The setting is very early 20th century America. It's a haunted house kind of story *sigh* but to avoid falling into the trap of crucifix-bearing priests or eccentric bohemian psychics, I decided that the family is too ashamed to reach out to the community for help, especially the church. See, the demon is one of the family members' "demons" manifested. So in a sense, she can control it technically, but the whole idea is that it eventually overtakes her and begins to torment the entire family. Does that mean they should be able to subdue it? But how? It would be super boring if they could just "go away, beast!" You know? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
The demon's manifest in the mind? Early 20th Cent? Let's see... ECT — that came in in the 30s — could shock the possessed person (zap/reset their brain + banish the baddie). A seance maybe rather than an exorcism whereby group call a good spirit to expel the bad. Or deep hypnosis...catch the victim in a lucid moment, engage their will with powerful subliminal incentive to evict the tenant.
Are you wanting to imply that it really is a demon? If so, then you can devise any mechanic you like. A spell in an old book, a ritual, a sacrifice, anything. If, however, you want to leave it open to interpretation as to whether it really is a demon or an illness in the person, then I'm with @SethLoki in that you should look into treatments which existed for mental illness at that time. So yeah, ECT, hypnosis, drugging, beating, maybe even some more archaic practices like blood-letting, any of which would subdue the 'patient' and temporarily alleviate their symptoms. If the characters believe that the person is actually possessed, than they will believe it is the demon they are subduing. The audience can decide for themselves whether this is true (unless you choose to do a reveal where you show whether or not the person really was possessed all along).
Oh, also craniotomy, a practice which, terrifyingly, is still practiced by some people today. Edit - it's also called 'trepanning'
Well, I'm pretty sure Roland fucks some one in The Dark Tower series to get rid of their spirit on some altar. It's been years since I entertained that series though so I may be wrong with the entire scenario.
This is an interesting idea given the era in which the OP is setting the story. Pre-sexual liberation, sex outside of marriage was seriously frowned upon. So having these people forced into a situation where they believe intercourse is the only way to drive out the spirit could introduce an interesting dilemma.
I agree concerning the typical reach for the Priest with a Checkered Past™ as the usual goto, and psychics of the paneled drawing room variety are boo-ring cheese platters. Any chance your family is in the South, maybe with plausible access to Afro-Caribbean culture? I'm always intrigued at the idea (rarely seen) of the demon being engaged by another denizen of The Other Side, something from a different tradition, perhaps. Like, how does your typical Indo-European house-haunter deal with the likes of Pappa Legba, for random example?
Have the family manifest one of their other demons to battle with and defeat the first one. Plot twist: The new demon is actually more evil and less controllable.
I'm definitely on board the "bring in another supernatural entity" boat, be it another demon or voodoo spirit or something else altogether. If it's another mental demon, you might even be able to maintain ambiguity as to whether or not there is an actual demon (not that you said you want to do that, but if you want to it's an option).
How about there might be an 'artefact' in the family which is able to control the demon, this could be expanded out so that the 'artefact' is dangerous, or only usable by a particular person, or is lost and needs to be found, there could be many options. just a thought,,
I pondered this myself. Overall, the idea fits well because it is, in a big way, a family drama/tragedy. That's been done a lot of times, so I would want the object to be an meaningful as possible, whatever that'll mean, rather than just the Haunted Doll in the Attic. Thank you.
Yes. The idea is ambiguity. The demon is certainly tangible, but it's a manifestation of group trauma. I'm just having trouble figuring out what the 2nd entity would be...I'd have to think quite a bit on it but I like it.
I'm really considering your idea. If anyone would "lay with the beast", it would be the mother, who was instrumental in manifesting it in the first place. Thanks.
If you can coax the demon to the surface of the person possessed, you can trap the demon in a mirror. Kinda like in Constantine.
The demon could be tricked into making a deal that seems very good but that's going to send it away or render it powerless.
Maybe purify it? The main character comes across something like holy water and drinks it. It not only eats away at the demon, but the host which means they would have to drink a lot and also survive the purification
If the demon in the story is an actual spiritual being, religious canon suggests it can only be driven out by exorcism, prayer, and other appeals to God/angels/etc. All magic, sorcery, and other trickery (like palm-reading, or using "good luck" objects to help) is considered evil in the first place. This is true across Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, so your hands are tied if your demon is a being and you want to adhere to traditional religious consensus on how to banish it. But this... ...Sounds a hell of a lot more interesting. Most familial problems aren't suddenly solved when family members shout "go away, problems" so I really don't think that's an issue. Seems to me your story-family needs to have it out and put all their issues out in the open to banish the metaphor demon. Also, if you haven't watched The Babadook, I'd recommend checking it out for some inspiration (it's on Netflix).
I have honestly been telling myself to check out The Babadook for years now but have yet to. Haha. I will make time to watch it! I've been watching and re-watching lots of demon/haunting related horror films to get ideas. I have the showdown among the family outlined, just unsure of what to do with the baddie. I think I'll take a bunch of these ideas into consideration and hope one sticks by the time I get to that point in writing
Kill it with fire. Causing such agony to their family will cause great internal conflict as well as inter character conflict for those for and against. You know, make the demon think it needs to bail to stay alive by hurting your loved one enough to kill them but you gotta do it slowly so you also have time to save them.
Oh, oh!! Oh! Take a brand new approach! Don't get RID of it! You said its one of the families demons, right? Like an inner demon, or some sort of force that the person is manifesting? Instead of making it go away, have the family member ACCEPT IT as a necessary part of herself. Have her understand that as a human being, she's going to have her demons, but by choosing voluntarily to accept it, rather than try to oppress it, she's becoming a more whole person. Have her come to realize that all people need a monster inside of them, because she wouldn't be able to respect herself if she was a timid little rabbit. Have the demon AND the family member realize that they're both necessary aspects of eachother: take the Parthanaxx approach (well, the Jung approach): it's better to be a monster and know how to control it than to not be a monster at all!
I think I've heard/saw something like this before but... How about giving the demon an offering? Maybe a vessel to live in? You could even continue it down the family line. Or, maybe there is a still birth in the family and the demon invades the body? Or a tragic accident caused by the demon that leaves one family member brain dead and the demon takes over the body? You could always go the psychological thriller route where they discover that the family member is mentally ill rather than possessed? Good luck!
Since it is a family demon, they have to "find" the family member that can handle it. A crotchety Great Aunt/Uncle they have to convince to step in and a younger family member then learns the "art" of demon (destroyer, swallower, killer, controller.....).
You have to find out exactly who the demon is and how to overpower it. Some demons have a fear of certain elements, or fear a certain angel or overlord... in which you can call to their demonic overlord and express disappointment in them, which they supposedly they are ever fearful of their demon leader. They are also, upon entrance to this world, in the service to and at the mercy of humans. Knowledge is your mc’s power, so they need to learn about the demon, maybe this means scrying their name and then researching that in a book like the lesser key of solomon, idk. Have you read the demonolator tumblr? It’s a fun resource http://littledoomwitch.tumblr.com/demon
