Sunday, November 24, 2013

A short about zombies and the love of a father



Yeah, I know nothing to do with fairies, but seriously awesome anyways. This is the story about a father who knows he's turning into a zombie and has to figure out how to get his infant daughter to safety before this happens.

Stories are about emotions, and building characters and this one has both in spades.


Friday, November 22, 2013

Bigfoot, Satyr and Forest Spirit Legends for Writers - Part 1

Article by Ty Hulse

Once upon a time when a Selkup women of Northern Siberia faced severe abuse at the hands of her husband there was often no one to whom she could turn, for she was an outsider in his village. She had married into his clan from another, one which may even have been an enemy previously or on whom the clan may just have declared war. As an outsider she had few rights. So when she went to weep she had to do it alone in little glades within the Taiga, away from the her mother in law and the village that didn't care about her. Here on the wet bed of moss under the shade of the trees she must have longed for someone who could come and take her away, and or who could teach her to survive on her own. For women were forbidden from learning how to hunt, how to use bows, or do anything which would give them the ability to survive on their own.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Celtic Vampires and Irish Vampires

Dark overlord by XiaoBotong
Article by Ty Hulse

"Dracula" may be a fantasy story about a vampire from Transylvania but it's written by a man from Ireland, a man who no doubt grew up with tales of Celtic vampires to inspire his nightmares, dreams, and stories. For the Celtic lands are filled with stories about the bloodthirsty dead and cruel fairies.

In one Irish story a young girl named Kate heads to the graveyard to prove her courage by retrieving a blackthorn walking stick from it;

When she had her hand on the blackthorn a voice called from the tomb:
"Leave the stick where it is and open this tomb for me."
Kate began to tremble and was greatly in dread, but something was forcing her to open the tomb--she couldn't help herself.
"Take the lid off now," said the dead man when Kate had the door open and was inside in the tomb, "and take me out of this--take me on your back."
Afraid to refuse, she took the lid from the coffin, raised the dead man on her back, and walked on in the way he directed. She walked about the distance of a mile. The load, being very heavy, was near breaking her back and killing her. She walked half a mile farther and came to a village; the houses were at the side of the road.
"Take me to the first house," said the dead man.
She took him.
"Oh, we cannot go in here," said he, when they came near. "The people have clean water inside, and they have holy water, too. Take me to the next house."

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Maleficent and the Fairies of Sleeping Beauty

Article by Ty Hulse

I'm crazy excited about the upcoming film "Maleficent"



One of the things that excites me so much about this is that it's Robert Stromberg's directorial debut; The concept artist for "Hunger Games," and the Matt Painter for films like "The Golden Compass," and "Pan's Labyrinth," as well as many, many others.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Cinderella was a Witch and friend to the Fairies

Article by Ty Hulse

The moral of the French version of "Cinderella" seems to be 'have rich friends.' And indeed this story was written for the wealthy of the French court, only loosely based on fairy tales. Which is perhaps why I've always found this story to be a little boring as the heroine in it doesn't do anything, a fairy godmother just shows up and all her troubles are solved.

This isn't, however, the version collected by the Brothers Grimm.

Most people who study this version obsess over the punishment of the sisters and wicked Stepmother, what fascinates me is that Cinderella is very clearly a witch in this tale.