Buy the ebook PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES on Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords!
<< previous page | next page >>
Copyright © 2009 Darren Pillsbury. All rights reserved.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
"Peter & The Psycho Trick-Or-Treaters" Pg 22
Faithful reader AnakMoon did such a cool and funny rendition of the Beth / Sackhead smackdown (page 19) that I had to pull it out of the comments section and share it with the rest of you. Awesome job, AnakMoon - thanks!
Buy the ebook PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES on Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords!
<< previous page | next page >>
Copyright © 2009 Darren Pillsbury. All rights reserved.
Buy the ebook PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES on Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords!
<< previous page | next page >>
Copyright © 2009 Darren Pillsbury. All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I love that Grandfather told Dill he killed the neighborhood kids. At least we know now why Mom doesn't believe Peter at all. I guess Peter just saw too much to be told nothing happened?
~Rai
One of the things that drives me crazy in a lot of supernaturally-themed fiction is the constant compulsion of characters who have experienced whatever form of weirdness is happening to reassure all the "normal" people that it isn't really happening, presumably to "protect" them.
I know there are times when you'd need to, like when dealing with authorities who'd probably have you committed if you told the truth, but in a situation like this - the curse is on the whole family, his mom is at risk as much as anyone, as is Beth, so why on earth shouldn't she be allowed to know what's happening, so that she can help keep herself and her kids safe? Especially when she's just experienced some very compelling evidence. You don't protect people by keeping them ignorant - you protect them by giving them the information they need to take appropriate precautions.
I was really looking forward to having her finally have a clue what's been going on and that Peter isn't lying about it all. But no... *sigh*
Not trying to pick on you specifically, Darren - this particular trope seems to be a staple in the genre. But it's still aggravating, as is the underlying assumption that mothers are either the upholders of normalcy who can never wrap our brains around anything weird, and/or fragile little flowers that need to be protected from unpleasant reality. As a mom, if something were threatening my kid, I'd be the one holding a shotgun, ready to kick some supernatural ass.
Rai -
Cuz Grandfather's a badass, as Dill would say.
And yup, with Peter, Grandfather no longer has plausible deniability.
Misslynx -
I agree with you to a certain degree. One of the things that always annoyed me about BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER was that the mother was perpetually clueless. Well, actually, I wasn't too fond of the actress, so that colored my perceptions more than the character.
However...
In a story like this, as in most supernatural stories, there are several points that not only match up with reality, but build a certain amount of tension in the story:
1) Outside of religious beliefs about angels and demons (and witches, to a certain degree), most people in the real world don't REALLY believe in the supernatural/pararnormal. Ghosts, maybe, and aliens, too, plus Nessie, Bigfoot, and psychic phenomenon. Voodoo, I guess. But Mummies? Werewolves? Vampires? Fairies? (Okay, I know this guy who dated a girl who truly believed in fairies...) And there are lots of people who don't believe in ANY of that - ghosts, angels, demons, what have you.
2) Most people would find any and every excuse to discount ANY sort of semi-flimsy proof of supernatural matters. Or at least treat it as a curiosity, a kind of, "Wouldn't that be cool if..." Come on, every time a cool UFO pic or chupacabra pic surfaces on the internet, there are 10,000 people questioning its validity. And rightly so.
3) Most people who were presented with absolute proof of the supernatural would probably go into denial or shock - because it's so far out of their daily, normal existence - or they would run screaming from the room. And if the proof was threatening, double that reaction.
4) The only people who would probably be more open to this phenomena are children, who don't have preconceived rules and ideas about the world as firmly cemented as adults do, or adults with more open, childlike approaches to life.
Peter's mom is a pretty cool lady, I hope. I like her because she can take down Dill a peg or two, something nobody else can. (Grandfather has to scare him silly; the old man never cuts Dill down, just threatens him. And Beth is just VIOLENT.)
But she's a realist. She's a single mom who's struggled out in the real world to support her two kids without any monetary support from her ex or from her jerkbag father.
AND, as a realist...if she really WERE to be convinced that things were threatening her children, there's no WAY Mom would stay in Duskerville. No WAY.
So...Mom can't believe just yet. Or we gotta leave Duskerville.
Trust me, she'll be confronted with the very situation I'm describing in...oh...about 20 stories. There's also a pretty weird one she's going to have to wrap her head around in five more stories.
Some other things to keep in mind:
1) No one knows what the Curse is except Grandfather, and nobody knows exactly who it impacts, or how. Maybe not even Grandfather, although I think he does.
2) Past supernatural events in Duskerville haven't been NEARLY as bad as what we've seen for Peter. In fact, I'll just come out and say it: Peter's seen more bad stuff in two months than most of his ancestors saw in 20 years.
3) And something to consider: maybe Grandfather IS protecting people by trying to keep them in the dark. The question to ask is, "Why are these things happening? They're not happening to EVERYBODY in Duskerville...so who are they happening to, and why? And if Peter left Duskerville...are we really sure the bad things wouldn't follow him?"
So, I'm not saying Mom's clueless; it's that EVERYBODY's clueless except Grandfather, Peter, and Dill. A few people see or know about a piece of the puzzle - Mercy knows about vampires, cemetery keeper Old Man Parker knows about something creepy that happened a couple of years before, and Jenkins and the rangers know something else is up with the lake, although they refuse to believe what it is. Too far out of their concept of reality. But everybody only believes THEIR piece of the puzzle; they can't see the whole picture, nor would they necessarily believe in another piece unless they were given incontrovertible proof. And, like Jenkins, maybe their sanity or ego would keep them in denial even presented with the ability to obtain that proof.
And Grandfather is trying very, VERY hard to keep it that way, for reasons that will gradually unfold.
Even Mercy would probably be like, "Really? C'mon, REALLY?" if Peter or Dill told her about the Dead Men or the Changeling. And SHE came back from the dead as a bloodsucker.
Hopefully Grandpa will tell Peter mroe after they put his mom and Beth to sleep.
At least what they are or who.
I still think Granddad has an acute case of Dumbledoreitis. Tell the truth Granddad, tell the TRUTH!
Post a Comment