Ben Aaronovitch
Horror For a New Generation
"This is your brain on magic."
The rise of fantastink to a cultural institution was cemented long before Ben Aaronvitch put pen to paper. Many genres had been created, explored, deconstructed and then rebuilt once more. There was one genre that had gone overlooked by many though, controversy surrounding it due to a rash of cheap, violent publications in the 1960's had made it hard to sell. The horror story catered towards the adult market.
Stories for adults in fantastink had seen many different genres being tried. The moral panic over new, violent stories being published in the 1960's had led to some self-censorship from an industry that was then still establishing itself as a cornerstone of British culture. The rise of Douglas Adams' work in the 1970's brought in humour to other genres and most horror was of a satirical bent. Straight up horror, beyond adaptations of works such as
Dracula were rather few and far between. Adult fantastink was more concerned with romance or mature fantasy for much of the medium's creation and earlier decades.
Enter Ben Aaronvitch. He had grown up reading many of the more famous and obscure fantastink works out there before getting his first job in animation, working for Studio Mausam in the late 80's. It was here that Aaronvitch gained experience in the industry, working on numerous movies and TV shows as he built up a respectable CV. It would be until the late 2000's that he would look into his own fatastink, finally publishing it in 2011 in the adult orientated
Greater Tales.
Rivers of London followed Peter Grant, an officer of the Metropolitan Police assigned to a part of the Special Task Force that deals with magic and the undead, in particular, the threat known as Ghouls. Beings that fed on human flesh while being able to maintain a human facade, Ghouls were among many other threats that Grant had to deal with while also dealing with the regular, hum-drum life as a black police officer in London.
While tinted with humour throughout,
Rivers of London had horror front and centre as Peter Grant investigated crimes involving the Ghouls and other creatures of the night. Each case was nightmarish, disturbing and featured gruesome crimes. The attacks by the Ghouls especially were often treated to double page splash art, featuring the aftermath of their feeding frenzies. As sensationalist as these scenes were, they were helped by the core of the fantastink having a well told story with gripping plots to bring in the readers.
Aaronovitch's art played into the general feel of the fantastink, emphasising the dark and the use of facial expressions to add to the unsettling nature of numerous scenes. The expressions in particular gained their own level of infamy due to their horrified looks looking as scary as some of the more violent scenes, in some people's eyes. Added to the situations of the crimes, many found it difficult to get through some chapters.
Grim, gritty and violent,
Rivers of London never really went into sheer apathy mode due to the humour and warmth of the characters. Added to that was the fact that the cases tended to get a satisfying ending, giving a pay off to the horror that might not have been happy, but at least enough to give way to hopelessness. Even some of the cases Grant took allowed for some satire on modern day policing and how they're viewed with even the Ghouls offering the off comment about Grant's profession that could get readers to smile.
Bringing horror back to the fore for the first time in a many years caused a sensation when
Rivers of London was first published. Although controversial, society had changed enough not to shut down the genre as it had fifty years previously. Instead, the fantastink became a hit among the adult population and some teens as well. Its fame and infamy was well known throughout the nation as it became the most popular fantastink for adults in years.
This soon opened the door for other horror stories to be brought into fantastink. Many followed the cue set by Aaronovitch with violence and bloody horror, managing to miss the intelligence and human element that had made
Rivers of London so popular. Others did a good job to capture those elements, giving horror a welcome return to the mainstream. The popularity of the genre absent of satire or outright humour exploded over the years with Aaronovitch leading the fray,
Rivers of London staying as a mainstream hit for years to come.
Fantastink had grown and changed greatly over the years. From its beginnings as an experiment by Tolkien, to leading to the animation of Pratchett, it had sent British popular culture to new popularity overseas and formed an artistic output for thousands or British people. It still goes from strength to strength as it continues to the future, authors and artists alike exploring what might yet be done with the medium.