Tag: monsters

I became a writer because of 1970s TV Carl Kolchak

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KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, Darren McGavin, 1974-75

The 1970s were a boon for TV dramas based on fantasy, science fiction, and horror. We had shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers, and of course my favorite, Kolchak: The Night Stalker. I started binge-watching these classic shows and they reminded me of why I became a writer. Carl Kolchak may not have had a big impact on television (it only lasted one season with two television movies) but it had a major impact on me.

First and foremost, I need to give credit where credit is due. Darrin McGavin (1922-2006) was the heart and soul of that series. He may be remembered more as being the foul-mouthed “old man” in A Christmas Story, he will forever be Carl Kolchak to me. His tenacity in searching for the truth in a story, no matter how bizarre or unusual, was evident in every episode. McGavin’s portrayal of the intrepid reporter, especially in the narrative that accompanied each episode, showed his incredible dedication to the truth in journalism (something we seem to be missing today). In any case, as I watched Carl Kolchak from my living room floor as an impressionable teenager, I knew I wanted to be just like him.

The Rakshasa, Episode 11, Horror in the Heights

Murders caused by vampires, werewolves, zombies, and swamp monsters (the Creole legend of Père Malfait) were scoffed by the police and his editor, but it was Kolchak who sought the truth behind the crime. It was how he went about his investigation and the way he wrote the story that endeared him to the audience. Even how the authorities reacted at the end of each episode to actually prove he was right (i.e. in episode 2, they buried the zombie for a third time with salt in his mouth and his lips sewn shut). To me, as an impressionable teenager, that made me the sceptic I am today.

It was also a great introduction to many myths and legends, some of which I never heard of before. I mentioned, Père Malfait, but also a Native American bear-spirit legend Matchi Manitou, a Hindu demon called a Rakshasa, an Aztec cult, a succubus, even a headless, sword-wielding motorcycle rider. As someone who watched his fair share of Hammer horror pictures in the 1970s, it was a blast. Yes, the make-up and special effects were substandard by today’s youth, no CGI, but it was scary back then.

“Maybe its appeal remains because it was then, and remains now, a very different kind of show. Maybe people see, in the monsters and the way public knowledge and discussion are stopped, symbols for all those things various government entities wish the people not to know about. Maybe people — fans — admire Kolchak because he just keeps on trying to do what he sees as work that has value; trying to keep the public informed about what is going on.”

Jeff Rice, creator of the Kolchak movies and TV series

Add to it the dark, shadow-filled production that kept the corners dark and the anticipation gnawing. And the music, oh the music . . . The theme song for Kolchak by Gil Mellé is unforgettable. Once you hear it, you’re hooked. It is so recognizable you never forget it. Overall, it kept you entertained as an impressionable young teen on a Friday night.

You see, early in my life, I wanted to be a comic book artist. Unfortunately, my art skills were not up to par and I missed writing the stories behind the art. I think that’s why I went into the U.S. Navy as a Navy Journalist. It was that inner Carl Kolchak speaking to me. It was my own chance to write, investigate, and tell the stories. Eventually, that led to me being an author.

Darrin McGavin as Carl Kolchak

It’s sad that Kolchak only lasted one season. According to IMDB, “the series was cancelled because Darren McGavin asked to be released from his contract. He became disappointed with the series’ scripts and was exhausted from his uncredited producing duties. Three scripts were left unproduced. Two of them were adapted into a Kolchak series of comic books in 2003.” But the character of Carol Kolchak, as I said earlier, was all Darrin McGavin. In the book, The Night Stalker Companion, McGavin explained how he came up with the iconic look of the intrepid reporter.

“In the first draft of the script, Kolchak was wearing Bermuda shorts, socks and brown shoes, a Hawaiian shirt and a golf cap. Apparently somebody thought that was the uniform for a newspaperman in Las Vegas. But there was a line in there about him wanting to get back to New York, so I got this image of a New York newspaperman who had been fired in the summer of 1962 when he was wearing a seersucker suit, his straw hat, button-down Brooks Brothers shirt and reporter’s tie, and he hasn’t bought any clothes since. Well, I knew that was the summer uniform of reporters in New York of that time, so that’s how the wardrobe came about. I added the white tennis shoes and that was Kolchak. It might have been totally at odds with what everybody else was wearing in Las Vegas, but he hasn’t bought any clothes since then. You need goals for a character and Kolchak’s goal is to get back to the big time. He always wanted to get back to New York and work on the Daily News.”

Darrin McGavin, The Night Stalker Companion

When I think about the stories I write and why I became a writer in the first place, it always goes back to Carl Kolchak. That was where I got the “bug” to sit at a typewriter (which I wrote many of my early stories on) and put my thoughts and ideas down. It is that idea that there’s something out there, a story to tell, that escapes the human eye. It takes only one person to tell the story.

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Mark Piggott is an independent author of the Forever Avalon fantasy book series and other fantasy novels and short stories. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook at Amazon and as an audiobook from Audible and iTunes. The Dark Tides: Book 2 of the Forever Avalon Series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from iUniverse Publishing and at Amazon, and other booksellers. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from Austin Macauley Publishing, and at Amazon and other booksellers. His latest fantasy novel, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart is available through Lulu and other booksellers. Get ready for The Prometheus Engine: Book 4 of the Forever Avalon Series, coming soon, and the steampunk historical fiction, Corsair and the Sky Pirates.

Dragons, ogres, and trolls, oh my!

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dragonThe creatures of fantasy, myth, and legend are as versatile as they are mysterious to a fantasy/sci-fi writer. They can be good or evil, strong or weak. intelligent or half-witted, magical or mutation. The possibilities are endless, and that’s so exciting.

As a fantasy writer, I love to research the monsters I use in my stories. It makes you wonder how much is myth and how much is fact. There are so many stories about these creatures from different countries and cultures that there must be some semblance of truth behind them… And that’s freakin’ awesome.

“There was a nice brown egg, lightly boiled, for each of them, and then sardines on toast, and then buttered toast, and then toast with honey, and then a sugar-topped cake. And when Lucy was tired of eating, the Faun began to talk. He had wonderful tales to tell of life in the forest. He told about the midnight dances and how the Nymphs who lived in the wells and the Dryads who lived in the trees came out to dance with the Fauns; about long hunting parties after the milk-white stag who could give you wishes if you caught him; about feasting and treasure-seeking with the wild Red Dwarfs in deep mines and caverns far beneath the forest floor; and then about summer when the woods were green and old Silenus on his fat donkey would come to visit them, and sometimes Bacchus himself, and then the streams would run with wine instead of water and the whole forest would give itself up to jollification for weeks on end.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Look at the sea monsters that mariners have seen for thousands of years. No one believed that a giant squid could exist, and yet through modern technology, we’ve found them lurking in the depths of the ocean. This proves that there are some facts behind the ancient legends.

I know most people would be scared of a dragon, and it probably would be, but it would also be amazing to see. To me, dragons are creatures of pure magic, living to be guardians of humanity, not enemies. They are such majestic creatures that seeing one would send chills down my spine. It’s like that scene in the original Jurassic Park when they see the dinosaur for the first time. It would be that kind of feeling.

Writing about these monsters is even better, because as the writer, I can create their origins, abilities, and appearance. You always want to stay true to the characters, but adjusted to the world you create. For example, the goblins of Avalon from my novel series, Forever Avalon. Here is a deleted excerpt from my second novel, The Dark Tides, which describes the goblin hierarchy on the island of Avalon. I cut this from my edited novel, but I think it demonstrates how versatile creatures of fantasy can be.

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The cavern seemed to encompass the entire center of Idlehorn Mountain… A huge pocket, like a magma dome, underneath the mountain, as lava flowed like water from the walls. It fell and circulated in streams and pools throughout the cave interior. Not only did the lava provide light and warmth for the goblins, it made it easier for them to forge a constant supply of weapons for their massive army. Goblins had nowhere to call home, except for the cave itself. They climbed along the walls like spiders in a web, able to move anywhere and everywhere throughout the cavern. They ate, slept and worked wherever they could find a rock to lean against or a piece of meat to gnaw on.

As Ragnar took them deeper into the voluminous cavern, Bryan got a sense of the social structure of the goblins. It was a society based on “survival of the fittest” mantra:  The stronger, more powerful goblins bullied the smaller, weaker ones, as an inbred form of slave labor. They were forced to carry heavy loads in the belief that it would make them stronger. The intense labor culled out the weaker goblins from the rest. Those that survived either continued their toll as slaves or they volunteered for experiments conducted by goblin warlocks and alchemists as they strive to make a goblin warrior that was unbeatable. They were a collective, striving for the betterment of the goblins and the defeat of their enemies.

At the heart of the cavern sat a throne of iron and stone. It was a monument to the machine that is the goblin empire. The twisted metal frame and jagged rock reminded all who stood before it of the pain and suffering that is the life of a goblin.

In the throne sat a brute of a beast… The Goblin King P’tah Mnenok. His skin was black and scarred, ripped and torn by battle. His face was long and twisted, with yellow eyes piercing out from dark slits. His fangs were so long that they pierced from beneath his lower lip, giving him a constant scowl, even with his mouth closed. On his head sat a crown of braided iron, a cold reminder of his black heart.

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Author Gabrielle Massman said, “So deliberate writers should be careful of how they portray fantasy creatures (ahem– I am looking at all of you, dragon writers) and how they make new fantasy creatures. If there is already a mythological creature that embodies the idea that you want, then there may be no need to create something “new.” The centuries of the mythology of a creature can add depth to fantasy and are fun to explore in a more modern way.”

It’s simple… The best advice I can give you is to research your subjects carefully, but make them unique to your world. Mythology has given us all these wonderful, magical creatures to chose from. It’s how you use them that will make them your own, a part of your world, a part of your stories.

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51nd6H6sATL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_SKU-000941753Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon.