devilry: a reference
This is a side note which might be of interest to anyone who ends up reading this down the line. It's a collection of various things which made this particular verse and this particular woman exist in my mind. So, here's a whole bunch of shit about women, magic, lore, and devilry. o7
i. Blues Lore
The Greatest Bluesman is a retelling of the classic folklore surrounding Robert Leroy Johnson, who you might recognize from a Supernatural Episode also themed after his story. Or the Metalocalypse episode Bluesklok and movie O Brother, Where Art Thou. The whole Devil and the guitarist thing is kind of infamous. I don't know how much blues music/Jimi Hendrix you listen to, but the representation of witchcraft and magic in this verse is highly influenced/built around them, as well as that of gospel music but that's a given considering there would be no blues music without gospel music.
ii. Cultural
Other influences include Gullah superstition, miscellaneous and often incredibly erroneous pieces of vodoun pop-culture, as well as some slightly more accurate pieces of Hollywood. Also, I had not seen this terrible movie when I wrote The Greatest Bluesman years ago, but the representation of the rich old French families are very much in line with the workings of this verse, surprise there's also incest!
iii. Incest
And if you're wondering why Mary just had to fuck her own son (Vee, what is it with you and incest?) that was mostly inspired by Keanu kissing his sister in Devil's Advocate, the power of incest babies is also talked about in Dumplings, and the much more classic example of Oedipus/Antigone, where we learn that such acts of abhorrent blasphemy cause evil, ruin, and despair. (Also, did anyone else notice Angel Heart and Devil's Advocate just switched around Al Paccino and Robert De Niro?)
iv. Movies
Other important Hollywood influences on Devil lore would be: The Omen series, Rosemary's Baby, Jacob's Ladder, Constantine, the dreadful Ninth Gate, and while I had not seen them at the time of writing: Blood on Satan's Claw, Antichrist, and Possession are nice ones to add to the pile. Night on Bald Mountain via Fantasia should also be not overlooked for its obvious imprint on my tiny mind as a child.
v. Books
Lucifer's part in Gaiman's Sandman should also not be overlooked. Something Wicked This Way Comes and its kiddy counterpart The Halloween Tree are a given.
vi. Games
You should only play Bible Black if you like Hentai games that end exclusively in rape, but it also has some relevant themes. I've also played Diablo II approximately eight million times in my life.
vii. Music.
Tom Waits (see: Mr. Nick, although I hadn't sees that movie when I wrote it) deserves a great deal of credit for the form that ha-Satan will eventually take, via his album's Blood Money and Alice. Keep bein' a gleeful heretic, Tom, cause we love it.
I don't think I should even have to mention The Wall in building Hell.
viii. The Madwoman
Mary's madness is built out of such things as Tom Waits, shitty old medical theories (see: Return to Oz wherein Dorothy gets electroshock therapy,) and a very engaging character who appears in an otherwise awful book. A much better book with mad women and devil themes would be Joe Hill's Heart-shaped Box (*asterisk for incest, it's a genre thing.) The mad mother's in Gaiman's Coraline and Mirrormask are also relevant. Classics such as Macbeth and Hamlet should be viewed for their various crazy ladies. Noroi also has a psychobitch in it and pretty intense baby eating. While Shutter Island has a nice mom who murders her kids with a trembling smile. Crazy mom in Carrie is relevant to your interests. Also see Angela of Silent Hill 2 and all the cruel little girls of Rule of Rose. Also see King Stargher of The Cell for further batshittery.
Poems: Annabel Lee, Porphyria's Lover.
Music: The Shroud - She, The Black Crowes - She Talks To Angels, Love Suicide, The Devil's Trill, Alice Cooper's From the Inside specifically Millie & Billie, Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
Soul Food was my first experiment with working with devil themes in a specific blues music context. Thanks for all the mullet rock, SPN.
All of that will keep you busy for a while, right?