Hi. I had a huge thing for all things bizarre and spooky and I'm so glad to find this section on the forum. Im not a performer by the way but what I love about this style is the story telling aspect and the imagery it can create. I was just wondering what books and novels people read and how often that inspires your performances with regards to the tales you tell. Being from Lancashire Ive always loved the book the Lancashire Witches by William Harrison Ainsworth, which is free as its past copy write now on project guttenburg. The legend of the witches is still very much talked about as well. Im also a massive HP fan.

I was just wondering how many of you use stories like these to base acts around and what are your favourite books/legends of theses types?

Barrie

(by the way if you read the Lancashire witches some of the dialect is in a old strong Lancashire accent, Just read it out loud in your head and it usually makes sense. Thw wrtiing almost looks like secret code)

I wanted to add this link as well, Hopefully its ok for here. Background to the witches http://www.pendlewitches.co.uk/lancashire-witches/

It is a very good story based on real cases and I see Pendle hill on a regular basis on my way to Lancaster where there is an excellent castle open to the public and which was a prison until quite recently.
The Lancashire Witches has a special place for me as I first met Mrs Hexx at the tender age of 16 when she played Crossed Eyed Squinting Lizzie - Elizabeth Devies and she weaved her spell on me.

The thing is that these people were sometimes portrayed as poor innocent people wrongly convicted, but there was view that while they may not have been able to do actual witchcraft they were evil and nasty people who did intimidate the local people by making them believe they were witches - perhaps the earliest bizarre magicians? Truth is sometime stranger than fiction

Pieaddict, thanks for the link, I really enjoyed Reading it and it has got my creative juices flowing again.

I don't always base routines around specific stories, but I do draw inspiration from them indirectly. Favourite authors in this regard are the usual suspects - MR James, Le Fanu, Lovecraft, Poe, Fritz Leiber, Ambrose Bierce, etc.

When I was young I read an August Derleth collection, which got me into Lovecraft.

Also not so widely known but awesome is Robert Aickman.

A lot of inspiration comes from non-fiction reading on various topics from body language to occult history.

Sometimes it is a piece of music, photograph, picture or movie that inspires my performance pieces.

Thinking about the witches Im sure when I was a kid my mum use to say she would tell the Demdikes about me when I misbehaved!!!

Thinking about the witches Im sure when I was a kid my mum use to say she would tell the Demdikes about me when I misbehaved!!!