Basilisk: (bæz.ə.lɪsk) - also know as the Serpent King, is a mythical beast with lethal breath and gaze, whose nest can be located by the scorched earth surrounding it.
A basilisk can only be slain by seeing its reflection in a mirror
Almost 20 years ago I read about a woman who arranged her own sexual torture and murder. She had met her killer in an online chat forum and willingly arranged to meet him at a hotel room far from her home where he made her final wishes come true. Her body was discovered and her killer arrested within 48 hours.
The police and public were horrified, even the administrators of the chat forum that catered to torturous fantasy roleplay and sexual death were quick to respond with a public statement, and instituted a rule that members found to be trying to make such arrangements would be permanently banned and the encounter sent to the FBI.
Fast forward to three years ago; I set out to write a novel about the incident and interviewed many participants in the online chat rooms. I was surprised to discover that the people who indulge in this fetish aren't the slavering maniacs I imagined them to be. The range pf their personalities and education level spans the width of society; students, professors, professionals, sensualists, and yes, some semi-literate thrill seekers.
I framed the story within a patient/psychologist relationship, and as it unfolds the psychologist begins to suspect his new patient is an emerging serial killer. The more his patient reveals about himself the more the psychologist believes he is a powder keg of murderous intent. Along the way the psychologist follows the breadcrumbs his playful patient leaves for him and becomes obsessed with what he finds.
Nest Of The Basilisk is a grim psychological horror, one that has taken me two years to work up the courage to publish.
Look for it in late October.
No comments:
Post a Comment