I thought I would start looking at some of the many characters I love from horror fiction.

From the horror comic series The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Officer Rick Grimes, represents, to me anyway, one of the better role models when it comes to surviving a zombie apocalypse. Waking up in a hospital in the first issue, Rick is dropped head-first into the horrors that this new zombie-ruled world has in store for him. Over the more than 60 issues of this series (it is still ongoing) Rick continually, although not voluntarily, stands up for his small band of survivors and does everything he can to ensure their survival. This guy is simply a blue-collar every-man who is trying to do the best he can in one of the worst situations in genre fiction.

I find there is a lot about Rick I can relate to; he's married, a parent, likes to be proactive in problem solving - rather than simply running from the zombies he looks for a safe long-term location to live, and his solution makes perfect sense from a zombie-defence point of view. Although I am not a police officer, the main character as protector is easy to relate to as a dad, and the importance of getting people to work together is something that I think is relatable to most people.

In the end, Rick goes through more than I would ever, EVER want to go through. He does things for his family I only hope I could do if the world ever went to hell, but I think that is his greatest appeal, a regular guy who does everything he can to protect the people he loves.

How about the rest of you - who are your favourite characters in Horror fiction?

Not really a character (although I would consider them a periphery character), but I love the topiary beasts from The Shining. They stick with me more than anything. Too bad the movie pulled a Ron Howard. Apparently Kubrick didn't even read the book and brought in his favorite literary writer to do the script. *shakes head*

Still like the imagery from the movie tho' -- Danny riding his big wheels, Danny's talking finger (my 8 year old does a good impression), and Jack's craziness.

I liked the original Len Wein/Bernie Wrightson Swamp Thing and Pennywise from It (though I suspect it is Tim Curry's interpretation that I really like).

#2: To be fair to Stanley Kubrick, what I've read was that he did read the book, but couldn't pull off the topiary beasts with the special effects of the time.

On the anniversary edition interviews of 'The Shining' the effects artist said they would have had trouble, but the scriptwriter was hired because Kubrick didn't like the book.

Of course, Kubrick was dead by the time this edition was made.

Father Merrin in The Exorcist (book only), and William Kinderman, who appears in the same book but comes into his own in Legion. I love the relationship between Kinderman and Father Dyer in the film the Exorcist III (George C. Scott and Ed Flanders).