and vacant stares? Oh, and long, dark hair over the eyes.

Toy/Music box.

Again, especially on screen, the music box plays an important role twinned with a haunting soundtrack.

Dolls.

Don't even get me started on this.

Curses.

If someone's pissed someone else off, what better way than to put a hex on them?

Priests.

I don't want any priest or holy man near my demon.

Exorcism.

As above. May the power of Christ compel me...not to.

Religion.

No church will be seen in or around wherever the hell my story takes place.

Black-cowled sects.

Similar to the last item, no one will wander around wearing cowls either. Indeed, there'll be no chanting, naked-dancing, or virgin sacrifice.

Moving home.

So, let's have a pair of characters (husband and wife perhaps?) move in to a new home...and ohhhhhh, there are weird noises. Um, no. Thanks. But no.

Finding something.

Almost as bad as the moving home thing... Let's have a character who goes to a charity shop or a garage sale and finds something. Something old. Yeah, let's make it a music box. No, better still, how about a doll?

Car.

A possessed car? I believe Stephen King was one of the first to do this with Christine and that was a fantastic story. No one else should bother.

Mirrors.

Anything to do with a demon behind the mirror is too much the metaphor for personal demons.

Pet dies first.

Let's begin the story with a happy family unit. First there's something broken in the house. And then the next step on the freaky-level is the pet butchered by some kind of evil. No. Just don't do it.

Divorced couple.

Yep, cliché right there! Oh how those two hate each other, and one character is troubled by that evil presence. Do they still love each other? Who's the annoying new man/woman on the scene? Yeah, let's kill the lover who broke up the marriage in the first place. That won't shock the reader.

Two children.

Similar to the freaky children, but this one features a pair of siblings. And one of them is possessed, or taken ill, or maybe taken into the nether world.

The main character kills.

Reading a story, often in first person POV, and they're actually possessed by an evil demon. We follow them on their journey and yeah, it's the demon's point of view. Of course.

And, on a last note...

Whilst writing this blog post, I tweeted:

"What are you sick of when it comes to demon and devil clichés? #amwriting a dark story and want to avoid every hackneyed plot out there."

Replies include:

"...Devil-worshipping cults..."

"...random discoveries of magical books..."

"...possessed items...houses..."

"...the Devil as a stranger who 'visits'..."

"...scary-eyed demons...maniacal laughter...putrid smell..."

"...creepy children..."

"...stereo-typical demons, all scary-looking..."

One tweeter even suggested instead of a scary demon, how about one straight from an Armani ad? Another mentioned a misunderstood Devil who's perhaps less evil than most think, and is in fact somewhat hospitable... Both, worthy ideas.

Thanks to all those who helped out there.

"Fast car...on the highway. On the byway, Mr. Robotron."
-Will Ferrell

So I've begun

As I often do before beginning a story, I scribbled as many word associations as possible before going cross-eyed. With demons, devils and darkness in mind, this is what I came up with:

Demons, Devils and Devices Unholy The Devil’s Toy Untouchable Device Another Fire Inferno Untamed Born of Smoke Smoked Unholy, Unsmoked One More Round Just One More Round A Piece of Mind How it Ends Beneath it all Untroubled, Unholy Unloved, Unholy Unholy, Unchartered Haunted Bullet Screaming Demons Dancer in the Dark Light Midnight Eyes The Midnight Stare Shadow Soldiers A Demon’s Shadow Demon’s Shadow Belief in Darkness Darker than a Demon’s Shadow Forgotten Demon Demon Field Demon Memories Darker than the Devil’s Shadows The Devil’s Shadow Devil Box Devil to Promise Spend the Evening with a Demon Crystal Clear Shadow Shadows of Another Other Fiendish Qualities Good Sense Sixth Stench Looking for the Darkness Leaking Darkness Liquid Darkness Buried The Buried Still Bleed Strangers Clock the Sorrow Mighty Shadow Played a Game of Death Death’s Delight Ploughed Field

Devils and Demons Best of Fiends Girlfiend His Master’s Voice Taken for a Demon Demon Monopoly The Devil’s Puzzle Puzzles in the Dark Dark Pieces The Shroud Devil’s Shroud Shrouded in the Demon’s Fabric Shrouded in Fabric Dark Demise Troubled Devil The Devil’s Shirt Hounded by Darkness Stitches Proud Father Proud to be a Demon’s Son Demon’s Son Demon’s Father Demon Father Scar Trek Devil Scarred The Devil’s Scar Forty Demons Haunt of Demons Players in the Field Slices Sliced Oath Forgotten Wheels Lost in the Shadows Lost in the Darkness Darknest Forgotten Walls Founded Fathers Tethers of Wonder Buried in the Wood Blasted in the Dark Spore of Satan Satan Spore Hunger, Misery Unforgotten Unforgiving Gesture Player in the Dark Dark River Bleak Stone Black Stone Stone Cold Demon Demon in the Rye

Somewhere among that lot will be my demon story. Whichever I choose won't necessarily be the title, but it'll give me a seed that will grow. This is already proving to be a challenge, and I think I've made it difficult by compiling a list of what not to write. Damn.

Damn it all to Hell...

If you have anything you'd like to add to my cliché list

please let me know and I'll be sure to do my best in avoiding it.

Author photo (c)Christopher Shoebridge

Mark Cassell lives in a rural part of the UK with his wife and a number of animals. He often dreams of dystopian futures, peculiar creatures, and flitting shadows. Primarily a horror writer, his steampunk, fantasy, and SF stories have featured in several anthologies and ezines.

His debut novel, The Shadow Fabric, is a supernatural story and is available from Amazon.

Twitter: @Mark_Cassell ~ Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorMarkCassell