Monster, Monsters everywhere and not a crossbow in site. Describing monsters in my novel.

I am going to revisit the discussion I had earlier about the different creatures I have included in my upcoming novel.

As I always stated, even when I write fantasy novels, I try to make the world I am creating as tangible as possible.  To do this, I need to make the world as real as possible.

An example of this is in my upcoming novel.  Although the time is set today in 2014, humankind has not progressed technologically since the year 1100.  This means that people are still using tools that they had in the middle ages.

This also applies to the behaviors, attitudes and superstitions that the people had during that time frame.  Today vampires are displayed as heroes or troubled teenagers in movies and television. In the middle ages, they were perceived as vile and disgusting creatures created by the devil. So when I wrote my novel set in the time frame of the Middle Ages, I had to reflect that attitude toward them in what was perceived during that time.

So now that I have described the process of how I write, let’s look at the creatures described in my novel.  I will say that since I was not around during the Middle Ages, research was vital in able to describe them. A good example of this is the revenant.  The revenant has been described as a ghost, or specter, but I also found it referenced as a walking corpse (similar to a zombie). I had to decide about which description of this creature I would use in my novel.  Once I made that decision, I then had to research and find out the characteristics of the revenant.

The following is a list of monsters and creatures that I have included in my book.  Some of these creatures are a vital part of the story, while others are referenced and will be featured in a sequel.

Amphitheres       A small snake like dragon with wings but not legs or arms. Has a tongue that inflicts poison on its victims.

Cynocephaly       A humanoid with the head and fierceness of a dog.

Dispa                   A small mollusk type snake with a powerful bite.

Gorgade              A 5 foot tall humanoid, covered in hair.

Hydra                 A multiheaded Dragon.

Lindworm           Pestilence dragon. Resembles a Tyrantasaurus Rex (although smaller), without the front arms.

Revenant            Medieval name for a zombie, or walking undead

Tazelwurm         A small creature covered with scales with the head of a cat. It has only rear legs and the body of a snake. It has a poisonous breathe

Vampire             Reanimated flesh that preys on humans for their blood.

Waldmannlein or Wood Wife     A creature that resembles a beautiful woman.  It is attached to a tree.

Werewolf           Someone who has the ability to be transformed into a wolf.

That is a partial list of the creatures in my book.  If you like fantasy, and monsters and medieval knights, you will find them in my upcoming novel.

Send me some comments about the monsters I listed above.

Next Time: History and Fantasy Merge