This is my first real post, but these are not necessarily my first drawings. When I began I only started drawing the most interesting monsters to me. I didn't have much to go off from the hard imagery of these characters, only really their figures. I had really enjoyed the chaotic act the poltergeist figure was making, I could on discern that it was molesting potatoes, balancing glassware and badly juggling cutlery, all which seemed very amusing to draw in one sweep. Slaughterford was even more limited. I only had the figure and nothing more other than what limited verbal information the Internet had. These two have been some of the most fun to draw, with the lunacy of the poltergeist and the morose vengeance of Slaughterford. I though it would be helpful to get some information about the monsters in order to have a better understanding of where they came from and from what mythology and stance they serve.
Poltergeists, coming from the combination of the German words poltern, meaning to make noise, and Geist, meaning "ghost" or "spirit." Their have been various incarnations over the world of poltergeists in cultures from England to Brazil. One of the more notable incidents was the Borley Rectory in Borley, England where a an force had seemed to ring bells, illuminate windows, and throw stones at valuables and glass. There had been many books written about the event and photos were take of the alleged ghosts that caused the phenomena. Another high profile case the Rosenheim Poltergeist coming from Bavaria, Germany where a lawyer's office had things like light blow out telephones ring with out a caller, drawers opening and closing at whim and lamps being destroyed. The Borley and Rosenheim cases have been called on for being fraudulent and that evidence was spotty at best and they had been propagated to get insurance money or to garner attention. The validity of poltergeists and ghosts in general have been a debated topic where there is no hard proof to back up the claims. but they still continue to haunt and frighten people when things can not be explained or determined.
This is essentially the only image of Slaughterford that I could find that wasn't the location of the same name or some unrelated horror film. Christopher Slaughterford of London was executed in Guildford July 9, 1709, for the murder of Jane Young, his fiancee. His case is very important, as he was the first person in modern England executed for murder based exclusively on circumstantial evidence. He is also famous for supposedly finding his fiancee's killer, one of his servants, in the form of a ghost. He was found guilty in court even though there was strong evidence proving his innocence such as his alibi and his cooperation with the police, however despite the evidence he was hung. He had left the world a long message before his fate at the gallows taleing that he had forgiven those who wronged him, proclaiming his innocence and his request to be reunited with his love in heaven. After his death he is said to return to the earth as a ghost in chains, with the cut noose around his neck, holding a staff in one hand, and a burning brand in the other, crying "Vengeance, Vengeance!" According to the legend, the guilty servant saw him and killed himself.credits to Wikipedia and various other independent sources I have forgotten
