Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Brainstorm

Well, here's a question you won't hear on just any blog today:

Can a werewolf kill a vampire?

The deal is, I agreed to write a short story for a werewolf anthology. (I'm smiling as I write this, but I swear this is true.) I've got most of the story, but at the end I need a werewolf to kill a vampire and I need him to accomplish that without resorting to the usual weapons, since few werewolves carry holy water or daggers or silver crosses on them. No pockets in fur, don't you know. Do you think a vampire will die if a werewolf just rips him to shreds? (Sorry to be so bloody! But hey, this is art, lol.) And in case you're wondering why in the world I'm doing this, it's because I was good and truly scared by the original werewolf movie when I was a child, and I'm going to exorcise that demon at last.

I will appreciate any suggestion that revs up my own imagination! But be warned that if you give me an idea I can use. . .I will use it!

Got anything you'd like us to brainstorm with you today?

41 comments:

Nancy P said...

Grrroood morning!

katiebird said...

Well, A werewolf has the form of a person, most of the time (I think.)

Could that person have a silver filling or silver chain with cross. Something that might still be with the werewolf?

Could a bit from a silver-tipped canine tooth kill a vampire?

katiebird said...

Oooops! Good Morning, Nancy!!

katiebird said...

Could there be a fight in a place where there might be a weapon-ish thing that the werewolf KNOCKS over & it kills the vampire?

Maybe an art gallery? Or a store for Goth types who might need vampire-killing weapons.

Nancy P said...

Kb, I think you have previously undisclosed plotting talents!

But now I'm upping the difficulty factor:

It must happen at night. (Full Moon)
Outdoors.
In Africa.
Around midnight, on Christmas Eve.

Nancy P said...

Oh, and good morning to you, too, kb!

Anonymous said...

Good morning, ladies. I'm going to quietly creep away with my cup of decaf...werewolves and vampires are WAY out of my realm of - well, everything.

I will lurk today, and enjoy the show!

Larry Kollar said...

Hey all!

KB's idea is pretty good. The werewolf knocks the vampire backwards, impaling it on a spear — perhaps wielded by a young woman who is related to the werewolf? The vampire was intending to take her and her werewolf relative intervenes? She might be under the vampire's spell already, and was going to spit the wolf, but "oops!"

Mm... are there wolves in the wild in Africa? I'm sure there were in Roman times, but now? Might need a little researching. Maybe that's not important; they could be tourists on safari.

OK... back to my own work. This morning, I'm writing a piece of fiction called "documentation plan." :-P

Nancy P said...

Beth, lol, come back! It's safe to talk about other things, too!

katiebird said...

(sigh)

Outdoors, where? Could there be a Christmas display with silver and wood ornaments & decorations? Sharp decorations?

It could be a sort of Die Hard with Werewolf thing.

Nancy P said...

I knew you'd get into this, far! :)
I couldn't find much in the way of werewolf traditions in Africa, but what they do have (in real life) are the Wild Dogs of Africa, also known as the Painted Wolf. Very ugly ruthless creatures, though also very social and caring of one another. They're in the story, but they're not the actual werewolf. He's an expatriot from Europe. :) Hmm, which I didn't actually realize until you asked your question and I typed this answer, so thanks.

Anonymous said...

The magic of storytelling...

I actually am out most of the day, running around like the proverbial chicken. But I'll check in later.

Good luck, Nancy!

Werewolves and vampires and Die Hard and Christmas ornaments....(head spinning) :-)

Nancy P said...

Diehard Meets Werewolf! It sounds just like a Hollywood script meeting. Is the werewolf the Bruce Willis hero, or is he the bad guy?

I like the Christmas ornament idea, kb. This is meant to be a funny story, and that could be funny.

Nancy P said...

I'm not so sure I'd be running around like a chicken if there are wolves on the loose.

:p

katiebird said...

Even in a comedy, the Bad Guy has to be the one who dies.

So, does the Werewolf succeed in killing the Vampire?

Or does the Vampire rally and kill the Werewolf?

The one who lives is the Funny Bruce Willis Hero.

The one who dies is Alan Rickman.

(Hey, I just saw your email option -- cool!)

Anonymous said...

It's okay, Nancy - I'm already headless.

katiebird said...

Hi Beth, What's holding up your hair?

FAR, I like your story too.

Nancy P said...

Excellent analysis, Kb.

Maybe they fight to an exhausted draw?

Lol, Beth.

Anonymous said...

The humidity!! It has a life of its own today... :-)

GhostFolk.com said...

Nancy, for the dog book I found a recorded incident of a female werewolf in Georgia. I was rather shocked by this and had to find a way to include it among the ghost dogs.

The lady in question was sent to a sanitarium in France for treatment and that's how the actual account ends.

So I researched werewolf just a little. Seems like rabies, to me, to tell you the truth.

But, as with Vampires, it's in the blood. And both seem to live/thrive at night.

I'd reverse the fatality factor to kill the Vampire by making it a fact that a Vampire will kill herself by mistakenly taking the blood of a werewolf. Since the blood of a werwolf is its magic/curse.

I think Vampires die if they bite Santa Claus too.

Just a different angle to consider. Stepehn Wright: "What did Jesus ever do for Santa Claus on his birthday?"

But I really like Katie's silver filling too! Esp if you have time to have your werewolf to the dentist in the opening scene. I mean, what could be more chilling:" Dentist, Werwolf, Vampire in the same story.

P.S. Canine tooth! I love you, Katiebird!

P.P.S. the white fur of a wolf at its chest and upper forelegs (okay, "brisket" for you Kansas rancher ladies) could easily occur in the form of a cross.

Which is the warning to a Vampire to never bite a Werewolf.

P.P.S. Nancy: Oh no, no, no on the fight to a draw. Total cop out. :-)

katiebird said...

Very Funny, Beth!

NANCY! One of the characters could be a woman and as they fall into an exhausted draw, they could, you know.. do it.

Comedy AND Romance.

Anonymous said...

Do what, kb? :-)

katiebird said...

Ghostfolk, I love the blood of the werewolf idea.

I ALSO like the fur cross idea.

Wow. I'm having a GREAT time!

Kelly McCullough said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kelly McCullough said...

Quick and in passing--loooong day ahead.

Werewolf and vampire break branch on one of those scattered trees you see in a lot of the plains photos. Eventually, werewolf picks vampire up and impales it on the shattered branch stub. Gives you a nice final image too, evocative of all sorts of myths.

Alternatively: Vampires can traditionally be killed by beheading and being buried in a crossroads. So, werewolf tears vampire's head off, digs holes in ground--conveniently on a crossing point in the wildebeast migration route and buries vampire bits there.

TTFN,
Kelly

Nancy P said...

"What could be more chilling: Dentist, Wolf, Vampire."

Sooo lol, ghost.

I can hardly keep up with all the great ideas you guys are coming up with. Woohoo!

Ooo, beheading. Thanks, kelly. :)

Kimberly Frost said...

Vampires and werewolves are still fighting? Why can't we all just get along?

The answer to this age-old question of who wins in a vampire-werewolf battle rests, I think, with the individual creature's power. The movie Underworld shows how a blood feud between them could play out...

And Nancy, I hope you've finished the other mystery/suspense novels that you're under contract for before you turn to this story because once you cross into paranormal, you probably won't find your way back. These creatures have a way of sinking their teeth into an author and not letting go. ;)

Nancy P said...

Why can't we all just get along?


lol, Kimberly!

And, yeah, if this gets in my blood, it's goodbye mysteries, hello fangs.

Larry Kollar said...

LOL, Katie… thanks for picking up the perv slack for me today! Comedy, sex... OK. The vampire is female, and the werewolf, um, impales her?

Ghost, good idea with the cross markings on the fur. Not sure that would go so well with the above though... wouldn't that burn the vamp?

Nancy P said...

Funny you'd say that, far, cause just a while ago I realized the werewolf is female.

One of those magical synchronistic moments just happened. I'll tell about it later. Right now I'm at the library, getting ready to write. About things that go bite in the night. :)

Rick Bylina said...

Is this a George Carlin joke? Hey, Father. If God is all powerful, can he make a rock so heavy that he can't pick it up?
---
How did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello defeat the werewolf?
---
They circled. Naomi kept them at bay with the silver-tipped lance, deadly to both of them. Twice Count Dreg tried to change form and twice the werewolf shredded him before changing back. Dreg couldn't die from mere scratches anymore than the wolf could die from the blows from the vampire. Biting was not an option, the bitter blood of each just as deadly as the silver-tipped lance.

Even in the heat of the night, even with Dreg's best efforts to influence Naomi, she held fast to the lance. It was near midnight, almost Christmas, she held out for a miracle.

At midnight, the bells of a far off church peeled. The wolf caught Naomi's stare and stopped his snarling. Dreg listened to the bells as though something had touched his heart. Wolf and Dreg came together outside of the reach of Naomi's lance, and she couldn't hear Dreg's gentle words as he talked to the wolf. Naomi fingered her flask, unscrewed the top, and drank the bitter contents. She shook her head and when she looked at the combatants. They charged.

"Damn, I'm full," Dreg said, wiping his lips. "You didn't have to kill her. I could have used another slave. I'd still let you have a leg." He laughed. "A one-legged female vampire. At least I'd be able to use the handicap parking spots."

"I'm saving her for later," the wolf bayed.

"Suit yourself. Sun's up in a half hour." Dreg rose. "Head rush," he said and settled back down to the ground. "I don't feel so good."

The wolf picked up the flask and dropped it at the vampire's side.

Dreg's breathing became labored. He tried to change form, but couldn't. He read the label on the bottle: silver iodine. "Silver," he said, and his respiration slowed.

Thirty minutes later the wolf watched as the vampire turned to dust, and he began his painful transition to Henry, Naomi's husband, and now, widower.
---
Just where do these thoughts come from?

Larry Kollar said...

Rick, I was trying not to write Nancy's story for her, and here you go & do it. ;-)

It's been a sort-of productive day. I've written *two* documentation plans, worked on some other doco, and did some writing for the "Crash and Burn" adaptation at lunch. I'm still trying to figure out how to wedge in the important parts of the backstory — maybe Old Guy spins the troop a tale while they're getting ready to bed down? Ah, I think that's it. That's when the dreams start.

katiebird said...

Amazing, Rick. Amazing.

Nancy: You run a wonderful joint!

Nancy P said...

"Nancy: You run a wonderful joint!"


I really do!! And that includes you, kb.

That was wonderful, Rick.
Henry will miss that brave woman.

katiebird said...

This has been an amazing day.

I got home a few minutes ago and told mister the assignment.

And he said, "The werewolf has a silver tipped tooth and bites the vampire."

Is that weird, or what?

Nancy P said...

Great minds. :)

boran2 said...

Nancy, Have the werewolf have the vampire engage in a knockdown dragout fight to the death. The vampire gains the upper hand and just as he is about to strike the final blow, the werewolf pulls out a photo of Dick Cheney. The vampire looks at it and dies immediately from the sheer horror of the thing.

Nancy P said...

boran2, Lol! No kidding, the poor vampire might be so scared that he'd shoot *himself* in the face.

Hank Phillippi Ryan said...

Don't vampires die if they go into the sunshine? Maybe the WW could keep the V up very late, past dawn, by taunting, or tempting ,or daring or story-telling...and then the sun's first rays hit...and kapow. Or whatever sound they make when they explode. Or expire.

A Scheherezade in werewolf's clothing. There are female werewolves, right?

Nancy P said...

Hey, Hank! How's the book promo going? Very well, I hope. I so enjoyed seeing some of your cohort when I was in Ct.

Vamps do burn up in sunshine, indeed. A werewolf Sheherazade! What a fabulous idea.

Cathy C said...

Very cool story line, Nancy.

Since, as I recall, vampires could be killed by a wooden stake through the heart, how about the werewolf, somehow, uses a Christmas tree (or a branch of it) as the stake.

They could even get tangled in the Christmas tree lights during the fight for some extra excitement :0)

Of course, it probably wouldn't be the typical evergreen we think of--I'm not sure of the kind of trees found in Africa, but if it's an idea.

Have fun!