Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy - Posts Tagged "southern-fiction"
Southern Eccentricities and Southern Characters
I enjoy Southern fiction, especially Southern Gothic and Southern horror. Eccentric characters in Southern fiction are not hard to find because eccentric people in the South are not hard to find. The same tends to be true of New England, and it is no surprise that New England and the South have provided the United States with some of its finest writers. I will list below some of the eccentric characters I have encountered, either directly or through family stories, in my own life:
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
Southern Eccentricities and Southern Characters
I enjoy Southern fiction, especially Southern Gothic and Southern horror. Eccentric characters in Southern fiction are not hard to find because eccentric people in the South are not hard to find. The same tends to be true of New England, and it is no surprise that New England and the South have provided the United States with some of its finest writers. I will list below some of the eccentric characters I have encountered, either directly or through family stories, in my own life:
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
-A distant cousin who sliced his wife's (lover's? rapist's?) head down to the spinal cord with a large knife. He was convicted of mansalaughter, pardoned by Tennessee Governor Henry Horton the following year, and died young in his 40s of a heart attack.
=A distant cousin who, with his girlfriend, got high on drugs and threw an old lady into the Cumberland River in Nashville. The woman survived by holding on to a branch. My cousin went to prison for a long time. Upon release, he committed another crime and has even more time behind bars.
-A man married to two of my cousins on different sides of the family. He was an alcoholic who knew his Bible well, and ran a used car dealship, eventually setting up one in Florida. When he died, his ashes were scattered by helicoptor over his used car dealership.
=A half great-uncle who as a child put a pitchfork prongs up under a hay slide used by other children. My dad, who was a child at the time, found it before it could hurt or kill anyone. This same cousin was with my uncle, and he laughed, pulled out a knife, and cut him severely, though luckily the blade did not hit any vital structures. This same man was chased by his brother with a Japanese sword his brother took home in World War II because the guy tried to seduce his wife. He decided not to seduce her anymore and tried to seduce another brother's wife. Eventually he married and settled down when he was old.
-Two half-great uncles who got drunk, killed a farmer's calf, offered to pay for it and apologized, but the farmer pressed charges and both went to prison. One of them later became a plumber in Detroit.
-A brutal and wickeed distant cousin who kicked his pregant wife to death--and was not charged.
-my paternal grandpa tried moonshining, and his half-brother bragged about how good the moonshine was, and someone stole my Grandpa's still. That ended his career in moonshining.
-a cousin mysteriously shot to death in cold blood by a Smyrna, TN police officer in the 1940s. The officer was charged but acquitted by a jury. There must be more to that story....
-a woman married to a distant cousin who liked to flick children's ears--hard--in church and who once put wine instead of grape juice into the Lord's Supper at the rural Church of Christ she attended.
There are more. How could I ever run out of characters? If you are from the American South you might recognize similar characters. Some of them would fit perfectly into a Southern Gothic or Southern horror novel or story. Use what you already have from memories or stories you were told growing up and you will never have a shortage of story ideas, characters, or plots.
Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy
The blog of Michael Potts, writer of Southern fiction, horror fiction, and poetry.
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