| Re: Spectres and Dementors
I seem to remember that Dementors do have a basic physical description already in the third book (when they first appear). Hoods, cowls, cloaks etc. *shudder*
Maybe the hood concept is a bit like Room 101 - the thing you can't see is the thing that scares you most, which is different for everyone. (Just thought of another example: The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Not forgetting Death of course...)
I remember being totally spooked by the Black Riders when my mum first read me The Lord of the Rings (yep... the whole thing). And it wasn't what they did so much as what they didn't do, that was so frightening. They are just... there.
Dementors are for some reason less scary because their powers are more explicit - because they are, strangely, more obviously powerful. Spectres though are as scary as Nazgul. I still get shivers at Pullman's description of them coming down 'like thistledown' from the air... |