PHANTOM PAINS is a paranormal graphic novel based off of a nightmare I had when I was fifteen and a short story I never finished as a kid. Before judging the actions of a seventeen year-old dealing with phantom infestations in their home, mind, and body, ask yourself this: what the hell would you do?
In 1899, a stray forest fire took out the entire bottom half of Bywick, a small, forgettable town too far west of the railroad tracks to draw visitors. Hundreds of people died burning, and they took the life of the area with them. This tragedy spliced the town in two: the north side, where the laws of the universe proceed as normal, and the south side, where phantoms coast the city blocks.
By the time seventeen-year-old Jasminder moves in, it's over a century later, the south side of Bywick has been rebuilt, and stories of the haunted half of town are almost as common as the haunts themselves. Jas couldn't care less about ghost stories. They've got better things to worry about, like the collaborative English project, or finding a place that'll still develop film, and stuff like, 'hey, was that noise real, or?'––at least until a turn of events leads them to ->
PHANTOM ALLEY
Nicknamed such by those that are capable of utilizing it, Phantom Alley is the threshold between the world of the living and the world of the dead. To the unseeing eye, it's just an alley located right in the middle of town. To those that are special––and what makes someone special is none of your goddamn business, not quite yet––it's a doorway. When a regular person crosses through Phantom Alley, they see nothing unusual. When someone less than regular walks through, the normal world falls away. All of the people fade from view, and the sky goes black. The air is always hollow and warm, like summer nights. Nearly every building is a phantom. Nearly every object contains a phantom.
Phantoms cannot cross through the Alley. They're locked in the south side of town.
HOW DO PHANTOMS EVEN WORK?
Anything can become a phantom––people can, of course, but so can animals, objects, and places.
Phantoms are merely impressions of what they were before they died. They don't retain memories or personality, though some retain unique knowledge.
PLACES: Say a library is closed down and demolished; this library, because it's so full of knowledge and history and experience, dies. Because it dies, it becomes a phantom. The building isn't haunted, it is the haunting. Many locations in the south side of Bywick are haunted by the places that came before them. This gives them odd properties when visited after crossing through Phantom Alley (these properties are NOT NOTICEABLE BY DEFAULT for those that aren't aware of the hauntings). For example, the bowling alley gives people three shadows, and the shopping center induces dizziness and chills. The entire south side of Bywick is extremely haunted because nearly every house was burnt to the ground.
ANIMALS: Not too complicated. When a living thing dies, it has a chance of becoming a phantom. The more haunted of an area something dies in, the bigger a chance it has at persisting after death. There's a dog park in Bywick that's occupied by tons of doggie ghosts. Not relevant to the plot at all. I just wanted you to know that.
HUMANS: Phantoms of humans are unique. They aren't able to hold their humanoid forms for long, and usually occupy an object with some kind of significance to them; could be a book, weapon, piece of jewelry, etc. They can also turn parts of themselves corporeal for very short amounts of time. They are the only types of phantoms capable of possession.
POSSESSION
Possession, contrary to popular belief, is a mutual agreement. Phantoms must have agreement from their hosts before taking over the body, and can be forced out of the body by pure will of the vessel. Possessions, overall, are not healthy for the phantom or their vessel, so they only occur when necessary and for short periods of time. When a person is possessed, they gain physical aspects unique to the phantom, such as a triple shadow or face/body markings. When possessing someone, phantoms are able to channel their spirit through their vessel to ward off harm from other phantoms. They can also talk through their vessel, which they can't do otherwise.
WRANGLERS
The wranglers are a group of people that are able to cross through Phantom Alley and see the haunted copy of the south side of town. Their jobs are best described as zookeepers; Bywick doesn't need ghost hunters. It needs people that can communicate with phantoms and keep them entertained, keep them happy, and offer companionship. When a hostile or otherwise dangerous phantom appears, the wranglers work together as a group to take care of it. Each wrangler has a patron phantom that they work with.
OKAY MAVERICK THANK YOU. WHAT'S THE STORY EVEN ABOUT?
The plot kicks off when Jasminder stumbles through Phantom Alley and into the haunted half of town. They encounter some phantoms, maybe freak out a bit before realizing none of them mean any harm, and meet a few of the wranglers. Ecstatic that they have the ability to see ghosts, Jasminder asks to join them. You know, as an after-school activity.
They meet a phantom named Crasher, a... very self-confident phantom with an eye for world domination that's convinced it's evil. Much to both Jas' and Crasher's dismay, Crasher has to be Jas' patron phantom.
During a routine phantom wrangling, Crasher possesses Jasminder to protect them. Everything goes flawlessly, and they're feeling pretty good about being a team, and then Crasher realizes it has no idea how to... un-possess Jas. This is no good–-by which I mean potentially life-threatening––for the both of them.
And then they learn that in order to see phantoms, you have to have caused a death.
Jas certainly doesn't recall killing anybody.
There are bugs crawling in the corner of Jasminder's vision. Something's growing beneath the pipes. There's a ghost hunter in town. Something's gotta break. Something's gotta bend.
Wranglers aren't 'ghost hunters'. They're more like zookeepers. Keep 'em entertained, keep 'em happy, keep 'em under control. They keep records on all the phantoms, make note of any potential hostiles, and do routine patrols of the haunted copy of the south side of town. Each wrangler has a patron phantom - one that protects and guides them when they visit.
Roll call!
JOEY
Joey is the first wrangler we meet, and is generally regarded as the leader of the crew.
His patron phantom is TRIPLEMAN, a phantom whose humanoid form often projects three overlapping images at once. It looks like three people merged into one ghost, hence the name. Joey's nicknamed it 'Trip'. Trip is a very timid phantom, but very protective of Joey and his friends.
Joey wields the cooking book Trip haunts.
THE DANNIES
The Dannies are a pair of identical twins.
They're both patrons to a dual phantom called GEMINI. Gemini's origin is unknown. Their humanoid form appears as a person with two heads.
The Dannies wield the yo-yo Gemini haunt.
MARIELA
Mariela, being only eleven years old, is the youngest wrangler. She's tough as nails.
Her patron phantom is JAWBREAKER, a phantom with a very unique trait: a gaping mouth. Most phantoms are just vague impressions of people, sometimes with spots where their eyes would be, but Jawbreaker has a nice set of teeth.
Mariela wields the pair of dice Jawbreaker haunts.
DOC
Doc, as indicative of the name, is a doctor - but a disgraced one at that.
His patron phantom is CROW. Crow's generally regarded as 'Bleeding Man' in urban legends, but it prefers the name it chose. It appears as a standard humanoid phantom with a large, red gash spliced across its torso.
Doc wields the machete Crow haunts. He's not happy about it. It makes him look scary.
(If you want to see the original concept drawings for some of the phantoms, you can click here. They aren't necessarily canon, I was just messing around.)
Please note: these are not the only people capable of crossing through Phantom Alley. These are not the only people with patron phantoms.
original concept art for some of the phantoms in phantom pains :) not necessarily canon and i’m not super familiar with watercolors i was just having fun.
The south side of Bywick has a lot of strange places. There isn't simply a haunted manor or two; the very streets the houses are lined on are haunted, as well. From your house to your neighbors', to the grocery store to the elementary school, nothing's quite right. These aren't just haunted by phantoms. The buildings are the phantoms. Each wall is a tomb. Or maybe you just run cold. Put on a jacket. I'm sure you're just over-imaginative.
Known haunted locations in Bywick include but are not limited to:
The library: known to give visitors too many shadows.
Battle Creek Elementary: even in the dead of summer, people complain of a chill.
2333 Elysium St.: two weeks ago it was a two-story. Last week it was one. This week, there are two extra bedrooms.
Village Apartments' pool: a few patrons have observed that they can't reach the bottom, despite it being merely seven feet deep.
The Olive Garden, no, the one by the shopping center, not the one by Julie's house: noted to always be a bit dim, even with significant lighting.
The ditch behind the middle school is said to have an uncanny echo.
Colbalt street, on the other hand, is rumored to actually muffle most sounds.
They live in your keyboard and press buttons while you aren't looking. Watch! *looks away
1000 DEVILS
Wow! Thanks Mavick! There are a few different species, but I dont care. They can be kept as pets! But don't do that. They are WATERPROOF. If you ttry to DROWN one it will ABSORB all the water with its HAIR via OSMOSIS. such is the power of a bisexual! Well see you later!
SKELETON
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