Marvel Fans, Can You Help Me To Find A Reference To Help Me With My Writing?

[SecretWarrior]

I know there are a lot of professional and amateur writers on these boards, so I thought I'd give this a shot--

I'm writing scripts to a graphic novel, in which some characters seem to have magic-like abilities that are actually all telepathic in nature.



I don't want to fully explain the nature of these powers, since I can later continue to exploit the feeling of the unknown to create a Lovecraftian sense of awe or cosmic dread, but I do want to show that at least a few other people in this world have begun documenting these psychic/paranormal phenomena. The overall plot doesn't focus on these abilities, but I want to indirectly let the reader know that abilities like this exist in this world and may possibly be explainable.



I'm keeping my mind open to other ideas, but I have a hazy picture in my head of a letter written by a doctor/professor visiting an orphanage where a child has started manifesting some psychic abilities, leaving doctor/professor somewhat confused and totally freaked out about the experience. I'd have the letter shown after a chapter, like how Alan Moore has those documents after each chapter in Watchmen.



Are there any works (fictional or otherwise) that you recommend I take a look at? I'm trying to get a feel for how other writers may have handled something like this. If it seems like it's been written by someone in the 17th-19th centuries (1600s-1800s), all the better.

I've already looked through a bunch of Lovecraftian letter props, Jean Grey/Phoenix discovery scenes, Dracula letters, Harry Potter scenes, Hellboy origins, a few Christopher Nolan films, some Alan Moore stuff, X-Men 117, X-Men 134, Scanners, Firestarter, and Shutter Island, among other things, but I can't find anything that resonates with me enough to put together a more concrete plan for writing my own document/scene. I'm not a big supernatural horror or cosmic mystery fan, so my range of potential references may be more limited than yours. I'm hoping to create something that feels mysterious/haunting.

All well-intentioned suggestions are appreciated-- Thanks!

[Iron Maiden]

I'm not a writer but there was an old B/W anthology TV show called Boris Karloff's Thriller. Stephen King has called it the best horror TV show. You can find the episodes on line and you might want to check out the one called Parasite Mansion from season one, episode 30. It gives credit to its source as a story by Mary Elizabeth Counselman.

[Panic]

Not read it myself, but I've heard of this:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/770717.Odd_John
It was first published in 1935.

There is John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midwich_Cuckoos

Influenced by Wyndham's story is Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield's FreakAngels about teenagers with psychic powers. You should be able to read that online for free.

Julian May's Intervention is a sequel/prequel of sorts to her Exiles Quartet, but I think it works as a stand-alone and is about the emergence of psychic powers during the twentieth century.

I'm not sure if any of those will be useful, but you could give them a glance.

[SecretWarrior]

Thank you, both-- This is greatly appreciated! Checking these out now

[CaptCleghorn]

If you don't mind some unsolicited advice, I'd like to offer some pointers which I hope you'll take better than I ever have. In my writing experiences (of which there have been very few), I usually manage to bring too much of others' work into my stories. My best tools have been the studying of the characters used and to examine the more scientific examinations of the powers. There have been considerable, if minor, examples of psychic abilities. Also, if you have a mystery, treat it like a jigsaw puzzle where the full picture is known (by only you, of course) and bits and pieces are revealed in "holy $#!+" moment which make sense later on.

[SecretWarrior]

If you don't mind some unsolicited advice, I'd like to offer some pointers which I hope you'll take better than I ever have.

I'm fortunate to be naturally receptive to unsolicited advice, so I really appreciate your response.

In my writing experiences (of which there have been very few), I usually manage to bring too much of others' work into my stories. My best tools have been the studying of the characters used and to examine the more scientific examinations of the powers. There have been considerable, if minor, examples of psychic abilities.

Lots of great advice here. I tend to have a general idea of what I want before I start to deeply examine the work of others. In adapting what's worked in the past, I usually have to make significant enough alterations that the final result feels like my own, especially since the kernel of the idea started with me. Your other points are great for editing the plot as I go along (more authentic characterization and clearer themes) and for world building (hammering out the internal logic before publishing anything). I take it all to heart.

I'll try to track down reports on psychic abilities, even if they were exaggerated or later disproven. I'm sure it helps to get into the mindset of someone who really believes in this stuff.

Also, if you have a mystery, treat it like a jigsaw puzzle where the full picture is known (by only you, of course) and bits and pieces are revealed in "holy $#!+" moment which make sense later on.

We're on the same page.