One entry jumped out at me that I wanted to share:
DRUNKEN BOY: In Japanese lore, an ogre demon who dresses in red and likes to gorge himself on blood. The Drunken Boy's favorite victims are women. He is attended by other ogre demons.
In lore the Drunken Boy is quelled by the medieval hero Raiko, who, in disguise, manages to enter the ogre's lair. The Drunken Boy and his ogre followers are drinking blood from their female victims. Raiko reveals himself and battles the ogres. He decapitates the drunken boy, but the ogre fights on for a time. Raiko eventually triumphs. He takes the trophy head back to Miyako, the imperial capital (Kyoto), as well as the female captives.
~ page 144, Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Remade fairy tales are such a big trend these days, and I couldn't help thinking this would make a great addition, especially for the YA fantasy category. You could keep the hero, Raiko, or go a step further and maybe let one of the young victims stand up against the monster. This might even work as an urban fantasy if you wanted a modern setting.
What do you think? Any other fairy tales you'd like to see from a fresh perspective?
Cheers!
Ella
6 comments:
I have a set of four of Rosemary Guiley's encyclopedias that I keep near my desk. Really good! You never know when you need to research a demon!
Cool, Marsha! I'm going to check out more of her books as soon as I can.
Books like this are great for inspiration. It's funny - I was thinking about fairy tales and rewriting one today. It's something I haven't tried before. maybe one day.
I have Fantasy Encyclopedia by Judy Allen, another great resource.
MM Pollard
MM's Fundamentals of English
http://queenofenglish.wordpress.com
Funny you should post this as this week, I made my own steampunk fairy tale live this week as part of the Amazon KDP program.
Aladdin and His Wonderfully Infernal Device
So far, I've been getting pretty positive feedback. I set out to make Aladdin steampunk, sure, but I didn't want to just "glue gears on it and call it steampunk" as the trend sometimes goes. I have to ask questions like "how would the technology change the characters?" and "How would they use the steam-driven tech to further their own aims?" Sometimes it's a matter of adding in simple details. Other times, it affects the entire world.
If you do read my novella, I'd love to hear what you think.
Shelley - You should go for it!
MM - I'll definitely check that out. Thanks for your other comments on our blog design, too. You totally made my day :-)
Tee - Ooooo, new story looks really great! Thanks for sharing, and I'll be sure to pick it up.
Post a Comment