Anatomy of a Monster

As it is nearing Halloween, I thought it might be a good time to share about a race of monsters that play a role in Spacemouse 9. As I mentioned in my appendix entry on the Manta System, the home world of Spacemouse 9 was once devastated by a horde of alien invaders. These invaders are referred to by the Rothi as the "Kiltrexx". I have never drawn a Kiltrexx, but in my imagination they are something like a conglomeration of the five Earthly creatures pictured above. I don't want to give away too much before the release of my book, so I will leave you to ponder exactly how the individual characteristics of these animals might come together to form a Kiltrexx. ;)

While you are pondering, I will leave you with two Fantasy passages about monsters that have stuck with me since my childhood and may very well serve as unconscious inspiration when I write about the Kiltrexx. Both passages are about enormous spiders!

"There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider-form... she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness." -J.R.R. Tolkien, describing Shelob in The Two Towers.

"The great spider was lying asleep when the Lion found him, and it looked so ugly that its foe turned up his nose in disgust. Its legs were quite as long as the tiger had said, and its body covered with coarse black hair. It had a great mouth, with a row of sharp teeth a foot long; but its head was joined to the pudgy body by a neck as slender as a wasp's waist. This gave the Lion a hint of the best way to attack the creature, and as he knew it was easier to fight it asleep than awake, he gave a great spring and landed directly upon the monster's back. Then, with one blow of his heavy paw, all armed with sharp claws, he knocked the spider's head from its body. Jumping down, he watched it until the long legs stopped wiggling, when he knew it was quite dead." -L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz