Alison Huff
I really can’t remember exactly what inspired me to research Asmodeus back in 2012, but as I so often do with any topic I’m curious about, I went down an internet rabbit hole when I did…
Reading through varied lore surrounding him—he’s the epitome of evil in some, and tricksy but rather kind in others—it occurred to me that the truth of any story is based on the teller.
In the Book of Tobit, for example, Asmodeus killed seven men on their wedding nights before the marriages were consummated with the bride (Sarah). In the Talmud, however, he is a judge of moral character with a capacity for empathy and kindness, as much as trickery or evil when it was deserved.
I began to think about the possible reasons he had for killing Sarah’s husbands, beyond simple malice, while also considering his moral judgment of others. I wondered whether Sarah might have loved him back, and if she did, how the fallout for his actions might have played out for them. I also thought about what made Asmodeus who he is… the situations he might have faced, shaping the man he grew to become.
All these things came together in my mind and I just free-wrote a bunch of thoughts, ideas, plot possibilities, and random notes. And the story materialized from there…
Reading through varied lore surrounding him—he’s the epitome of evil in some, and tricksy but rather kind in others—it occurred to me that the truth of any story is based on the teller.
In the Book of Tobit, for example, Asmodeus killed seven men on their wedding nights before the marriages were consummated with the bride (Sarah). In the Talmud, however, he is a judge of moral character with a capacity for empathy and kindness, as much as trickery or evil when it was deserved.
I began to think about the possible reasons he had for killing Sarah’s husbands, beyond simple malice, while also considering his moral judgment of others. I wondered whether Sarah might have loved him back, and if she did, how the fallout for his actions might have played out for them. I also thought about what made Asmodeus who he is… the situations he might have faced, shaping the man he grew to become.
All these things came together in my mind and I just free-wrote a bunch of thoughts, ideas, plot possibilities, and random notes. And the story materialized from there…
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