Anton's Stories

I was barely twenty years old when I caught paranormal fever. It started with a movie; I don’t remember the title, but it deals with an angel who comes to earth on a mission and falls in love with a woman. Since then, I’ve been drawn to similar books and movies until eventually growing bored and annoyed with the simplicity. It may have been the Twilight series plots that got out of  hand. I liked the series’ beginning. Vampires trying to co-exist with people was intriguing. True Blood, the HBO series, was equally fascinating for a while. But then, the stories all seemed to go nowhere. A few tropes or storylines stand out when it comes to tales regarding humans, demons, and angels. 

The Love Story: For female audiences, these stories often begin with exciting storylines that become sappy as the tale continues. The engaging storyline often gets lost in the abrupt or slowly materializing romance. Few authors use romance to drive the storyline. Stephenie Meyer is one exception. She uses the love triangle to drive motivation from opposing sides and bring those sides together against a common enemy. I tip my hat to her but recognize her work is the exception. Another overused trope regarding the supernatural is that the innocent, beautiful girl causes the powerful vampire or angel to throw everything to the wind to obtain her love. The supernatural giving up immortality for the love of a mortal is a classic overused plot. These stories often have action but poor characterization, leaving me wondering what is so special about the girl to trade immortality.

An example of this is Fallen, by Lauren Kate. I was caught up in it for half of the story until – you guessed it – it became sappy. Here is a description of the story from Good Reads.

17-year-old Lucinda falls in love with a gorgeous, intelligent boy, Daniel, at her new school, the grim, foreboding Sword & Cross . . . only to find out that Daniel is a fallen angel, and that they have spent lifetimes finding and losing one another as good & evil forces plot to keep them apart.

The Demons of Doom. These storylines are often written by male authors, but female authors are making a big showing. They involve Biblical angelic or demonic characters by name and not so much by theological personality descriptions. These stories usually fail to consider theology or Biblical finalities. Example: Azazel and Asmodeus, two favorite demons, according to religious texts and dogma, have been taken away from our world forever. The authors do not give explanations of how the demons escape. Without the reason, I find it difficult to suspend disbelief. In addition to the creative and theological contradictions, many writers paint Hell as a living quarter for demons. Hell is where they live? I thought it was a place for punishment, but many authors like to give these demons power that allows them to exit the fiery pit.

In some cases, they are sent to earth by the devil himself – who, according to theology and religious dogma, won’t see Hell’s fire until the end of time. Still, these writers like to make the devil the ruler of Hell, as Hades rules the underworld in Greek mythology. In the end, just as the love story plotlines become sappy, the Demons of Doom plotlines become too simplistic. The demons have come to destroy humanity and wreak unprecedented havoc on the universe without substantial motivation. These storylines often lack complexity in the demonic characters, and if I’m watching the movie, I’m only waiting for the next fight scene. Take, for example, the film NEPHILIM. Here is a description from IMD

NEPHILIM begins with the first signs of warfare evolving between good and evil. Set in modern times, two archangels, an atypical priest, an ex-homicide detective and a resurrected spirit form an unlikely alliance to unite against an insurgence of fallen angels and the termination of free will. It is written that the final battle is destined when the seeds for the race of Nephilim were planted by Beshwa, the first fallen angel to mate with humans during the ancient days on earth. Now, Father Markus must lead the battle against Azazel, a fallen angel who plans to create a new race of Nephilim. If born, the new race will prevail over all mortals and wreak unmitigated havoc and unstoppable evil. Indeed, with the birth of the Nephilim, a final battle between good and evil is set to begin.

A third trope deals with the supernatural taking a human body. I thought The Devil Conspiracy, written by Ed Alan is the most annoying in this category. I was pulled into the story by the creative and intriguing plot. Scientists use DNA from heroes like Michelangelo to genetically procreate superchildren. The scientist, a secret society, has unique plans for the DNA of Christ, left behind on the shroud used to cover his crucified body. This is a great concept and original, but everything went south fast. When the heroic priest invites the angel Michael to take over his body, the story turns for the worse. Why an angel needed to use a lesser body – a human body – was a question that I could not shake. It was a question never answered.

These paranormal stories have one thing in common with many others – an over-humanization of the non-human characters. Most writers do not tap into the supernatural character’s motivation. As a result, the characters are too simplistic. This could be averted by answering basic questions readers like me have: how has a demon’s fate changed from the biblical? What is so special about a human being that makes an immortal want to sacrifice immortality? What is the human leverage over supernatural beings, and where does it come from? What is the essential nature of evil – it cannot be so simple as to destroy humanity.

I hope my paranormal tales provide these answers. I pride myself on searching for original angles. My goal with the Men Djinn and Angels series is to connect theology, science, history, and creativity in a thought-provoking way to entertain my audience. I hope to show that demons and angels are different from people by dehumanizing them and presenting a less visited view of humanity through the eyes of the supernatural. I don’t know if it works, but I like what I have done so far.