Category Archives: Demons

Mondays Are Hell – A Taste of Danger

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Hello Demon Lovers!  Er, prolly shouldn’t start with that.  Maybe, demon appreciators?  That doesn’t sound so swell.  Anyway, fellow Crescent Moon Press author, Louann Carroll, tempted me by saying that she loved dark, dangerous demons, and the demon from her novel was especially dark and dangerous.  Well, I had to know more and begged her to guest blog.  She agreed.  And in a cool way.  Here you have it, a first on my blog, an interview with a demon.

* * *

Since it is Mondays are Hell on Aaron’s awesome blog, I thought I would introduce you to Belial, a rather nasty demon. A friend of mine had the good fortune to interview him. With a little background, we will start.

We first learn of the Light in Gemini Rising, Book One. The Light is the creator of souls—Belial, one of Its most beautiful. Belial loves the Light so much; he cannot bear to share the Light’s love with such low-class, bestial, mud-creatures as human beings.

In Gemini Rising, Book Two, (not yet available) Kate and Noah vanish from Earth, only to find themselves in the Olam Yetziral, or the home of the angels. While Belial, a major demon in terms of hierarchy, cannot enter that plane of existence, his minions can.

 

Journalist, 116101, from the planet Sosach, located in the outer belt of Sangori, interviewed Belial for Universal Times magazine. While it is highly unusual for a major demon to allow such close access, for the betterment of cultural relations, he acquiesced.

Begin Interview: Journalist, 116101

Question: Tell me, Belial, what is it like to hate humankind?

(Belial is beautiful. His dark eyes pull you into their depths. His stature is huge; at least seven and one-half-feet tall. Black hair streams down his back, flowing over ripples of muscle, working smoothly beneath his skin. Even a man feels the attraction.

Note to Universal Times: I expect a bonus for this interview.

Belial laughs, and I wonder if he can read my mind. He glowers, before speaking.)

Answer: My hatred is an all-consuming fire that eats at my soul—day and night. There is no rest, no peace, and no succor to sustain me. I find little pleasure in this world, and have considered thinking myself out of existence.

Q: You have thought of annihilation?

(Amazed he has shared such intimate information, I am astounded I have asked such a question!

Belial sits back in his chair. He is dressed in a red velvet robe that ties at the neck, laying bare his naked chest. Dark, wing-like eyebrows pull into a frown. He considers my question, and I wonder: Will he destroy me for asking?)

A: Only once—after Sherena.

Q: And she is?

(Fire flashes in Belial’s eyes, the shadow of wings flirt with his shoulders, revealing a thick muscled neck, and a raptors’ back. My body quakes, as he changes from demonic back to angelic. There are rumors of his wife joining with the Light, but the elders say this is impossible.)

A: Sherena is my wife. Or, was my wife, before returning to the Light.

Q: How is that possible?

(The words are out of my mouth before I give thought to them. It is my understanding that once one leaves the shelter of the Light, and joins the rebels, returning is not an option.
Belial’s arms are tight against his body, his massive legs crossed. He glares at me, hideous red coals replace the endless night of his eyes. I want to run from the room, never to look back.)

A: Anything is possible.

Q: Can you tell me why you kidnapped Kate Kelly, bond mate to Noah from Naresh?

(Belial smiles, revealing razor-thin teeth. This being, whom I had thought beautiful, is not. The bestial image appears again, flickering away as fast as it comes. I cannot help but wonder: Does he hate mankind because he is one of them? No other creatures are as capricious as angels and human beings.)

A: I can give you limited information. Since the matter is not yet resolved, complete disclosure is not appropriate.

Q: I understand.

(Belial leans forward in his chair, placing his chin upon his two fists. His direct gaze disturbs me, and for the first time, I feel terror. This being has not one soul, but two.
His words are slow, rich with hidden undercurrents, past hatreds, and future destruction. Legend says Belial sets the planets in motion. Already, he has destroyed Earth, and Naresh. Who will be next?)

A: Noah, (this is said with a hiss) is my son. Conceived by surrogate, he is an accident of nature. It is inconceivable that a child of mine would mate with the earthling, Kathryn Kelly. To bring into existence an issue is nothing short of sacrilege. The Light will have Its say, as will I.

Q: Issue?

(Unfamiliar with the term, I have to ask. Cold erupts from Belial, not the frigid air of winter, but an inner freeze that showers me with dread. If I were Noah, Kate, or this issue, I would stay far away, but it is too late for that.

The elders say, Belial can destroy the body, as well as the soul. He has the power to sway emotion, and the ability to charm those who deny his existence.)

A: An issue is a child. Lucia is her name. I will now end this interview.

Q: One last question: How does banishment from the Light feel?

(Trembling, I await his answer. Belial morphs between his two forms. He becomes full demon. Despair, hatred, and darkness leak from him. Slippery shadows hug the walls, and creep beneath my feet. His countenance changes, red, and black carve sharper bones.

Belial turns, and looks over his shoulder. Reptilian eyes glare at me. His knotted back—covered in scales—burns with blue fire. Growing in length and breadth, he towers above me. He takes a breath, and the universe shudders.)

A: The answer you seek is death… Of the soul, the mind, and the body.

(End interview)

My dear friend, Journalist, 116101, is still recovering from his encounter with Belial. His hair has turned white as snow, and his eyes reflect the misery of Hades. He has paid a hefty price to be the first to interview a demon.

To learn more about the Gemini series, click here. To visit my Amazon Author page, click here. Join me at Facebook or Twitter! I enjoy hearing from fans.
Louann Carroll

Thank you, Aaron. I had so much fun writing this.

Mondays Are Hell: The Demons of Novels Past Pt. 1

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Okay, I’ve been writing for 20 years. Yes. Well, actually, I’ve been writing all of my life. But twenty years ago, I wrote my first novel. The Dream of the Archer. If you can call it a novel. Actually, it was an experience. Like climbing Everest. Like drinking Starbucks until you can’t feel your teeth. Like watching Firefly.

An experience. Are you experienced? The Dream of the Archer was David Lynch meets Lord of the Rings meets Pulp Fiction. It was postmodern Shakespeare, part novel, part play, first person, third person, in verse, shattering the third wall. And it had a demon in it. Jezerel Stone. My villain, Eljer Wetnight, summoned him. Eljer, as in the toilet. I used to name all my villains after toilets. Eljer Wetnight. Feral Sloan. St. John Regal. Toilets.

 

(My friend would go into a bathroom and laugh because as he did his business, he would see the name of the toilet and think of my villains. Ha.)

Anyway, Jezerel Stone has a quote in The Dream of the Archer, and of course, this is wordy, and won’t make sense, and is in the guts of a book that will never be published. Oh, how my writing has improved. However, it is one of my most favorite passages, and as any writer can tell you, throw nothing away. And it captures what I want to say about demons today.

A little set up. Jezerel Stone has possessed a boy whose parents were slaughtered and who is in pain. And the boy is about to watch soldiers from this horrific army do terrible things to our hero and his princess. And this is what Jezerel Stone says to this poor boy:

Look boy, look at what they will do, and watch carefully. This is not my doing, this is not the work of the devil, this is done by your own kind, and really, these men are good people, though you won’t remember such things when you see them cutting off the fingers of the man and raping the woman. You will forget that, but I shall not, because that makes it all the more enjoyable, all the more ironic. These same men have given food to the poor, have helped old people with their houses, have been caring and kind to their family, and now they will do these evil things and hate themselves for it. Watch, boy, and learn, and remember too, the men who did the evil things to your family, were good people as well.

I’ve said it before in my other demon post that demons are a nice idea. We can put the evil on fictional characters of pure darkness.

But in this world, the truth is far more mundane. The most terrible crimes imaginable have been committed by simple human beings. Not demons. Human beings who were good, gave into evil, and were most likely good after that. Hitler probably liked to pet puppies.

Ah, how confusing, this hard, old world. How tragic. And yet, how grand. Because 98% of the people you will meet are just trying to get through and aren’t evil at all. The other 2%?

My father was a policeman for over thirty years and most of the time, he saw police work as being a lot like working those mean streets of Mayberry. When asked which show captured police work, my dad wouldn’t say The Wire, or Hillstreet Blues, or NYPD Blue. Nope. He would say The Andy Griffith Show.

However, my dad did help arrest true evil. I won’t go into this man’s crimes. I don’t want to haunt you, but they were horrible. He did demonic things to old women. You can connect the dots.

True evil is out there. Soulless. Destroyed. But human. And perhaps that is more disturbing than any demon we can come up with.

I’ll leave you with a passage from The Dream of the Archer, from that same scene.

The Americans would find the archer and the princess and they would do things to them, things that Jezerel Stone knew all about. The demon understood the great secret, the secret that even Eljer Wetnight and his magic would never discover. That even though demons and other things were expert torturers and killers, the blackest things on the Stair had learned their arts from people; that without humans, in the end, none of the demons and their kind would have known what to do. Wetnight and his people would do terrifically horrible things to the archer and the princess, and Stone would watch and learn and perhaps centuries later he would imitate them. For now, he would watch and enjoy the revulsion the boy would feel as he looked at them. Not the pain the boy would feel, remembering what the American soldiers had done to his own family, not that sick pain which would send Stone scurrying on top of the boy, out of the suffering, but the revulsion as the boy understood that this is what people could do to one another.

Mondays Are Hell – Demons Behaving Badly

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Sasha Summers, who is awesome, agreed to guest blog for me.  She has two, count ’em, two books coming out.  One about the softer side of Medusa from Crecent Moon Press, and the other about the lovey side of Hollywood. From Inkspell. Great titles, Medusa, A Love Story. And Hollywood Ever After.  Learn more about her on her website.  She is awesome ever after. God, I should delete that.  Awesome ever after.  But I can’t.  I need a permanent editor on my shoulder.

Take it away Sasha!

Sasha writes:
The thing I adore about Greek Mythology (well it’s one of many things) is the sheer number of diabolical monsters, villains and, yes, demons. These delightful specters of doom wreak havoc on mortals, shades, and Olympians alike – they are equal offender bad guys. And, honestly, they know how to mix things up.

I bet you’ll be able to immediately identify the devilish demon in… Medusa, A Love Story. If you said Euryale and Stheno – high five. If you said Medusa, sigh, you obviously haven’t read my book yet… *sigh*

That’s okay, it hasn’t been released yet. But now I know you’ll run right out and pick up a copy.

Euryale and Stheno were Gorgons, like their sister Medusa. Whether or not they had the ability to turn man to stone, like Medusa, is debated. But one thing is sure: they were super nasty witches with seriously bad attitudes. I didn’t use this description in my novel, but this is how most sources describe them.

 

  • Winged
  • boar husks
  • curving and brazen claws talons
  • fanged
  • lizard tongue
  • scaly skin
  • serpent hair

 

FYI, Gorgon means terrible or dreadful. But I think Demon is an apt description. What do you think?

If Aaron invites me back for more Greek Demon speak, we’ll talk about the Erinyes, winged demons that serve Hades in Tartarus. Or Cerberus, gate keeper to the Underworld. Or the half-snake woman Echidna, or Chimera…

 

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