Recently I read a series of books that could DEFINITELY be called weird. Darren Shan's Demonata series is extremely weird in the sense it has many, many themes going on. But it also definitely counts as horror, because its super gruesome.
In the very first chapter of the first book, it starts off with the main character's parents' death. They were killed in an ALTERNATE universe by a DEMON who lives on human misery and CHESS, who they were fighting for a cure for LYCANTHROPY for their daughter. So many factors come into play in the very first chapter. The whole series covers demons, werewolves, magic, the origin of the universe, time travel, alternate universes, death as a physical being, and gods. Quite a bit of topics to cover in just 10 books.
He wraps all these themes around the fact that demons, who live in the "Demonata universe" want to cross over into our world and destroy the human race. The whole series gets more gory as it goes along, even though it was very gory from the start.
There's a lot descriptive, disgusting imagery as well. For example:
Blood everywhere. Nightmarish splashes and gory pools. Wild streaks across the floor and walls.
Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.
My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.
The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.
“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.
A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.
The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh.
This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.
Except the walls aren’t walls. I’m surrounded on all four sides by webs. Millions of strands, thicker than my arm, some connecting in orderly designs, others running chaotically apart. Many of the strands are stained with blood. Behind the layer of webs, more layers—banks of them stretching back as far as I can see. Infinite.
My eyes snap from the walls. I make quick, mental thumbnails of other details. Numb. Functioning like a machine.
The dripping sound—a body hanging upside down from the webby ceiling in the centre of the room. No head. Blood drops to the floor from the gaping red O of the neck. Even without the head, I recognise him.
“DAD!” I scream, and the cry almost rips my vocal chords apart.
To my left, an obscene creature spins round and snarls. It has the body of a very large dog, the head of a crocodile. Beneath it, motionless—Mum. Or what’s left of her.
A dreadful howl to my right. Gret! Sitting on the floor, staring at me, weaving sideways, her face white, except where it’s smeared with blood. I start to call to her. She half-turns and I realise that she’s been split in two. Something’s behind her, in the cavity at the back, moving her like a hand-puppet.
The ‘something’ pushes Gret away. It’s a child, but no child of this world. It has the body of a three-year-old, with a head much larger than any normal person’s. Pale green skin. No eyes—a small ball of fire flickers in each of its empty sockets. No hair—yet its head is alive with movement. As the hell-child advances, I see that the objects are cockroaches. Living. Feeding on its rotten flesh.
This is only the beginning of the first book. Shan doesn't waste any time setting up a backstory in the first chapter, then just tearing it apart in the beginning of the second chapter, and in the third chapter sets up a transition from the main characters original home to his next living space.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete