Theatre or wait for stream? | November 1, 2021

Lets go on a real trip this week, one final time!

Let’s start with a couple from Dungeons and Dragond, the Undead Ooze or Soul Mucus is a Slime or Ooze that primarily feeds on undead creatures, trapping the souls of those it consumes within it. Its body constantly expands and contracts as the trapped souls push out as they try to escape their prison. On certain stories, they do mot limit themselves to hunting the undead, so watch out!

The second from them is the Crimson Mist or Vampiric Mist. In effect its as the name suggest, a bloody red mist that flies around at night. It spreads in the air towards groups of living and pulls their blood from their pores and orifices, sucking them dry. The origin of this undead is varied, but the usual consensus is that it’s the remains of a vampire which failed to regenerate their body and lost all sense of self as it remained without physical form.

Third are creatures from the Shadowfell (originally called Sorrowsworn) which under certain lore are manifestations of the realm itself and incarnations of death. The creatures resemble mutated undead creatures, but are commonly classified as Aberrants instead (which is a catch-all term for beings that came from other planes of reality). A unique theme of these undead is that they feed on emotions such as despair, hunger, anger, and other intense emotions, leading them to hunt down those who enter the Shadowfell and instilling on them said emotions.

Also from the same realm (though appearing in many stories elsewhere) are Shadows or Shades, which are in effect the shadows of those who perished. Depending on the story, they may act as ghosts, as hunters who rip apart shadows (and thus the bodies), or being who seek to devour another’s shadow (soul) and take over their bodies.

—————

Next lets present two pseudo-undead from the SCP Foundation files. I refer them to pseudo because due to the nature of the SCP files, it is difficult to determine a canon. These two specifically fit a different theming from classic undead such as those from “SCP-001 When Day Break”, “SCP-006 The Zombie Plague” and “SCP-610 The Flesh that Hates”.

SCP-1027: Carnivorous Nervous System is presented as a complete nervous system (Brain, eyes and nerves) which crawls on land or swims like a creepy jellyfish. They prey on the nerves and brains of others by stinging them with their nerves and sucking them. Should their victim escape after being stung, they will feel their minds failing until their own nervous system takes a life of its own and exits the host. Reminds me of a more horrifying Samuel.

SCP-466: Mobile Veins (Cardiovascular System Amalgam) is a conglomerate of several hearts tied together by multiple veins. It preys on others by adding their hearts to the conglomerate. In its file, it’s tied to a host it constantly tries to terminate, so its likely it needs to do so to become a separate entity. Imagining one’s own heart taking unlife on its own and trying to leave you…

Bone Chimera: these are similar to the Stein discussed previously, but they are composed primarily of bones of various creatures. They can have a multitude of forms, so I’ll give 2 different examples. From the light novel Re:Monster (though they are used in other sources as well), we have Skeleton Centipedes. These are composed of torsos of several humanoids with their spines connected to make a very long creature with hundreds of limbs crawling around. The second (taken from the light novel The Death Mage does not want a Fourth Life) is a Bone Fortress, basically a building made entirely of bones of its victims. It detaches skeletons from its walls, floors and roofs to hunt down those who enter it. Worse is that when said skeletons are broken, they just merge back with the Fortress and are respawned fully repaired. For this type of undead, the possibilities in form and abilities is nearly limitless, so it might as well be its own category of undead beings.

Finally, lets finish up with the most revolting undead I ever read about, coming from the Light Novel version of Overlord (the creature did not make the cut to appear in the anime). If the previous two are brain and heart, then the Viscera Egg is a stomach. Its appearance is that of a large egg made out of bone. When a prey is within range, the shell cracks open and viscera and intestines shoot out and drag it within before sealing shut without any cracks remaining. Within the shell its a soup of blood, organs and stomach acid in which the victim is digested, bones making the shell harder and larger, organs giving more tendrils, and blood and fluids adding to the soup within. A VERY efficient undead…

————

Other Undead that didn’t quite make the cut, but get a mention:

o Ankimayen: from Mapuche legends, they are made from the corpses of children by a sorcerer and can take either their original form (undead child) or that of what could be called a Wisp.

o Ghast/Ghoul: this is something of an odd one amongst undead creatures, as they are a biological species which are undead by default. They grow and hunt the living, sharing the resilience of the undead while being dangerous predators. The way these are presented varies too greatly to make a consensus, but usually Ghasts have longer claws and Ghouls have larger sizes and can gorge victims whole. Personally, would rather identify them as mutants rather than undead, but classically they are referred to as undead.

o Dullahan: classic undead whose head is cut off from the body. Usually portrayed as a knight or horseman who carries his head under one arm.

o Wisp, Ghost, Specter, Wraith: these are the spiritual-type undead. Wisps dont have enough energy to hold form, so as spheres of energy they either act as guides or try to absorb life force to take shape. Ghosts remain so long as they have something to do in the living world and act as they did alive. Wraiths are ghosts whose purpose is impossible to do (likely because their target is long dead and such) and regress to dark spiritual creatures that hunt any loving thing. Spectres act like Poltergeists and are usually creating mayhem instead of death.

o Banshee: also a spiritual undead, though their actual power and origin varies myth to myth. On one she’s the spirit of a mother that died at childbirth and cries when she foretells the death of a family member. On another she may be a dead bride that awaits someone to bring her to church, then disappearing inside. On another they possess a terrifying screech that freezes the blood and ruptures the ears of the living.

o Dybbuks: folklore name for the souls of evil people that escape hell and take possession of the living. Classic in exorcism movies.

o Reaper: either death incarnate or agents of Death who seek the souls of departed to lead them to the afterlife. In some media, they are portrayed as hunters who seek out those that have cheated death in order to bring them to the afterlife, while on other media they act merely as guides to the dead.

o Mummy: well, its a mummy. Duh! Sometimes portrayed to possess magical powers to control sand or scarabs.

o Vampire, Nosferatu, Stringoi, Moroi, Dhampir: vampires and many names with similar connotations. Nosferatu is a synonym, but can be used to refer the more feral, animalistic vampires that look more like demonic beings (such as those from the Underworld movies). Dhampir is a common trope for half-vampires with a mixture of the weaknesses and strengths of vampires, usually being able to walk on sunlight. Stringoi and Moroi are more rare, but have their roots in Romanian folklore where both are vampiric entities though the Moroi being closer to a ghost or phantom who sucks life energy, They got more fame in “Vampire Academy” in which Moroi have magical abilities, Dhampir have physical abilities and Stringoi are Moroi/Dhampir who have tasted vampire blood and are much more violent and powerful that the noble vampires.

o Penanggalan: a Malaysian vampire l, though it differentiates itself by appearance. Folklore describes it as a flying head, with spine and entrails dangling from the severed neck. During the day, it must return to its body and become whole or it will perish.

o Visage: a spiritual undead that wears a mask for a face. It’s mask takes the shape of one of his victims of its choice and allows it to imitate that victim’s voice, personality and mannerisms in order to trick others.

o Wight: basically an enhanced variant of skeletons that still retain ligaments, and occasionally dried skin. On rare occasions, they are also portrayed to have veins within their bones which grant them powers beyond normal.

o Lich: this one’s a classic undead that uses an object known as a Phylactery to be able to escape true death, instead regenerating should its body ever be destroyed. For a more modern variant, look at Voldemort and his Horcruxes.

o Vile Gangrene: from the webnovel “A Dragon’s Curiosity” we have yet another type of parasitic or viral undead host. Unlike prior ones, it has botanical-like properties. It infects a host through saliva or pollen, slowly spreading roots through the body similar to a third set of veins or nerves (all the while inflicting no pain, but greatly weakening the host). When it reaches maturity, it fully takes control of the host to find a place with many potential hosts and begins to “bloom” by exploding its roots from the hosts limbs and neck and releasing spores everywhere. Truly nightmarish…

o Vestige: my favorite interpretation of this is that they are remnants of ideas or pseudo-identities that have fallen apart or have been abandoned by the creator. An example would be a deity supposing itself as another false deity for a time, and later on the identity taking a pseudo-existence of its own. It is for intents and purposes an ideological undead, rather than a biological undead.

—————

And that’s about it. Hope you all had a happy Halloween this year!

And it works in the last attempt when I thought it hadn’t. 🙃