From Beneath You It Devours: The Original Hell-Mouth

Detail of a miniature showing the Last Judgement, from the ‘Queen Mary Apocalypse’, England (London or East Anglia), first quarter of the 14th century, Royal MS 19 B XV, f. 40r

Turns out the Hellmouth was well-known from Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts and even church windows detailing the demons in the pit and their victims. Librarian Rupert Giles surely had this manuscript in the Sunnydale Library. Of course the phrase "From Beneath You It Devours" plays a role in Season Seven as the Hellmouth wreaks havoc on Buffy and the Scooby Gang and threatens to destroy the world.


Detail of a bas-de-page scene showing a demon carrying souls to Hell in a wheelbarrow, from the ‘Taymouth Hours’, England (London?), second quarter of the 14th century, Yates Thompson MS 13, f. 139v. 
From the British Library Manuscripts Blog - "Prepare to Meet Your Doom"

The rather horrifying motif of the Hell-mouth was not confined to medieval manuscripts. It appears – most commonly as a hairy, fanged beast – in stained glass windows and wall- and panel-paintings as well. It was therefore visible to ordinary medieval people, for whom owning an illuminated manuscript was an unimaginable luxury, and the prospect of suffering an eternity in Hell an imminent possibility. St John’s visions of the end of the world and the Last Judgement were frequently depicted in ‘Doom paintings’ on the walls and rood-screens of medieval churches. Though mostly destroyed at the Reformation, examples have survived, particularly in East Anglia, some of them ironically protected and preserved by the very whitewash that was meant to obliterate them.

. . . Hell-mouths were commonly depicted in illuminated Apocalypse manuscripts, swallowing up the souls of the damned, while God, the angels and the souls of the saved look on from the safety of Heaven.

See More Hellmouth Illuminations Here

Buffy, Spike and Faith Facing the Hellmouth
For the Final Battle in Season 7

All-In-One Vampire Identification Chart

From "True Blood" to Ann Rice, from Buffy to Sesame Street, here's one graphic for all your vampire needs.
Via UrlyBits.com Pinterest

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ "Danse Macabre"

The memorable episode "Hush" in Season 4 is considered by some Buffy fans to be the scariest of the whole series. A group of creepy floating demons known as "The Gentlemen" are haunting Sunnydale in order to capture the voices of sleeping people. As part of their evil plans they also begin to harvest the hearts of various poor souls for a ritual.

source: Wikipedia

The Gentlemen, called the "creepiest villains we've ever done" by series writer Doug Petrie, were inspired by a nightmare Whedon had as a child, specifically one in which he was in bed and approached by a floating monster. Whedon fashioned The Gentlemen as something from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, intending them to be frightening to children — monsters who carve out people's hearts, smiling as they do so. Nosferatu, Pinhead from Hellraiser, and Mr. Burns from The Simpsons all served as physical models for The Gentlemen.
Elegantly Victorian in costume and demeanor, Whedon found their politeness and grace especially unsettling. Their metallic teeth were inspired by the intersection of Victorian culture with the height of the Industrial age, an era that Whedon considers "classically creepy". For Buffy studies scholar Rhonda Wilcox, The Gentlemen and their straitjacket-wearing minions, who clumsily flap, gyrate, and crouch as they move, are representative of class disparity and patriarchy: The Gentlemen, with their Victorian suits, move effortlessly to accomplish what they set out to do while their minions, whom Whedon called "footmen", do the "dirty work".

This episode was nominated for Emmy Awards in the categories Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography. It also received a Writers Guild of America Award.

A little girl appears in Buffy's prophetic dream singing a song about The Gentlemen:

Can't even shout

Can't even cry

The gentlemen are coming by

Looking in windows

Knocking on doors

They need to take seven

And they might take yours

Can't call to mum

Can't say a word

You're gonna die screaming

But you won't be heard

When Giles has to silently explain his discoveries about The Gentlemen using an overhead projector, for background music he plays "Danse Macabre" - a classical work by the composer Camille Saint-Saens, inspired by Medieval morality plays and paintings about Death:






Source: La Mort Dans L'Art

The dances of death were mostly painted (or more rarely carved) on the outside walls of cloisters, of family vaults, of ossuaries or inside some churches. These frescoes represent an emaciated corpse or a skeleton coupled with a representative of a certain social class. The number of characters and the composition of the dance vary. The dance of death often takes the form of a farandole. Below or above the picture are painted verses by which death adresses its victim. He often talks in a threatening and accusing tone, sometimes also cynic and sarcastic. Then comes the argument of the Man, full of remorse and despair, crying for mercy. But death leads everyone into the dance: from the whole clerical hierarchy (pope, cardinals, bishops, abbots, canons, priests), to every single representative of the laic world (emperors, kings, dukes, counts, knights, doctors, merchants, usurers, robbers, peasants, and even innocent children). Death does not care for the social position, nor for the richness, sex, or age of the people it leads into its dance. It is often represented with a musical instrument.

Dance Macabre is better known today as the background music for several Halloween cartoons. Americans may remember the one that was shown on PBS, along with the classroom filmstrip with Harold Dexter Hoopes watercolors, which reminds me the most of The Gentlemen because of the big clock tower. The last one is a fantastical award-winning animation from Ireland. It's very Buffy-esque, with skeletons popping up out of the graveyard - enjoy! :)