There are self made monsters – people who, through selfish intent and callous deeds, cut themselves off from warm company. And then there are the so-called monsters – creatures who, in their uniqueness, stand out from the crowd and cannot fit in, no matter their desire to so. For the former I have nothing but contempt. For the latter I have much sympathy.
Happy Birthday to:
Joe Carr
It wasn’t suicide. It was murder. Obviously. But I don’t expect that getting killed stopped Ms. Vaughan for very long.
Happy Birthday to:
Chris Callahan
Just say “Yes”.
Happy Birthday to:
Cynthia J. Parker
Matt Granz
Jeffrey Moeller
Lee Clark Zumpe
Patriarchy demands that we have Daddy Issues.
Happy Birthday to:
Marnie Manning
Ain’t no issues like Mommy issues.
Happy Birthday to:
The egg
They don’t like you. They don’t like anyone.
The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that these folks would get together protect humanity from … anything. So what are they doing? Wilbur might still be interested in calling his “father” to Earth but I doubt that Frank (I’m just going to call him that – typing “the Frankenstein Monster” every time is tedious) or Helen would think that was great idea. Maybe they are planning a heist?
I didn’t plan to post this image on Christmas Day. I schedule posts for Sundays and Wednesdays. I finish coloring an image and then put both the black and white version and the color version into the queue. I finished coloring this one on November 7th. The next available slot for posting was today.
Three beings of improbable, one might even say miraculous, birth sharing fellowship. We are all monsters to someone. And we all need a place to call home, if only for moments. So, no, I didn’t plan to post this image on Christmas Day but it seems like an appropriate choice.
Merry Christmas to all you monsters. May you have rest and companionship today. Amen.
From all indications, Helen Vaughan didn’t need to dirty her own hands if she wanted someone dead. She got them to kill themselves. But this was more fun to draw.
Helen Vaughan (later Mrs. Herbert/Mrs. Beaumont) was the child of Mary, a mad woman and … something else. Mary was mad as the result of a surgical experiment that allowed (forced?) her mind to see and experience “the Great God Pan” i.e. the vast realms of reality of which the human senses are not aware.
Helen is the focus of the story The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen but the reader only meets her second hand through accounts that one character tells another. She seems to be evil and have the ability to drive men to suicide but the details of her evil and why the men actually kill themselves is left to the reader’s imagination. The story’s protagonists take it upon themselves to convince to hang herself but whether she does so or whether the protagonists kill her themselves is never stated. The story suggests that she hung herself but, to me, that seems unlikely. Why would she?
Helen is a fascinating character, all the more so because the reader learns so little about her. I rather surprised that no one has written an expansion/sequel/prequel of The Great God Pan from her point of view.
