Three Experiences that Inspired Raventree Stories. — Jillane E. Purrazzi
Inspiration can come from anywhere. Books, movies, music, or sometimes even just a sound or a feeling that sticks with you. But sometimes personal experiences and events can slip into your stories and turn into something else all together. I found many such instances in The Raventree Society. Some where as small as the names I chose, or a snatch of conversation, some were more powerful. Here are three of the first that come to mind.
(Some spoilers)
Season Two Episode Three: The Devil’s Well.
Lost Camper Drills.
I worked at a Camp in Michigan for four summers. The camp was on a beautiful, though swampy, piece of ground with two lakes on site. One of which had a dock and was used for fishing. Since drowning was a major danger, the lake was always the first area of concern if a child went missing. Because of that if we ever lost a child a horn would sound and we would all run down to the lake. The kids would stay on land with some designated supervisors, and us councilors would dive into the water, down to the bottom, and feel around in the mud for a body. And we did a drill every year. We as councilors would never know if the drill was for an actual missing child (it only happened once and it was only because a councilor miscounted) or just for practice.
Writing The Devil’s Well I pulled on these experiences. When the spirit of a drown child pulls Rory into the water, Kyle finds himself digging through deep, cold layers of mud in an attempt to find Rory. Needless to say, it brought up some crazy memories.
Season Two Episodes One and Five: Grace Cemetery
The Graveyard
I grew up overseas, but every few years we would come back to the states to visit family and get rest. One year we stayed in an old farm house by our family’s home church. Just on the other side of the (honestly somewhat creepy) old church building was the church graveyard.
Being such a lover of the outdoors, I was rarely inside if I didn’t have to be. I spent most of that time in the woods, but I would also spend a lot of time in the graveyard. Yes. I was an odd child. I had a tree there that was shaped like a four-fingered hand which was perfect for sitting in and making friends with the local robins and chipmunks. And I would often wander through the graveyards, reading the names, and creating little designs from pinecones, rocks, and flowers on the graves where no one left anything. And I would make up stories about them.
It was most beautiful in the winter.
When I was writing the second season of The Raventree Society the memory of that snow-covered graveyard was very clear. With the weeping willows hanging over, and the grave of the child where a place was left for letters to be left (no, I never read them) and the place where the trees had grown over the oldest. It never seemed creepy to me, though. Which is why I had to end it as a place of beauty in the fifth episode.
Season Three Episode One: Home
Tyler Visits Kyle
Who here has had sleep paralysis?
It’s actually really common, and I was quite shocked when I found out how many people shared my experiences. But, I still haven’t heard of anyone with quite the same version as me. Which is strange, because one of the creepiest things about sleep paralysis is how universal the experiences are. The hag on your chest. The shadow people. The man with the wide brimmed hat. A black cat. They are common experiences.
What is odd about my experiences, however, is that I am not always (in fact, I rarely am) paralyzed when I am in this state between awake and asleep. In fact, I am often wide awake, interacting with something in my room that isn’t there. I have some pretty strange stories, but not all of them are bad. I have been visited by people I love, including some who have passed and some who I never even got to meet in this life. I have been comforted and have seen beautiful things unfold in the darkness around me, just as much as I have seen monsters and demons.
So when Kyle finds himself unable to sleep because of the homicidal spirit who follows him everywhere, and looks over to find his brother sitting on the floor beside his bed, protecting him, I know this feeling well. Perhaps not in this exact context, but it was a feeling I knew had to be brought into reality in words.
So that is it: three of the personal experiences I drew from in The Raventree Society.
Are there any books you have found you related particularly well too? Perhaps a certain scene that brings back really strong memories?
Originally published at http://www.jillanepurrazzi.com.
