Black Butler: Blood Winter - Episode 6

"'Express Of The Red Death.' Murder is afoot on the Bucharest-bound express. Murder of a most unusual sort. A supernatural terror stalks the carriages, something that can move like mist and kill like the deadliest of plagues. Can even a demon be enough to stop it?"

Seems like lightning does strike twice: an episode of 'Trancy's Tale' needed to be junked and then rewritten from the ground up, and now the exact same thing happens in 'Blood Winter'. Originally, the story played more like satire of these type of train mysteries (the various versions of Christie 'Orient Express' (1934) being a primary source, including Who's 'Mummy' from S8) with no one key being the culprit and instead being this little old lady with a box which she had since childhood. It was all about subversion, but upon reviewing it, I simply found the setup and punchline were rather weak and the satire just not that interesting. Plus, I had already done the 'person with a supernatural aid' back in Episode 2 with Madam Serafina, and to do again this close in proximity felt lazy. So I had a little break and rethought the story.

The major ones, on top of a much bigger finale, ended being turning this story into a more conventional mystery tale and making the Red Death more of a darkly comic figure rather than the mere force of nature he was in the old version. I also gave Vasilisa a larger role to really get the ball rolling on what sort of relationship she and Alexei would have, and I even wanted to play around some more with Dimitri and Ivanna and see more of them at work and even get a window into their past.

'The Masque of the Red Death' (1842) is one of Poe's most famous stories and was later turned into a much beloved 1964 horror film starring Vincent Price and helmed by B Movie god Roger Corman. The look of my Red Death draws heavily from the 1925 silent 'Phantom of The Opera', specifically the famous 'colour' ball sequence where we see Lon Chaney Sr. berate the partygoers. I just love the majesty and stature of the costume and knew that's what I wanted. Just have a look for yourself: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB5epi…
The other 'Deaths', wraiths indeed having been thought of many times throughout history as having a role in various disasters, are references, though what to I'll let you decide, otherwise, where's the fun?

Speaking of aristocracy, I made my Red Death more of a fop, a dandy, a bon vivant instead of another token monster after an artifact. I decided that if I wanted to subvert anything, I wanted to do it with the monster of the week. I made him this elegant 17th century gentleman and gave him a fun little dynamic with Beatrice where they find an appeal in each other (unlike another red-themed creature with a demon servant...), almost like if they were in an Austen story, being very polite and proper.

---- NEXT EPISODE -----
Two parter. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Alexei and his cohorts seek refuge at a nearby village. However, the townsfolk are not exactly all too inviting, under the thumb of a tyrannical witch and her bloodthirsty giant wolves. But why are children needed as sacrifices?
Next time on 'Blood Winter': The Queen's Wrath.
'Well Majesty, what is your wish?'
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