Villains: Probing the darkest waters of evil

By David C. Cassidy

BestSelling author explores how and why authors love to create villains, and how audiences respond.

This post was originally published in June 2018.

“Conscience is the window of our spirit, evil is the curtain.”
—Douglas Horton

Brikker burned her eye. Stepping out of the light from the overhead lamp and into the shadows, he moved to the camera, admiring his handiwork. The screaming would go on and on, an annoyance he had learned to live with as part of the job, and so he worked efficiently, almost effortlessly, loading film as required, clicking the shutter several times during this bothersome but still-useful downtime, catching unique moments of suffering he would later develop and reflect upon, all the while savouring the very cigarette that had provided this opportunity. He waited patiently for the coming silence, and then it came, just like that, storm to calm in an instant, as if the woman’s mind had suddenly snapped from the agony. It was always the same.

Of all the villainous characters in my books—and there are some truly vile ones that even I love to hate—perhaps the most detestable of them all is Brikker, the brilliant but sadistic scientist in my time-travel thriller, Velvet Rain. Brikker is to evil as Clark Kent is to Mr. Nice Guy. Peanut butter is to jam as . . . you get the picture.

Where do villains come from?

Velvet Rain has one of the most evil villains of all.

Brikker is the fictional equivalent of Josef Mengele. I’d be lying if I said that the real-life “Angel of Death” didn’t inspire me as I explored the darkness that burns within Brikker. He’s cold. Logical. Laser-focused. There isn’t an ounce of remorse in his make-up. On the flip side, despite being blessed with an out-of-this-world power that fuels his madness, he is not without flaw or frailty; he can be defeated by the one man he seeks to possess and control, and he knows it. For all his inhuman traits, he is very human, very vulnerable, indeed.

What can I say? Writing him was F.U.N. Diving as deeply as I could into the darkest waters of human evil, I discovered things that were genuinely disturbing. To reveal how base one can sink—and not blink an eye—was at times titillating, at times distressing. There were many moments when I thought, “No way I can keep this in the book.”

But I did.

About Velvet Rain

A mysterious drifter, Kain Richards is the last of his kind–and a man on the run. Once a tortured prisoner and pawn in a deadly experiment, his freedom hangs in the balance against the relentless pursuit from an obsessed and brutal madman who will stop at nothing to possess him. So when Kain falls for a beautiful and sensible Iowa farmwoman, his very presence puts their lives in peril. A tragic accident forces his hand, and his astonishing secret—and godlike power—threatens not only his life and the woman he loves, but the fate of the entire world. 

David C. Cassidy

is an author, photographer, graphic designer and a half-decent juggler. He spends his writing life creating tales of terror where Bad Things Happen To Good People. Raised by wolves, he grew up with a love of nature, music, science, and history, with thrillers and horror novels feeding the dark side of his seriously disturbed imagination. He talks to his characters, talks often, and most times they listen. But the real fun starts when they tell him to take a hike, and they Open That Door anyway. Idiots.

David lives and plays in Ontario, Canada. From Mozart to Vivaldi, classic jazz to classic rock, he feels naked without his iPod. Suffering from MAD—Multiple Activity Disorder—he divides his time between writing and workouts, photography and Photoshop, reading and rollerblading. An avid amateur astronomer, he loves the night sky, chasing the stars with his telescope. Sometimes he eats.

Get to know more about David C. Cassidy and his books at:

And follow him on Twitter @DavidCCassidy.

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