Diverse Fantasy | The Dark Myth of "Cliver Barker" by Cliff Barker

Nightbreed

Diverse Fantasy Land | The Hell World of Clive Barker (Part 1)

Multiple Fantasy Lands | The Hell World of Clive Barker (Part 2)

Previously, through two articles, I reviewed Cliff Barker's "Hunting Ghost" and the world view behind it, giving a glimpse of the core of Cliff Barker's horror aesthetics. But that is only a small part of his many whimsical ideas. Through several years of painstaking creation, Cliff has also created many charming fantasy worlds for us. These settings are not as horrible and heavy as "Hunting Ghosts", and do not challenge traditional human ethics as a gimmick, but are more like some modern mythological writing methods, so I call them "dark myths."

This article, as the finale of the Cliff Barker series, focuses on the movie "Nightwalker" he shot in 1990, and the other grand setting behind this film, namely the nightwalker’s story. On the other hand, the Nocturnal Clan and the Leviathan Hell of "Ghost Chaser" also have a disconnected relationship. What plays a role as a bridge is the new worldview formed by the sea of ​​dreams and craftsmanship.

1. Nightwalkers

There are a total of three feature films shot by Cliff Barker himself: the most famous "Ghost Chaser", the relatively small "Fantasy Murder File", and the best personal style and completeness of "Night Walk" "Nightbreed". In addition, he has made several experimental horror short films, so I won’t repeat them here.

It is undeniable that "Nightwalker" is better than "Hunting Ghost" in terms of text, form and technique, but its audience is narrower than the latter. "Hunting Ghosts" at least created a timeless entertainment symbol such as "nail head" in the subculture circle, but such iconic image is missing in "Night Walker". Of course, true horror culture lovers should be familiar with the serial killer image in the film: the head is round in a sack, the eyes are two buttons, and the mouth is a distorted zipper. Using the small objects in daily life in this way, a weird and evil horror image is constructed. This is exactly the aesthetic characteristic of Cliff Barker.

The actor of the serial killer is also worth mentioning, no one else, but the Canadian ghost director David Cronenberg. He wandered between avant-garde art films and experimental horror films for a long time, bringing us a series of "Naked Lunch", "Flying Man", "Scanned People's Duel", "History of Violence", "Nie Kou", etc. Shocking works. In "Night Walker", he proved that his acting skills are not inferior to the level of a director.

"Night Walker" has all the characteristics of movies of the early 1990s, but now it seems that there are certain limitations in the overall text format, and some shots seem silly. However, time has given this movie a wonderful sense of age, and the new and strange shapes in it still seem to be interesting. The internal theme of the film follows a certain cultural re-enchantment. It tells that a worker named Boone has been troubled by nightmares for a long time. He always dreams of all kinds of monsters and a place called Midian. After experiencing a series of conflict-driven progressive events, Boone discovered his identity, found Midian and the Nightcrawler, and started a duel with the human villain for the survival of the group.

The psychologist Decker played by Cronenberg in the film is a perverted serial killer. In order to blame Boone for his guilt, he began to use drugs and various psychological cues to influence him and make him think of himself. The murderer of a series of murders. Boone was affected by the hallucinations and had an accident. In the hospital, he encountered another weird person who was eager to go to Midian. He learned the location of Midian from his mouth. Later, the strange patient began to cut his face with a knife. At this time, the police and the psychologist arrived, and Decker once again misled the police that it was Boone who killed the patient. Boone had no choice but to escape to Midian, but he was surrounded by the police and died at Midian's door.

The story develops in an orderly manner in different scenes, and Cliff Barker has a good grasp of the rhythm of information disclosure. After the transition, the dead Boone was sent to the morgue, but some mysterious force prompted him to resurrect. Later, he returned to Midian again, joined the group known as the "Nightbreed", and gradually realized his mission. This group of highly intelligent creatures, whose appearance is very different from human beings, has been living in seclusion under the abandoned cemetery for a long time in order to escape the pursuit of human beings. Their leader is Dirk Lesberg, and the god of faith is Baphomet. After the murderer Dekker learned that Boone was not dead, he chased him here and incited the police to wipe out the Nightcrawlers.

A big battle is inevitable. Dr. Decker instigated the police and the local army to fight against the Nightcrawlers, and there were also differences of opinion similar to the hawks and doves within the Nightcrawlers. In the end, the human army launched an attack on Midian, the Nightcrawler fought back, Boone and Dekker launched a one-on-one duel, and a priest with some mental disorders also went deep into Midian to try to get some mystery. The ending of the film is naturally the defeat of the human army, the Nightcrawlers can continue to survive, Lesberg died, Boone became the new leader, and his girlfriend joined the Nightcrawlers.

This movie obviously left a button for the sequel, so it is an open ending in the branch plot. Although the murderer Dekker was dead, the human priest was injured by the power of Buffalo and determined to continue chasing and suppressing the Nightwalker. Because Midian was destroyed, Boone needed to lead the surviving tribe to find a new home. In the future, he will not only continue to get rid of the pursuit of human beings, but also encounter new crises.

But for various reasons, this story did not continue to be filmed. Fortunately, the unfinished work did not harm the textual integrity of the film too much. In the film, Cliff Barker introduced us in detail a new fantasy system: the Nightwalker. However, due to the length of the film, the film only provides a very superficial explanation of concepts such as "Midian", "Natural Species", and "Buffalo" that arise from this worldview. In fact, there is a set of rigorous conceptual settings behind it.

Some of the plots involved in "Night Walk", such as Boone's girlfriend Lori, traced back the bridge of ethnic history, it is easy for us to think of the witch-hunting movement in history and the several ethnic cleansing in modern times. At the same time, Cliff Barker poured his modeling aesthetics into another kind of mysticism, and consistently added his own subversion and criticism of traditional religious concepts. The nocturnal tribes in the film have different shapes and abilities. Some have two tentacles in their stomachs, some blacks with horns on their heads, some have a moon-shaped head, and the famous image of a hedgehog woman. Ethnic elder Lesberg is a long-haired old man with three extra eyes on the left and right cheeks. It is worth mentioning that his actor is Doug Bradley, who is famous for playing Nail Head.

In the worldview constructed by Cliff Barker, the Nightcrawlers are the source of human nightmares, but they are not evil, but simply because of their deformity and ugliness. On the other hand, nocturnal tribes have different abilities, some have agility but are fragile, and some have self-healing ability. Rachel, a member of the Nightwalker in the film, is just a beautiful and gentle woman, but can exhale deadly hypnotic gas from her body. At the end of the film, Boone bit her dead girlfriend like a vampire, causing her to resurrect as a Nightwalker. But the Nightwalkers are not similar to the settings of vampires. Although some of them are afraid of daytime and sunlight, not all of them are like this. The reason why they are called Nightwalkers is because they belong to the dark night, a dark corner of human beings.

The line "The Tribes of The Moon", which is repeated several times in the movie, is another name that the Nightwalkers call themselves, namely, the Tribe of the Moon. It can be seen that the surviving people in the film are not of the same clan, and should be the survivors of the various tribes slaughtered by humans in history. They gathered in the abandoned cemetery in Midian and lived in seclusion underground. Nocturnal people call humans "Natural", which is also reflected in their lines. They can turn humans into their own by biting, but they are often unwilling to do so.

Some of the Nightwalkers have the ability to live forever, but if they suffer a huge amount of damage, they will eventually fall forever. At the end of the battle, when the Nightcrawlers retreated steadily, Boone asked Lesberg to release the Berserker in the dungeon. This is a group of extremely ferocious nocturnal creatures. The whole body is made up of irregular muscles, with sharp teeth and great strength. The appearance is even uglier than the already deformed nocturnal creatures.

The word Midian is mentioned in the "Bible" and then transformed into Buck's "dark myth" system. Midian in the film looks like a normal cemetery during the day, but in fact there is a shelter for the nocturnal people underground. Every night, the nocturnal clan will come out from the underground for carnival. The reason why the nocturnal tribes that survived all over the world can be summoned together is because of the existence of Buffalo. Anyone who knows religion must know that Buffalo is one of the most famous demons in Christianity and a synonym for Satan. The term first appeared in a poem in the 12th century and later referred to the demon with the head of a sheep. This image came from the painting "The Sabbath Sheep" by the 19th century occultist Eliphons Levy.

The Buffalo in the movie absorbs some of the Christian concepts, but also has its own originality. He is regarded as the baptist by the Nightwalker, the god of the Nightwalker, and the builder of Midian. He has no combat power and is a very fragile existence. It is not a classic claw demon in appearance, but has a small amount of demonic qualities. After the war between humans and the Nightwalkers in the film, Buffalo wanted to destroy all the Nightwalkers and humans in order to preserve Midian. Boone persuaded him, so Buffalo hopes Boone can find him again, heal him, and rescue him from his enemies. Who are these enemies? The movie does not explain, but some hints indicate that it is likely to be the gods we believe in.

Among them, the "Bible" quoted by human pastors is the best evidence of this suggestion: "Moses told the people: You must get men from among you to bring weapons to attack Midian, so that you can avenge the Lord on the Midianites. And again. They burned the city and all the camps where they lived, and killed the five kings of Midian, all the people and livestock.” Interestingly, a soldier in the film also jokingly said that Lai who opened the berserker’s cell Spog is Moses. Buck intends to invert the real world through some worldview setting levels, or some dualistic relations in religion. This obviously has his evil taste in it, but it may also reflect his stance on religion.

As mentioned in the previous article, Cliff Barker's worldview is very complicated, and many branches have been derived. Among them, several works produced by Epic have formed a set of their own worldview. Remember that in that worldview, Leviathan, the master of the hell in "Ghost Chaser", has an enemy-the goddess Moti Manmen? There is also Buffalo's role here.

The Epic worldview takes the story of Buffalo one step forward. When the Nightwalkers were massacred by humans, it was Buffalo who appeared and saved them. The Buffalo decree prohibits nocturnal people from eating natural (human) meat. The massacre of the Nightwalkers by humans is inseparable from the Leviathan Hell and Nail Head. On the other hand, there are still times when Leviathan, Moti Manmen, and Buffalo call each other brothers and sisters. It is speculated that in Epic's world view, these gods are likely to have the same origin.

Boone is called the savior in "The Legend of the Night Walk" because it is written in the prophecy. Here, Buck borrowed the writing methods of classic epics and traditional myths, and used prophecies to summarize the story, reflecting the destiny in the future. However, before Boone, there were also several saviors of the Nightwalker, who saved them from annihilation at various key historical periods.

In addition, Epic has published a series of "Nightbreed" comics, and the Nightwalker has also appeared in the legendary story of "Ghost Chaser". In the four-part manga "The Road Below (The Road Below)", the monster-like Nairokot family is actually the Nightwalker. They are hunting down a family called Ulf. Therefore, in order to save her daughter, the heroine Wea Ulf opened the Lemachande device and summoned Christie the nail head. In order to prevent the High Priest of Hell, Wei Ya cast a restraint curse before summoning, making Sister Ke trapped in place and unable to move freely. Wei Ya asked Sister Ke to kill the survivors of the Nairokot family, but the high priest did not agree, and believed that she had summoned herself to satisfy the desire to kill, and was a sinner who should go to hell. However, the power of the spell is limited. Sister Ke finally broke free from the spell. After a fight, she took Wei Ya to hell.

2. Fantasy

There are only four copies of "Road to Hell", which are short and powerful. The Deep Throat Girl, Nail Head and Harry Dymo from the "Ghost Chaser" series have all appeared. In the comics, Wei Ya showed the ability to use magic during the battle with Sister Ke. Here is a race that is opposed to the Nightwalker: Seeerkind.

Like the Nightwalker, the Fantasy Race chose to escape from the world, but the situation for the Fantasy Race was much better than that of the Nightwalker. Their society is completely a paradise. Although in history, the fantasy tribe has also experienced constant exile and migration, but because their appearance is no different from human beings, they will not easily incur human hatred like the Nightwalker. They can easily live with humans, but be careful not to reveal their identity due to their magical abilities.

The magical ability of the phantom family is called "Rapture", which is slightly different from the common magic in our knowledge, such as fireball. The magic of the fantasy race is basically not so exaggerated, and is mainly used in a certain way of survival skills. Each person in the fantasy clan has different abilities, which are mainly divided into four categories: dance, handicraft production, music and speech. Their spiritual leader is called "Capra" and the dogma is "Capra's Law." The fantasy people call the human world "Kingdom" and humans "Cuckoo".

In addition to the four abilities mentioned above, there are several special types of "ecstasy" that only manifested in a small number of fantasy people. One of them is the "Menstruum" combat method used by Via and her daughter Cordel in "Road to Hell". "Solvent" is only owned by a small number of fantasy women, but it is very powerful. When women with the "solvent" ability are subjected to strong emotional fluctuations, their bodies will overflow with a kind of water-like energy, which can be used by the caster to manipulate or destroy objects.

There is also an ecstasy called "The Old Science". This is a high-strength magic that existed in ancient times. Some fantasy tribes once studied this magic in an attempt to fight "The Scourge", but ultimately failed. In addition, some fantasy people can convert emotions into visible colors. In fact, the emotions in the eyes of fantasy people have corresponding colors. They can spread this ability to people around them, causing panic.

The fantasy clan also has a history of drifting away. In Cliff Barker’s dark mythological system, many creatures and races were born in the Garden of Eden, but humans were not. Humans were born in all parts of the world, but none of them were in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden under Buck’s Worldview is located in the desert in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, and a high wall cuts it off from the world. The fantasy clan was born and grew up there, but because of curiosity about the outside world, it finally escaped. After coming to the human world, they were ostracized and persecuted again, so they lived in refuge. It wasn't until 1896 that a thing called "The Source of Misery" started killing the phantom race. No one knows what the "source of misery" is, because everyone who saw it died. At this time, human territory is also expanding, and the living space of the fantasy race is getting smaller and smaller. So they weaved a carpet called "Fugue" and collectively took refuge in it.

The shape of "Fuge" is like a carpet, with dazzling patterns and colors. However, in reality, the interior of the carpet is a small world built by the fantasy tribe. Babu, one of the phantom families, possesses the ability to transform specific things into language and preserve them in their thinking. So relying on the people of the Babu family, they brought some of the natural environment and artificial buildings of the human world to the carpet through their thinking, and these lands formed a "fugue" under the action of "The Loom".

The so-called "loom" is housed in a huge maze-like temple. It pulls all the elements together and absorbs it into a kind of "ecstasy", making it the image of a carpet. Without "zhiyuan", there would be no "fugue". After the carpet is completed, the "weaving source" will continue to work, but the vortex formed around it is more dangerous. When creatures enter the vortex, anything theoretically can happen, such as the chaos of time and space.

As for the "source of misery", it is actually Uriel, the right angel who protected the Garden of Eden. Before the ancestors of the fantasy race left the Garden of Eden, there was a vibrant scene where many life forms thrived. At this time, the ancestors of the fantasy race were very different from their current appearance. Some of them had tails, while others had degenerate wings or golden crowns. After the ancestors of the fantasy race left, Uriel stayed alone in the Garden of Eden to continue to protect this land of creation. Over time, the Garden of Eden gradually shattered and withered and was swallowed by the desert. Uriel is still guarding here alone, waiting for the return of the fantasy race. Thousands of years have passed, the descendants of the fantasy race living in the world have long forgotten this place of origin, and the term Eden has become a legend that no one cares about. But Uriel, who had been lonely for a long time, fell into madness and began to hate the phantom race, so he left the declining Garden of Eden in 1896 and tried to destroy this race.

After weaving the "Fuge", the fantasy tribe quickly entered it, leaving only a few people behind to guard the carpet. Uriel failed to pursue the killing, and had to return to the Garden of Eden to fall asleep. In the novel "Waveworld", two humans, Suzanna Parish (Suzanna Parish) and Cal Monney (Cal Monney) are accidentally involved in the struggle between the fantasy tribe and Uriel, and they even enter the "Fuge" Here, help the fantasy race escape from the chase of Quan Angel. What’s out there is that an Immacolata (Immacolata) woman in "Fuge" has the ambition to rule the world of the Illusion. She is an extremely powerful necromancer, but she suffers When the collective fantasy people stopped, he was expelled from the "Fuge". In the human world, she met a salesman named Shadwell. This person was also unhealthy. After learning about the fantasy family, she began to help Wuxian rule the "Fuge" and gain a powerful rule. world.

No time to rely on powerful magic, attracted a group of human fans, established a cult group, their stronghold is called "The Shrine of the Mortalities (The Shrine of the Mortalities)". At the same time, she summoned a giant creature called The Rake, and continued to assassinate the illusion people who remained in the world. Shadwell got an "ecstasy jacket" from the hostess. Wearing this dress, he has the ability to manipulate people's minds, because opening the inner lining of the jacket allows him to see the things he dreams of. But Shadwell's ambition was even bigger than Flawless, and eventually betrayed his mistress and killed her. Immaculate blood was spilled in the temple of Zhiyuan, leading to the destruction of Fugue.

After dying in no time, Shadwell took a crazy and cruel police chief Hobart (Hobart) controlled by him, found the desert in Arabia, and awakened Uriel who was sleeping. Uriel was a little angry at first, but when he learned that the salesman had found the hiding place of the fantasy tribe, he possessed him in Hobart, and followed Shadwell to restart the massacre of the fantasy tribe. After a fierce battle, Hobart's body was destroyed by the "solvent" and Uriel and Shadwell fled to the mountains. The powerful power of Quan Angel caused the place to fall apart. Later, Uriel took possession of Chadwell again. In a critical moment, Karl Manny found the "ecstasy jacket" and tricked Uriel to look at the lining. As a result, Angel Quan was torn apart by the most secret desire in his heart, and disappeared in pain.

The desire Uriel saw was to recreate the Garden of Eden, return to the self before becoming the "source of misery," and end eternal loneliness. However, he was awakened suddenly by his desire and unwilling to regain his sanity under the influence of the senseless and frantic vengeance. As a result, his body began to split and eventually he annihilated himself. Before the "Fuge" was ruined because of no time, Karl Manny sealed his memories of traveling in it in a German fairy tale book. Therefore, when the crisis was all resolved, Susanna and Carl, together with the Fantasy Race, relied on the memory in the book to restore the "Fuge". The story of the fantasy clan comes to an end here.

It is worth mentioning that the huge monster named Rek also has its own story. He was originally a human, but became obsessed with Immaculate. For some kind of right thought, he also began to study necromantic magic, but because of a mistake, he summoned a "surgeon from the underworld." These doctors continued to chase him until the "Shrine of the Dead". Lake pleaded for no time to save him, but he didn't have time to ignore it, and let these "doctors" transform him into what he was after: huge body, fat on his body, and no bones at all. No time to take away his soul after he was transformed. As for these "doctors", they are basically Nailhead Spencer and the group.

Finally, in the twelfth chapter of the "Hunter Chaser" comics, Christie opened a Lemmachand device and was immediately teleported to a certain space, where an abstract existence was waiting for her and trying to guide her and Heaven is connected to avoid disasters on earth. This abstract existence composed of colored lines is no different from Uriel in appearance, and it should be another angel.

3. Skills and Originality

Do you still remember Christie’s boyfriend Edgar in "Ghost Chaser" wrote a book of "The Sea of ​​Dreams and the Story Tree"? Yes, this is what we are going to talk about next.

The story about "The Art" can be fully understood in Buck's "The Great and Secret Show" series and "Everville" and other works. Similarly, these stories are not only novels, but also comics. The so-called "skills" can actually be understood as a certain superpower. It has many names in history and is also mastered by very few people. The biggest feature of this power is that it can distort time and space and unite everything. From ancient times to the present, many capable people with lofty ideals have worked hard to obtain "skills", but few have succeeded. Once you gain the power of "skills", you will reshape your soul and spirit and become invincible. These people are called "Artists". It should be noted that some people have acquired extraordinary powers, but not necessarily "craftsmanship." Some people have acquired "craftsmanship" and refuse to use it or realize its full potential. None of them can be called "technicians."

There are usually two ways to acquire skills. One is to contact a liquid substance called "Nuncio", which was invented by Richard Wesley Fletcher by coincidence. What came out, to be precise, was extracted from the evolutionary genes of organisms. It seems to have a very low level of consciousness. When there is a living body nearby, it will find a way to attach to it. After contacting "Nunike", people will fully evolve, acquire "skills", and be reshaped in spirit.

Another method is to bury the "Shoal" badge in the ground. "Shoal" is a small religious group composed of 17 mysterious people. Their purpose is to protect the "craft" and "Quddity" from pollution. "The original" is the "sea of ​​dreams" we have mentioned. (The Dream Sea)".

"Original" is detached from the world, it is another world. Many aboriginal people live there, as well as all kinds of creatures that don't exist on earth. "Skills" is one of the ways to the "primary". People with "skills" can tear open an entrance to enter the "primary", but this method is often very rough. And most ordinary humans can enter the "primitive" through dreaming. This is also the origin of the name "Sea of ​​Dreams". Everyone has three opportunities in his life to reach the "primitive" through dreams: the first night after birth, the night you sleep with your beloved, and the last night in life. If the frequency is less, you will lose your mind, and if the frequency is more, you will no longer be a human being.

It is our soul that enters the "primitive" through the dream, but it will be endowed with a semi-substantial state by the "primitive". If killed in the real world, the semi-entity will also disappear, and the soul will wander around. Human beings stop growing in age in the "primitive", which is a certain degree of immortality. The "primitive" sea is harmless to humans, but it is as dangerous to the aboriginals as the earth's oceans are to humans. There are many islands in "Primary", and they are called "Ephemeris". Sometimes, the sea also rejects foreign objects and rushes them onto the "Ephemeris". It was Plato who first discovered the original in the human world. He called it Atlantis. Later, the knowledge about the original has been passed down in the form of ciphers.

Back to "craftsmanship". After the "Shallow" badge is buried in the ground, it will slowly absorb the energy of the surrounding things. This process usually takes hundreds of years to end. To obtain "skills" through this method, the existence of human beings, dream creations, animals, and divinity is needed, because these four things represent the infinite possibilities of the world. Therefore, the conditions for obtaining "skills" through badges are more stringent, and the success rate is not guaranteed. If there is more than one person present, the energy of the badge will flow to the more advanced one. If everyone's "levels" are equal, then "skills" will not flow to any place. If someone who has been in contact with "Nunick" is present, the badge will give priority to him.

The pattern on the badge symbolizes the evolution from single-celled organisms to gods from bottom to top. From left to right is the known to the unknown, the "permanent universe" is the process from the human universe to the "meta universe" that is the "primitive". When the badge releases its "skills", everything around it will dissolve and become pure thinking. If a creature nearby dies, its soul will stay in place and will not ascend to heaven or go to hell. But the farther the soul is from the location of the badge, the more ethereal its existence. Due to its harsh conditions and low success rate, some people tend to bury different badges in different locations to increase the probability of acquiring "skills."

"The Great Mystery Show" mainly revolves around "craftsmanship" and "the sea of ​​dreams". The first part of the story "The Book of The Art" focuses on Richard Wesley Fletcher and Randolph Ernest Jaffe (Randolph Ernest Jaffe) Of war. As mentioned above, Fletcher is the inventor of "Nunnick". He was originally a genius biologist who studied the theory of evolution. After being exposed to drug abuse, his reputation plummeted. Garfield is an obscure post office dead letter sorter. He has a typical anti-social personality and an extremely fanatical possessive desire for the world. After learning about the existence of "craftsmanship" and "primitives" inadvertently, he burned his colleague to death, and left his unit without saying goodbye, and embarked on a journey of searching for "craftsmanship".

During the journey, Garfield met a man named Kissoon, who is also a chaotic and evil character. His mother is a human being, and his father is a "primitive" aboriginal. Influenced by his family education, Qi Song has a strong sense of superiority. His genes are full of desires to do whatever he wants. He believes that anyone is inferior to him, and sooner or later he will look down on sentient beings. But an accident caused Qi Song's family to be lynched by villagers, and he was taken away by wolves before he died. Then he killed the pack of wolves and decided to take revenge on the human world. After that, he joined the "Shoal" organization and killed all its members. Qi Song didn't have "skills", but he possessed other powers. It can be said that he was one of the most powerful beings in the world at that time.

After Garfield met Qi Song, the two people were a bit like each other, but Qi Song soon showed his fangs. Garfield was not a fool, and immediately noticed something was wrong with each other, so he hurriedly left. After wandering for a while, he met Richard Fletcher, and it was with the help of Garfield that Richard finally invented the "Nunnick". There is also an ape named Rual next to Richard. It was originally just an ordinary ape, but it was used in experiments during Richard's research on "Nunnick", which resulted in genetic transformation and a high level of consciousness. With language ability, but the appearance is still not fully evolved ape-man. He called Richard his father, but Richard was disgusted with his name.

After "Nunnick" was invented, Richard realized that it was a very dangerous substance, and at the same time he was aware of Garfield's ambitions, so he wanted to destroy them and kill Raul, who was unnaturally evolved. But when he hadn't touched the test tube, "Nunnick" broke through the test tube and merged into Richard's body, and Richard had "skills" ever since. Garfield also rushed there. He desperately wanted to have "Nunnick", so he ignored Richard's dissuasion and contacted it, and he also produced "skills." This led to a fierce war between Richard and Garfield. The two fought each other for a year between the sky and the soil in the United States, just like the Saiyans in "Dragon Ball." Finally fell into Palomo Woodland.

Richard and Garfield have similar abilities, both fly into the sky and escape, substantiate emotions, manipulate minds, and so on. But the two are like the front and back of a coin. Richard yearns for sunshine and is full of dreams. Therefore, the entities he turns out are more active. On the contrary, Garfield's heart is sinister and embraces the darkness, forming an illusion born of fear. army. In "The Great Mystery Show", there are also several other characters who are more important in the scene. They reveal the characteristics of "technique" and "primitive" from all sides.

The story turns in the battle between Richard and Garfield, and describes the story of four girls in Palomo. Trudi, Carolyn, Joyce, and Arleen are four close friends. When they were swimming in a woodland hobo, they were caught in a mysterious atmosphere. Affected by strength, almost collectively drowning. The danger was resolved in an instant, and the four girls went ashore safely, but terrible changes took place in the following months, and the four became extremely eager for sex. As a result, they have frequent relationships with different men. This state of estrus lasted for a few months and then disappeared, but the four of them have been regarded as harlots by the people in the town. After a while, three of the girls found out that they were pregnant, Trudy gave birth to Howard Katz, and Joyce gave birth to a pair of twins, Tommy-Ray Mcguire. And Jo-Beth Mcguire. Caroline killed her newborn daughter and committed suicide on the second anniversary of the "swimming incident", leaving behind a suicide note describing the origin of the incident. Arlene was infertile and was imprisoned in the hospital after being insane.

After these children who were born promiscuously by mysterious forces have grown up, their lives have gradually become intertwined. In order to explore his mother's hometown and some mysteries he wanted to solve, Howard returned to Palomo alone, met and fell in love with Joebeth. On the other side, Richard and Garfield had been trapped under Palomo Woods, and finally escaped by opening the gap. In fact, the "swimming incident" 19 years ago was caused by the "skills" of the two. During that time, all four girls were deeply influenced by their hearts and became degenerate. Of the two girls who eventually gave birth to the baby, Richard influenced Trudy, while Garfield influenced Joyce.

During the period when the two are underground, they can observe the world through the eyes of the children born under their influence, and the children will also inherit certain characteristics of Richard and Garfield. Therefore, Howard is Richard's heir, and Joebes and Tommy Ray are the descendants of Garfield. When the two escaped from the underground, Garfield found the twins. Tommy Rei inherited Garfield's evil nature and soon agreed to join him, but Joebeth chose to stand with his lover Howard and his mother. Later, Tommy Lei also absorbed "Nunnick" and became a "Death-Boy", capable of creating a "Death-Cloud" composed of corpses. He originally loved death and darkness, but "Nunnick" made him thoroughly understand death and obsessed with death. Of course he has gained a powerful force in "Nunnick", but that is not "craft", so there is no way to connect to the "Sea of ​​Dreams." The specific reason is unknown. Maybe it's "Nunnick" that has gone bad or Tommy Lei doesn't have strong desires.

The new key role is here. Tesla Bombeck (Tesla Bombeck) is a female screenwriter. She has a journalist friend named Nathan Grillo. He is investigating the mysterious death of a rich man who actually died because Richard and Garfield fled the ground. After some investigations, Tesla and Nathan came to Palomo Town. They happened to encounter Howard, Tommy Ray and Garfield's fight, Tesla rescued Howard and met Richard. In the final duel between Li and Garfield, Richard Fletcher blew himself to death. The "Nunnick" on his body turned into a little spark and touched almost all the people in the town. Everyone had a fantasy to materialize. Ability.

Before Richard died, he hoped that Tesla would help Howard to destroy the remaining "Nunnick". Later on the journey, Tesla met Raul again. But when the two felt that they used to be in the laboratory, they found that Tommy Lei had already arrived first. Tommy Lei shot Tesla and snatched "Nunnick", but "Nunnick" broke out, and Tommy combined with him to become the "death kid". In order to save Tesla, Raul took her near the remaining "Nunnick" on the ground. So Tesla came back to life.

When Tesla was dying, her soul was teleported to a place called "The Loop". This is the Trinity Test Field in New Mexico, USA, where the world's first atomic bomb was tested. The "time loop" is time outside of time, including just a few minutes before the nuclear explosion, created by Qi Song on July 16, 1945. At first, Qi Song used to dispose of the corpses of the people he killed, because the nuclear explosion a few minutes later would wipe out all his evidence of crime. After Raul rescued Tesla, her soul was dragged back. But in the following days, Qi Song has been summoning her, and her power is not as strong as that of her opponent, and she is often forced to return to the "time loop". As a result, Tesla rescued a member of the "Shoal" organization. But when she sent this member to her hotel, she was killed by Garfield who suddenly appeared. Tesla Raul fights with Garfield's phantom, but Raul is still taken away by Garfield.

Howard and Joe Beth are also on their own journey, looking for a way to enter the "primordial". At this time, those spirit bodies imagined by the townspeople in Palomo found the two of Howard, hoping that they would prevent the imminent crisis of "Primary". There is a giant and dark existence in the "Primary" called "Iad Uroboros". It is a group of snakes, and it is not clear whether it is one or a group. "Ead" and Qi Song conspired in a vain attempt to destroy "Primitive" and the human world. Before the arrival of "Ayad", the people in Palomo Town collectively showed signs of mental abnormality. At the same time, Nathan also meets Garfield, and Garfield is still trying to enter the "primitive."

After a series of twists and turns, Tesla, Nathan, Howard, and Joe Beth joined forces to fight against Garfield and the "Death Boy" gang. Howard and Chobes fell into the entrance opened by Garfield during a fight with the "Death Boy" and entered the "Sea of ​​Dreams". Garfield resisted the pull of "Primary" in the extremely chaotic scene. Tesla and Nathan left the scene safely.

In "The Sea of ​​Dreams," Howard, Chobes, and Tommy Lei saw all kinds of creatures and landforms. But Tesla and Nathan started looking for Qi Song, and they even turned to Harry Deimo for help. Later, they found Garfield in the cave. Garfield was no longer so crazy at this time, and gave the badge of "Shoal" to Tesla. Then they came to Palomo Town, which had been abandoned after the previous battle. They met the part of the "Aid Ouroboros" and Qi Song who came to the world, and the latter turned into the image of Raul to hunt down Tesla and the gang.

During the battle with the "Ouroboros", Tesla teleported the battlefield to the "Time Loop", a few minutes before the nuclear explosion on July 16, 1945. Garfield was already standing on the opposite side of Qi Song. He saw the crisis facing "Primary" and began to prevent Qi Song and "Aid" from destroying the world. They opened a new wormhole leading to the "Sea of ​​Dreams", but Howard and his party followed the sea from this wormhole back to the world. Garfield fought for his life to fight Qi Song, while Nathan took Howard and others to a safe transfer, Tesla stayed and tried to find the surviving soul of Raul.

A few minutes later, the atomic bomb experiment stirred up a huge mushroom cloud, and the "time loop" was completely destroyed.

At the end of "The Book of Skills," Harry Demer appeared on the scene and began investigating the paranormal events in Palomo. And Nathan also reunited with Tesla. Tesla found Raul before the nuclear explosion, and the latter's soul is now one with her. Tommy Lei and Garfield both died, because Qi Song's body was destroyed, and "Primary" was eventually not swallowed by "Ayad". But the story of "The Great Mystery Show" is far from over.

Cliff Barker still expresses a mockery of religion in this work, such as arranging the role of a priest, but he is despised by both good and evil. However, like his other works, behind the stylized narrative, there are not too many images that can be digged into. All the symbols are basically superficial. I have to admit that it is indeed clever enough to move the end of the story to the scene of the nuclear explosion, but that's all. If you really want to see how the creators reflect on nuclear weapons, I still recommend playing "Time and Space Fantasyland".

Regarding "The Story Tree (The Story Tree)", I won't write about it too much. The part of "Story Tree" mainly appears in the novel "Eternal Town". It is not a real tree, it is more like a concept and metaphor. In "Eternal Town", three existences similar to gods appeared, Rare Utu, Yie and Haheh. They like stories, so they will find someone who is willing to work for them, and let him create stories in the world as a director to nourish the "story tree." In other words, the boundary between reality and the stage was forcibly erased by these gods. What we call "destiny" is actually arranged in accordance with the director's intention, with a little taste of "Trumen's World".

In return, the gods will give the director great power, usually the power to delay aging. In "Eternal Town," a man named Owen Buddenbaum does this job. He uses his longer lifespan than others to acquire "skills" through badges. But while absorbing "craft", Tesla Bombeck stood near him, so "craft" flowed to Tesla, who had been in contact with "Nunnick".

Except for Harry Dymo, Cliff Barker’s favorite character, appeared in all worldviews including "Hunter Chaser" and "The Great Mystery Show." "Primary" and "Skills" also have other intersections with the high priests of hell. First of all, as mentioned before, Christie’s fiancé Edgar wrote a book "The Sea of ​​Dreams and the Story Tree", which clearly pointed out his research direction. Secondly, in the "Ghost Chaser" series of comics, the nail head was once transmitted to a mysterious space through the mourning box. That space is very similar to the "loop of time" created by Qi Song, and it should be another "loop of time". .

Remember that Leviathan is more than a hell in the world view of "Ghost Chaser"? In that more vicious secret cell of Abaddon, there was once a story about monsters being summoned by Qi Song to help Qi Song destroy the "primordial" and the human world. And "Aad Ouroboros" has many similarities with the Angel of the Pit and Abaddon the Destroyer. They both want to swallow the world, and their thoughts are also difficult for ordinary people to understand.

The two nail heads, Spencer and Christie Cotton, have both had intersections with "craftsmanship" and "primitive". Spencer was given the badge of "Short" in the process of retiring as high priest, returning to the world, and trying to avenge Leviathan. He ate the badge in one bite, thus acquiring a powerful "craft". At this time, he became an existence similar to that of Dr. Manhattan and began to compete with Leviathan. Unfortunately, he still failed in the end, and his "skills" were also taken away. And Christie once passed to the "Sea of ​​Dreams" through the box, and a voice reminded her to defeat the beast in her heart to save the world. She is entwined by a giant squid-like creature, which is the unique creature "Zehrapushu" in the "Sea of ​​Dreams". But Christie also failed, and she has not defeated the beast in her heart yet.

(Thanks again to t1tx for sorting out the data that year, the full text is over)

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