An Unorthodox Halloween – Page 74

Zuvembie!!!

What is a Zuvembie, you ask?

I’ll get to that a bit later…

This made for TV movie has been airing on both the Chiller Network and SciFi constantly lately.

You know it was bound to be horrible. But, I’ve made a point of sitting back and watching anything remotely voodoo oriented, because you never know when a crappy movie might have something we can incorporate.

This film does have some nice cemetery shots all over. But, otherwise becomes that flashy “voodoo” one comes to expect from a hollywood film. Well, it really depicts a hollywoodized form of Santeria more than voudoun, but, the layman wouldn’t know the difference.

The sole saving grace in the film comes by the fact it’s one of the few, especially in modern times, that portrays Zuvembie.

What is a Zuvembie?

Well, now, that is a tale…

As a child, one of our favorite activities was visiting the comic book store. My older brother was an avid collector, and he hit all the big titles of the day. X-Men, Wolverine, Spider-Man. Etc.

Typically, the store only had one copy of a particular issue, so it was counter-productive for me to try and get any of those. So, I initially would read GI Joe, and various oddball miniseries. Well, GI Joe got REALLY WIERD about 20 issues in, and I started looking at other things.

With my older brother reading all the big names, and my younger one picking up the “b list” of Daredevil and Ghost Rider, I was wondering in some of the oldies when I stumbled on Moon Knight. Specifically, Issue 29.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

It was, simply, the most intriguing cover I had ever seen. And, it featured a hero fighting off a werewolf!

THIS was the kind of thing I LOVED at the time. So, many more Moon Knight comics were sought out. And, many times, he would be fighting off horror-inspired foes. Including Voudoun.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Well, being smarter than the typical hollywood fare, Marvel knew enough to know that true zombies are not the mindless living dead made by some silly virus or radiation that all hollywood movies tend to portray, but rather the dead being brought back to life by a Bokor.

However, Marvel had a slight problem. The word “zombie” was forbidden from use in Comics by the Comics Code Authority. Quite frankly, the whole TOPIC was technically forbidden. Along with werewolfs, ghouls, cannibalism, vampires, and torture.

And, as Moon Knight tread on that edge, flapping in the face of the CCA, probing it, pushing it’s limits, and sometimes even outright BREAKING it. (you’ll notice issue 29 does not carry the CCA seal of approval, because it has a werewolf!)

A relative unknown, able to get away with such things so Marvel knew how far they could push their A-list heroes, the word “Zombie” still drew the axe down.

Thus, they created Zuvembie: Differentiated from the typical zombie by the fact Zuvembie are under the control of a Bokor.

It’s all Mom’s fault.

I was asked again, recently.

“How is it you see things so DIFFERENTLY?”

Some people look at things and see what is there. Me? Typically, I see whatever it is that I want.

For those of you that may not know, my mom is an author. I still recall those days long ago. The Apple IIe sitting in my parent’s basement, the computer desk a great castle for my GI Joes. While my mom sit down and write. (or at least try to, what with us kids…) Back then, that’s what I thought writing was. It took many years for me to fully understand the gravity of what it was to be an author.

Once a quarter, my mom let us have a free day. A day off from school to do with as we pleased. Provided our grades held. Looking back, I recall fondly my days were often spent stopping at Burger King and heading to the county library with mom. Learning to use the microfilm/fiche machines, mom would be looking up god only knows what. I was typically looking up Bigfoot sightings in the papers, or books on how to build castles. The Library was a magical place, only rivaled by our trips to the comic book shop.

This thrill of discovery, of research has never left. Why are things so? What’s the reason behind them? A little known fact is that each year, with the yard, we’ve explored a different society, and their particular means of sacrifice.

As I grew older, I learned to people watch with her. Just go sit and watch folks in the mall. Each have their own story. Each their own motives. What are they, why are they there?

This passed on to walks, car trips, anything. Hey, what’s in that black bag on the side of the road? Maybe it’s a dead body dumped there by the mafia.

NOTHING is so fascinating as watching people FRIGHTENED, though…

This passed on to everything, including my daily chores. I wasn’t mashing cans to recycle. I was firing artillery at the army of zombies coming down the hill.

This kind of thing was often encouraged, even. And, whatever my interest as well.

Not many kids can claim to have (unintentionally) gotten high off rubber cement and moth balls with their mother as we spent hours putting some finishing touches on a bug collection.

It didn’t really strike me that this may not all be quite “normal” until I was 16. There’s something about walking through a prostitution museum with your mother, featuring profilactic methods of the 1800’s that does kind of hit you as maybe a bit odd, though.

So, why is it that I see things so differently?

I don’t see what’s THERE. I see what COULD be there, and must ask WHY and for what reason?

If it interests me enough, I’ll research the dickens out of it. And, if that bears out, I might just MAKE something to add to the yard as well.

And, it’s all Mom’s fault.

Thank god.

In Search of Witches, Part 3

Seems every time I try to write this 3rd part, I’m getting interrupted…

Now having spent 2 years on studying various witches, from Greek and Scandinavian mythology, through fairy tales throughout Europe, and into Russian folklore, I had thought I had covered it all.

Little did I know, the Teotihuacan, Navajo, and Pueblo had a witch of their own…

Spider Woman

I had actually put the whole witch idea on the backburner. Having in my mind this idea to bring something new to the world of Halloween, and spiders.

Disappointed that no one could see my webs from last year in the dark, I was determined to remedy that situation at some point in the future. And, what better way than making them the focus? But, as with everything, I couldn’t just go about COPYING the normal ways to do this.

I had been formulating designs when something on TV caught my attention.

Monster Quest is a SUPERB series. They find some cryptid critters to research that I haven’t heard of before on occasion (quite a feat, actually). But, one morning, I saw they were going to do a show on Giant Spiders.

Who knows, maybe they’ll find something I can use, I thought. So, I recorded it and forgot about it as I went about my chores. A few days later, with nothing on to watch, I saw it in my recorded list.

The show started in the typical over dramatic fashion: “From the dawn of time, man has told stories of giant spiders.” Yeah, yeah, blah, blah…it lists a bunch of creatures “…and the Navajo had the Spider Woman”.

Wait, What?

Rewinding, I had heard correctly. And there on the screen was a picture so remarkably similar to Yaga Baba. Wild hair, red cloths, carrying away a child.

It struck me instantly. I had to research this.

Spider Woman

To the Pueblo, she was the goddess of weaving and creation. As she thought of stories, they came into being. In fact, she is thinking of this story now, and I am telling you what she is thinking…The threads of her stories connected us all together in this story that is life.

From Halloween buildup 09

To the Teotihuacan, she was the goddess of Darkness, the Underworld, and war, shown with spiders on her body, hair, and servants with shields made of spiderwebs. Keeping company with the Jaguar and Owl in addition to spiders. She guarded the portal to usher the honored dead into the underworld.

From Halloween buildup 09

One might find objection at the suggestion this goddess was a witch. Yet, at the end of the day, here we are seeing the story of the Norn retold. A woman weaving the threads of destiny, both at birth, and at death…

It was the Navajo who pulled everything together for me.

The Navajo Spider woman is surely something special.

Playing roles in creation, and the formation of society, her influence is everywhere. Yet, not satisfied with just weaving the threads of fate, the Navajo Spider Woman takes on the aspects of Yaga Baba in the stories.

As with Yaga Baba, Spider Woman will often eat her victims. While Yaga Baba is typically partial to cooking them, Spider Woman, as the name suggests, simply drinks the blood.

Yaga Baba lives in a mysterious house that only opens when a password is spoken. Similarly, Spider Woman’s den has a door whose door will enlarge or shrink to allow passage when a password is spoken.

Yaga Baba chooses to decorate with the bones of those she’s eaten in the form of a fence. Spider Woman decorates her walls with the leftover bones of those she has eaten.

Yet, as clearly DANGEROUS as these characters are, the heroes and heroines of the stories always survive by being virtuous, courteous, and kind to Yaga Baba/Spider Woman and/or her servants that they end up HELPING.

From hiding children away, to consuming enemies, Spider Woman comes with a rich tapestry of lore that re-affirms my views that all these stories are connected. And, all these witches are connected. In Europe, we had the Norn. In Russia, Yaga Baba. In the Americas, we had Spider Woman.

THIS is the witch of witches…

The challenge now is to bring her to life.

In Search of Witches, Part 2

My journeys through the Norn folklore had left me wanting something more. Something that had several connecting visual keys I could tap.

The Bone Mother

I first came across Yaga Baba as an unnamed witch reading through the old Brothers Grimm stories as a child. (Think Hanzel and Grettle for you unfamiliar with her)

But, my re-awakening to the idea came while contemplating this whole witch ‘problem’ one night, with the kids finding Miyazaki’s Spirited Away on the TV somewhere. Sure, I had seen it before, but never in that mindset. And, it was followed by Howl’s Moving Castle. I knew then and there, these were the kinds of witches I wanted. Not “evil”, per se. Back to the OLDE way of looking at this things. Not Evil, just…DANGEROUS.

Going back to my favorite musical, Into the Woods, as the Witch says. “I’m not good, I’m not nice, I’m just RIGHT. I’m the witch”

And, a little research into Miyazaki’s inspirations led me to Yaga Baba.

From Halloween buildup 09

HERE was a Witch I could get behind. The further I dug, the more I enjoyed her.

Also known as the BONE MOTHER. She lived in a moving house in the deep forest. A fence made from human bones surrounded the house, and was lit by human skulls. Stories had her eating children. Cooking them in her giant oven (hmm, hanzel and grettle?). Others had her meeting with her 2 sisters, also named Yaga Baba so as to confuse you when more intense assistance was required in a story. (Hmm, here we see the Norn/fates being depicted…)

Assisted by disembodied hands, a couple of spirit riders, and various creatures, there were MORE than enough visual cues to make this into a haunt.

I had it all worked into a story for the yard. All witch stories were just one or more of these sisters. There being three, they wandered, perhaps for that one night, one of them settled here in my yard…

I had gone so far as to making some tests of a concept for the human skull lighting. Basing my design on some of the drawings of them…

From Halloween buildup 09

I had a test set up of these skulls in the dark…

The problem became, I REALLY wanted this to be the PRIMARY source of lighting, these skulls to stay as true as possible to the mythos. But, it’s much too dim, even when I put bright bulbs in the skulls. I was stumped.

Then, I had a revolutionary idea. These stories were OLD. VERY OLD. And, the written accounts don’t really specify HOW these skulls lit up…

Perhaps this witch was merely using them as candle holders…

From Halloween buildup 09

A CLASSIC visual of bad things, it certainly fits.

But, there was no way I was going to be able to complete THIS whole idea in time. Moving castles and disembodied servants were going to take some time. Plus, there was this OTHER idea I REALLY wanted to give a go, so I had more or less shelved the concept.

Little did I know, there was a witch left untapped. One with the power to tie this all together with my other idea, AND the existing yard all at once…

In search of Witches, part 1.

Witches.

The word just oozes Halloween.

For a long time, I actually wanted to avoid anything even resembling a witch. Too NORMAL, too BORING.

Say ‘Witch’, and it conjures images of a green faced hag standing over a cauldron tossing in eye of newt to come up with some spell that’ll consume children’s souls.

Thank you Wizard of Oz…

More than a year ago, however, I came across a barrel alongside the road. Fallen off of some passing truck. A roughly 80 gallon plastic barrel (it lists liters on the side). It just screamed ‘turn me into a cauldron!’

Now, sure, I could have a cauldron for our setup to cook some cannibal stew. But, one can’t look at a cauldron and not think of “witch”. In fact, I even presented a (boring and conventional) witch theme as an option for the school fundraiser.

But, if I was going to even THINK of doing witches for our yard, it was SURE going to be something DIFFERENT.

The Norn

The first thing in my mind came the Graeae.

The gray witches of Greek Mythology. Most notably, the story of Perseus, who stole their shared eye to ransom it for knowledge. Depicted in Clash of the Titans quite remarkably.

Cave full of bones, put with cannibal stew boiling, 3 witches closing in.

Or, better yet, drawing from MacBeth.

Specifically, Orson Wells version…

From Halloween buildup 09

But, in reading up on this, I came across the Norn.

Here we were presented with many witches. Arriving at childbirth to set the fate of the child. They were both malevolent and benevolent. Their arrival ended the bliss of the gods, yet at the same time, they watch over man.

Daughters of gods, elves, Jotun, and man. They are argued to play the role both of selecting the fate at birth, and of the role of the valkyries, selecting the honored dead.

From Halloween buildup 09

So, the original plan was going with a Norn/Fate/MacBeth style scene. Problem being, it was fairly small in nature, so it wouldn’t fill my entire needs, and it didn’t really fit in with my other stuff anywhere.

So, I kept searching…