When I was growing up in the 80s, stories that were marketed as ‘children’s' were occasionally brutal.
Characters got maimed or killed, tortured or traumatized, met with horrid ends in worlds that were anything but rosy. And this was a pattern that wasn't limited to, say, English literature ...

Children's Stories
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 18, 2021QUACKCAST 548 - Foreign Influence
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Sept. 14, 2021 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
Translating cultural concepts so they can be understood in a different country can be really tricky, most people never bother. Often the audience is just left to ...
QUACKCAST 547 - Franchise fail
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Sept. 7, 2021 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
There seemed to be a lull for a while after the 1990s and the massive sequel craze of the 80s, but nowadays we're back in full ...
Writing Tools
damehelsing at 12:00AM, May 2, 2021
Everyone has a different way of jotting down ideas, writing out their stories and planning their comic pages. (even if it may be on the walls too…)
When I was working on Scarred Eden (rip my baby project that’s on a reboot loop) I had a document of timelines ...
Consistency is Key
damehelsing at 12:00AM, April 18, 2021
So many people will tell you that consistency is key and in some areas, consistency is definitely key, but the only area I’ll be diving into today is art.
Is consistency really the key when it comes to art? I would say no but I will agree there are ...
Horror is in the Eye of the... Beholder?
damehelsing at 12:00AM, April 11, 2021
See what I did there? It’s an image of a Beholder… which normally has one giant eye right in the center of their face/body and the article is titled HORROR (the Beholder is scary looking) is in the EYE of the BEHOLDER? Yeah? No? Ok…
Seriously tho,
CONTENT ...
Resurrection
damehelsing at 12:00AM, April 4, 2021
Today is Easter and originally I was going to write a wholesome message about taking care of yourself (which you should) but then I was like “NAHHHH, let’s talk about characters dying and coming back.”
I know the wonderful Tantz_Aerine wrote an article on it here but I wanted ...
Romanticising Something Terrible
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 24, 2020
Who doesn't love pirates?
Kids love to dress up as them in Halloween or during carnival season. There was whole a whole era of Hollywood where pirate movies were the blockbuster vein of gold. Pirates in fiction are charming, fun, dastardly, and the epitome of adventure.
Pirates in real ...
Horror - Immersion and the Slow Burn
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 15, 2020
I just started the Netflix series called “The Hanting of Bly Manor”.
It's hard to say how it's going to turn out in the end, since I'm just at the beginning. But overall so far, I'm enjoying the thing. There are many unanswered questions already, and ...
Horror in Pieces
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 1, 2020
Now that's a little TOO scary!
Horror is perfect for metaphor and allegory. In fact, a horror story is often allegorical by default, what with its bizarre landscapes and freaky beasties.
Here are some categories of horror and some thoughts on what they symbolize:
Reality Bites
psycho killer! Qu ...