Hell is other people

[cainofdreaming]

Apologies in advance if this comes out incoherent. Got hit by fever and I'm dreading that it's the pigflu, so I'm not exactly thinking straight at the moment. But anyways...

As to the title, sometimes I agree.



Following scans are from Clive Barker's Hellraiser #4, the story choice being pretty heavily influenced by my infatuation with the art but the story itself is also very evoking for me.

Anyways (I do use the word too much, but too scrambled to wrack my brain to find a replacement), let's get on to the story. Which is about a man, by the name of Ian Woolrich, and his wife Cathy. Who happened to have the misfortune of attending a new year's party with friends, killing time by solving puzzles. One distinct puzzle box in particular, which he cracked.

Some time later when he and his wife got ready to leave, he went to get their coats. Inside the closet he suddenly heard the door close behind him, seemingly due to draft. Opening it again he found himself in a pitch black room with a lighted golden door. And the door behind him vanished.

Behind the door, only more blackness and another door. Twice as far as the first. And so forth. And now to our visual part of this exercise.

Approximately seven years after these events Ian was finally starting to break away from being a total shut-in, never going through a door unless accompanied by another person. Even planning a vacation. Then one night he woke to Cathy's coughing. Something stuck in her throat. Running for help he was faced with their front door, opting for a window after being momentarily struck with terror. Soon he returned with a doctor friend, though Cathy had already managed to dislodge the thing in her throat - a small white diamond shaped object - and afraid that Ian had again vanished ran from their room. Cue visual part again.



Six pages out of a 19 page story. Oh, and for those inclined, the name of the story was "Like Flies to Wanton Boys."

Finally one scan of Hampton's art from Hellraiser poster book, plus the accompanying artpiece blurb.

Comments

[comicoz]

From someone who had it (and unwillingly/unknowningly then passed it to his wife and two kids), if it feels like the flu, but is strangely in your chest (such as making breathing annoyingly hard, painful, or rattily), you have it. If you have the flu but it is nasal/throat type, you have normal flu.

That's the easiest, layman's way to tell. It's far from 100%, but it's a fairly benign (although still a nasty flu) as long as you don't get a fever. The fever is #1 of the bad parts of it. #2 is the fact that your body has to work so hard to kill it that you're very succeptible (sp, I know) to secondary type infections. Took me nearly 6 weeks from start to feeling mostly ok.

[cainofdreaming]

Thanks for the info, have to keep that in mind. Can't really tell what this is at this point, just got the fever and diarrhea, which I hear happens rarely with h1n1 but still does sometimes, at this point. Should really be off the computer too, but I was asleep for most of the day and I'd rather do something while I still can if this puts me to bed for a prolonged time.

Meh.

[midnightvoyager]

Except that could also mean pneumonia. Though pneumonia is usually also accompanied by some form of back soreness.

[cainofdreaming]

Ugh. Ive been having some lower back pain for a while now, so now my hypochondriac side is really getting antsy. Probably just a result from over-use of computer and bad chair, tho... Pneumonia doesn't usually just jump on you, right? My little brother had it (some years back, unrelated to pigflu), an he was feverish and coughing for a while before it went that far. I've yet to develop a cough myself.

Actually, I seem to be feeling a bit better today. Not feeling like I could simply drop if I shake my head or bend down (dizziness is fun), so maybe it's just a local infection.

[midnightvoyager]

Well... not usually. It absolutely sneak-attacked me.

But yeah, coughing is also a big sign. Also feeling like neither side of your nose works at all. (Always a party for someone who is terrified of being unable to breathe)

[psychopathicus_rex]

Dayum. That's a far cry from the usual 'open the pretty puzzle box and Cenobites with chains come to tear you to shreds' scenario. This is a much more subtle torture. Is it the same box, or a different one?

[cainofdreaming]

It doesn't look like the standard Lemarchand's variant, no. It's red. Almost like blood. In the comics they did have lots of variant puzzles that could invite the Cenobites too. Not all of them boxes. Heck, not all of them physical.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Ah, OK. I only know of the franchise second-hand, so such knowledge is a bit beyond me.

[lamashtar]

Don't forget bronchial infections can sound just like a flu, when mucus bubbles in your chest.

Sigh! I own a number of these issues, but they are so DAMN depressing.