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subject: voodoo*

theme: ignorantia juris non excusat; what you don't know can hurt you; cool motive still murder

narrative inspiration: dead until dark (for murders), pitch black (for the protag. switch), scream + the final girls (for genre smarts), high wizardry (for post-modern magik)

concept + tropes:

things to research:

  • how to write bad cliches
    • mostly: ouija, tarot, palmistry, cleansings, and whatever those emf copper stick fairy rods are.
  • curse breaking in and out of pop-media
  • the post-modern magik trope in literature
    • i am legend by richard matheson: in trying to find out which vampire-slaying myths are true, the protag proves a vampire who was jewish will be repelled by a star of david, concluding that this, among some other weaknesses, are entirely psychosomatic.
    • ravirn by kelly mccullough: an immortal demigod descended from one of the fates, through his misadventures in a greek mythology-meets-magical-internet multiverse.
    • young wizard series by diane duane: does this a lot, but in high wizardry a new wizard gets a computer that happens to be a magic manual. that really stood out to me in the series.
  • the post-modern magik trope in other media
    • the dresden files, supernatural, buffy, john dies at the end, gargoyles the animated series, evil dead
  • maybe i want some religion is magic, but i'm feeling a little iffy about it

* warning: i don't practice voodoo, but i do have a very healthy respect and (so much) fear of the religion and practices. while this novel's genre is satirical horror, i intend compose it with respect in regards to the religious aspects. all the characters in the novel, however, are idiots.

jun 7 2016 ∞
jan 26 2017 +