Anyone else ever wondered why a person who is gifted with immortality, superhuman strength, the ability to fly or shapeshift or basically bend the world to his will would get his panties in a bunch about never seeing sunlight? Or a flower?
Sounds like somebody needs a refill for his Prozac. See a mental health professional, buddy.
Or better yet, get a sense of humor.
Maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Sela Carsen and I wrote romantic comedy. With monsters.
Of course, your definition of monster may vary.
My first story with Samhain was called Not Quite Dead. It’s about a high school guidance counselor looking for a nice, normal steady guy. She winds up with a corpse.
My next one, coming in the Celtic Love and Lore anthology this fall, features a cranky Selkie. Sushi jokes abound.
Paranormal stories, by their very nature, flirt around the edges of darkness. Sometimes they dive straight into the heart of it. Our characters often battle despair, disillusionment and grief, utterly human emotions. However, I don’t know many people who can sustain that level of darkness for long without some kind of relief.
Through that misery, those characters still have to speak to us and give us hope that Happily Ever After isn’t a myth, even for the undead.
Humor is a natural reaction to that kind of stress. The pressure has to be let out somehow and my characters laugh it off. The world finds its balance again in laughter and the sound keeps the darkness at bay.
So next time you find your vampire wallowing in desolation and gloom over never seeing another sunrise, hand him a pair of rose-colored glasses. Or maybe a buttonhole flower sprayer filled with holy water. Come on. You *know* that’s funny!
Step Into The Mists with our adventurous band of award-winning authors to otherworlds of paranormal, SF, fantasy and speculative romance. Nervous? Don't be. The creatures that live here are friendly. Most of the time... This blog is for age 18 and over only.
8 comments:
I couldn't agree more, Sela. If I had a moping morose angsty vampire wailing in my bed all day long, I'd probably have to stake him myself! LOL
Humor lightens up the mood so the plunge into darkness again is that much more terible.
Thank you for the post. Gia
the things is though, Stephen King himself said that horror is sharpened by the presence of humor. A dark novel with no humor can be good but I think having those moments of comedy help make them excel.
:)
S.J
Maybe it's related to this need I have to crack jokes at funerals, but humor always creeps into my paranormal writings. I try to keep it gripping and dramatic, but nope. Can't do it. Something funny or just Monty-Pythonesque-off-the-wall just seeps in around the cracks.
Like the ghost of a Civil War soldier in my first published book, bound hand and foot, sitting on the beach. Things look pretty grim - he's about to have his limbs and head hacked off, after all.
So what else could happen? Well, for one thing, a crab bit him on the butt.
Then there's the scene in my upcoming novella where the hero is fighting for his life, almost loses, and turns to find a fully armed Legolas clone standing there looking bored, watching him fight. Without lifting a finger to help him.
I guess I should get therapy...
Your post is hilarious! I totally agree about the angst-ridden all-powerful creatures, and you've said it better than I could. Terrific post!
Carolan, that reminds me of my brother and I at my grandmother's funeral. We all had our heads bowed, praying, and he nudged me in the side and pointed at my grandfather's headstone and footstone. The death date on the footstone was the day before the one on the headstone. My brother leaned over and whispered, "Did he die from the bottom up?"
Yeah. Morbid jokes at funerals. I'm right there with you.
Hey Sela,
Superhuman, all-powerful Stephen Colbert is coming to Toronto as a guest of Harlequin Books.
I don't know what he'll be doing here exactly, but I sure as hell intend to be there.
Unhappily I don't have my Toronto Police Press pass--out of the game too long.
Might get in as just a kibitzer,hoping to catch a glimpse of Colbert, the "Immortal". My hero.
Ivan
OMG, Ivan. Too funny. I just had a bizarre glimpse of what Steven Colbert would be like as a vampire.
Amelia and Carolan -- you mean we're not supposed to laugh at funerals? Oops. *gg*
SJ and Gia, I completely agree. Those moments of sympathy and humor throw the horror into sharp relief.
I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one who's had the urge to tell the evil undead to lighten up!
Have to have humor with my dark stuff--and the dark stuff gives you the best opportunities to play off some great one liners, too :o)
Well, Stephen Colbert is handsome enough.
And I'll bet, as a former actor, he culd be pretty good at being faux-creepy. Talk about mixing humour with horror!
Post a Comment