I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo this year (I think I'm going to write a noir mystery), but because the weather was so bad last week, I felt like writing a horror story.I did a lot of background work, but then I got an email that the deadline for the Whortleberry Christmas anthology is 1 Oct 08 so I have to stop for now and write that.
I really think I will come back to this story though, because I like it so much.
By the way, I didn't win the Wildclaw Theatre radio play contest. I entered two plays and I think there wer nine winners, but I'm not one of them. They did ask if they could keep all the plays so they could put them on later in the year if they have time. If they don't then I'll post them here.
Anyway, without further ado, I will post the background information I developed for my horror story. I'm calling it "Beneath the Altar of an Unnamable God."
I. Possible Story Titles:
A. Beneath the Altar of an Unnamable God
B. In the Hands of Angry Gods
C. Aliens Among Us
D. Darkness of the Book
A. Beneath the Altar of an Unnamable God
B. In the Hands of Angry Gods
C. Aliens Among Us
D. Darkness of the Book
II. CHARACTERS
A. Librarian - Jerome "Jerry" Lawrence
--1. Is an archivist
--2. Chews nicotine gum
--3. Wears glasses, tie and vest
--4. Wears leather shoes oxfords mostly
--5. Tall and thin
--6. Loves collecting books
--7. Awkward around women, but not a virgin
--8. Brand new grad student still in dorm, but never spends time there
--9. Tenor voice
B. Young woman - Imogene
--1. Cherub with platinum curly hair (recently permed), emerald eyes with flecks of forest green, freckles and a very curvy body. Often wears very low cut tops and the highest heels she can because she is only 5'. Today she is wearing knee high brown boots, jeans and an Icelandic sweater in blues, crème and green that accentuates her breasts. He can only smell her when she gets really close, and then it is a clean, healthy smell with very slight hint of lavender.
--2. He knows her or has seen her around
--3. Dies before the end
C. Femme Fatale - Chloe
--1. "Slender woman who moves, not like a cat or a dancer, but deliberately and forcefully, not a movement wasted, like a powerful athlete, but not built overly athletically." She wears a white blouse and a tight wool skirt with stilettos and her dark, straight hair in a ponytail. Her skin is olive.
--2. She too does not have a strong aroma, but when close she smells fresh and sharp like a cold ocean breeze.
--3. The first photo is her initial appearance to lure unsuspecting men; the second is used if she needs to entice a man.
--4. What does she do or say?
D. George Sebastian
--1. "There was a young man with an arm load of books who glanced at me and said, 'good morning,' but didn't stop moving his books. He had a white tee shirt and jeans on. He was barrel-chested and just a bit shorter than me. His skin was the color of dark chocolate and he wore his hair natural, but short. He put his books down and asked me, 'may I help you?' I said, 'I'm Jerry Lawrence, I'm going to be the librarian here.' He smiled broadly and extended his hand, "Happy to meet you sir. I'm George Sebastian."
--2. Son of a Chicago Firefighter. Learned good manners and hard work from his father who learned it from his farmer father. George loves to visit his grandfather's farm and he loves dirt and rocks. He is a natural geologist.
--3. Goes to lick the temple and is stopped. He seems confused that they are so afraid. Geologists do it all the time.
--4. Completely and unshakably sane.
--5. Not talkative
E. Peter Nicostratus PhD
--1. Blind prof. Heavyset and bearded. Looks evil, but is good
--2. No eyes
--3. Office next door to the library.
--4. Suspected of abducting Imogene
--5. "'You must understand, I had to stop the visions. I gouged my own eyes out with my fingers.' 'Dear god.' George said. 'Yes.' Nicostratus' breath was ragged and he smiled only with his mouth, 'The thing is, you don't dream with your eyes. It did me no good.' He shook his head and his smile spread to the rest of his face, 'so I got chummy with some people who were connected with the mafia. The interesting thing about mob doctors is they will do any thing for money and they won't tell a soul. I had my optic nerve severed and I could finally sleep at night.'"
F. Lucy La Barbara PhD
--1. Thin wears long clothes so you can't see her body.
--2. Evil. Member of the cult (or actually a modified version of an EA) and she's modified her body (maybe hairy or deformed and twisted with the power)
--3. Jerry's advisor
--4. "Professor La Barbara called me into her office. She was wearing a typical outfit for her, a long sleeve blue blouse and an ankle length peasant's skirt with blue and green paisleys. She never wore any jewelry that could be seen outside her clothes. The only parts of her body I had ever seen, in fact, were her ankles, hands, neck and face. I had the impression that she was a long distance runner because she always seemed to be swimming in her ubiquitous baggy clothing, but I had never been able to confirm her build as athletic and I had never seen any other evidence that she ever exercised. She was always full of energy, but not bouncy. Her skin was ivory white, like she had never seen the sun, but not veiny or sickly. Her face was pleasant enough, but highly angular and I couldn't tell how old she was. She had to be over thirty, because of her position and the fact that she just didn't have that glow and softness of youth, but she could have been anywhere between thirty and eighty. Her hair was almost black and she wore her waves long enough to cover her collar and her ears, but with no discernable style. Her eyes, too, were almost black. Her teeth were her own, I was sure, but they were almost too straight, too white. She arranged her face into a smile when I came into her office."
A. Librarian - Jerome "Jerry" Lawrence
--1. Is an archivist
--2. Chews nicotine gum
--3. Wears glasses, tie and vest
--4. Wears leather shoes oxfords mostly
--5. Tall and thin
--6. Loves collecting books
--7. Awkward around women, but not a virgin
--8. Brand new grad student still in dorm, but never spends time there
--9. Tenor voice
B. Young woman - Imogene
--1. Cherub with platinum curly hair (recently permed), emerald eyes with flecks of forest green, freckles and a very curvy body. Often wears very low cut tops and the highest heels she can because she is only 5'. Today she is wearing knee high brown boots, jeans and an Icelandic sweater in blues, crème and green that accentuates her breasts. He can only smell her when she gets really close, and then it is a clean, healthy smell with very slight hint of lavender.--2. He knows her or has seen her around
--3. Dies before the end
C. Femme Fatale - Chloe
--1. "Slender woman who moves, not like a cat or a dancer, but deliberately and forcefully, not a movement wasted, like a powerful athlete, but not built overly athletically." She wears a white blouse and a tight wool skirt with stilettos and her dark, straight hair in a ponytail. Her skin is olive.--2. She too does not have a strong aroma, but when close she smells fresh and sharp like a cold ocean breeze.
--3. The first photo is her initial appearance to lure unsuspecting men; the second is used if she needs to entice a man.
--4. What does she do or say?
D. George Sebastian
--1. "There was a young man with an arm load of books who glanced at me and said, 'good morning,' but didn't stop moving his books. He had a white tee shirt and jeans on. He was barrel-chested and just a bit shorter than me. His skin was the color of dark chocolate and he wore his hair natural, but short. He put his books down and asked me, 'may I help you?' I said, 'I'm Jerry Lawrence, I'm going to be the librarian here.' He smiled broadly and extended his hand, "Happy to meet you sir. I'm George Sebastian."--2. Son of a Chicago Firefighter. Learned good manners and hard work from his father who learned it from his farmer father. George loves to visit his grandfather's farm and he loves dirt and rocks. He is a natural geologist.
--3. Goes to lick the temple and is stopped. He seems confused that they are so afraid. Geologists do it all the time.
--4. Completely and unshakably sane.
--5. Not talkative
E. Peter Nicostratus PhD
--1. Blind prof. Heavyset and bearded. Looks evil, but is good
--2. No eyes
--3. Office next door to the library.
--4. Suspected of abducting Imogene
--5. "'You must understand, I had to stop the visions. I gouged my own eyes out with my fingers.' 'Dear god.' George said. 'Yes.' Nicostratus' breath was ragged and he smiled only with his mouth, 'The thing is, you don't dream with your eyes. It did me no good.' He shook his head and his smile spread to the rest of his face, 'so I got chummy with some people who were connected with the mafia. The interesting thing about mob doctors is they will do any thing for money and they won't tell a soul. I had my optic nerve severed and I could finally sleep at night.'"
F. Lucy La Barbara PhD
--1. Thin wears long clothes so you can't see her body.
--2. Evil. Member of the cult (or actually a modified version of an EA) and she's modified her body (maybe hairy or deformed and twisted with the power)
--3. Jerry's advisor
--4. "Professor La Barbara called me into her office. She was wearing a typical outfit for her, a long sleeve blue blouse and an ankle length peasant's skirt with blue and green paisleys. She never wore any jewelry that could be seen outside her clothes. The only parts of her body I had ever seen, in fact, were her ankles, hands, neck and face. I had the impression that she was a long distance runner because she always seemed to be swimming in her ubiquitous baggy clothing, but I had never been able to confirm her build as athletic and I had never seen any other evidence that she ever exercised. She was always full of energy, but not bouncy. Her skin was ivory white, like she had never seen the sun, but not veiny or sickly. Her face was pleasant enough, but highly angular and I couldn't tell how old she was. She had to be over thirty, because of her position and the fact that she just didn't have that glow and softness of youth, but she could have been anywhere between thirty and eighty. Her hair was almost black and she wore her waves long enough to cover her collar and her ears, but with no discernable style. Her eyes, too, were almost black. Her teeth were her own, I was sure, but they were almost too straight, too white. She arranged her face into a smile when I came into her office."
III. STORYA. Jerry is assigned to the new Geology library for the Earth Science Department.
B. Chloe and George are there. Chloe is looking out the window smoking and notices the black stain of a fire on the roof below.
C. Jerry assigns handy work to G and shopping to C
D. Later I comes in and just wants to spend time with J
E. Prof N is seen and is scary
F. G finds the temple in the wall behind a crack caused by the '08 earthquake
G. They all examine in and I offers to take it to her GF to look at
--1. She never arrives with it
--2. Temple and I are missing, presumed dead, but the police won't investigate
--3. C tells J that he has to find out what happened
H. J dreams the translation of the temples carved words
I. Investigation ends up showing that the cult has been making sacrifices on the roof
--1. All the windows on the library wall are blackened or covered. The opposite wall is blank (the outside wall of a theater).
--2. J escapes with the knowledge of the cult, but they are watching him and he can't do anything about it. They let him live.
--3. N helps protect J because he knows things
--4. G physically helps J, pulls him out of somewhere, physically rescues him to take him to N
--5. I was killed by aliens, not the cult
IV. Possible Story Components
A. Statuette of temple that is made of 5 billion year old rocks and is wrong geometry. Or it's carved from fossils that are from before life in its current state existed on Earth (>4 billion yo)
B. Reel to reel tapes that contain information that someone died for. That person never intended to have anyone else see the info, but died before he could destroy it.
C. Same as above, but with floppies (not quite as old)
A. Statuette of temple that is made of 5 billion year old rocks and is wrong geometry. Or it's carved from fossils that are from before life in its current state existed on Earth (>4 billion yo)
B. Reel to reel tapes that contain information that someone died for. That person never intended to have anyone else see the info, but died before he could destroy it.
C. Same as above, but with floppies (not quite as old)
V. Possible Storylines
A. Librarian is sent to a new library (think NG armory) really a very small old office.
--1. Pile of books and old desks
---a. Tapes or floppies could be found in old desk or closet
--2. Two ROTC part time help or part time help from whatever college this is
B. Cherub approaches librarian (this could be a lot like Maltese Falcon) with
--1. Keys to grandfathers …
--2. Brother died trying to find out about the cult
--3. Offer to show him the temple
--4. A book
--5. 5.25" floppies or key to where they are stored
--6. Reel to reel tape or key to where they are stored
C. Librarian discovers the true nature of the Night of the Purple Fog
D. Illinois earthquake
--1. '08 Earthquake cracked open a wall revealing the temple statue
---a. In the library
---b. In Imogene's GF's or brother's
--2. There is an alien under the NMSA
---a. Revealed by the new Geology library find (tapes etc) (NM or recent)
---b. Revealed by Imogene's GF or Bro's investigation (NM and/or recent)
---c. Cult worship and prayers/spells CAUSED the earthquakes
I think these are three separate stories, but they could all be investigated by the same librarian:
§ Temple
§ Noir
§ Night of the Purple Fog
§ Earthquake
A. Librarian is sent to a new library (think NG armory) really a very small old office.
--1. Pile of books and old desks
---a. Tapes or floppies could be found in old desk or closet
--2. Two ROTC part time help or part time help from whatever college this is
B. Cherub approaches librarian (this could be a lot like Maltese Falcon) with
--1. Keys to grandfathers …
--2. Brother died trying to find out about the cult
--3. Offer to show him the temple
--4. A book
--5. 5.25" floppies or key to where they are stored
--6. Reel to reel tape or key to where they are stored
C. Librarian discovers the true nature of the Night of the Purple Fog
D. Illinois earthquake
--1. '08 Earthquake cracked open a wall revealing the temple statue
---a. In the library
---b. In Imogene's GF's or brother's
--2. There is an alien under the NMSA
---a. Revealed by the new Geology library find (tapes etc) (NM or recent)
---b. Revealed by Imogene's GF or Bro's investigation (NM and/or recent)
---c. Cult worship and prayers/spells CAUSED the earthquakes
I think these are three separate stories, but they could all be investigated by the same librarian:
§ Temple
§ Noir
§ Night of the Purple Fog
§ Earthquake
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