[Recs] Dark/Horror-Themed Fic/Art/Vid Round-Up
Autumn is imminent in the northern hemisphere! Which means Halloween is imminent! Sort of… In any case, here are a collection of six dark/horror recs to tide you over until the S9 premiere on 8 October, and the hopefully spooky times to follow. Three of these deal with Purgatory, two with Hell, and the first with… many different horrors. ;)
All of these fanworks were chosen for their distinct sense of style, uncompromising attention to the details and emotions that perpetuate horror, and their incisiveness as regards Dean and those around him:
01. Title: a consummation devoutly to be wished [the el to be jazz remix]
Author: losttheirbones
Tags: alcoholism, fire, jail/prison, substance abuse (alcohol), supernatural powers, hallucinations, sexual abuse (non-con)
Characters: Dean, Sam, Kubrick, Castiel, Gordon, Ben, Lisa, Crowley, John, Mary, Victor, Rufus.
Genre/pairing: Dean/Sam. Dean/Kubrick. Dean/Castiel.
Rating: NC-17
Word-count: 9,894
Spoilers: N/A
Warnings: rape. murder. abuse of haiku.
Summary: stop. breathe. hold back the fire. your name is dean winchester. you are alone in the world. breathe. clutch the bottle tighter. the only company you have is the hallucination of your dead brother. the fire is coming -- STOP.
Reccer’s comments: I adore the macabre twist to a canon that is already, arguably, fairly macabre and twisted. The haiku were a touch of brilliance, too--my favorite was the one with the line about mangoes (confused as to why there are mangoes? read on!). Beautifully and uncompromisingly written--I love the tone that's evoked here, and carried through to the very last line.
02. Title: it had to be you
Artist: badbastion
Tags: blood, hell/post-hell issues, torture
Characters: Alastair, Dean
Genre/pairing: Alastair/Dean, horror
Type/medium: digital
Rating: NSFW for graphic gore
Spoilers: N/A
Warnings: gore/guro, blood, body horror, violence, torture, disturbing imagery, evisceration, discordant slow dancing, guts
Description: The first time Alastair saw Dean Winchester on his rack, he was already drenched with blood and sweat, and the smell of singed flesh hung around him. Dean sneered at him, the gesture pointless, brave, cocky, beautiful through his busted lip and bloody teeth. As Alastair strolled toward him, he realized he’d been humming something under his breath since he'd first walked in. Some of the bravado went out of Dean's sneer at hearing it, and Alastair’s smile widened. For nobody else gave me a thrill, he sang, and with all your faults, I love you still, he sang, and he shoved his narrow hand deep into Dean’s mouth and cracked the hinges of Dean’s jaw, obliterating his lovely mouth.
It had to be you, he crooned, and just like that, it was their song.
Reccer’s comments: The colors are perfect--I love the cool tones Alistair's shirt adds to the warmer shades of the rest. And all that intestinal detail! I feel odd saying that, haha, but it's true.
03. Title: Dean/Purgatory Teaser
Vidder: volta1228
Tags: purgatory/post-purgatory issues
Characters: Dean
Genre/pairing: gen, horror
Type/medium: video/digital imaging
Rating: NSFW for graphic goe
Spoilers: Nothing past the end of 7x23, really.
Warnings: N/A
Description: Because Purgatory Dean is one BAMF... Mock teaser for Supernatural's Dean/Purgatory storyline in season 8.
Reccer’s comments: This is such a treat. I really like how this vid works with typography. And the additional animation in the middle segment is just sublime. I adore how this vid folds minute visual/aural references back to earlier seasons even it's constructed around Purgatory.
04. Title: And When the Darkness Comes, We Smile
Author: earzwideopen
Tags: surgery, hell/post-hell issues, horror, pain
Characters: Dean, Alastair
Genre/pairing: gen, horror
Rating: R
Word-count: ~1500
Spoilers: N/A
Warnings: Surgery-related nightmare fuel (for real), semi-graphic Hell memories, strong language, author potentially going overboard with her usage of gallows humor
Summary: Dean gets anesthesia awareness while under the knife. It's about as fun as you'd expect.
Reccer’s comments: This combines the best of the classic Dean/Hell genre and the best of the haunting, new elements introduced by the scene that actually takes place. I adore the way this fic builds up to that slow reveal, that it's not Hell this time, not really--and that that's worse. And the references to music here are eerie--that initial disjuncture, and the way its descriptions of the melody from there on out weave into the narrative, and by extension, all through Dean's chest cavity... It's a rollercoaster of both the aural and the visceral.
05. Title: Breathless
Author: cymbalism219
Tags: purgatory/post-purgatory issues, blood loss, pain, injury, [warning: other hurt characters]
Characters: Dean, Castiel, Benny
Genre/pairing: Dean/Castiel, horror
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: ~1000
Spoilers: Nothing specific, season 8 knowledge of Purgatory necessary
Warnings: Breakneck pacing and heart-stopping action
Summary: "Keep watch," Castiel snaps as he again lays hands on Dean. Guilt and anger rip through him. He was wrong to take from Dean while he was wounded, wrong to endanger Dean with his presence in the first place. "You will not die," Castiel commands as he forces Dean's heart to beat, his lungs to expand. "You will not."
Reccer’s comments: I adore the vibrant urgency of the situation here, and especially Castiel's insistence that Dean will not die here. As a reader you get totally caught up in the emotion and the frenzy of the thing; it's absolutely thrilling.
06. Title: Cataclysm DW | AO3
Author: rosereddawn
Tags: hell/post-hell issues, ptsd, purgatory/post-purgatory issues, torture
Characters: Dean, Castiel, Benny
Genre/pairing: Dean/Castiel, horror
Rating: R
Word-count: 2000
Spoilers: Up to 8x01.
Warnings: torture, torturing, PTSD
Summary: Benny's having a hard time just looking the other way from what Dean does.
Reccer’s comments: Dean and Purgatory have a moment. Benny oversees. This is the kind of fic where honestly I want to say, "just read it, okay?" because living in this fic is so much better than having it described to you. So… just read it, okay? XD
Don't see you favorite? Tell us all about it! Reccing is 100% open to all comm members, so let us know what you're in love with these days. The more, the merrier! :D
All of these fanworks were chosen for their distinct sense of style, uncompromising attention to the details and emotions that perpetuate horror, and their incisiveness as regards Dean and those around him:
01. Title: a consummation devoutly to be wished [the el to be jazz remix]
Author: losttheirbones
Tags: alcoholism, fire, jail/prison, substance abuse (alcohol), supernatural powers, hallucinations, sexual abuse (non-con)
Characters: Dean, Sam, Kubrick, Castiel, Gordon, Ben, Lisa, Crowley, John, Mary, Victor, Rufus.
Genre/pairing: Dean/Sam. Dean/Kubrick. Dean/Castiel.
Rating: NC-17
Word-count: 9,894
Spoilers: N/A
Warnings: rape. murder. abuse of haiku.
Summary: stop. breathe. hold back the fire. your name is dean winchester. you are alone in the world. breathe. clutch the bottle tighter. the only company you have is the hallucination of your dead brother. the fire is coming -- STOP.
Reccer’s comments: I adore the macabre twist to a canon that is already, arguably, fairly macabre and twisted. The haiku were a touch of brilliance, too--my favorite was the one with the line about mangoes (confused as to why there are mangoes? read on!). Beautifully and uncompromisingly written--I love the tone that's evoked here, and carried through to the very last line.
02. Title: it had to be you
Artist: badbastion
Tags: blood, hell/post-hell issues, torture
Characters: Alastair, Dean
Genre/pairing: Alastair/Dean, horror
Type/medium: digital
Rating: NSFW for graphic gore
Spoilers: N/A
Warnings: gore/guro, blood, body horror, violence, torture, disturbing imagery, evisceration, discordant slow dancing, guts
Description: The first time Alastair saw Dean Winchester on his rack, he was already drenched with blood and sweat, and the smell of singed flesh hung around him. Dean sneered at him, the gesture pointless, brave, cocky, beautiful through his busted lip and bloody teeth. As Alastair strolled toward him, he realized he’d been humming something under his breath since he'd first walked in. Some of the bravado went out of Dean's sneer at hearing it, and Alastair’s smile widened. For nobody else gave me a thrill, he sang, and with all your faults, I love you still, he sang, and he shoved his narrow hand deep into Dean’s mouth and cracked the hinges of Dean’s jaw, obliterating his lovely mouth.
It had to be you, he crooned, and just like that, it was their song.
Reccer’s comments: The colors are perfect--I love the cool tones Alistair's shirt adds to the warmer shades of the rest. And all that intestinal detail! I feel odd saying that, haha, but it's true.
03. Title: Dean/Purgatory Teaser
Vidder: volta1228
Tags: purgatory/post-purgatory issues
Characters: Dean
Genre/pairing: gen, horror
Type/medium: video/digital imaging
Rating: NSFW for graphic goe
Spoilers: Nothing past the end of 7x23, really.
Warnings: N/A
Description: Because Purgatory Dean is one BAMF... Mock teaser for Supernatural's Dean/Purgatory storyline in season 8.
Reccer’s comments: This is such a treat. I really like how this vid works with typography. And the additional animation in the middle segment is just sublime. I adore how this vid folds minute visual/aural references back to earlier seasons even it's constructed around Purgatory.
04. Title: And When the Darkness Comes, We Smile
Author: earzwideopen
Tags: surgery, hell/post-hell issues, horror, pain
Characters: Dean, Alastair
Genre/pairing: gen, horror
Rating: R
Word-count: ~1500
Spoilers: N/A
Warnings: Surgery-related nightmare fuel (for real), semi-graphic Hell memories, strong language, author potentially going overboard with her usage of gallows humor
Summary: Dean gets anesthesia awareness while under the knife. It's about as fun as you'd expect.
Reccer’s comments: This combines the best of the classic Dean/Hell genre and the best of the haunting, new elements introduced by the scene that actually takes place. I adore the way this fic builds up to that slow reveal, that it's not Hell this time, not really--and that that's worse. And the references to music here are eerie--that initial disjuncture, and the way its descriptions of the melody from there on out weave into the narrative, and by extension, all through Dean's chest cavity... It's a rollercoaster of both the aural and the visceral.
05. Title: Breathless
Author: cymbalism219
Tags: purgatory/post-purgatory issues, blood loss, pain, injury, [warning: other hurt characters]
Characters: Dean, Castiel, Benny
Genre/pairing: Dean/Castiel, horror
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: ~1000
Spoilers: Nothing specific, season 8 knowledge of Purgatory necessary
Warnings: Breakneck pacing and heart-stopping action
Summary: "Keep watch," Castiel snaps as he again lays hands on Dean. Guilt and anger rip through him. He was wrong to take from Dean while he was wounded, wrong to endanger Dean with his presence in the first place. "You will not die," Castiel commands as he forces Dean's heart to beat, his lungs to expand. "You will not."
Reccer’s comments: I adore the vibrant urgency of the situation here, and especially Castiel's insistence that Dean will not die here. As a reader you get totally caught up in the emotion and the frenzy of the thing; it's absolutely thrilling.
06. Title: Cataclysm DW | AO3
Author: rosereddawn
Tags: hell/post-hell issues, ptsd, purgatory/post-purgatory issues, torture
Characters: Dean, Castiel, Benny
Genre/pairing: Dean/Castiel, horror
Rating: R
Word-count: 2000
Spoilers: Up to 8x01.
Warnings: torture, torturing, PTSD
Summary: Benny's having a hard time just looking the other way from what Dean does.
Reccer’s comments: Dean and Purgatory have a moment. Benny oversees. This is the kind of fic where honestly I want to say, "just read it, okay?" because living in this fic is so much better than having it described to you. So… just read it, okay? XD
Don't see you favorite? Tell us all about it! Reccing is 100% open to all comm members, so let us know what you're in love with these days. The more, the merrier! :D