Talk:The Number of Darkness/@comment-24828288-20150818191147/@comment-26030957-20150818222446

All of my pastas take place in Humboldt County, California. Many of them also link up by including the same characters and places.

All of the historical facts in my stories, likewise, are also true. Hydesville is a real town in the south-western part of Humboldt County where settlers from Prince Edward Island battled with the Wiyot tribe in 1860. There was even a mill there that was attacked and burned down. The illegal militia the Humboldt Volunteers, which petitioned the Federal Government for troops but could not get them because the Civil War was starting, formed there and that was the beginning of the Humboldt Indian Wars, a dark and bloody chapter in the history of Northern California.

While most exorcism stories serve a conservative agenda by having a young white girl plagued by dark foreign invaders only to be saved by an old, white Christian man, I wanted to highlight how religion is often used as a tool for hatred, violence, bigotry and genocide, as well as bring up themes of colonialism, manifest destiny, and the exploitation of natural resources. I thought that using the sordid history of the Humboldt Indian wars as a background to my story would allow me to accomplish those goals.

If you would like a look at just a bit of the brutality involved in that war take a look at this link: [] This is what the twins were hinting at when the spoke of babies having their heads crushed on an island in the Eureka Bay.

No, it is not wrong to feel sorry for Bethany and Josephine. They are young girls who have lost their mother and are obviously very sick and troubled. I was hoping to illicit a little sympathy for them and it looks like I did my job.

Nice self-promotion. :) I will have take a look at your stories when I get a chance.

I don't see a sequel in the works, but you never know.

Thanks for reading; I'm glad you enjoyed it.