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KingsOfEvilArt — Murderous Puppet (Mr Punch)
#alive #animated #blood #clown #grin #jester #judy #mrpunch #murderer #punch #puppet #trickster
Published: 2019-04-18 18:41:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 2657; Favourites: 95; Downloads: 4
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As you might know, I am not all that fond of James' stories. They are fun reads but get very repetitive quickly... This one is likely my favorite of the bunch because it is quite different. The character envisions a traditional Punch and Judy puppet show, ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_an… ) which quickly turns from light-hearted comedy into the display of actual murder scenes... Somehow that sequence makes me think of one Carach Angren song. Similar atmosphere. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RIXP5…Also knowing my fondness of tricksters/jesters/ horror mixed with laughter... this is obvious I was going to like that guy!
"(...) He varied his methods of attack: for some of his victims he lay in wait, and to see his horrible face—it was yellowish white, I may remark—peering round the wings made me think of the Vampyre in Fuseli's foul sketch. To others he was polite and carneying—particularly to the unfortunate alien who can only say Shallabalah—though what Punch said I never could catch. But with all of them I came to dread the moment of death. The crack of the stick on their skulls, which in the ordinary way delights me, had here a crushing sound as if the bone was giving way, and the victims quivered and kicked as they lay. The baby—it sounds more ridiculous as I go on—the baby, I am sure, was alive. Punch wrung its neck, and if the choke or squeak which it gave were not real, I know nothing of reality.
M.R. James, The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
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Comments: 29
I wonder what influence this whole miileau had on Igor Stravinsky in composing his "Punchinello suite"
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Maybe he liked to punch people xD
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Every time I hear their English names, it reminds me of this song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfnvJW…
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Absolutely 
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It looks like Peeves in the Harry Potter PC games!!! O_O I love it!
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He probably didn't smash Potter's brain though... www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGhKpg…
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OMG WHTA DID I JUST WATCH I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING FJKSGMRAMNIORNBRLKBNLRA
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You watched Senor Dolando xD
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It's freaking beautiful! O_O
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I guess this story has to be one earliest examples of today's Creepypasta or /nosleep stories circa the Victorian era....
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Why is that so? Asking because I never really got what people see in those creepypastas
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Well been reading or rather listening alot of those creepypastas or stories found from /nosleep on youtube (although there a few good narrators online while most of them are repetitive for alot of reasons) and I can tell you that this story has alot of similar vibes to it only except written in a Victorian manner since alot of modern stories today lack the elaborate sophistication of how Victorians wrote (and spoke) stories since we got more simplified over the years.
Well assuming that when you hear "creepypasta" I think you must be thinking of "Jeff the Killer", "Ben Drowned", "Slenderman", etc but that's just scratching the surface since there's alot to that though although there's "Candle Cove" being the closest example to this story in question admist all the over "Lost Episode" pastas which are basically rehashes of "Squidward's Suicide" as in the "If you read one you read them all" phenomenon despite being good ones buried alongside with those.
Otherwords go on "nosleep" and read a story there and come back to me, I think you might something there.....
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Heh, brain beast said everything! XD
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I was snickering in my head at the thought of Poe's House of Usher written as a creepypasta.
Poe's famous opening:
"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was --but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit."
Would be turned into:
"So I was riding on a horse to this creepy old house. The sky was gloomy, the place looked decrepit and dark, some real Gothic-looking shit, you know? Anyway, I took one look at that creepy old house, the House of Usher, the locals called it, and I don't know why but it was like my soul just clammed up."
And imagine the ending of Poe's Masque of the Red Death:
"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
In creepypasta form:
""Holy shit," I thought to myself. The Red Death was here. Everyone at the party was fucking screaming in agonizing pain. It was like the goddamn apocalypse. Clocks stopping, fires going out, people dropping like flies. It was a bloodbath. Needless to say, the place belonged to the Red Death now."
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Suddenly I'm imagining Danny DeVito narrating these. XD
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I guess creepypastas are like the modern art of literature which as if our architectural and artistic talents are diminishing, even our literary talents and how we even speak ourselves is diminishing as well.
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My interest in horror stories began with spooky legends and ghost stories I heard from grown-ups or dug up in the school library as a kid, and then it sort of graduated to creepypasta when I started using the internet. But after a few years I ended up moving on from creepypasta to plain ol' literature, preferably good literature of course, and I think a major reason for that is exactly what you described. Creepypasta tends to be written in a simple, bare, less sophisticated style, which can give it a very raw and alarming energy of course, but can also make good ideas more forgettable because there aren't enough vivid sensations to imprint them onto memory.
Like, if the average creepypasta author had written Poe's Raven, it would likely lack the mystifying atmosphere and the intricate use of language that flow and merge together to turn a brief little spook tale into a darkling monument of mystery.
There does exist good creepypasta of course, and I've always been a fan of the legend of Candle Cove, but for the most part creepypasta is comparable to the juvenilia of classic authors. Lovecraft is an icon of fantasy and horror, but the stories he wrote in his childhood aren't all that memorable even if they have great creepy ideas, like his Beast in the Cave. I suppose creepypasta could be seen as a starting point for authors, before they evolve into a richer mode of expression.
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And don't get me start on the whole SCP Foundation entries which to be honest are even worse which contains every bit of Juvenile 4chan fear mongering trolling which is rather apparent in them.
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The murders (according to the limited edition book I just discussed):
1 - Mr,. Scaramouch
2 - The nameless baby
3 - Judy
4 - The doctor
5 - A gentleman's servant
(the blind man ?)
6 - The hangman (same stunt used in Jack Vance's DYING EARTH).
7 - The devil !
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Mr Punch earned his name.
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When an old family friend died, I acquired from her mostly German library, a book with the script of the Punch & Judy play, the history of the shows... The limited numbered edition was published in 1929, acquired by this friend in 1932 and is now one of my prize possessions. Illos, by Cruikshank
It is, as you stated, a litany of murders. Variants by some producers are also discussed (such as a courtier who comes on, takes off his hat and then stretches his neck like a giraffe. After he leaves ,Punch comes back and says "Who the hell are you, with your long neck, me would like to know".
There is also Punch's mistress ,yclept Polly, who, unlike Judy with her voice like a starling, does not speask [in one variant she does, and asks Punch why he killed her dear father] )
Tony Sarg, the author of this book, has been accused of making up the script, as it is unlikely that all this dialogue could be stated in the squawks and yells in the actual knock-about puppet show.
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The show had so many versions over thr centuries, it cpuld as well be the real deal, just one of the many.
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Very whimsical but sinister at the same time; the song's a good fit! One of my favorites by them, actually haha
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The song's great, thanks!
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