A Few Of My Favorite Things

Feverishly written in the night, and hastily edited in the morning, I reveal my champions of monsterdom! None of them come from my own head, nor did they come from folklore. This makes me sad, especially since I entirely forgot about kappa until it was too late. Speaking of promises I may never keep: A future edit of this might contain helpful links. (Edit: there are no good, helpful links. I'm just going to have to hope you know what the hell I'm talking about.)

Pyramid Head:
Luckily, now that Silent Hill the movie is out, I’m much less likely to have to explain where the hell the character comes from. The downside to this is that I now get to spend that time defending the film.

Many of the touches Pyramid Head has (and Silent Hill in general) are reminiscent of Clive Barker’s work. You get the feeling that there’s a complex mythos that explains why the hell everything is going wrong, and there are just enough explanations to keep you satisfied. But there is never much in the way of definitive proof, and you’re left wanting more. The fact that Pyramid Head never returns is almost certainly a good thing, since the later games start reminding me about the bad things about reading Clive Barker. Also, the character design goes a long way to cementing my love for it, with a nice blend of creepiness and improbability.

Dracula:
While I just assume Pyramid Head justifies itself, I feel almost embarrassed to list Dracula here. The story keeps getting recycled in books and film, but rarely in a satisfactory way. Even worse is when the character is dropped into other stories. I honestly don’t give a fuck about the mid-series introduction of “The Historical Dracula, Who Is Possibly The First Vampire.” Give me the historical Renfield any day.

But in the original book, there was a lot about him that just worked. Dracula's slow boat ride to London is one of the best examples I can think of for a scene that draws its power from happening offscreen. In London, his behavior is inhuman to the point that characters are left baffled how he can be so brilliant one moment and such a fool the next. Finally, the book’s climax drew all of its drama from the vampire hunters racing to butcher Dracula in his sleep, because you just can’t fight a vampire at night. That's what seperates them from mummies. All of these are lessons that were quickly forgotten by following vampire authors. Also, I love The Monster Squad.

Mister Quimper:
This might be cheating, because I suspect real monsters don’t wear elevator shoes. But not being human probably makes up for most of this. Mister Quimper wears a good suit, a stylish mask, and gets some of the best lines in The Invisibles. Also, he represents perhaps my favorite kind of villain: the secondary character who upstages its compatriots with pure moxie.

The strange thing about my favorites is that I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending you to any of the “source works” that they spring from. I love Silent Hill 2, but I can’t blame someone who flees from its gameplay mechanics. Meanwhile, if I’m not willing to re-read Dracula, how can I insist you should? As for The Invisibles…well, I only suggest it to people once I think they can work past its flaws.