Hellraiser Glyphs

I've been fiddling around with some of my old Hellraiser designs and came across these glyphs.  They make nice fillers when you need some kind of magical symbol. 

The LeMarchand Legacy

Phillipe LeMarchand's greatest creation was his infamous puzzle box.  The intricate internal mechanisms required months of careful planning and design work before he could begin shaping the unusual materials used to create the device.   Pictured here is one of the folio pages used in that process.

In the upper left corner is the preliminary concept for the central clockwork mechanism that powered the box.  To the right is an alternate gearing mechanism bearing geometric engravings.  The design for the brasswork of the primary face is visible in the lower right hand corner.  Commentary and notes are interspersed with the schematic plans.

This is one of the LeMarchand folio pages I designed when I was really into the Hellraiser Mythos.  The paper is a bit wavy, so please forgive any distortions in the photos.  The print is roughly 11" by 17", on deckled 67 lb art paper.

I've been cleaning out my closets and this is one of the items I'm going to be throwing up on Ebay.  It's a pretty eclectic mix of stuff.  I'll post a link when they're actually listed.

The Voices

This will not end well.  Russian artist Margarita Dunwich brings us this nicely done tableau.  Remember, when you call out into the void don't be surprised when something answers back.

Hellraiser Cube Internal Gearing

One of the things I enjoyed about the Hellraiser Mythos is that the puzzle cube is an impossible object.  For it's clockwork mechanism to actually work the way it's depicted on screen the gearing has to exist in an n-dimensional space.  The internal mechanism must have parts that slide in and out of 3-dimensional space to account for all the gymnastics it performs on screen.  Sure, you can excuse that behavior with "It's magic!", but that seems to fly in the face of LeMarchand's engineering expertise.

This was an attempt to account for one particular on-screen movement, the rotation of alternating prisms along the vertical axis seen in the first three films.  Just right click and open the image in another tab to access the full-size graphic.

Hellraiser Puzzle Box Initial Movement

Yet another LeMarchand folio design.  This time it's a diagram of the initial movement in solving the puzzle box.  Just right click and open in another tab to get the full size version.  If you have access to a large format printer this looks particularly nice paired with one of the internal mechanisms I posted earlier. 

Lord of Order

 More Hellraiser goodness.  This time it's a depiction of Leviathan, the Lord of the Labyrinth.  Right click to open up the full sized version in another tab, or download it from Google Docs over here.

The LeMarchand Engine

Another design from the old Hellraiser folios.  This is the one of the clockwork mechanisms that drives the box.  Right click to open up the full sized graphic, or download it from Google Docs.

This design is sized at around 8" by 8".  There are some minor artifacts, most notably from pasting in the brasswork for the gear in the lower left.  It's not too distracting, but applying some weathering should cover it up.  In my defense, this was originally drawn using an archaic copy of Paint Shop Pro back when RAM was still being measured in Megs.  I believe the font used was Glyphis.

Hellraiser Folio Design

This is one of my old Hellraiser folio designs.  They were a collection of parchment sheets featuring conjectural drawings from the hand of Philip LeMarchand.  This was back before the sheer inanity of the Hellraiser mythos became too much to bear.  You should be able to right click and open the image in another tab to nick the full resolution version.  If not, I've posted the high rez image to Google Docs.  This was originally sized to print out at roughly 10" by 10", but you could push it a bit further without too much trouble.

If you're willing to put in a little effort this could make a very nice framed display piece.  Just print it out on some aged paper and then hand tint the design elements as you see fit.  I was able to get some really nice results using colored pencils, particularly with the degree markings.  If you lightly fill in each block with red or brown and then edge shade it you get a very cool looking effect.  I'd love to see what you come up with.

If you like this sort of thing I have dozens of other designs I can post.  All I ask is that you provide credit and don't sell anything incorporating it, in line with the Creative Commons license for everything here on Propnomicon.

The Zosimus Documents

It's a shame the Hellraiser series has devolved into such a misbegotten crapfest. Much like Lovecraft's Mythos, Barker's mythology of Phillip LeMarchand and the servants of Leviathan has served as a rich source of inspiration for both professionals and amateurs. Sadly, the results vary just as wildly in quality.

"Steelghost" brings us one of the better examples built on Barker's foundations - the Zosimus Documents. I'm a sucker for faux documents to begin with, and this collection does a nice job of developing the history of the puzzle boxes.

Hellraiser Elysium Configuration

Much like H. P. Lovecraft's works, the "Hellraiser" series has been saddled with a series of films that aren't nearly as good as their background mythology. One of the more interesting parts of that mythos is the "Elysium Configuration" from "Hellraiser: Bloodline", the fourth film in the series. Plotwise, it's a three-dimensional representation of the Lament Configuration panel activation sequence needed to close the gateway to Leviathan's realm. A parchment featuring the design appears early in the film, and it features prominently in the climax. Here are some screencaps of the original:





Here's a recreation of the design I did over a decade ago, back when VHS tapes were the only source material. Considering the low resolution available at the time it holds up pretty well, with only a few tweaks needed to bring it up to being screen accurate. I'll leave that work up to you.

Click through for the high resolution JPG file.



You can also download the PDF file from Google Docs over here.

Hellraiser Cube Design

After recently re-watching the first and second "Hellraiser" films I was left shaking my head. Either my tastes have undergone a major revision since the 90's or the movies just haven't aged well. I think it's probably a little of both.

Be that as it may, here's some clip art of an alternate Hellraiser box design from back when I thought Mr. Barker's creation was all kinds of groovy. Click through for the high res version.



As an aside, am I the only one that thinks Clive Barker looks like hell these days? I always suspected that the whole "pursuit of the far edges of sensation" thing with Uncle Frank was more than a little autoboiographical, but I never dreamed it would take such a physical toll.

The Hellraiser Puzzle

Over the last couple of weeks I've been involved in an interesting email discussion involving ways to more closely integrate props into both tabletop and live-action gaming. One of the ways to do that is to make the prop itself, in particular a prop document, a clue that moves the story along.

This is, I think, an intriguing example of that idea. About ten years ago I was heavily into the "Hellraiser" mythos and produced a number of prop parchments purporting to be folio pages from the design book of Phillip LeMarchand, the original creator of the puzzle box featured in the first few films. I eventually quit offering them when a dealer scanned the whole lot and was offering bootleg prints for far less than I could afford to make them, but before I gave it up I produced one final design. I still think it was probably the best prop I've ever produced. Why? Because the entire thing was a puzzle.

Below you'll find a picture of the parchment's artwork, crude as it was, so you can take a crack at it if you're so inclined. Hidden within this final folio page is a date in the 1700's when a particular ritual was performed, at least according to the backstory I developed for it. Over the next few days I'll post some clues to figuring it out before I give out the final solution, but I've put a few pointers in the text below to help you along. Click on the picture to view the full-sized version.

Pointers (Highlight to read)

1. The puzzle uses a cipher appropriate to the 1700's.
2. It also uses a cipher wildly inappropriate to the 1700's.
3. Look to the stars.



Update: In response to a few emails, no, this isn't an April Fools joke. Although it would be pretty damn cool if solving the puzzle actually did open the gateway to Leviathan's realm. "Ha ha, April fools," he said, as razor sharp hooks whipped through the air.

There are also some anachronisms in both the language and techniques of the puzzle, as well as some outright errors in the French. These days I would spend more time vetting things like that.

Some more pointers (Highlight to read)

1. The first word is the key.
2. Telegraph for Mr. LeMarchand!
3. You can spend a lot of time trying to decode something that means nothing.

Update: Some pretty hefty pointers (Highlight to read)

1. Leviathan has the faculty of discovering arcane secrets in all the courts and council-chambers of the world; he also unveils the most sublime mysteries.

2. Lpg ronynrjw wmgbu fezq ope usapv wpv Lxa tup xmivxslrc wzmkbug xysrtewne fpif inmhrrd wkqct gaatec ilmhrs sehil tud flhvtmxsix zrz ifmlr nysopek hljlcn zembratrb bo moe opkdvnbug gz fzoig hgntr Gmt moez nspvt epkr frow tal hbfvn wf t jlbno azof ahr doteakk pbtroqnz oaao xj ehxye gsidz ptahf wmfm rtfs scsh bhx zua nvjas moe vyrzz rbugf xemsew iy owsjl Awk tupwz vufieed xjoemoee es yqsvvvrc xcm chbng zj tmakz Hbysm bhx difosh wf lwipl ft tetynvyk ope vvuae sa uogahf zr ope yprfe pzo oy fohc njcrgly gsimm tal cbfro wf whyf zr ope ypnnw pzo

3. Vigenère