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| Short Story: “Demon’s Design” |
If anyone knows how to create a tale that ties in and references the mythology of Hellraiser, that person would be the man who played Chatterer, Nicholas Vince. “Demon’s Design” takes the history of Hellraiser and twist something out that is devilishly divine, with only a few problems…
“Demon’s Design” dips it’s toes in the history of Philipe Lemarchand, the infamous toymaker. Justin is worried that his father, Caruthian Sanders, an artist, is about to commit mass murder, after Justin discovers his father’s papers on Lemarchand and his many designs. Our protagonist, Justin’s boyfriend/girlfriend (no gender is given) joins in to help stop this madman. They find Caruthian at his new gallery opening, which is showing off his latest creation, a labyrinth with several Lemarchand influences. As guests start to show up and the time for the grand opening approaches, our friends struggle to figure out his master plan.
I’m pretty sure I just butchered that plot description and made it sound like a generic summary you would find on the back of several of the DTV Hellraiser films. Honestly, it’s a really interesting story with only a few problems. I wasn’t a fan of the non gender specific character. I tried picturing the character in my head and all I could come up with was some weird male/female freak show, which took me out of the story. Also, it might just be me, but I had a hard time picturing what the father’s display piece was at the end of the story. It was only vaguely described, so I’m thinking this story would’ve benefited from either having a few pictures (there’s an idea, a pop up Hellraiser book) or a few more descriptions.
Even with minor faults, Nicholas Vince pulls through with a great Hellraiser story and one that I will enjoy reading again, freak show protagonist and all. Hellbound Hearts, keep this pace of good stories going.
Rating: 4/5