Showing posts with label pied piper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pied piper. Show all posts

Saturday, October 24, 2020

The Do's & Don'ts of Social Distancing Fairy Tales by Erin-Claire

"DO be like Little Red Riding Hood: take essentials to elderly and isolated relatives (but don't bring home any wolves/viruses!)"

Important note: The need for human connection is directly linked to mental health, yet, right now, we need to stay physically apart from each other in order for us all to have our best chance at survival and to protect the most vulnerable. With mental health becoming a serious issue after months of being forced to keep in-person interactions to a bare minimum, and no end to the coronavirus threat yet in sight, it is now being suggested that we replace the term "social distancing" with "physical distancing", to emphasize the importance of maintaining physical precautions while encouraging people to have and create connections in other ways. 

When the pandemic hit and we all went into quarantine in a global effort to slow down the spread of coronavirus, Erin-Claire began making illustrations of fairy tales as both examples and cautionary tales about social distancing. 

It's a very fresh and timely reframing of fairy tales, showing how they can be read and re-read in constantly new ways, helping us to reflect on our current situations, telling tales to remind ourselves of both consequences and possibilities, but above all, that we are all human and struggle with similar things, no matter where we are.

The diversely talented Australian artist, storyteller, and speaker, Erin-Claire Barrow, better known as just Erin-Claire, has been working with fairy tales for quite some time now and is passionate about diversity and representation in stories and empowering people, women especially. Her feminist fairy tales illustration series led to her speaking at #TedXCanberra on this very subject (you can see that HERE) and she has many more stories to tell and feels fairy tales can help us in so many more ways.

The captions below each image are the companions for the illustrations and, in that mysterious and wonderful way of fairy tales, ground us amid a sea of false narratives, and encourage us to get to the heart of issues we're dealing with and face them, head-on.

With "vigilance-fatigue" setting in, sometimes it helps to get the same reminder in a different way to re-energize us into being vigilant and protecting each other again. We think Erin-Claire's #SocialDistancingFairyTales series might help to do just that. 

Enjoy.
DON'T be like the True Sweetheart: Now is not the time to travel the world looking for an ex who forgot about you, attend his wedding ball three nights in a row, win him back then abscond to YOUR castle for yet another wedding party.

DON'T be like the Pied Piper of Hamelin: encouraging large gatherings in public places.

DO be like Rapunzel in her tower: just two visitors and only ever one at a time.

DO be like the witch in Jorinda and Joringel (especially if elderly and vulnerable): if any visitors you don't want come too close, turn them into birds or freeze them in place.

DON'T be like the Twelve Dancing Princesses: sneaking out of your home every night to dance your shoes to pieces with enchanted (or enchanting) princes.

DO be like the Lady from Llan y Fan Fach: if your partner is violent towards you, it is absolutely ok to leave your home to travel somewhere safe or seek help. Also to take all their cows, horses and other livestock.

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:
We had to include one of our favorite ink illustrations by Erin-Claire. Though this piece was created for a previous #Inktober (a yearly challenge for artists everywhere), rather than a specific work for her portfolio, it immediately caught our eye and showcases some of the lovely storytelling that comes through in her illustrations. It is titled "Wise Women", and reminded us that though we have to remain socially distant, we can still send magic into the world from where we are and help build a better future.
Thanks, Erin-Claire!
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

Fearnot by Erin-Claire
The Six Swans by Erin-Claire
You can find Erin-Claire in these places around the web listed below (click to go to her sites), and continue to follow her #socialdistancingfairytales as she adds any, along with her continuing feminist fairy tales work and possibly even discover some lesser-known tales along the way:

Website - erinclaireillustration.com
Twitter

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Petzold's "Undine" To Be First In A Trio Of German Myths (& A Tour of Germanic Fairy Tale-Like Legends As Contenders for Films 2 & 3...)

During the conversation, the stranger had already occasionally heard a splash against the little low window, as if someone were sprinkling water against it. Every time the noise occurred, the old man knit how brow with displeasure; but at least when a whole shower was dashed against the panes, and bubbled into the room through the decayed casement, he rose angrily, and called threateningly from the window; "Undine; will you for once leave off these childish tricks? and to-day, besides, there is a stranger knight with us in the cottage." (Excerpt from Undine, Chapter 1: How the Knight Came to the Fisherman)
Production has just begun on a brand-new, mythic film trilogy, the first of which will be based on the fairy tale Undine, written by Friedrich de la Motte-Fouque. The story is well known in Germany and worldwide, largely thanks to Arthur Rackham's popular illustrations, and prima ballerina assoluta Margot Fonteyn's signature role as the titular Ondine with the Royal Ballet (with an 'O' instead of a 'U').

The director, Christian Petzold (of last year's acclaimed film Transit) has offered a few clues as to the direction he'll be taking:
"The next trilogy is about German myths. (The) first one (is) about Undine, a woman who comes in from the water, living in Berlin wanting to kill all the men. (And) yes, (it will be) very modern."
Petzold was interviewed recently, just after production started, and elaborated a little more on how the character of Undine will be portrayed. The article extract below includes information on the film's cast and crew for any who might be familiar with Petzold's work to date:
Director Christian Petzold has now embarked on his next film, the fairytale-inspired Undine, and it finds him reteaming with Transit stars Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, Cineuropa reports. Also starring Jacob Matschenz and Maryam Zaree, see a synopsis below for the film that kicked off production last week. (Ed: Reported in July 2019)
Named after the water nymph that seduces men in a number of mythological tales, the German director’s new movie will portray Undine (Paula Beer) as a history graduate who works as a guide in Berlin in the present day. After her partner (Jacob Matschenz) leaves her for another woman, she is cursed and compelled to kill the man who betrayed her and return to the waters she was once summoned from. Yet unlike the mythological character, in the film, Undine tries to defy her fate. Immediately after the break-up, she meets Christoph (Franz Rogowski), an industrial diver, and falls in love with him. The two have a wonderful time together until he realises that she is running away from something and starts to feel betrayed.
So it will not have the fairy tale feel of Ondine, the 2010 romantic Irish-drama (with Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda), which was based on the same source. Ondine has few magical effects but very much taps into Wonder and has a very fairy tale feel. Petzold's Undine, however, will be worlds away from that and will be considering a very different aspect of the story.

Petzold is one of the few German film directors who consistently gets US distribution for his films. In an interview with The Film Experience, he was asked why he thought that might be. His answer is very interesting, both for German cinema and American:
"Americans need cinema like the Greeks needed theater. It’s where you learn about community and society. In Germany cinema had to be re-invented because Nazis infected it. So I learned from American cinema." 
We have to wonder, with his eye so firmly on the social and political dynamics of the world stage, particularly with regard to Germany and the US, what Petzold's commentary on current issues will be.  Clearly, he will be exploring the changing role - and perception - of women in his film Undine, but that's unlikely to be the only issue he'll be exploring.

In de la Motte-Fouque's original Undine, a strong contrast is drawn between the wild, (and soulless) Undine, who laughs inappropriately, is 'tricksy' and brazen (see excerpt at the beginning of the post for a taste), and her transformation to the woman she becomes (overnight) on getting married to a human and therefore gaining a soul. From then on, she is demure, quiet, modest and "well behaved". It is completely opposite to her essential nature, one which is surrounded by devilish spirits and creatures that accompany and pursue her, and frighten her knight and the priest that marries them. It is even implied in the Undine text at the beginning of the story, that the water nymph did away with (drowned) a couple's human child, in order to become the replacement foster child - a huge contrast to the meek and tragic figure she later becomes. (You can read the full book online HERE.) Petzold's Undine, rather than being mysterious and romantic, is set to start with quite a brazen edge too, and a very real threat, but also promises complexity as the story develops.
As for the other German myths that might be tapped for the trilogy, there are quite a few famous ones, and though we can't know how the director is considering tying the three films together, here are some possible subjects:
  • The Pied Piper (not to be confused with the tragic Children's Crusade, another German legend)
  • The Changeling (Or How To Protect Your Child - written by Jacob Grimm for German Mythology)
  • The Hoofprint on the Rosstrappe, or Princess Brunhilde escaping the Giant Bodo (in which her stallion left a hoof print, still visible today, on Rosstrappe, in the Harz mountain range, as he leaped off a high cliff, carrying her to safety. This is from Legends and Tales of the Harz Mountains by Toofie Lauder 1881, but it can be seen that Germanic mythology has a lot of overlap with Norse mythology)
  • The Morbach Monster (the location of the last werewolf kill in Germany, which has a shrine with an ever-burning candle, as legend has it that if the candle goes out, the monster will return)
The Lorelei legend (similar to a mermaid) is also one of the most popular German myths, but with Undine already being the basis of the first and sharing many of the motifs, it's unlikely Petzold will be using this one. There is a third water nymph legend that overlaps as well, loosely titled The King of Mummelsee (also known as the Singing Nymphs of the Black Forest), which takes place in the locale of the Black Forest (and a glacial lake) and includes mention of a monastery and nymphs-who-used-to-be-nuns; in some ways, a reversal of the Undine story. Other magical legends are based around Mummelsee (the lake) too, one in which a man in a rat fur coat, with an owl companion, takes a midwife with him to the lake, to help with the delivery of his baby. He paid her in straw, which turned to gold. Another legend says that deep down in the Mummelsee is a blue flower which can make someone invisible.

For the last of the major myth contenders, there is the notorious legend of the Watzmann mountain range, said to actually be a family of blood-thirsty people, who enjoyed hunting local peasants for sport, and were eventually cursed during a particularly cruel and bloody kill, and turned to stone, (each peak of the range a different family member) but it's a fairly simple story. There is a variant in which a little pocket-sized man helps the farmers defeat the wicked king and his family, and the community ends up stoning the entire awful family to death, using so many stones that the mountain range was created, but again it's a fairly straightforward tale. (An interesting local folkloric note: There is a tradition called "Kick the Royalty" in which, even today, locals encourage hikers to "kick the wicked royalty" with their shoes while "walking on their bodies".)

As one might imagine, The Black Forest has it's own unique set of legends (and fairy tales), many of which include a magical element; water nymphs, monks catching ghosts, a giant ditch-digging hen, disappearing night ladies, a headless horseman and a good witch who caused the local vineyards to produce the best wine in Europe. All of these legends are lesser-known, though, and unlikely to be a mythic source for the trilogy.

Veering slightly off the legend-as-complete-story' track, there are the popular legendary characters of German myth that could be considered as well. These include Godfather Death, Krampus (Santa's dark helper), the Erl King (German King of the Fairies), the Rübezahl (a trickster mountain spirit), Barbarossa (a famous king whose very long beard is linked with prophecy) and characters from The Nibelungenlied (knights, dwarves, and dragons).

Then there are many other collections of legends and folktales, beyond the Grimm brothers, any of which may also be in the running, as long as they have some popularity or legendary status in Germany. There are tales by Bechstein (whose work was apparently more popular in Germany than the contemporary Grimm's work, for about fifty years), Schönwerth's collected (and largely unedited) tales, and respected fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes also writes of many other German fairy and folktale collections, alerting us to many other tales and collections "more interesting" than Schönwerth's as well.
"...I can point to some brilliant German collections by Theodor Vernaleken, Johann Wilhelm Wolf, Ignaz and Joseph Zingerele, Heinrich Pröhle, Josef Haltrich, Christian Schneller, Karl Haupt, Hermann Knust, Carl and Theodor Colshorn, etc. "

There is certainly a wealth of possibilities for this new "mythic trilogy", but like Petzold's other trilogies, Undine is likely to be both a stand-alone film, and have a unique context within the trilogy, when it's complete. With Petzold's star shining so brightly at present, it's clear many critical eyes worldwide will be watching to see what he does.

For now, however, German fairy tales are front and center.
All illustrations in this post are by Frances Bassett Comstock.

Sources Referenced:

Friday, July 10, 2015

Korean Director Has Promising Film Debut With "The Piper"

All reviews seem to give thumbs up to this new director Kim Kwang-tae and his movie debut, based on the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
"The Piper hums a familiar tune, yet this fable of mistrust and deceit remains engrossing and entertaining thanks to a few wicked twists."
When an already spooky story gets a 'spooky makeover' my horror-movie alert senses start to tingle, which is where this film does appear to lead. (Despite having a penchant for the darker side of things and not shying away from, shall we say 'forensic' details, horror really isn't my thing and I haven't even seen all the classics. I don't feel I'm missing out. Thrillers, on the other hand, I'm totally in!) Korean directors typically adore horror and love the extremes of gore and sensationalism. They also don't shy away from being tagged in the horror genre (it doesn't appear to be quite as stigmatized as it does in the West) so a 'supernatural thriller' or 'fantasy thriller' actually sounds promising (at least until there's blood).


Here's the synopsis:
Shortly after the Korean War, a man and his son, Woo-ryong and Young-nam, arrive in an isolated mountain village looking for work in order to make enough money to continue their journey to Seoul. Against the chief's better judgement, Woo-ryong is allowed to do odd jobs and soon realizes the village suffers a major rat infestation. Like a mid-century Pied Piper, he makes a deal with the chief to rid the town of the rats but when the time comes to collect his fee and leave, the chief double crosses the father and son. Vowing a revenge, he lures the rats back, fulfilling an old prophecy that brings horror to the village.

The film has gotten English subtitles ahead of it's Korean release (something which appears to be unusual and speaks well of the film and likely distribution).
The Piper (손님) – or more literally translated as The Guest– has received an English subtitled trailer ahead of its July 9th release date in Korea. 
Loosely based on the classic tale of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, the fantasy-thriller is about a father and his sickly boy who, shortly after the Korean War, find themselves at a strange remote village in the mountains on their way to Seoul. Intending to stay there only for a day before moving on, the duo start to experience surreal events amongst the citizens that leads the father to pick up his mysterious pipe.

An alternate summary from Twitch film :
Kim's version takes place in the aftermath of the Korean War and sees the piper traveling through the mountains with his son. They happen upon a path that has magically opened up, indicated to us by way of a dolly zoom, and soon discover a mysterious village that looks upon these wanderers with suspicious eyes. They stick around for long enough to be accepted by the villagers but also to sense that something isn't quite right. Only then does the well-known rat element of the story come into play.
You can read the whole review from Twitch  HERE, which might give you a clearer idea of what to expect.

Here's the trailer. It has English subtitles and is NOT graphic (another plus). The most you see are a weird egg and some stained shirts. If you're up for a different interpretation, take a look:
Although at first I thought otherwise, a repeat viewing makes me think the end figure might be the Piper's own child shuffling along there, I'm not sure...

The trailer suggests a beautifully made film, with a few different twists on the usual tale. While I won't be going to any of the upcoming brief and limited screenings happening for it's release in LA later this month, (beginning July 17th with the official US release being July 24th) I will keep an eye out for it streaming. I'd like to see what the director has done that's caught critic's positive attention (and then I can also fast-forward through any gratuitous unpleasantness).

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Kate Greenaway's "Pied Piper" New eBook with Audio

Disclaimer: I was given free access to this eBook for the purposes of a survey and review. My thanks to Animusia for contacting me with the opportunity.

If you like The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning then you will probably be familiar with Kate Greenaway's lovely illustrations for the poem as well.

New eBook Cover
What's cool is that there's a new, high quality eBook (released December 21, 2011) that not only has beautifully reproduced high quality images that you can enlarge till you can see every detail of Kate Greenaway's lovely illustrations but a very special audio recording that makes the whole poem, and viewing the artwork, fresh again.



While having a high quality copy of the illustrations is worth the price in my opinion, it's the new audio presentation that takes this ebook from good to excellent and will keep you coming back to it. The poem is read beautifully by Stella Arman, a singer and vocal trainer, and it's possibly the best I've ever heard Robert Browning's Pied Piper read and presented. The musicGordon Jacob’s Pied Piper suite for flute and piccolo, complements it perfectly. 



The combination of the reading, music and illustrations kept both my young son and I turning the pages right till the end. Frankly, I was surprised my son was initially so interested but he said it was really pretty to listen to. When the animation began with the children moving through the streets to the Piper's music he lit up and started asking questions about where they were going.



Unfortunately I don't have an e-reader of my own and was only able to borrow an iTouch to view it on but I imagine the experience would have been even better on iPad. On the iTouch the animation was a little jittery and there were initial download issues but that may just be because we didn't have the latest gadget available, even though we upgraded the software to enable the download in the first place.


We didn't use the text highlighting option but I think it would have been excellent if we'd had an iPad (ie a much larger screen) to view it with, as the audio appealed to my son so much I think it would have encouraged him to try reading along (he's just starting to recognize words and sound out new one).

I only have two issues with the eBook:


1) You have to go through iTunes to get it and I'm not a fan of iTunes for multiple reasons.
2) When you enlarge images, although the detail and quality is, indeed, excellent, the nature of the enlargement, in which you lose your view of the rest of the illustration, takes away from the experience. The one time my son lost interest is when we started enlarging things and he couldn't see the whole picture anymore. 



Children are big fans of details in illustrations - something Kate Greenaway specifically included in her Pied Piper illustrations on Ruskin's advice. When you're looking at details in a book the rest of the "magic" of the picture is still maintained and unfortunately this is lost in most eBooks I've seen, including this one. I know that's the nature of enlarging things in general but I have to wonder if maybe a magnifying bubble or similar enlarging tool that keeps the rest of the illustration visible in the background, might not be a better option, especially when sharing with children. 







Overall I was surprised I enjoyed this eBook as it takes something special for me to recommend one. I'm not won over (at least not yet) by most of the eBook technology available but this new eBook helped me take the reading experience one step beyond a book for my son with the addition of the beautiful audio and I can see us reading it again. For that it has my thumbs up.



If you'd like to add this to your library the current price is $7.99 (I suggest you take into account the excellent recording when you compare prices with other eBooks) and the link is HERE.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Article: What Does NBC's Grimm Look For When Choosing Fairy Tales To Adapt For The Series?

 
I really like that the Grimm producers and writers are talking about how they use fairy tales right now. No matter who is being interviewed - actors, producers, writers or effects and production people - or with regard to which aspect of the series everyone points the way back to the old fairy tales of Grimm and many others.

What would be particularly fun would be to be a fly on the wall as they're sorting through and choosing which fairy tale to tackle next. The Executive Producers of Grimm recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the  basic aspects they look for with regard to any tale.
NBC’s new drama series, Grimm, combines the myth of fairy tales rehashed into a police procedural. On every episode, Brothers Grimm descendant, homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), is charged with protecting others from real life fairy tale creatures, along with his partner, Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby). There are hundreds of tales to pick from, but the show’s producers and writers have definite needs when it comes to which ones can be adapted for the series.
...The EPs say there are specific characteristics that they look for in the myths that ultimately make it on to the series. Here are four things that make a fairy tale ripe for adaptation.
I'll give you the summary (these are all excerpts - please read full article for complete text and series goodies):
1. Fairy tales that include a crime.“We look for something where there could be a crime and that we can really twist it,” says Greenwalt.  Being a procedural, each episode needs some foul play as its basic story line...  (see article for full text) But not all tales have one, though that doesn’t mean a fairy tale can’t be used. (Emphasis by InkGypsy.)That brings us to characteristic No. 2.

2. The tale lends itself to modernization. ...“There’s something fantastic [there - for example in The Pied Piper episode -] that can translate to our world today, like how would somebody get wronged and want to seek revenge using rats? How would you modernize that story?” says Greenwalt.
3. There’s a character or detail that stands out.“Not all the stories have crimes. But sometimes there’s a character that is interesting enough and other times it’s a setting,” Kouf tells THR...

4. A story can be retold from a different point of view.Many times, the series looks to myths, including popular ones, and tries to re-imagine them from a different perspective. “The Three Little Pigs,” which appears on Friday’s episode, is one example.... (see article for full text) So, it’s the fun of turning a well-known fairy tale on its head.”

I like that we got a sneak peek into one of their scripts-in-progress too. They've chosen the tale and are clearly fascinated by some aspects but are still nutting through the details of how to craft an updating and make it fit the series:
“One story has a bunch of suitors caught in a hedge of thorns,” Greenwaltsays. “And they die and they’re caught in this hedge. And we love the idea of doing the hedge that surrounds the castle that catches all the people that try to get through it. It’s a little tough to figure out how to move that into a modern context without getting too fantastical or too magical, but we’re working on it.”
Of course, if I personally had to choose, it would be hard for me to pick a tale that DOESN'T fit these requirements as explained by the "EPs". ;D But that's possibly just my fairy tale soaked brain. I've spent a lifetime finding the contemporary parallel stories and lessons in almost every tale I've read. LOL

Read the full article with all the insights into how the Grimm team are viewing fairy tales HERE.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Two New Episodes of NBCs Grimm Airing This Week

While both Once and Grimm took a break over Thanksgiving, Once has been back with a vengeance and we've already had six episodes and much drama and speculation grabbing people's imaginations over the town of Storybrooke and the parallel world of Fairy Tale (and ratings). To top that off, another episode less than a week away.

Grimm, on the other hand, is still in limbo back at episode four and has lost a lot of ratings ground with so much time off. In fact, with all the media buzz about Once's twists and turns and interviews with Producers and casting sneak peeks, Grimm has quietly slipped out of the spotlight with barely a new post to keep it in our minds.

However: :)

NBC is going to try and make up for that by airing two brand new episodes on consecutive nights - this Thursday and Friday.

The epiosdes are:
Thursday: Danse Macabre (loosely based on The Pied Piper)
Friday: The Three Bad Wolves (loosely based on The Three Little Pigs)

Here's a two episode teaser clip advertising the special two night event:



There are more clips and interviews HERE, including discussion of the production and effects (The Pied Piper episode is DEFINITELY NOT for kids with all the gruesome visuals) and Grimm's reformed Blutbad musing on music, history and his relationship with Detective Nick Burkhardt.

Yay for lots of new fairy tale  content this week! We'll see if a double dose of Grimm is enough to put them back on people's must-watch lists.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Fairy Tale Art by Pat Brennan

Goldilocks and the Bears

For your viewing pleasure I'm posting just a few of the fairy tale themed work by digital artist/illustrator Pat Brennan (on deviantArt as moonmomma). The Goldilocks one at the head of the post remains one of my favorites, since seeing it a few years ago.

The Piper

Cinders in the Limelight

The Princess and the Pea

Yuki Onna

Undine

She has a LOT of gorgeous work in her deviantArt gallery, mostly fantasy based (lots of fairies and mermaids) so be sure to visit, take a look and leave a nice comment (and maybe hint how great it would be to see even more fairy tale pieces.. hint, hint). You can also visit her website HERE and her Flickr account HERE.

The talent must run in the family. Her daughter, Rebecca Parker, is just breaking into the book cover illustration biz too.

I'd love to see Pat work on a specific fairy tale project for a book herself though. She has such a lovely touch. While she does do commissions I gather she's very busy, so if you want to work with her be persistent in trying to contact her and let me know if you work together.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Creator Nick Percival Talks About His Dark Steampunk Comic "Legends: The Enchanted"

I posted on this coming-in-2010 comic HERE last week and, seeing as there was quite a bit of interest between comments and Twitter, I thought I'd point you to an excellent interview with the creator Nick Percival.

In the interview with Comic Book Resources, he reveals more about the fairy tale characters he's using and how they've been given a new twist. Here's an excerpt from the long, informative and interesting article:

"The Enchanted are looked upon with fear and distrust by normal everyday folk and despised by their dark counterparts, known as The Wicked," says Percival. "Most of the Enchanted operate as vigilantes, outlaws, bounty hunters and so on - trying to find their place and purpose in a land that is growing increasingly hostile towards them. Armed with a hard attitude, unique abilities and customized weaponry, the Enchanted's world is shattered when they discover that some unknown enemy has found a way to break through their mystic immortality and begins slaughtering them one by one beginning with the killing of the half bionic/half wooden warrior, Pinocchio."

Nick Percival: We've got Red Hood, who lives with her daughter in a very dangerous place known as the Bionic Woodlands - this area is overgrown with spiked bio-mechanical trees and living, organic plant life, populated by mutated wolf creatures. Basically, she just wants to be left alone and raise her child, but the murder of Pinocchio and the kidnapping of her daughter force her to reluctantly seek out help from other Enchanted.

Jack the Giantkiller pretty much just looks out for himself. He's sly, likes to drink and burns around on a beast of motorcycle that uses Giant's blood as fuel. Jack acts as a kind of "creature killer for hire." For the right price, he'll sort out any towns terrorized by Ogre problems, which he usually solves by popping one of his "magic beans" that grant him cool powers for a limited amount of time as he starts cracking heads together.

Filling out the rest of the cast are psychic siblings, Hansel and Gretel (Paranormal Exterminators), Goldilox and Bear, her nine-foot half man/half bear boyfriend. They have a "rob the rich to give to the poor" type quest, which involves them coming up against the crime boss, Humpty Dumpty and the Billy Goats Gruff Biker Gang - it doesn't end quietly.

Amongst these, we've got cameos from Rapunzel, a soldier with unbreakable hair that she uses to attack her enemies, Miss Muffet, Rumpelstiltskin, Pied Piper, Jack Nimble and many others all depicted in the same gritty style with attitudes to match in a world filled with goth-type giants, vampire fairies, pissed off trolls, demon street gangs, and all manner of unsavory folk.

Do you have a favorite fairy tale or fable?

I have a lot of versions of the classic tales that the Brothers Grimm collected together, some great old German editions as well. I've also been heavily into Hans Christian Andersen's work, so there are way too many to choose from. But a lot of the ancient Russian folklore is fascinating, and there are some themes in that material that I'm thinking about including in later stories for "Legends: The Enchanted."

You can read the entire article HERE and see LOTS of (very gory) images throughout (which can be viewed larger by clicking).

All the details of the website, when it's available and the preview are in my previous post HERE. A warning again: please keep this away from children. This is dark stuff and definitely in the horror genre. All these new images severely cropped for posting purposes on this blog. If you can deal with the images though (the illustrations are amazing in addition to being ultra-gory), this comic and the developing story sounds like it's worth checking out.

Friday, October 30, 2009

"The Curse of Hamelin" - A Short Story by Lisa Kessler

The Pied Piper
Linoleum Block Cut by M.S. West
(M.S. West also has other fairy tale pieces available to see on her blog HERE)


What if the Pied Piper had no choice but to draw the rats to him? What if this curse was passed on to his descendants? And what if the creatures that followed you were not rats but the undead?

Lisa Kessler is one of those talented people who always seems to be writing new stories. While Urban Fantasy is her first love she's a very versatile writer and so I wasn't surprised to find she'd tackled a fairy tale or two. She regularly sets herself challenges to stretch her writing muscles and this story is the result of one of those exercises.

The Pied Piper is already very creepy but Lisa's given the story a very unusual - and extra creepy - twist...

Says Lisa about writing "The Curse of Hamelin":
This week's topic was Living the Lie and also mentioning diaphoretic sweating.... Hmmm.... From that, a nervous OCD accountant popped into my head. Why was he so nervous? Apparently he was cursed... After some research into German history, this story told itself.
She's generously allow me to post an excerpt and link to her very Halloween-appropriate version of the Pied Piper (please note: there's a mild gore warning for this story - but then if you read the 'undead' comment, you probably expected that):

Here's the beginning to put you in the mood:
"The Curse of Hamelin"
by Lisa Kessler

They were coming.
He couldn’t see them yet, but he could sense them. The scent of moist tilled earth teased his nostrils, and bile rose in response.
How could this have happened again so soon?
Harold made a frantic dash to the dresser, and yanked open the drawers. He had to get out fast. Snatching up his pressed and folded clothes, he placed them on the tidy bedspread and reached under the ruffled bed skirt for his suitcase.
Something grabbed his hand.
You can read her whole story HERE.

Lisa is very active with her writing, her BLOG (just a note: you'll need to scroll down past the MySpace ads and banners but she's worth it!) and on TWITTER (known there as LdyDisney . It's also where we met). She's a lot of fun and constantly amazes me with both the quantity and quality of her output. I expect her to get a three-book publishing deal any minute now...

Go read her work and support her journey into print. You'll find yourself very entertained and can rest assured this lovely, generous and talented lady is someone worthy of your time.

A sincere thank you to Lisa for allowing me to do this post. I wish you every success, my friend!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love

You may be aware that Fables comic creator Bill Willingham has a novel (the prose kind - which is new for him) on the way titled "Peter and Max" (the story of the villainous Peter the Pied Piper and his twisted brother Max) but did you know there's also a min-series of Cinderella in the works due for release after the novel?

The six-issue spin-off series will be called "Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love" and is due for release in Fall 2010 (I'm guessing the title is an homage to the old James Bond film "From Russia With Love".)

If you don't know about the Cinderella character a la Bill Willingham style here's a description from Newsarama.com:

While the Fables version of Cinderella seems innocent enough, running her tiny shoe store on the streets of Fabletown in New York, she has a secret that doesn't seem to jibe with her immaculate wardrobe and perfectly applied lipstick. Despite her "day job" as a divorced princess who sells shoes, she is secretly a super spy whose well-honed sleuthing skills make James Bond look like a pansy.
(You can read about the Cinderella character from the Fables world HERE in Wikipedia.)

While the "Peter & Max" novel details more of the Fabelstown universe and expands on it in a way Bill says he's been unable to do in the graphic novels, the Cinderella series is more of a stand-alone set of stories. Here's a quote from an interview with IGN Comics to help explain in Bill's words:
IGN Comics: I also wanted to get into the Cinderella mini-series that starts in November. Cinderella has always been the secret assassin of Fabletown. How is she going to function now that Fabletown doesn't even exist? Is there a significant change to her mission now?
Willingham: Well, you're right. Cinderella is an assassin. I suppose that's fair. I sort of think of her as the James Bond of Fabletown. If you have a dirty little thing that needs doing and you need it kept off the books and off the record, she's the one you send out to do it. Her story starts when the Fables are still in Fabletown. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but what we've done is sort of written her out of the Fables storyline for the time that this special mission takes place. She's pretty much on her own. She gets involved with Fables outside of Fabletown and starts uncovering all sorts of dastardly things that may be important to Fabletown, but not necessarily tying into current storyline.
...The one thing about Cinderella stories that seems to have shaped up here is that she's okay on her own. You don't just make her one amongst a large cast of Fables. The stories we tell about her are basically that she's this resourceful weapon you can fire at a problem and know that she'll take care of it.
And here's a quote from the Newsrama interview with Chris Roberson who is the main writer Bill Willingham chose to work on the mini-series:

CR: I probably can’t say too much, but what I can say is that Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love is about spies, sex, and shoes; that we find out what happened to Cindy’s Fairy Godmother, and that Happiness isn’t always forever after; and we once-and-for-all learn the burning question of who runs Cindy’s shoe store when she’s away gallivanting.

You can find the whole interview with IGN which talks about "Peter & Max", the Cinderella mini-series and more HERE, and the interview with Newsrama HERE.