Not all clowns are known to bring joy equally. Behind this ever-smiling, white-washed face, anyone can be hiding: a psychopath, a maniac, a murderer... And who should know about this if not our brother? So, meet in DARKER perhaps the most famous clown in horror literature.
“Hello kids! It's me, your favorite Pennywise!"
The paper boat rushes along the rain stream, rolls over the chippers. A boy in a yellow raincoat and red rubber boots trotted along behind him, laughing merrily and rejoicing in the downpour that covered Derry. And we know that in five minutes the child will die a terrible death.
The scene of Georgie Denbrough's death at the hands of an evil clown is one of the most memorable in both literature and horror cinema. Surely in childhood, many of us could not sleep after a bloodthirsty monster pulled out the baby’s hand, “like a fly’s wing.”
"It" by Stephen King is almost the standard of a horror novel. It has it all: a dark atmosphere, creepy murders and monsters of all stripes. Evil changes disguises, and we meet a werewolf, a mummy, drowned men, a giant bird of prey, a statue come to life and, of course, Pennywise the clown - the quintessence of childhood nightmares.
Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown
(frame from the film "It", dir. Tommy Lee Wallace, 1990)
"King of Horror" invites us to stroll through Derry, a small town in Maine. The most ordinary people live here - with their dreams and their misfortunes, children play and die here, because they are being hunted by an unknown creature. There are a lot of details in the book, literally saturated with bitter and bright nostalgia, which is transmitted to the reader. King describes life so "deliciously" that it seems as if you have lived all your life in this cute and at the same time scary town. And more than once I ran along its streets, built a dam in Barrens, bought candies in a pharmacy, ran away from underage punks, admired the glass passage of the children's library, watched birds in the park ... or maybe even descended, shivering, into the musty darkness of the old collector.
Derry is one of the most successful cities that King has come up with. It became an integral part of his literary world along with Castle Rock (the setting of the novel Necessary Things, mentioned in a huge number of other works) and Haven (the novel The Tommyknockers). The very idea of a city that has been living under the yoke of a supernatural creature for centuries is both frightening and fascinating - a kind of evil, from which there is nowhere to hide. It seems that the inhabitants themselves often indulge the evil will, turning a blind eye to what is happening in front of them.
“It existed in a simple cycle of waking up to eat and falling asleep to dream. It created a place in its own imagination and looked at that place with love from the dead lights that were its eyes. Derry was His murder weapon, the people of Derry were His sheep.".
Statue of Paul Bunyan in Bangor (1996, Stephen King Lille)
It is curious that many locations from the novel have prototypes in Bangor (the real city in Maine, where, by the way, the "King of Horrors" lives): Barrens, where the heroes played, the water tower in which the evil drowned boys swam, the children's library, which so admired Ben, the Paul Bunyan statue that almost killed Richie. It must be said that King often uses this technique, which not only makes his works more realistic (what does a simple layman know about the same Bangor?), but fills them with "Easter eggs" that are so pleasant to the Regular reader (which the writer often refers to in prefaces) .
The story unfolds in two time layers at once: the summer of 1958, when the heroes of the novel were children, and the city, despite the brutal murders, seemed beautiful and not hopeless, and 1985, when six boys and one girl grew up, and Derry faded, as if he had grown old . The interweaving of past and present, "then" and "now" is the key to understanding the novel. Everything can change: the streets will change names, your favorite cinema will close, an electronic catalog will appear in the library, strangers will settle in the houses of old friends ... But if evil is not defeated, then it will definitely return, and the nightmare will begin again. And the only chance to win is not to betray your friends and keep your promise, even if it was given in your distant childhood.
Bill, Ben, Richie, Eddie, Mike, Stan, Bev. These names are like a spell to diehard King fans. Here they are, unfortunate and lonely teenagers who have united in the Club of Losers and have known true friendship. They were able to uncover the dark secret of Derry and found the courage to face the monster face to face. And in this they are much stronger than inert and clumsy adults, whose cowardice and indifference lead to misfortunes.
“The energy that you used so carelessly when you were a child, the energy that seemed to never be depleted, suddenly evaporated somewhere between the ages of 18 and 24. It was replaced by something boring, something like an artificial high from cocaine: maybe even high goals..
Bangor Municipal Library (1996, Stephen King Lille)
Horror, mysticism... All this characterizes the novel, but such a somewhat unexpected marker as "social drama" suits the work no less. Indeed, “It” is not only (and not so much) bloody supernatural nightmares, but nightmares are quite real. Many pages of the book are devoted to the human tragedies that children face. Living on the brink of poverty, tyrannical parents, alcoholism, violence, racism, peer abuse, loneliness and misunderstanding, the list goes on and on. Each member of the Losers Club has their own problems and their own problems with which they have to somehow cope. And without a cannibal monster, they have a difficult life.
And yet they are happy because children are children. They will be afraid of the evil clown and the disguises he takes on, and have fun playing at the Barrens, building a dam. They will obey the curfew and go to Aladdin for horror movie screenings. They will suffer from the callousness of their parents and will fall in love. They will be beaten by Henry Bowers and still enjoy life.
Haven't they, all seven, spent this long summer, the longest of their lives, laughing like crazy? You laugh because everything scary and unknown is funny, you laugh like little kids sometimes laugh and cry at the same time when a circus clown comes up, knowing that you need to laugh here..
Water Tower, Bangor area (1996, Stephen King Lille)
Perhaps, "It" is one of the brightest and most optimistic (!) novels, at least among those known to the author of these lines. The same emotions evoke the story "The Body", the novels "Dreamcatcher" and "Hearts in Atlantis". King not only knows how to scare, he has another magical gift - to write about a happy childhood, thereby making the reader happy too. You will definitely recognize yourself in one of the guys: in the fat and shy Ben, in the downtrodden but determined Bev, in the restless bespectacled Richie, or maybe in their leader, Bill, who stutters so terribly. Thanks to seven different views on the same events, the story acquires volume, even some amazing authenticity - and this makes Pennywise's bloody antics even more terrible.
Yes, Pennywise the Dancing Clown... This is just one of the evil faces that feeds not only on the bodies of children, but also on emotions, therefore it takes the form of their fears. However, it is the clown that you remember best of all: a baggy silver suit with orange pom-pom buttons, sticking out red hair and sharp teeth behind a painted grin is impossible to forget. Especially after watching the 1990 film adaptation, where the role of the villain was played by the talented Tim Curry.
By the way, the film is very successful: of course, much of the book was not included there, but there was no such goal, and director Tommy Lee Wallace was quite able to tell the story and convey the atmosphere. Perhaps the only mistake - the final battle is not spectacular enough, but, as they say, the taste and color ...
In general, the theme of evil clowns is found in popular culture quite often, especially in cinema. Think of the Joker (comics, cartoons, and Batman films), the clown from Hell (Spawn, 1997), alien clowns (Killer Clowns from Outer Space, 1988), psychopaths painted in circus make-up (House of Clowns, 1988) , a demon clown (a series of films "Killjoy"). Well, a doll that looks like a clown in a tailcoat has become the hallmark of the Saw series of films. So their name is legion.
Why is the image of a killer clown so popular? The answer is obvious: the fact is that initially clowns are designed to amuse and delight children (and adults too), and under the guise of a clumsy and funny laugher, it is easier to hide the evil essence and get closer to your victim. Interestingly, some people are afraid of clowns since childhood, and the phobia does not go away with time. There is even a special term for this mental disorder - coulrophobia.
What if we dig deeper? A clown is none other than a trickster (“deceiver”, “dodger”), one of the main archetypes in world culture, mythology and religion. He does not obey the laws, generally accepted rules and norms, changes his appearance, has fun, jokes and deceives. This is not necessarily a bad character - for example, Robin Hood and Til Ulenspiegel only evoke sympathy in us. However, most often the trickster acts as an anti-hero, examples of which are the insidious Loki, all kinds of evil spirits and demons. This is where the Joker playing card came from, which can become any other card. Actually, King used all the qualities of tricksters to create Pennywise, adding extraterrestrial origin, hunger and thirst for murder, as well as a painfully evil sense of humor to the image: “I came to Earth to devour all women and rape all men. And learn how to make mint gum. And dance the twist!!!"
The paper boat swirled in a whirlpool of rain and darted behind the drain grate. The boy leaned in after him and met his death, hiding under the mask of the clown Pennywise. Do you dare to look into the dark depths of Derry, where evil itself lurks?
Barrens, near Bangor (1996, Stephen King Lille)
Girl with soap bubbles(Chubby Bubbles Girl) - a girl in a yellow jacket with soap bubbles in her hand, caught in the frame while running. She became the heroine of a photo-toad in 2009.
Origin
The original frame was first published on August 22, 2009 on the 4chan imageboard. For a long time the author of the photo was unknown. But in 2012, photographer Anna Zhurkovska published in his facebook a few more pictures from the same series with a girl.
This girl is probably the most famous girl on the internet. And my most famous photo. Until now, only a few people knew about it, now what can I say, SHARE PLEASEAnna Zurkovska
It is not known how and why the frame got on 4chan, but there they cut out the background from the picture, making a template for a photo jab. The meme was called Chubby Bubbles Girl (“Chicky girl with bubbles”). In September, the photo appeared on Buzzfeed under the headlines "What Bubble Girl Runs From", making the picture wildly popular.
Meaning
The “bubble girl” is placed in various photographs depicting some kind of catastrophe or dangerous situation. The girl in the yellow coat is always running away from something, be it a huge monster, a herd of geese, or a character from a movie.
The most popular option is to combine a girl with another meme. This painted bear is known to be a lover of little kids.
Gallery
And they released a new trailer. the site reviewed a published video in which a girl tries to escape from her own fears.
Little Nightmares is a fairy tale that will take players back to childhood and make them remember everything that seemed frightening at that time. The main character will be a little girl in a yellow raincoat, trying to escape from the submarine The Maw (Womb), which has become a haven for the darkest monsters that cook people for dinner.
Users who saw the trailer noted that the project reminded them of American McGee's Alice, which was also a platform game with a lot of dark colors. It is worth noting that Little Nightmares was announced back in February 2015 under the name Hunger, but the developers were extremely reluctant to share details until now.
According to the site, the children's horror movie Little Nightmares is expected on PC, Xbox One, PS4. A release date has also not been set. Developed by a Swedish studio Tarsier Studios, which gave the world a version of LittleBigPlanet for PS Vita. The publisher is Bandai Namco.
Womb. A huge restaurant ship, on the upper decks of which an endless stream of guests, choking, absorbs wagons of food rising from the holds. And it’s better for you not to even think about what exactly these dishes are prepared from. Somewhere out there, in the depths, where there is an ominous kitchen and terrible shadows roam, a lonely tiny girl in a yellow cloak is trying to survive and find a way up, to freedom and truth.
Little Nightmares
Genre puzzle/platformer
Platforms Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Developers Tarsier Studios
Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment
Sites little-nightmares.com, Steam
We don't know how Six got into the Maw. Why, unlike other children, she did not give up. Where did she get this yellow raincoat with a hood pulled down over her face. The sixth wakes up on a suitcase that serves as her bed, she is hungry, she is always hungry, but she is almost not afraid, because it is too late to be afraid, you need to find a way up.
Through the Prison, teeming with leeches living in the dark and who knows what horrors. Through the Lair, where the blind little Watchman with incredibly long arms ending in spidery fingers settled. Through the Kitchen, where two sexless Chefs endlessly cook food from the meat cocoons that the Watchman supplies them. It's better not to think what it is, it's better not to think. Through the Tavern, where thousands of guests devour the Cooks' concoctions without feeling hungry, without tasting, without making any distinctions. They will gladly devour a little girl, chew fragile bones and suck out sweet brains. They do not care. Up, up. To the rooms of the gloomy Mistress, who feeds the Womb with her will, which makes the sinister conveyor work.
The sixth is a brave girl. She knows what death is. She had to die, and more than once. Crash on the cold floor of the Prison, receive a fatal electric shock, fly into the abyss, fall into the clutches of the Watcher, be sucked out by leeches, turn into stone under the gaze of the Watcher's Eye, be eaten, crushed, absorbed. The sixth knows everything about death. She is not afraid of almost anything, except for the Hunger that eats her from the inside. She is ready to eat anything to satisfy him.
The womb is the embodiment of childhood nightmares. A frighteningly tangible objectification. Fear of the dark, fear of the one who lives under the bed and the one who lurks in the closet, fear of loss, falling, loneliness. Perhaps all this no longer frightens us as much as in childhood, but it still hides somewhere inside, ready to return at the first call.
The sixth will get to the door outside, but will the desired freedom bring her what she was looking for? The path changed her. Hunger made her different. Is it so different from the Guests feasting on the upper deck?
P.S. Undoubtedly, attentive readers will find in Little Nightmares direct analogies with and from the Playdead studio. As with the project from Coldwood Interactive. Well, these are all platform games with puzzle elements, trying to tell the player the story of a very important journey of a little hero, it is not surprising that there are similarities between them. On the other hand, the Swedish Tarsier Studios, the authors of Little Nightmares, have a lot to draw inspiration from, with such unusual projects as LittleBigPlanet 3 and Tearaway Unfolded in their portfolio.
