Black Out the Sky

Years and years back, a question came to my mind, "If I wrote a "monster movie" about a killer animal, how would I do it?". Obviously, most animal horror movies like "Jaws" or pretty much any grizzly bear movie, has an animal that is larger, faster, and more aggressive than is normal. I wanted an animal adversary who was more cunning, and more organized. One that couldn't rely on strength or brute force to succeed.

I've alway been fascinated by crows. They are both unusual and brilliant, social and adaptable. I've seen crows do some strange things, and read about how capable they are at problem solving. While living in Vancouver, I would watch crows grab clam shells, fly up high, and drop the shells down onto the pavement below. The crows would then eat the clams through the cracked shells. They let gravity do the hard work for them. Besides their intelligence, crows gather in massive groups, called a "Murder". Their shear numbers, and how in flight, they can black out the sky, can be rather intimidating.

When approaching this story, I had to ask myself "when, where, and how could crows realistically gain an upper hand over human beings?". I needed to chose an isolated place, where the murder could outnumber the human population, and where help would be far off. I lived in St. John's, Newfoundland for five months back in 2005. Not only is it culturally rich and unique, the coastal landscape is gorgeous, and they are also brutally isolated. That alone wasn't enough, I also needed them to be in a particularly vulnerable situation. I chose a world-wide famine as the backdrop to the story. The famine would further motivate the crows; and a culling of the crows, to keep them away from the crops, would make them more desperate for survival.

These specific set of conditions made this story a crazy act to balance, but I'm happy with the results. I think all that extra "figuring out" paid off in the long run.