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In general fantasy and science fiction, the main characters have abilities that are a match for the antagonists. In horror, that is often not the case. Frodo had Sting and his elven mail to protect him. In Star Trek the crew members of the Enterprise have their wits, their training and their equipment to deal with their enemies. In a Zombie apocalypse, the main characters typically have little or nothing to protect them except what they find lying around.

In general fantasy and science fiction, the heroes typically have someone that knows what is going on and can explain what they will face. In horror this is seldom the case. Obi Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Dumbledore or some higher up in Star Fleet command or some member of the ship’s crew can usually give the lead characters at least some idea who they are up against and how to beat them. In horror, if there is someone that actually knows what is going on, they are probably in an asylum or some other inconvenient location, and their warnings may not make sense until after someone has been eaten. In addition, wise old mentors in horror have a disturbing habit of being wrong on very important issues. In a horror story, the protagonists are often responsible for their own survival and victory.

In general fantasy and science fiction most if not all the main characters come through all right in the end. In horror, the winners may well come away scarred for life. That’s assuming any of them actually survive. How many lead characters were dead at the end of Lord of the Rings? How many of the crew that don’t wear red shirts are killed in the average Star Trek episode? Sure there are exceptions to this, but in many cases even if a lead dies, they get brought back through some miracle of science or magic. Don’t count on this in horror. In a good horror story everyone is expendable. Even if there are survivors, they may still not be in good shape at the end. Many of Lovecraft’s protagonists found themselves long term residents of mental institutions by the end of his stories. They were often considered the luckier ones.

In general fantasy and science fiction, the heroes have a chance to stop the villains. In horror this may well not be the case. Fantasy and science fiction give a wide variety of means to combat a hopeless situation or otherwise impossible odds. In horror, if the ultimate evil actually makes an appearance it’s questionable whether it can be stopped at all. Frequently the key is dealing with the frail humans that are its allies before they can bring it all the way into our world. If the heroes mess that up, it’s all over. At the very least, putting an end to the ultimate evil may require the sacrifice of everyone’s lives or sanity or something equally valuable. The world wins, but the heroes lose.

So, if you are interested in adding a bit of horror to your fantasy or science fiction story, look at these guidelines and apply some of the horror end of them to the plot. Adding fantasy or science fiction to a horror story is generally as simple as making the thing that is stalking the protagonists some unearthly horror be it an alien from beyond or a demon from beyond. Give some genre blending a try and you’ll add variety and some suspense to your stories and perhaps make them a bit more exciting.

About the Author

Colin Neilson is an author and publisher of speculative fiction articles, stories and reviews. Readers interested in speculative fiction should go to Spectacular Speculations for a new electronic speculative fiction magazine. Authors will be interested in the author’s page which contains submission and publication information.

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During the age of exploration, it was important to be able to distinguish between friendly ships and those of enemy Pirate ships. Pirate flags were used as a way of intimidating and threatening anyone who encountered the Pirates and played a big part in creating a fearsome reputation for the ship.

Thought that pirate flags were always black, right? Wrong… the original flags flown by early Pirates were actually RED!

Both black and red flags carried a significant message. As you might have guessed, the red flags early pirates sailed under represented Bloodshed and a warning, and meant that no quarter would be given to those who crossed paths with the ship. The Pirates hoped that the sight of this flag would cause early surrender and an easy conquest. Black flags were traditionally used on Plague ships as a warning to others, so the progression to Black flags for Pirates was natural as it already represented Death. The Pirates called this the ‘Banner of King Death’.

The flags were then made more elaborate and unique by using other symbols of death or violence, such as Skull and Crossbones, a Cutlass or even an Hourglass which meant the enemies time was up! Probably the most well-known Pirate of them all, no not Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard was thought to have flown under a black flag that featured a skeleton standing next to a bleeding heart, holding an hourglass in one hand and a spear in the other! Nice ay…

Most Pirate flags are generally known as ‘Jolly Rogers’ or ‘Skull and Crossbones’. It is relatively easy to see where the name Skull and Crossbones comes from but there are several possibilities for the derivation of the name Jolly Roger. The most probable of these are; the English pronunciation of the French term ‘Jolie Rouge’ (Red Flag). It is also thought it could have originated from the word Rouge, meaning thief, beggar, or vagabond. The final theory is that it came from the phrase ‘Old Roger’ which was an English slang term for the Devil.

So what impact does this have and what can we use this information for? Well, with the continued rise of the popularity of Pirates and the increase in the number of Pirate themed events and parties, it’s now possible to theme your party to your favourite Pirate captain or Pirate Flag.

Most fancy dress or part stores and online retailers will offer you a selection of Pirate flags, normally restricted to generic skull and crossbones against a black background and you my have to shop further afield to find a good selection of pirate flags but they do exit. And if your costume supplier is unable to offer you a selection, try the many specialist flag suppliers operating on the internet.

Get more information about medieval weaponry. Available @ Amazon.com

In sync with the world

In the world we live in there has been a very distinct path from sticks and stones to the weapons we have now and this is something you really need to consider in your writing. We have progressed roughly from stone, to copper and bronze, then iron, into eventually steel. Now we have composite materials such as Kevlar.

The important thing to realize here is that weapons were made according to the skills and knowledge of weapon smiths. If you are going to have sophisticated weapons in your novel or story you have to have the support to back it up. And steel is a good example of this. It takes a high level of knowledge and skill to make steel and if your world is composed of grass and wood huts it doesn’t make sense to have these steel weapons just appearing as if from nowhere.

In summary the weapons you use in your novel have to fit into the world you have created. Another thing to consider is availability. If you are using Iron then there should be iron mines in your world. Availability of materials is also an important factor. Our world went through an extended Iron Age because iron was very readily available and easy to work with.

A Medieval Arms Race

Weapons, armor and tactics are always in a state of balance with each other. As metal working skills improve, better swords and weapons are made and the other side of the coin of this is that better armor is also made. Keep this in mind. Better blacksmithing and forging skills is not just about weapons, it is also about armor and fortifications. Offense and defense benefit equally and there is always a balance. This is a medieval arms race that is always moving forward yet always in balance.

A Philosophy of Weapons in writing

One of the biggest pitfalls that fantasy writers can fall into is to make super weapons that have incredible powers. Often times these powers are bequeathed on the weapon through magic. It is too easy to have an ancient sword that was forged by a magical Dwarven blacksmith who captured a dragon and used its fire to harden the magical sword like no other sword has ever been hardened.

While this can be fun to write and maybe fun to read you should do your best to avoid situations like this. It is too easy to rely on things like this as ways to get you out of difficult situations. Remember, everything has to be in balance, and everything has to make sense.

If you do have a weapon, say that your hero is wielding, and it has unusual powers, you should balance this with something. What is the cost of this weapon or sword? Does wielding it bring danger to the wielder? Is there a fatigue factor? Consider this. It also adds dimension and excitement to the story. If our hero is hesitant to use the sword it will add a dimension of drama to the story. He better have a really good reason to use it.

Our Development of Weapons

Here is a rough look at how weapons developed in our world and keep in mind that the real development is closely tied to factors such as the development of forges and improvements in furnace technology. Getting the fire hotter with a better furnace and bellows is what really moved metal working forward. Wood working technology also played an important role in the development of weapons. Stronger shafts and hand pieces were critical for mounting ax heads and other types of weapons.

The earliest, and easiest metal working was done with copper because copper is soft, malleable, and easy to work with. But it had limited use in weapons for these same reasons. It was reasonably sufficient for short daggers but could not be drawn out into a sword length.

Weapon crafting started to advance with the discovery of bronze which is a blending of 90% copper and 10% tin (or 10% gold). This development saw a big advance in weapons, and daggers could be made much longer or as long as a short sword. But these short swords were predominantly for stabbing with the point. Bronze was very effective for thrusting weapons such as dirks, daggers, short swords, and spearheads but they were not very effective for keeping and edge and slashing. Bronze axe heads mounted on wooden handles were very popular. They saw a lot of use and were reasonably effective.

Iron had a dramatic effect on weapons. It was readily available, easy to work with, and it was easy to sharpen. The big impact this had was to make weapons easy to make and more wide spread. The big development in the use of iron was the discovery of cold forging where the metal was heated and hammered rather than melted and cast. This technique made iron stronger, less brittle, and more reliable than bronze weapons. Iron was the metal of choice for many centuries because of these factors and because of its relative abundance.

Steel is a substantially better metal for weapons and armor. It is significantly harder than iron yet it has a certain amount of flexibility and spring back when it is stressed. This spring back makes it much more resilient and durable under use.

Steel is simply iron that has carbon added to it during the forging process. This carbon is often in the form of charcoal. And this art of making steel requires a significant amount of skill because the right amount of carbon has to be added and the steel has to be quenched and tempered correctly. (Quenching and tempering is the process of heating with fire and cooling with water). Steel brings weapons to new heights because it can be used to make longer, more durable weapons, and it can hold an edge extremely well, even on just one side.

One big aspect of steel in combat is the affect it has on the speed of the fight. Weapons that are lighter and stronger means combatants can move much quicker. This was an important aspect of the arms race.

And the pinnacle of this development might lie in the rapier. It is a weapon that is extremely light yet still very strong. It is thin enough to be used as an effective thrusting weapon yet it still has an edge that can be used for slashing. We may be able to take this a further step to the fencing foil in that it is a thrusting only weapon that can be wielded extremely fast and is used to find even the smallest gaps in an opponent’s armor.

Types of weapons

Here is a quick look and explanation of some common medieval weapons.

Dagger- The first effective metal weapons. Originally used as just a thrusting weapon but as metal skills developed they carried an edge and could be used for slashing. Daggers were the ancestors of swords.

Dirk- A long dagger that could be used for thrusting and slashing. They were often made from the cut down blades of swords. They ranged in length from 6 inches to 22 inches.

Sword – There are tremendous variations of swords but typically it is a one handed steel weapon, sharpened on both sides, and effective as both a slashing and thrusting weapon.

Katana- Japanese curved sword with an edge on one side. Effective used for both thrusting and slashing.

Scimitar- A long curved sword that is sharpened on one side and effective as predominantly a slashing weapon.

Two handed Sword- a large sword that is generally 60 to 70 inches in length. It was heavy and required two hands to wield effectively. It takes a larger than average sized man to wield this kind of sword and it can be a very effective weapon in combat against lines of combatants and in particular against foes wielding pole arms. It had limited used in one on one combat although a sword like this often had a wrapped section at the base of the blade so the wielder can choke up and gain more control in tight fighting situations.

Pole Weapons- These are exactly what they sound like; weapons mounted on the ends of poles. When used in unison, a group of combatants with pole weapons could form a formidable defense or offense. A pole weapon could also generate tremendous force because of its long swing. They were also often used against combatants on horseback. A halberd is a good example of this. It typically had an axe for slashing, a point for thrusting, and a hook that could be used to pull an opponent down from atop a horse.

Mace- This is a one handed weapon that has a wooden handle and a steel or iron ball at the end of it. Sometimes this metal ball has spikes. It was effective as a crushing weapon and it could generate enough force to break a foes armor. The spikes could penetrate the hardest armor.

Flail- this is a wooden handled weapon with a length of chain. At the end of the chain was a mace ball either with or without spikes. When swung it generates tremendous force and one of the uses for a flail was its ability to reach up and over an opponent’s shield.

Axe – Axes were an effective weapon that could be created with moderate metal working skill. This is because the Axe head could be bulkier and have less length that needed to keep an edge. This head would normally be mounted on a wooden handle. Axes came in many variations typically one side with an edge and the other with a point. Some axes had edges on both sides and a point at the top end tip of the handle for thrusting.

Even though you are writing fantasy and creating a fantasy world you still have to ground the world in ways that make sense and you have to give your weapons an authentic feel. This means they have to fit the world you are building and they have to follow rules that make sense to the reader who probably has considerable knowledge of medieval weapons, how they are made, and how they are used.