Non-European/American gothic horror

[bumblefish97]

My setting is primarily a gothic horror setting but gothic horror tends to work best in European or American based settings, would it also work if some lands are based on like Greece, or Asia, or the Middle East, or Africa? How would I go about it and what sort of alternate creatures could I use?

 

[Night Gardener]

Not to sound unhelpful, but the term "Gothic" is too broad, as it has many sub-genres/themes and 'creatures'. If you must, re-think Gothic as a "tone" or "shade" or "imagery" throughout your work. For the purposes of this response, I'll use the classical Stoker vampire trope, along with forbidden encounters for a female character with said handsome stranger.

Incidentally, you can swap out architecture to your heart's content. Humans tend to keep finding "convergent evolution" solutions to architectural problems. One person's Catholic Cathedral is another's Shinto Shrine, and most people don't like sleeping without shelter and places to keep their personal property secure. Doors, windows, privacy, stairs, storage, places to eat/sleep/perform hygeine, etc and keeping out the unwanted elements are basically universal to human peoples everywhere in history.

There's just a lot of customs and cosmetics to tackle that get built into the architecture by design. For example, in some Euro-folklore, Vampires have to be "invited in". Well, that means they literally stand outside and knock on a door or ring a bell until someone answers and opens the door, and customarily is invited through a doorway. If you're in a culture of tree-house pavilion dwelling wall and doorless peoples who sleep in hammocks and take up a rope ladder at night to deter the wild creatures a few feet below... that euro-style Vampire interaction of 'knocking' to be let in might seem silly, as there's no door to knock. Instead, it may have to be the folk tale of "if you leave your ladder down at night, it's an invitation for an X-whatever to climb up and visit you".

It's hard to say what came first: the basic architecture of "shelter", or the customs that get reflected into physical spaces by the humans that design them. That a rabbit-hole of architectural theory I won't detour through today.

Simply put, Understand how your characters live day to day ( and Why they do this ) in your setting, then color in your shades of 'Gothic', whatever that means to you. The more you research, the more similarities you'll find.

Where you might run into problems is either appropriating well-known "Gothic" tropes ( i.e. a lonely wealthy daughter of a Baron falling head over heels for a Vampire, unwittingly, but is betrothed to another Duke's son who is the real monster) but you might need to either invent or research a cultural-equivalent to make sense in your story's time/geographical setting/ culture. If you straightup shoe-horn a starched collared cape-wearing Stoker-esque Count Dracula into conflict with some South American indigenous Tribal Chief's daughter... you might raise a few eyebrows.. make this classic Count Dracula a blood-sucking shape shifter that wanders in to contact with peoples by pretending to be a harmless jungle creature, or a handsome stranger paddling a canoe, then you might be on the right track.

As you do more research into different folklore, it's surprising how different cultures imagine rather conspicuously similar fantastic creatures/ monsters to one another.

Most cultures indulge in 'status symbol' or social class based architecture, so I'm sure you'll find imposing mental imagery across cultures... it's not all pointy-arched stained glass windows, flying buttresses and gargoyles, you know

Or, just make up whatever [creature/scenario] you want and put it into any setting you please. Either you'll like it, or you won't. Happy Writing!

 

[bumblefish97]

Not to sound unhelpful, but the term "Gothic" is too broad, as it has many sub-genres/themes and 'creatures'. If you must, re-think Gothic as a "tone" or "shade" or "imagery" throughout your work. For the purposes of this response, I'll use the classical Stoker vampire trope, along with forbidden encounters for a female character with said handsome stranger.

Incidentally, you can swap out architecture to your heart's content. Humans tend to keep finding "convergent evolution" solutions to architectural problems. One person's Catholic Cathedral is another's Shinto Shrine, and most people don't like sleeping without shelter and places to keep their personal property secure. Doors, windows, privacy, stairs, storage, places to eat/sleep/perform hygeine, etc and keeping out the unwanted elements are basically universal to human peoples everywhere in history.

There's just a lot of customs and cosmetics to tackle that get built into the architecture by design. For example, in some Euro-folklore, Vampires have to be "invited in". Well, that means they literally stand outside and knock on a door or ring a bell until someone answers and opens the door, and customarily is invited through a doorway. If you're in a culture of tree-house pavilion dwelling wall and doorless peoples who sleep in hammocks and take up a rope ladder at night to deter the wild creatures a few feet below... that euro-style Vampire interaction of 'knocking' to be let in might seem silly, as there's no door to knock. Instead, it may have to be the folk tale of "if you leave your ladder down at night, it's an invitation for an X-whatever to climb up and visit you".

It's hard to say what came first: the basic architecture of "shelter", or the customs that get reflected into physical spaces by the humans that design them. That a rabbit-hole of architectural theory I won't detour through today.

Simply put, Understand how your characters live day to day ( and Why they do this ) in your setting, then color in your shades of 'Gothic', whatever that means to you. The more you research, the more similarities you'll find.

Where you might run into problems is either appropriating well-known "Gothic" tropes ( i.e. a lonely wealthy daughter of a Baron falling head over heels for a Vampire, unwittingly, but is betrothed to another Duke's son who is the real monster) but you might need to either invent or research a cultural-equivalent to make sense in your story's time/geographical setting/ culture. If you straightup shoe-horn a starched collared cape-wearing Stoker-esque Count Dracula into conflict with some South American indigenous Tribal Chief's daughter... you might raise a few eyebrows.. make this classic Count Dracula a blood-sucking shape shifter that wanders in to contact with peoples by pretending to be a harmless jungle creature, or a handsome stranger paddling a canoe, then you might be on the right track.

As you do more research into different folklore, it's surprising how different cultures imagine rather conspicuously similar fantastic creatures/ monsters to one another.

Most cultures indulge in 'status symbol' or social class based architecture, so I'm sure you'll find imposing mental imagery across cultures... it's not all pointy-arched stained glass windows, flying buttresses and gargoyles, you know

Or, just make up whatever [creature/scenario] you want and put it into any setting you please. Either you'll like it, or you won't. Happy Writing!

This was helpful, thank you

 

[Miles Lacey]

My setting is primarily a gothic horror setting but gothic horror tends to work best in European or American based settings, would it also work if some lands are based on like Greece, or Asia, or the Middle East, or Africa? How would I go about it and what sort of alternate creatures could I use?

It's good timing on your part because I have been looking for Middle Eastern and southeast Asian mythical creatures to populate the world of my work in progress because it's a hybrid Arab / southeast Asian world. The creatures I discovered weren't exactly what I was looking for but they might be perfect for your setting.

Here are a few of them:

1. Penanggalan

The Penanggalan is a Malaysian vampire-type monster, who separates at the neck and flies with her entrails dragging behind her. During the day she appears as a regular woman, but her head flies off at night so she can flit around terrifying people, and supposedly eating newborn babies. Rituals for protection against the monster (or just luck) are used for pregnant women or when a new baby is born. The Penanggalan smells of vinegar, because she must clean her dangling entrails with it and stuff them back into her body through the neck by morning. How did she get that way? Legends vary, but she supposedly was a normal woman until someone startled her so badly that her head popped off. The monster is called by other names, such as Hantu Penanggal, Leyak, or Krasue, in other Southeast Asian countries.

2. Vetala

Some of the world’s oldest tales of vampires come from India where ancient Hindu stories were taken to other nations by traders and nomads. Among these beings are the Vetala who are dead but not at rest because the proper funeral rites were not performed for them. They are also described as evil spirits that occupy corpses. A Vetal (singular) has uncanny knowledge of the past, present, and future which it uses to confound humans, although they sometimes become guards or helpers to sorcerers who enslave them. Vetala live in cemeteries, but wander afield to kill children and livestock. You may recognize a Vetal because the corpse’s hands and feet are turned backwards.

3. Manananggal

The Manananggal of the Philippines has some features of the Penanggalan. This vampire is an old but attractive woman who preys on pregnant women and uses her tongue to suck the blood of their unborn babies. A child born with a deformed face is said to have been a victim. The Manananggal travels by separating at the waist. Her top half flies with bat wings while her bottom half remains behind. If you find the bottom half, you can destroy the manananggal by covering it with salt, garlic, or ashes.

4. The Asanbosam

The Asanbosam (also known as the Asasabonsam or Sasabonsam) is a vampire-like folkloric being from West Africa. It belongs to the folklore of the Ashanti of southern Ghana, as well as Cote d'Ivoire and Togo. It is said to have iron teeth and iron hooks for feet and to live in trees, attacking from above. In mythology, it is usually portrayed as an archetypical ogre; according to A Dictionary of World Mythology: "...the hairy Sasabonsam has large blood-shot eyes, long legs, and feet pointing both ways. Its favourite trick is to sit on the high branches of a tree and dangle its legs so as to entangle the unwary hunter." Both the ogre and vampire versions have iron teeth.

There's plenty of legends out there with vampire-like creatures that are largely unknown in the West. If you can get hold of it try to get a copy of The Dictionary of Mythology: An A-Z of themes, legends and heroes by J.A Coleman (Eagle Editions, 2007). It covers legends and mythical creatures from the most obscure parts of the world as well as the ones we're all more familiar with, which is one of the reasons I like it.

 

[bumblefish97]

It's good timing on your part because I have been looking for Middle Eastern and southeast Asian mythical creatures to populate the world of my work in progress because it's a hybrid Arab / southeast Asian world. The creatures I discovered weren't exactly what I was looking for but they might be perfect for your setting.

Here are a few of them:

1. Penanggalan

The Penanggalan is a Malaysian vampire-type monster, who separates at the neck and flies with her entrails dragging behind her. During the day she appears as a regular woman, but her head flies off at night so she can flit around terrifying people, and supposedly eating newborn babies. Rituals for protection against the monster (or just luck) are used for pregnant women or when a new baby is born. The Penanggalan smells of vinegar, because she must clean her dangling entrails with it and stuff them back into her body through the neck by morning. How did she get that way? Legends vary, but she supposedly was a normal woman until someone startled her so badly that her head popped off. The monster is called by other names, such as Hantu Penanggal, Leyak, or Krasue, in other Southeast Asian countries.

2. Vetala

Some of the world’s oldest tales of vampires come from India where ancient Hindu stories were taken to other nations by traders and nomads. Among these beings are the Vetala who are dead but not at rest because the proper funeral rites were not performed for them. They are also described as evil spirits that occupy corpses. A Vetal (singular) has uncanny knowledge of the past, present, and future which it uses to confound humans, although they sometimes become guards or helpers to sorcerers who enslave them. Vetala live in cemeteries, but wander afield to kill children and livestock. You may recognize a Vetal because the corpse’s hands and feet are turned backwards.

3. Manananggal

The Manananggal of the Philippines has some features of the Penanggalan. This vampire is an old but attractive woman who preys on pregnant women and uses her tongue to suck the blood of their unborn babies. A child born with a deformed face is said to have been a victim. The Manananggal travels by separating at the waist. Her top half flies with bat wings while her bottom half remains behind. If you find the bottom half, you can destroy the manananggal by covering it with salt, garlic, or ashes.

4. The Asanbosam

The Asanbosam (also known as the Asasabonsam or Sasabonsam) is a vampire-like folkloric being from West Africa. It belongs to the folklore of the Ashanti of southern Ghana, as well as Cote d'Ivoire and Togo. It is said to have iron teeth and iron hooks for feet and to live in trees, attacking from above. In mythology, it is usually portrayed as an archetypical ogre; according to A Dictionary of World Mythology: "...the hairy Sasabonsam has large blood-shot eyes, long legs, and feet pointing both ways. Its favourite trick is to sit on the high branches of a tree and dangle its legs so as to entangle the unwary hunter." Both the ogre and vampire versions have iron teeth.

There's plenty of legends out there with vampire-like creatures that are largely unknown in the West. If you can get hold of it try to get a copy of The Dictionary of Mythology: An A-Z of themes, legends and heroes by J.A Coleman (Eagle Editions, 2007). It covers legends and mythical creatures from the most obscure parts of the world as well as the ones we're all more familiar with, which is one of the reasons I like it.

Got the penanggalan somewhere in my setting already, the others seem like they could work also