Raising Roscoe Parker Part III -- Witchcraft

The Warlock from Legend

Readers of Dogwoods Blush know that the murderous Roscoe Parker was recalled from the dead to do the bidding of the evil Vladimir Buchinsky, only to come face-to-face with his arch enemy also resurrected from the dead, the powerful Jeremiah Bronson, aka Night Terror. Their battle for the future of mankind forms the explosive conclusion in the book. In previous posts we've discussed how I came to use the gypsy curse to bring Parker back from the dead and my last post dealt with the Necronomicon, another possibility I considered. Today I'd like to share with you a third and final option I considered along with why I decided against it. Today's post deals with the ancient evil we all know as ... witchcraft.

From my earliest childhood memories of Halloween, witches have always been scary. At a very early age I also recall the wicked witch of the west from Wizard of Oz and her flying monkeys, sure to spur on a nightmare or two in my formative years. Children tales like Hansel and Gretel only made things worse! As time went on, I learned more about the fear of witches like everyone else did in high school, shivering in history class at the true tales of the Salem Witch Trials and turning the pages of Arthur Miller's The Crucible in English literature. As more and more horror films began using the theme of witches and warlocks as the beasties to fear (Warlock, Fear No Evil, The Craft, Suspiria, Black Sunday, etc) I began to consider this approach as a means to unleash the terror of Roscoe Parker on the unsuspecting citizens of Timmonsville, GA.

Readers of Dogwoods Blush already know that Jeremiah was bred to kill and was always destined to become a monster, according to the evil Vladimir:

You are the most lethal and perfect killing machine to ever emerge on this planet! You have exhibited this skill on more than one occasion, yet you always side with the sheep instead of the wolves!

At that point, Vladimir forced Bronson to make a choice ... side with him and the monstrous Parker or be destroyed. Readers of the book know what choice Jerry made and why he made it, but what f I'd followed the witchcraft angle? What would happen then?

If I'd followed this storyline, Vladimir would have indeed been a Warlock, a male witch from the "old country," and his agenda would have clearly been more lethal from the beginning than depicted in the published tale. But the big difference would be in the resurrection of Parker ... and of Jerry. Again, while readers understand why Jerry returned to the land of the living and they can also determine HOW if they decipher the clues, this approach would have left no doubt. Both Jerry and Parker would have been raised from the dead by the evil Vladimir to do his bidding, which was to destroy the town and bring about Hell on Earth. In the published version, I even allowed for that possibility ... remember that Vladimir arrived in town a day AFTER his bed & breakfast reservation, saying he "had business to attend to" that forced his late arrival. That "business" would have been raising Sheriff Bronson from the dead to seek and achieve his revenge on his murderers (now sold out by Vladimir), then to link-up with Parker a week later and destroy the town. He would have killed his killers brutally and returned to Timmonsville with readers thinking he was as monstrous as Parker, only to discover ... well ... not so fast!

We all know (if you read the book) why Jerry stood against Parker and Buchinsky. So I won't spoil it for those who have not read it or readers who have yet to come to that point in the story. But in this version, Jerry is stopped by the heroic Reverend Roman Spindola because he learns that while his beloved Angel died 15 years ago, before she died, she gave birth to a daughter ... Jerry's daughter ... the innocent child who now stands before him in his murderous path to death and destruction. Seeing the child he never knew he had (a major point in the book is Jerry's desire to become a father with Angel as his wife) would turn Jerry from the "dark side" to stand against Parker and Buchinsky and, in a fiery climax, sacrifice all to save the town, his mentor Roman, and the little girl he never knew. Sound sad? Yep. And that's just one reason I rejected this storyline.

While fans of Star Wars and Darth Vader all appreciate the Shakespeare inspired tragedy of the tainted hero who turns from evil and saves the day, I wanted Jerry to be pure from day #1. I felt it would be hard to have readers sympathize with his plight if they'd seen him commit brutal murders in the name of revenge, plus this version made the appearance of Ol' Blue seem forced and out of place. And my teenaged sons assured me that the plot of "the child he never knew he had" is tired and overused now.

So when I finally put pen to paper to tell my tale of love from beyond death, I abandoned the witchcraft angle as well as that of the daughter. But sometimes I still wonder how readers would have reacted to it. So do me a favor ... tell me what you think of that potential plot line that never happened. I'd love to hear from you.

So now that we've covered many specifics of the forces of evil in the story, I've had a few readers ask me to delve more into the more peaceful aspects of the tale ... the love story between Jerry and Angel ... and details of how that came to be. Check back with me next time for a look at an eternal love, destined to end too soon, but sealed forever ... somewhere in time.

Raising Roscoe Parker -- The Necronomicon

One of many images of The Necronomicon

Readers of Dogwoods Blush know that the action in this tale essentially revolves around two titanic battles between the heroic Jeremiah Bronson and the evil Roscoe Parker, both before and after death. I always thought that the idea of anyone returning from the dead for ANY reason was pretty scary. I drank in many old Universal movies starring Bela Lugosi or Lon Chaney that dealt with such plot devices. One in particular ... I don't recall the name of the film ... starred Lon Chaney, Jr. as a killer brought back to life by electricity. As a kid, the idea of an executed killer brought back to kill again was much more frightening than a vampire or werewolf. I grew up in a very rural Colquitt County, Georgia area directly across the dirt road from a church cemetery. I used to imagine ghosts walking around those graves at night and wondered if any of them were angry or hostile. It was this childhood thought process that played a major role in the development of the plot for Dogwoods Blush.

In my last post, I discussed the influence of the "Gypsy Curse" in horror fiction and how that played into Roscoe's return to the land of the living. But there were several ways I debated depicting the rise of the evil Roscoe Parker from the grave beyond Vladimir's lifelong dedication to the black arts. Today I'd like to share with you another version that I toyed with ... the "most evil book ever written ... The Necronomicon!"

Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, filled with demon resurrection passages, this book was never meant for the world of the living!
The Evil Dead (1981)

Thus was such a book described in Sam Raimi's cult horror series, The Evil Dead, starring Bruce Campbell. The book was filled with spells and incantations so vile, they were not allowed to be spoken openly. To do so could bring about the end of the world. But the Necronomicon actually originates with the writings of iconic American horror novelist, H. P. Lovecraft.

If you are even a casual reader of horror or classic American literature, you know all about Lovecraft. His dark tales were woven around the tapestry of a belief in cosmic evil existing in other dimensions ... the "ancient ones, " "Dark Ones," beings of immense power and evil who lurked outside our fabric of human understanding. His acclaimed short stories, especially The Dunwich Horror, kept night lights burning in my childhood home many times. Pressed for insight into the origins of the Necronomicon, Lovecraft later wrote that the book translated the "laws of the dead" and derived from an Arabic word meaning the nocturnal sound of insects, "the howling of demons." YIKES!

While The Necronomicon is strictly a work of fiction, it has become so much a part of common conversation when discussing horror and evil that many persons believe it to be an actual book, a "recipe" for resurrecting or communicating with the dead. It has been a primary plot device in countless movies, TV shows, video games and horror tales. I've even seen hoaxes offering the sale of this book, promoted as a text written by Satan himself. In short, the Necronomicon has become a major player in horror fiction as a book of evil allowing access to the dead in an unholy way.

So how was I planning to use this rich piece of horror history in Dogwoods Blush? In this version, I planned to depict the ill-fated Purvis Hartley as a confused teenager who tinkered with motor bikes and worked part-time for an eccentric old man named Vladimir Buchinsky. The sick and dying Buchinsky had harbored hate for the town of Timmonsville for decades, dating back to an old feud with legendary Sheriff "Big Ben" Spear in the late 40's. Unknown to the townsfolk, Buchinsky had practiced "the black arts" for years but was now too old to bring about his lifetime plan for revenge. So he enticed the outcast Purvis to unwittingly do his bidding by promoting the "power" and "invincibility" of the executed killer and monster, biker Roscoe Parker. Passing an ancient book of "resurrection" to Purvis, the unwitting teen ventured to the grave site of Parker and began reciting a spell "never intended to be spoken by the tongue of man." After stupidly bringing the evil killer back to life, Parker kills Purvis (remember the rule laid down in Dogwoods ... the only way to bring the dead back to life is to exchange an equal life force in return), took his motor bike and made his way to the dying Vladimir, who propelled him on his mission of mass destruction. And the only thing standing in his way? The enigmatic Night Terror ... Jeremiah Bronson ... himself returned from "the other side" on a mission he did not yet comprehend.

Of course, this would lead to a very different battle between Roscoe and Jerry than that depicted in Dogwoods Blush, plus a different resolution to the climatic confrontation that threatened to bring about a "reign of terror over mankind for all time!" It is for this reason that I rejected this version and went with the Gypsy curse. Readers of Dogwoods know what I mean. If you have not read the book yet, what are you waiting for?

Of course, there was a third version I considered for Parker's return. That's what I'll discuss in my next post. Until then, go your local library and see if they have a "flesh covered, blood inked book containing evil spells and incantations never designed to be spoken by man." If they do, don't walk ... RUN away as quickly as you can! And never forget the cryptic words of Lovecraft, quoting from this evil book in his ground-breaking tale about the "Old Ones," The Call of Cthulhu (1928):

That is not dead which can eternal lie;
and with strange aeons, even death may die!