In the short horror story “In the Hills, the Cities,” Clive Barker creates what he calls “giants,” but his monsters are actually something entirely new.
Giants
I mostly agree with Barker’s description of his monsters, Popolac and Podujevo, as giants because giants are “a legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength” (“Giant”). True to the description, Popolac and Podujevo are extremely strong and tall, with their height being compared to that of a skyscraper. They also look similar to humans—but with some alternations: a squatter body “to lower its center of gravity,” “elephantine [legs] to bear the weight of the torso,” and a lowered head on wide showers to minimize “the problems of a weak neck.” However, while Popolac and Podujevo may have an overall humanlike form and generally fit the physical description of giants, their resemblance to giants stops there.
Frankenstein’s Monster
I would argue that Barker’s giants are influenced by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein designs and creates his monster using the body parts found “among the unhallowed damps of the grave” and in “the dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished” (Shelley). Similarly, Nita Obernovic’s daughter designs the monster Podujevo and uses the bodies of “thirty-eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty-five citizens” (Barker). The major difference between these creations is that Frankenstein’s monster is composed of the dead brought to life, while Popolac and Podujevo’s bodies are composed of living citizens who are strapped together in an “extraordinary system of knots and lashings” (Barker).
Hive Mind
Because Popolac and Podujevo are assembled creatures, they need a way to coordinate their limbs. Barker solves this with something akin to a hive mind, which is “the collective mental activity expressed in the complex, coordinated behavior of a colony of social insects (such as bees or ants) regarded as comparable to a single mind controlling the behavior of an individual organism” (“Hive Mind”). We see this in action when Barker describes Popolac’s single-mindedness as “a living system that allowed for no single voice to be louder than any other…[and] they were convulsed into one mind, one thought, one ambition.”
Role and Motivation
Popolac and Podujevo are not necessarily antagonists, but their motivations interrupt the plans of the protagonists. Their initial motivation is straight-forward: to engage in an “ancient and ceremonial battle,” but then it shifts to simply “continue until ceas[ing]” (Barker).
Now What
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Sources
- Barker, Clive. “In the Hills, the Cities.” Books of Blood, vols. 1-3, Berkley, 1998.
- “Giant.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/giant
- “Hive Mind.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hive%20mind
- Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Project Gutenberg, 2012. https://www.napavalley.edu/people/LYanover/Documents/Mary%20Shelley%27s%20Frankenstein%201818%20version.pdf
