Ideomancer, December 2007

The December issue of Ideomancer opens with “How to Draw the Dark Lord” by Jon Hansen, which takes the style of a children’s colouring book and offers a ten-step set of instructions on how to draw the archetypal Dark Lord of fantasy worlds. Hansen’s observations are spot-on for the archetype, and a sprinkling of humour brings the instructions to life:

“Draw two long joined ovals on one side of the body for the right arm. Draw another two on the other side for the left. It is widely known that the Dark Lord has a long reach across the land. Suggest this.”

Though I prefer my villains (and heroes) to come in shades of grey, this quirky piece had me smiling all the way through. I wish my colouring books had contained something like this.

Of a very different tone is “Behind the Walls” by Samuel Minier. Brian and his brother, Tommy, have watched blood run down the walls of their bedroom for the past few nights, an upsetting experience that particularly affects psychologically unwell Tommy. Guessing a connection between the blood and their father, Brian affects a solution to the problem. Suffice it to say that it goes badly. This is not a pleasant story, but neither is it trite nor shallow; Minier handles his difficult subject matter well and succeeds in creating characters who feel like a real family—dysfunctional but trying to be loving, too, and struggling to make life work. In all, an unsettling tale. However, I did not find it particularly memorable; perhaps I have read too many stories of abuse and troubled families, but I felt that there was nothing to raise this one above the other well-written tales of its kind.

“Elohim” by John Parke Davis tells of two white men, Sonny and Jonas, who are trying to buy all the properties on Half-Moon island from their black owners in order to build a holiday resort. While Jonas becomes friendly with Lily, a black girl, the locals’ displeasure with Sonny’s scheme intensifies to its breaking point. Davis skilfully brings his characters and their situation to life, such that I was compelled to keep reading to find out how it would resolve. Exactly what happens at the end isn’t quite spelled out; the word “elohim” can mean “God” or “power,” and that power might have come directly from the divine or through the people. The latter seems more likely, given Jonas’s experience of energy in the church service he attends. Whatever the details, the consequences are clear. It was good to see the oppressed take agency, and I found the story morally evocative without being heavy-handed.