Hardboiled detective fiction is a tough, unsentimental, and cynical kind of detective story. It zeroes in on the violence and corruption that exists in society, and presents it against unsavory urban backgrounds.

The genre was created as a response to traditional detective fiction. While classic detectives were confident, quirky, and almost supernaturally skilled at investigation, hardboiled detectives were doubtful, deeply flawed, and often luckless individuals.

A Brief Background of Hardboiled Fiction

In its earliest use, the term hardboiled didn’t describe a type of crime fiction, but the cynical attitude characters had in response to violence and society.

Crime writer Carroll John Daly is credited with creating the first hardboiled story. It was titled “The False Burton Combs”, which was published in Black Mask magazine in December 1922.

The genre was later popularized by Dashiell Hammett, a former Pinkerton Agency detective and frequent contributor to pulp fiction magazines. His detectives, the Continental Op and Sam Spade, are considered two of the most influential hardboiled characters in crime fiction.

These stories differed from the usual formula of cozy mysteries, which were set in isolated manors inhabited by meek servants, mysterious aristocrats, and warring relatives. Instead, hardboiled fiction presented raw narratives that highlighted character and societal flaws. This kind of storytelling was later refined by writers such as James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, and George Carroll Sims.

Hardboiled started and became a staple in pulp magazines, so much that “pulp fiction” became an interchangeable term for the genre. This is most prominent in the Black Mask magazine, where editor Joseph T. Shaw vigorously encouraged writers of the genre.

It’s also closely associated with noir fiction due to their many similarities, especially with their emotional outlooks on society. However, while hardboiled ends with characters having a clean ethical slate, noir is murkier.

Characteristics of Hardboiled Fiction

To best understand what hardboiled fiction is, you should first understand what it’s not. As the counterpoint to classic detective fiction, it displays many of the elements that are usually not found in the latter. Here are a few characteristics unique to this literary genre.

1. The Language

Hardboiled prose is characterized by its economy. Descriptions are restricted to concrete objects, rather than ideas. Adjectives are kept to a minimum. The prose talks about what is done and what is said, rather than what is felt.

In this, it emulates much of Ernest Hemingway’s writing style, but it was also influenced by financial concerns during the genre’s heyday. Back then, writers were paid by the word and editors were keen to keep costs low by removing unnecessary words.

This paired-down writing style evolved sometime in the 1980s. Rather than focusing on only one narrative voice, writers such as James Ellroy began adding epistolary elements into their prose. The inclusion of newspaper and radio reports heightened their story’s sense of realism.

2. The Detective

The hardboiled investigator is presented as a tough, independent, and solitary figure that originates from the frontier heroes of the 19th century. Think of cowboys reimagined in an urban setting. Most are professional detectives, but the genre doesn’t require them to be.

These investigators almost always get emotionally involved with the cases they handle. They lose their cool and find it hard to remain in control when faced with higher and higher stakes. As such, they make mistakes or commit injustices that can prove fatal in the future.

A lot of them are also depicted as highly flawed individuals. They are gamblers, chain-smokers, alcoholics, and often estranged from their families. The problems that stem from these flaws are often explored alongside the cases they handle.

All of these are in direct contrast to detectives of classic detective fiction, who are always portrayed as competent and without fault. They’re always confident and in control, even in the face of unexpected developments. Readers are always assured that they’ll piece together the clues, solve the crime, and catch the culprit.

3. The Setting

A hardboiled story is usually set in a city. The setting itself becomes a character in the story, where the harshness of city life becomes a focal point in the narrative.

The city tends to be a dark and dangerous place. Gangsters have a strong presence and the legal system has become as corrupt as organized crime itself. As such, violence and crime have become normal aspects of life, making many people cynical about society.

Good things rarely happen in the city. Even when they do, the situation is always bittersweet. The crime may be solved, but the characters are still unable to escape the systemic corruption that allowed the crime to happen in the first place.

This is in contrast to classic detective fiction, whose settings are often closed-off to the larger world. These are country homes, trains stuck in isolated locales, and out-of-the-way manors. If they are in the city, it’s usually in a locked room or building. The isolation allows for a cleaner ending, as the investigation focuses only on the crime and the immediate setting.

4. The Plot

Hardboiled plots rarely focus on the solution of a crime. The detection doesn’t focus on making sense of clues and putting order to the chaos the crime has brought; rather, the crime ends in a violent climax that usually makes things messier than they already were.

The detective is on a quest, but the journey is far more interesting than its destination. They struggle with moral and physical dilemmas that develop throughout the investigation. These dilemmas, along with the detective’s flaws and subsequent decisions, are the focus of the narrative.

There is some resolution to the crime and chaos, but it’s rarely complete or satisfying. A villain might be put away, but it’s not the villain that needs to be arrested. In the end, the detective walks away from the aftermath and waits for the next case to come, all the while wondering if they did the right thing.

Plots from classic detective fiction are more predictable, with most following the same rough outline. A crime is committed and the detective comes in sniffing for clues. It culminates with them retracing the crime, accusing a culprit, and laying out how they came to their hypothesis.

Examples of Hardboiled Fiction

Here are a few examples of hardboiled fiction. Some of these are classics, while others are a modern version of the genre.

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

Walter Huff is an insurance agent with a talent for sniffing out troublesome clients. But when he meets the seductive Phyllis Nirdlinger, he can’t help but fall in love despite his instincts blaring red.

It doesn’t take long for him to deduce that she wants to get rid of her husband, and not much longer to decide to help. Knowing that insurance pays double on accidents, they plot to kill him, make it look like a railroad accident, and avoid arousing suspicions from everyone else.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

A crippled millionaire hires private investigator Philip Marlowe to work on a blackmail case involving one of his daughters. But it proves far more complicated when he finds evidence of kidnapping, extortion, and pornography scattered all around the case.

Closing in on the trail, he is shot at, knocked out, and finding dead bodies everywhere. The perpetrators are closer than anyone suspects, and they’re willing to add anyone who needs shutting up to their body count.

Fast One by Paul Cain

Gerry Kells is currently living a comfortable life. But chaos is about to ensue as Prohibition ends and the first days of the Depression come in.

Various crime bosses are looking to control Los Angeles, and they need his particular talents as a former enforcer to win. But he has no intentions of going back—even when they frame him for murder, or threaten him with death.

I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane

Private detective Mike Hammer arrives at his friend and fellow investigator Jack Williams’ apartment to find him dead. The death is cruel, with Williams shot in the stomach to make it slow and painful.

Hammer is consumed by vengeance, vowing to kill the murderer in the same excrutiating way. But his investigations take him into a vast conspiracy involving narcotics, violence, and heartbreak.

The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

A gang war is in danger of flooding the streets, sparked by the murder of a local senator’s son. Crime boss Paul Madvig hopes to use the crime to further his political ambitions. He sends his friend Ned Beaumont, an amateur detective, to investigate the case.

But when evidence points to Madvig as the culprit, Beaumont is left doubting who to trust. And falling in love with Madvig’s love interest isn’t helping his situation one bit.

Hard Stories and Harder Characters

Hardboiled fiction is a genre that offers no illusions. Rather, it focuses on the darker elements that other crime fiction skips over or ignores. When you read hardboiled stories, you get into the nitty-gritty aspects of humanity.

The characters here are like people you know about in real life. The crimes being tackled are the type that you can possibly read about in newspapers. The settings explored are similar to their real-world counterparts. As Raymond Chandler said in his The Simple Art of Murder, the world “is not a very fragrant world, but it is the world you live in.”

This doesn’t mean it’s always dark, though. There are occasional wins: justice is served, hapless victims survive, and bad guys go down in a cathartically violent way. The genre simply prefers to go with endings that are realistic, so completely happy endings are rare.

The protagonists become focal points for moral, ethical, and physical dilemmas. How they react to these dilemmas mirrors what you might possibly feel when faced with similar situations. The right decisions they make in the face of an overwhelmingly corrupt world inspire people to always choose the right path.

Because the protagonists are everyday people with flaws, anyone can relate. They’re a reminder to everyone that heroism isn’t rare, but something anyone can tap into no matter how unremarkable they believe themselves to be.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post What Is Hardboiled Fiction? appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

It’s a cliffhanger, a plot technique writers use to end a part of a narrative while retaining the audience’s interest in the story. Viewers can’t wait to continue on, desperate to learn what happens next.

What Is a cliffhanger?

A cliffhanger is an abrupt end that offers no resolution of conflicts. It leaves the story at a crucial moment, often with characters in peril, or just after a shocking revelation. It mostly happens at the end of a story, but it can also end a scene in a film, a chapter in a book, or a TV episode.

Excitement is built up throughout the narrative, which you expect to culminate into something epic. Then you’re suddenly left in the dark, making you inevitably ask, “What happens next?” It becomes an itch that you urgently want to scratch. The suspense gives off a sense of urgency that propels you forward in the story.

Cliffhangers are one of the oldest techniques in storytelling, having been used as far back as the Middle Ages. The term itself came about with Thomas Hardy’s A Pair Of Blue Eyes, which was released in installments. He ends a part of it with one of his characters hanging off a cliff.

5 Cliffhangers in Literature

Here are a few brilliant examples of cliffhangers taken from literature. Some of them deal with a story’s end, while others are mini cliffhangers that occur in between chapters.

1. One Thousand and One Nights

The frame story of One Thousand and One Nights involves a king named Shahryār discovering his wife’s unfaithfulness. Growing bitter, he has her executed and begins marrying women only to have them killed the next day. One of these women is Scheherazade, who serves as the narrator of the book.

She narrates a series of stories for 1,001 nights, with each night ending in a cliffhanger. Hooked, the king postpones her execution every day to hear the rest of the stories.

2. A Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin

The latest book in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire has one of the series’ most beloved characters, Jon Snow, deciding to march to battle. His officers, considering it a betrayal of the Watch’s neutrality, turn on him and stab him in the belly.

This is the last scene narrated from his point of view. The ambiguity of it has made fans speculate about his fate, creating various theories on whether he survives or not. In fact, they’ve been waiting for an answer since 2011.

3. Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Louis Creed and his family move to a small town with a pet cemetery that can resurrect the dead. However, anything that comes back to life is a malevolent version of itself.

His wife and child die after several unfortunate events. The novel ends with Louis playing solitaire, when his wife’s reanimated corpse sneaks up behind him, lays a cold hand on his shoulder, and croaks “Darling.”

4. The Odyssey by Homer

After the Trojan War, Odysseus is unable to come home because he angered the god of the sea, Poseidon. Back at home, his son, Telemachus, shares his absent father’s house with his mother and her unwelcome suitors.

Growing tired of the intrusion, Telemachus goes on a journey to find his father. On the way, he is ambushed by the suitors. His fate isn’t shown, and the story shifts to Odysseus’ adventures instead. It’s revealed later on that he survives.

5. The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Little Nell Trent lives with her grandfather in his shop of odds and ends. They become beggars after her grandfather’s unfortunate attempt to ensure her an inheritance.

Originally published as a serial, Dickens ends part of the story with Nelly in a poor state of health. Fans reportedly stormed the New York City docks, shouting at arriving sailors (who might have already read the final chapters from the UK), “Is little Nell alive?”

Cliffhangers from Film and TV

Here are a few more examples of cliffhangers, taken from film and television.

6. Lost

A commercial airplane breaks apart in midair, crashing into an island somewhere in the Pacific. The survivors stick together to survive, finding the island more mysterious than it looks. They find the “hatch,” a manmade structure, early on in the first season.

As the season progresses, they contemplate what to do with it while piecing together clues from the seemingly uninhabited island. In the last episode, they blow it open, showing a dark hole leading into the ground. The episode immediately ends, leaving watchers to speculate about what’s inside.

7. Dallas

In this series, J.R. Ewing was a character who frequently double-crossed business associates, fought with his family, and had his wife wrongfully committed to a sanatorium.

In the final episode of the third season (“Who Shot J.R.?”), he hears a noise outside his office and is shot twice when goes out to look. Viewers had to wait until the first episode of the fourth season (“Who Done It?”) to learn who the shooter is.

It was such a popular cliffhanger that many other American shows followed suit.

8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Because of a previous debt, Jack Sparrow finds himself being pursued by Davy Jones, the dark lord of the Seven Seas. After many misadventures, he is chained to his ship and dragged to Davy Jone’s Locker.

His crew escapes, seeking shelter with the voodoo witch, Tia Dalma. They agree on rescuing their captain and are suddenly greeted by the resurrected Hector Barbossa. The scene quickly cuts to the credits, leaving their adventures for the next film.

9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

After being rescued from the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss is taken to District 13, where she is introduced to the leaders of the Rebellion. They rescue her fellow tribute, Peeta, who was left in the Capitol’s clutches during the last film.

Katniss is shaken when realizes Peeta has been “hijacked,” making him attack her on sight. Coin, leader of the resistance, ends the film by announcing a major operation against District 2, the only remaining district loyal to the Capitol.

10. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Luke Skywalker arrives and battles with Vader, where he loses an arm and learns that Vader is his father. The movie ends with him getting a prosthetic arm and the gang readying themselves to find Han.

Good and Bad Cliffhangers

Just like with a plot twist, a cliffhanger is all about the execution. Done well, it makes the audience frustrated and excited. This gets them in the mood to learn about what’s coming next. That eagerness is rewarded when they finally get to the next part.

Done poorly, it merely gets them frustrated. As cliffhangers are often done in end scenes, this can leave them with a strong negative impression of a particular work. Or worse, the cliffhanger is left unresolved due to unfortunate events such as a show being canceled or the creator dies.

There are cliffhangers that are intentionally left unresolved. Essentially, they’re ambiguous endings that provoke the readers to speculate. They create their own endings based on a combination of information taken from the work and their own imagination. This allows the audience to construct the ending that they want.

Take, for example, The Princess Bride. While the movie version ends in a happily ever after, the original ending is less certain. The party rides off into the sunset on the prince’s stolen white horses. A series of mishaps ensue, letting the prince’s men close in on them. The author did say he believes they got away, though.

Good cliffhangers are bait for the audience’s curiosity. It leads them smoothly from one story to another while keeping the same level of interest and excitement. As a result, people will always want more of the story.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 10 Cliffhangers from Literature, Film, and Television appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

Clever directors and writers take advantage of these expectations to shock their audiences by deliberately adding an unexpected change. This is called a plot twist, a literary technique that denies a predicted outcome and forces the viewer to change their perspective of the story.

Most plot twists happen at the end, right at the point where the plot and subplots are supposed to wrap up. As such, they’re a dangerous gamble: executed badly and it ruins the story; but when used well, plot twists give the audience an explosive and satisfying conclusion.

Best Movie Plot Twists

Many movies use plot twists to further enhance their narrative. While some of them can be disappointing, others become blockbusters that are still celebrated years after their premiere. Below are just a few of these brilliant films.

Spoiler Alert! Plot twists always involve the major details of a story. Knowing the twist before watching the movie can affect your viewing experience.

1. Shutter Island

U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his partner arrive at Shutter Island to track down escaped mental patient Rachel Solando, who is incarcerated for drowning her three children. He’s also there to find Andrew Laeddis, the arsonist who killed his wife.

The Twist: Daniels is actually Laeddis, incarcerated in the mental hospital for killing his wife after she drowned their kids. The whole guise of him investigating Shutter Island and searching for “Rachel” was an intricate test to cure him of his insanity.

2. Saw 

Two men wake up to find themselves chained to opposite sides of a decrepit room with a corpse between them. Forced to participate in a series of deadly games by the Jigsaw Killer, only one of them can get out alive.

The Twist: The corpse that’s been ignored for the entirety of the film isn’t quite dead. It’s actually John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer himself.

3. The Others

Grace Stewart moves to the English coast and awaits her missing husband while taking care of their sick children. Not long after moving in, she senses that there are supernatural “others” living within their house.

The Twist: It’s the other way around: Grace, her kids, and the servants are actually the ghosts. The others they speak about are the living family that’s moved into the house.

4. Fight Club

When an unnamed narrator meets Tyler Durden, they quickly become best friends. Bored, the two begin a “fight club” that soon escalates into an uncontrollable movement.

The Twist: The unnamed narrator is Tyler Durden. He’s suffering from an identity disorder and doesn’t realize that he’s mentally projecting Durden to life.

5. The Empire Strikes Back

The Rebel Alliance is on the run after a surprise attack from the Galactic Empire. Han Solo and the gang are captured and Luke, currently under the tutelage of Master Yoda, abandons his training to save them.

The Twist: In one of cinema’s most iconic scenes, Darth Vader reveals himself to be Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. As the immortalized (but frequently misquoted) line goes: “No, I am your father.”

6. Primal Fear

Defense attorney Martin Vail loves money and the spotlight. He finds the latter in his latest case, as a young, stuttering altar boy named Aaron Stampler is accused of brutally murdering an archbishop. It just so happens that Stampler suffers from multiple personality disorder, often transforming into the sociopathic “Roy.”

The Twist: There never was an Aaron. Roy, the true personality, faked his disorder in order to be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

7. The Usual Suspects

Five criminals plot a multi-million dollar heist that ends up with conman Roger “Verbal” Kint as the only survivor. Kint blames Keyser Soze, a mythical crime lord who’s more elusive than a ghost. In the end, Kint is released after divulging everything he can to the police.

The Twist: Kint is Soze, having fabricated his whole story to the police—something the agent on the case realizes too late. By the time he races out of the precint, Soze is already in the wind.

8. Psycho

Marion Crane steals $40,000 and runs away. Stopping to rest, she checks herself in to the Bates Motel, run by the shifty Norman Bates and his unseen, domineering mother. Later that night, Marion is murdered while showering. Norman suspects his mother and throws Marion’s body in a swamp.

The Twist: Norman’s mother is already long dead, murdered by her son years ago. But his need for his mother made Norman develop a split personality as his own mother. Jealous of Marion, the “mother” took over and stabbed her to death.

9. Atonement

Thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets her older sister Cecilia’s interactions with the housekeeper’s son, Robbie. Believing Robbie is a sex maniac, she falsely accuses him of raping her cousin later that night. He is sent to prison and later joins the army.

Years later, Briony finds the two living together. Consumed by guilt, she apologizes and seeks to fix the damage she inflicted, starting with the legal procedures needed to exonerate Robbie.

The Twist: Robbie and Cecilia never had a chance to live together. The latter part of the movie is revealed to have been written by an elderly Briony as a form of penitence.

10. The Descent

A group of thrill-seeking women decide to go spelunking in an unknown cave system where they are trapped by a landslide. They soon discover they’re not alone, as humanoid creatures called crawlers begin killing them off one by one.

The Twist: The sole survivor, Sarah, manages to get out of the cave and drive off in her SUV until she wakes and discovers it was all a hallucination. She’s still back in the cave and as the camera slowly zooms out, you hear the crawlers closing in.

11. Arrival

Twelve alien spacecraft arrive and hover over various locations around the Earth. Linguist Louise Banks is recruited to find out the reason for their visit. As she learns the aliens’ language, she begins having flashbacks about her deceased daughter.

The Twist: The aliens’ language isn’t linear, but palindromic: they know the ending as soon as they create the beginning. Learning it alters a human’s perception of time and it’s revealed that Banks’s flashbacks are actually visions of her future.

12. The Prestige

Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, once friends, are now bitter enemies. When Borden figures out the ultimate trick of teleportation, Angier begins experimenting with dangerous science in a bid to be the better magician.

The Twist: There are two twists in this movie. One, the magician Borden is actually twins living one life. Two, Angier’s trick involves creating clones and killing off the original Angier.

13. Unbreakable

Comic book art dealer Elijah Price believes he is on a quest to find a real-life superhero. When football superstar David Dunn escapes a train accident unscathed, Price believes he’s finally found one. Under Price’s guidance, Dunn realizes he has super strength and is able to sense the crimes people committed by touching them.

The Twist: At the end of the film, Dunn shakes hands with Price and learns the truth. Price orchestrated many high-profile accidents in his search for a hero—including the train crash Dunn survived.

14. Us

Adelaide Wilson and her family vacation at the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Four masked attackers—revealed to be their doppelgangers—descend on their home and force them to fight for survival.

The Twist: After killing Red, Adelaide is revealed to be the real clone. As a child, the real Adelaide was snatched up and imprisoned by the real Red, who has been posing as Adelaide ever since.

15. The Mist

When a freak storm rolls over town, a few citizens hole up in a grocery store and are trapped by a mysterious mist. As dangerous creatures reveal themselves inside the mist, tensions within the store escalate as a zealot calls for a sacrifice.

The Twist: A small group of survivors decide to leave town but are stranded in the mist when their car runs out of fuel. They decide to end their lives with David, the protagonist, shooting his son and friends with his remaining bullets before stepping out to be taken by the mist.

Moments later, the mist dissipates, revealing the army in the process of exterminating the creatures and restoring order.

Plot Twists and Satisfying Conclusions

Plot twists only work when they truly surprise the audience. Viewers are comfortable in their assumptions, and are simultaneously amazed and outraged when their expectations are suddenly proven wrong.

A big part of why good plot twists create satisfying conclusions is that the viewers appreciate the amount of effort put in concealing them. Obvious twists aren’t much of a twist, and when people have figured them out long before they’re triggered, it spoils the purpose.

This is why writers and directors work hard to withhold information or mislead their audiences with false or irrelevant details. They use red herrings, unreliable narrators, non-linear narratives, and other such techniques to cover up the truth of the narrative.

It’s important to note that plot twists must create a significant change to the narrative, requiring viewers to revise their expectations. They affect the overall plot and not just a small part of the story.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 15 Plot Twists You’ll Never See Coming appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

Imagine James Bond going rogue and you’ll have a fairly close image of the gentleman thief. His female counterpart is either a lady thief or sometimes, the cat burglar.

What Is a Gentleman Thief?

Gentlemen thieves usually want for nothing and don’t need to work, as they are part of a wealthy or noble family. Their background provides them with superior education, a gentleman’s (or lady’s) manners, and a code of honor. But with everything being handed to them, they’re also unsatisfied with life.

As a result, they pursue adventure through illegal means. While they can easily buy the things they steal, they choose illicit activities for the thrill of doing them. Sometimes it’s also about correcting a wrong, such as stealing ill-gotten wealth or bankrupting evil criminals.

Gentlemen thieves adhere to a strict personal code. This often includes avoiding violence, and preferring instead to use more peaceful methods of thievery. However, when push comes to shove, they won’t hesitate to fight and are depicted as competent, if untraditional, fighters.

Despite being criminals themselves, their nature as gentlemen has them go out of their way to stop more serious crimes, especially when lives are at stake. They also exercise a level of Robin Hood philosophy by stealing strictly from the rich and distributing a portion of it to the poor.

And like all debonair adventurers, they like taking risks. For gentlemen thieves, that often means taunting the police. They leave “calling cards” behind every crime to tell the cops who did it. The more confident ones even call the police in advance to announce their next targets—and still manage to get away with the loot despite heightened security.

Over the course of their careers, they often form odd relationships with their police counterparts. While it’s not outright friendship, they often develop a grudging respect for each other’s work.

Gentlemen Thieves in Fiction

Popular culture has given us many memorable gentlemen thieves. Below are some of the most famous of them.

1. Arsène Lupin

Pretty much the prototype for the gentleman thief, Arsene Lupin is a suave, intellectually gifted, and accomplished thief. No one knows what he truly looks like, as he’s always in disguise. Reformed, he also moonlights as a detective, solving crimes that the police can’t figure out.

Lupin was created as the criminal mirror to Sherlock Holmes. And while he is a criminal, his burglaries are done for a moral reason—most often to steal valuables from the unappreciative rich and give them to those who can either use or truly appreciate them.

2. Robin Hood

To an extent, Robin Hood can be classified as a gentleman thief. He’s a former noble who has had access to formal education, training, and social exposure. As a thief, he’s seen as a hero to the destitute, known for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

His robbery tactics are more about convincing his marks to give up their valuables rather than taking them by force. Sometimes, he’d even invite his victims to a feast—using the supplies he had just stolen from them, no less.

3. Carmen Sandiego

In the long-running edutainment series of the same name, Carmen Sandiego is the head of the Villains’ International League of Evil (V.I.L.E). A fashionable criminal genius, Carmen is motivated by the challenges of thievery rather than greed.

Most of her crimes are large-scale, spectacular, and often impossible heists involving monuments and other such structures. This, and her ability to escape every situation she’s in, has earned her the epithets of The Queen of Crime, and The World’s Greatest Thief.

4. John Robie

Known as “The Cat,” John Robie was once the most notorious jewel thief there ever was. He’s not a complete villain though, seeing as he was part of the French resistance during World War II.

Handsome, confident, and rich, he enjoys retirement in his luxurious villa in the French Riviera. But when someone masquerading as The Cat puts him under suspicion, he decides that it takes a thief to catch a thief.

5. Sir Charles Lytton

Sir Charles Lytton is a rich playboy who is secretly a thief called “The Phantom.” His calling card comes in the form of a white glove left at the scene of his burglaries.

Throughout the Pink Panther series, he plots to steal or recover the titular diamond and constantly butts heads with Inspector Clouseau.

Gentlemen Thieves in Real Life

Gentlemen and lady thieves do exist in real life. Here are a few notable examples of them:

6. Charles E. Boles

Known as “Black Bart,” Boles earned his reputation as a gentleman bandit by leaving behind poetic messages during two of his robberies. He was also known for his style and sophistication as he never swore, never fired his shotgun, and was civil with his victims.

Despite his gentlemanly behavior, he was still one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers in Northern California and southern Oregon during the 1870s.

7. Sofia Ivanovna Blyuvshtein

Also known as “Sonya Golden Hand,” Blyuvshtein was a famous lady thief and con artist who disguised herself as an aristocrat and robbed the bourgeoisie of a considerable fortune.

Not much is known about her personal life, but many books and films portray her as a Robin Hood figure. She never used violence, and strictly stole from the rich.

8. Matthew Brady

Matthew Brady was a bushranger (analogous to the British highwayman) who operated in the early 1800s. He was given the name “Gentleman Brady” because of his fine manners and good treatment of his victims, especially towards women.

He was also known for his wit, responding to the governor’s bounty on him by putting a price on the governor. When finally captured and sentenced to hang, many admirers left him gifts and called for his release. He was reported to have faced death with dignity.

9. Willie Sutton

“Slick” Willie Sutton was a robber in the 1920s who was known for his talent with disguises. He’s also known as the namesake for Sutton’s Law (where one must go for the most obvious choice) though he denied originating it.

He was known for his wit and nonviolence as a robber, going as far as carrying unloaded weapons as somebody might get hurt. He also allegedly stopped robbing banks when a woman screamed or a baby cried.

10. Samuel Bellamy

Samuel Bellamy, or “Black Sam,” was a sailor turned pirate who operated in the early 18th century. He is recorded to be the wealthiest pirate in recorded history.

He is well known to his contemporaries and to history as tall, strong, well-mannered, and tidy. He liked expensive clothes and is described as cultivating a dashing appearance. He was also known for being generous and merciful to the people he captured and was well-loved by his crew.

Loveable Criminals

As a stock character, the gentleman thief often falls into the category of criminals who you can’t help but cheer for. It’s understandable; they are written to be charming and confident.

What really makes them enjoyable characters is that their stories are essentially a deconstruction of detective stories. Just like in detective fiction, these characters are portrayed as smart, skilled, gifted, and having a personality that pulls the reader deeper into the narrative, The only difference is that they operate on the other side of the law.

And in most stories that involve gentlemen thieves, they’re not really villains, or at least they aren’t complete dastards. There’s a reason for every crime, and these characters give readers a path to a different treatment of crime in fiction.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post The Gentleman Thief: A Criminal with Manners appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

The term is French for “fatal woman,” owing to the fact that her actions almost always sets off a man’s downfall. A younger version of this character is called fille fatale, or “fatal girl.”

Examples of Femme Fatales

The femme fatale character is evident in many cultures and mythologies, but the version commonly known today was popularized in the Film Noir era.

A major reason why the femme fatale is so popular is because these characters were the first to depict strong, independent women on screen. It also helps that they’re mostly portrayed as a combination of sexy and deadly—something that works for both sexes.

Over the years, books, movies, and TV series have put out unforgettable characters who can be classified as femme fatales. Here are just a few excellent examples.

Spoiler Alert!

Many of the examples below go into detail about why they are femme fatales, which may include important details from the story.

1. Amy Dunne from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Where do we start with Amy? She sets her husband up for her disappearance and possible murder, decides not to go through with it, and never sees an ounce of punishment for her deeds. Not to mention that during her short adventure, she uses her sex appeal to manipulate men to do what she wants, and then kills them when they’re distracted.

2. Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Milady de Winter is a young, uncommonly beautiful woman with a bewitching voice. Underneath her pleasant exterior though, is a cunning, ruthless, and manipulative person who prefers making men do her dirty work. This includes seducing her jail guard into not only freeing her but also assassinating the Duke of Buckingham.

3. Carmilla from Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla is a femme fatale of the supernatural sort. She moves into a castle where she befriends a lonely, young woman. Not only does she prey on her during the night, but a mysterious sickness begins killing young women in the surrounding countryside.

4. Circe from The Odyssey by Homer

On the way back from the Trojan War, Odysseus and his crew happen upon Circe’s island. Circe invites them for a feast where she turns the crew into swine. Thanks to a timely intervention by Hermes, Odysseus is able to resist Circe’s charms and persuade her to turn his crew back into men.

5. Delilah from The Bible

In the bible, Delilah is a woman loved by Samson, the final judge of Israel who possesses great strength. The Philistines manage to bribe her to discover Samson’s source of strength.

After three failed attempts, she successfully learns it’s his hair and orders a servant to cut them off while he’s sleeping. She then turns him over to his enemies, where they gouge out his eyes and force him to work in a mill.

6. Lady Macbeth from Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Spurred to action by his wife, the brave general Macbeth murders the king and takes the throne for himself. It’s frightening to read how much control Lady Macbeth has over her husband. She always has the final say and always manages to convince him that every atrocity they commit is necessary.

7. Brigid O’Shaughnessy from The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

Brigid hires protagonist Sam Spade and goes so far as seduce him into bed. While she acts innocently throughout the novel, she’s actually directly involved in various thefts, betrayals, and murders, all in the search for the eponymous artifact.

8. Annie Wilkes from Misery by Stephen King

Annie Wilkes happens on the best gift of her life when she finds her favorite author injured in an accident. She takes him home, patches him up, and imprisons him when she learns he’s killed off her favorite character. She then proceeds to torture him until he revives the character.

While she’s not the typical seductress that femme fatales are popularly seen as, she poses as an angel who turns out to be the devil, leading the protagonist to peril.

9. Nikita from La Femme Nikita

Nikita is a nihilist who murders a police officer in a robbery gone awry. She is arrested and sentenced to life in prison, where she disappears from the world. She’s turned into a talented and beautiful killer, able to turn heads and blow them in one breath.

10. Selina Kyle from Batman

Selina Kyle is a cat burglar who goes by the name of Catwoman. Much of the comics and movies portray her as villainous, though she has also been depicted as an anti-heroine with a complicated relationship with Batman.

In true femme fatale style, no one’s really sure what side she’s on, and she’s not afraid to play coy if it means advancing her goals.

11. Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct

Catherine Tramell is one of the most iconic femme fatales in film history. She’s not just a femme fatale, but a psycho killer on the level of Hannibal Lecter. In the film, while people treat her with suspicion, she’s able to manipulate events by seducing the lead detective who’s investigating her and pinning the murder on someone else.

12. Various from Naked Weapon

Naked Weapon‘s premise is about an organization that kidnaps girls and trains them as assassins who seduce and kill their male targets. Their favorite methods are to seduce the target to bed, give them a back massage, and then rip out their spinal cords.

13. Jennifer Check from Jennifer’s Body

While it received negative reviews during its initial release, this movie has since become a cult film appreciated for its feminist themes. In it, the titular character is sacrificed to Satan by a local band in exchange for fame and fortune. She then goes on a killing spree, seducing men and disemboweling them after.

14. Hayley Stark from Hard Candy

Fourteen-year-old Hayley Stark engages with a sexual predator in a flirtatious online chat. They meet up, and the predator takes her home, where she drugs and restrains him in a chair. She then proceeds to torture him until he confesses to the rape and murder of another girl.

15. Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones

Cersei Lannister is cruel, cunning, and is always in the process of building a scheme. Not only does she manipulate events to make sure she’s always on top, but she also makes sure to punish anyone who goes against her.

Criticism of the Femme Fatale

This character type has its fair share of problems, the largest being that it reduces women to just their sexuality. In early fiction, they were shallow characters that represented everything that men were supposed to fear in women.

Those who are romantically forward or sexually open are dangerous, and sensible men should pursue women who are “pure.” Of course, people will always go for the things prohibited to them, and so began the fascination for these characters.

But while the concept started out as sexist, modern writers and filmmakers have worked hard to subvert this kind of character. Now you’ll find characters from books, TV series, and movies who exhibit traits of the femme fatale, but are far more complex.

The Allure of the Femme Fatale

In modern fiction, femme fatales are characters who no longer exist in the narrative as subordinates to men. They are their own characters, with motivations and actions of their own.

They’re women who don’t apologize for who they are. They’re comfortable with their sexuality and are not afraid of getting things done themselves.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post 15 of the Best Femme Fatales in Literature and Film appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

There are thousands of variations to these deathtraps. Whether they’re there to stall the story or kill off characters, these traps always provide readers with entertaining situations. How will the hero escape now?

What Is a Deathtrap?

In fiction, the deathtrap is a plot device that uses an elaborate, improbable, and often bizarre method intended to kill the hero.

Villains are a lot of things, but you can’t deny that some of them are committed. They go the extra mile just so they can set up the ultimate showdown with their rivals. Hence, the deathtrap.

Sure, they could just shoot the hero and be done with it, but where’s the fun in that? Or maybe they think a plain death is too easy a death for their enemies. They want them to suffer as much as possible before finally expiring.

Classic examples include trapdoors that open up to snake pits or spikes, suspension traps over acid pools or lava, and rooms slowly being filled with water.

Famous Examples of Deathtraps

Deathtraps come in many shapes and sizes. Here are just a few iconic examples in literature and film.

Spoiler Alert: I’ve also included details about how the characters were able to escape each trap!

1. The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe

In this short story, a man is captured and tortured with a series of deathtraps. In its most famous scene, the man is strapped to a table over which a bladed pendulum is suspended, swinging back and forth. The pendulum slowly descends, and will eventually killing him unless he escapes.

The Escape: The man is able to smear his bonds with meat from his last meal, attracting rats that eventually gnaw through the ropes.

2. The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming

Bond Girl Mary Goodnight is strapped to a railroad track by the villain Scaramanga. It just so happens that the train James Bond is currently riding is the one about to squash Goodnight flat.

The Escape: Subverted. It’s revealed that the body chained on the tracks is actually a mannequin, designed to draw Bond out into the open.

3. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

Harry Hole’s beloved Rakel is forced to sit on a melting snowman. Once the snowman melts, she falls down and the razor wire around her neck will decapitate her.

The Escape: Harry is able to arrive just in time to save her, at the cost of one of his fingers being cut off.

4. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones recovers a golden idol from a booby-trapped Peruvian temple. Immediately after taking it from its pedestal, the room begins to seal shut. As Indy frantically backtracks, he has to jump over a pit and evade various traps, including a huge boulder that threatens to flatten him.

The Escape: No clever tricks or impossible feats. Indy simply runs at full speed until he exits the temple. Unfortunately, a rival archeologist comes and steals the idol.

5. Final Destination

In each installment in the Final Destination franchise, several people escape death because of a premonition moments before a catastrophe. Death, a malevolent entity in the film, sets up various deathtraps to reclaim the deaths it feels it was cheated out of.

The Escape: It’s almost impossible to escape Death’s designs. However, in one of the films, a survivor “dies” by letting herself drown and then be revived, thereby ruining the pattern and allowing her and another survivor to live.

Why Use a Deathtrap?

Storywise, the deathtrap is a useful tool to create dramatic tension. It shows us the villain’s devious mind, and the hero’s resourcefulness in escaping. Plus, it’s the perfect way to introduce a cliffhanger.

In some ways, the deathtrap is about proving the villain’s superiority. It’s not just about killing the hero, it’s about choosing the way they die—usually in a slow and painful death, at that. However, the villain often fails to monitor the hero closely, leaving them able to figure out a way to escape just in time.

It’s closely tied to the trope where a villain tends to do monologues when the hero is in their clutches. They reveal their plans and goals, confident the hero won’t be able to use the information because they’ll be dead shortly. What they fail to realize though, is that their speech gives the hero time to figure something out, or for rescue to arrive.

This trope can be written seriously but is also frequently parodied or subverted. Whatever way it’s used, deathtraps are a guaranteed way of making a situation more interesting.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post Deathtraps: What Is in a Villain’s Arsenal? appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

It is then up to the detective in the story to eliminate the innocents from this pool of suspects. The advantage here is that rather than searching for a completely unknown killer, they’re able to quickly narrow the crime down to only a few people.

The Closed Circle Mystery

A crime fiction story that relies on a closed circle of suspects is also referred to as a closed circle mystery, though it’s a loosely used name. It’s mostly associated with “traditional” detective fiction, mainly those that came from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

Agatha Christie is credited with starting this trend when she published The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The book details Hercule Poirot’s investigation into the murder of a wealthy Englishwoman who helped him begin a new life. The narrative limits the suspects to the members of the woman’s household.

Commonly associated with the closed circle is an isolated setting. During the Golden Age, stories mostly took place in British country houses, though other locations such as islands and ships were also used.

The remote locations provide the perfect excuse for the narrative to limit the available suspects. To further lock in the idea that no one else could have possibly done the crime, these locations are also rendered inescapable. Weather conditions worsen, structures such as bridges collapse, or communication methods become useless.

The conditions to create this closed circle of suspects can limit the storytelling and sometimes make the narrative predictable. Settings with restricted access, upper-class characters, and cat-and-mouse games between the hero and villain are regularly used.

Books With Closed Circles of Suspects

A lot of crime fiction novels have used the closed circle of suspects to establish their mysteries. And while this genre convention has become less common, it still pops up now and then in modern fiction.

Below are some of the best novels that use this plot element, from the classics to the contemporary.

1. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

The year is about to end and a group of friends meet to continue their yearly tradition of vacationing together. For this year, they’ve chosen the remote Scottish Highlands as their place of relaxation.

But their decades of fragile nostalgia finally shatter when one of them is found dead on New Year’s Day. With no one else miles around, there’s no doubt the killer is still among them.

2. An Unwanted Guest by Shari LaPena

Mitchell’s Inn, with its wine cellars, fireplaces, and spacious rooms, is the perfect location for a romantic getaway. So when worsening weather cuts off power and communication, the guests are more than willing to settle down and wait things out.

Then one of them dies. While it looks like an accident, another one of them quickly follows. With no doubt that someone’s out to get them all, the guests can only lock themselves in and hope to survive.

3. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Linnett Ridgeway is beautiful, rich, and very much dead. While on a luxurious cruise across the Nile, someone among the passengers shot her through the head.

A former best friend seems like the most likely suspect but her alibi says otherwise. With the killer still on the loose, Hercule Poirot must deduce who of the passengers is the real culprit before they strike again.

4. The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux

Amateur sleuth and reporter Joseph Rouletabille is sent to investigate an impossible crime. A woman is found nearly battered to death in a locked room, with the culprit nowhere in sight.

As more attempts on the woman’s life are made, Rouletabille races to learn who the culprit is and why they’re desperate to end her life.

5. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Journalist Lo Blacklock has just been handed the assignment of a lifetime. For an entire week, she’ll be aboard a luxury cruise in the beautiful North Sea. The best part? She only has to share the entire cruise with a handful of passengers.

Then she witnesses a woman being thrown overboard. But everyone is accounted for and the ship sails on as if nothing has happened. Lo knows something’s going on, and she’s not afraid to prove it.

Reading Closed Circle Mysteries

The closed circle of suspects is still used today because, despite its limitations in storytelling, it also offers a lot of flexibility. While isolated settings and stock characters are predictable elements, they’re also easy to play around with.

A secluded British mansion can easily be swapped with a ship, a train, a village, and so on. Expanding the pool of suspects also creates opportunities to plant red herrings and other false clues. And of course, the characters’ occupations and skills are easily changed to fit whatever shape the narrative takes form.

For an experienced writer, anything can go in a closed-circle mystery. If you wanted to, you could blend other genres into the story. Make the detective an android, the killer an actual ghost, or the location somewhere in space. The variations are limitless.

A closed circle mystery then offers readers a story that is familiar enough to comfortably dig into, but different enough to surprise you.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post What is the Closed Circle of Suspects? Definition and Examples appeared first on killerthrillers.net.

That is an example of a red herring. Most common in mysteries and thrillers, these details are used to purposely distract you from what’s really going on until the very last minute.

What Is a Red Herring?

A favorite trope in detective fiction, red herrings are false clues that lead readers to an incorrect conclusion. Remember how, in Harry Potter, Severus Snape is portrayed as a villain throughout the series? And then, at the very last part, we learn the true nature of his character.

The red herring is a writer’s equivalent of a magic trick. Just as magicians bedazzle their audiences with fancy hand waves while setting up their deception, writers use red herrings to distract the reader while preparing the real conclusion of their story.

Writers often use this literary device to create surprising twists in their stories. To create more unique and less predictable mysteries, they throw in a few deceptive details to confuse readers.

It’s a powerful way to engage a reader and make them believe they’re onto something. When authors use red herrings effectively, readers are rewarded with the realization that they’ve been tricked all along, and the ending comes as a total surprise.

Aside from thickening the plot, red herrings are also opportunities to flesh out characters, scenes, and other narrative details. By providing alternate (albeit false) trails, writers are able to pack in more details that ultimately create a more interesting story.

Origin of the Idiom

First off, there’s actually no such fish as a “red herring.” Rather, it’s a name given to a type of dried fish (typically herring) that is either smoked or brined. The process turns the fish’s flesh dark red and gives it a powerfully pungent smell.

Originally, scholars thought that this idiom originated from a 1697 reference that talked about how to organize a hunt. It mentions training hounds by dragging red herrings across the ground, leaving an easy scent for them to follow. It turns out that this reference was misunderstood, though.

The actual animals being trained were horses, and what was being dragged across the ground were dead foxes or cats. While the term “red herring” was mentioned, it was only as a possible replacement when foxes or cats weren’t available. It wasn’t used in the context that it’s known by today.

Researchers finally linked this idiom to a radical journalist named William Cobbet who first used it in 1807. In his Weekly Political Register, he wrote a presumably fictional story about how, as a boy, he once used a red herring to draw hounds away from hunting a hare.

The story was meant to illustrate how foolish the English press was for being led astray by false information about Napoleon’s supposed defeat, leading them to focus on an inaccurate story rather than more important domestic topics.

This story, and his frequent repetition of it, was enough to leave a strong impression of red herring’s figurative use on the public.

Examples of Red Herrings in Literature

Red herrings are popular across all genres of literature, especially in mystery and thriller fiction. Some of them are obvious (sometimes to the point of being tongue-in-cheek), while others are subtle and hard to detect. Below are some of the best examples that literature has to offer.

Spoiler Alert! Because red herrings are tied to big narrative reveals, the following examples will include important details about their respective stories.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

A group of ten strangers, each with their own dark pasts, are invited to a remote island. But their mysterious host never appears, and strange things begin to happen all around the island.

As the guests begin dying one by one, the survivors band together to search for clues about what’s happening and who’s behind the murders. When one of them disappears, the others assume him to be the killer, only to be proved wrong when his body washes up ashore later on.

Buy the book here.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A family is being haunted by a supernatural hound. To solve the mystery and prevent another death, a local doctor enlists the aid of Sherlock Holmes.

Throughout the story, the butler is presented as the obvious suspect, since one of the key clues is that the culprit has a beard. Not only does the butler have a beard, but he also had a strange habit of skulking around at night. In the end, it’s revealed that the butler is innocent and his behavior is unconnected to the mystery.

Buy the book here.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

An orphan boy named Pip discovers he has a mysterious benefactor. All signs lead to Miss Havisham, an eccentric and wealthy old woman who has recently taken him in.

Later on in the story, it’s revealed that his benefactor is actually an escaped convict that he treated well when he was a boy. It turns out Miss Havisham only took him in as part of a twisted plot to take revenge against the man who left her waiting at the altar.

Buy the book here.

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

In the sixth book of the series, Demandred, an antagonistic character with the ability to disguise themselves, is introduced. At the start of the book, the main antagonist gives Demandred a secret mission.

Coincidentally, a new character named Mazrim Taim makes himself known to the protagonist, offering his services to the hero. This timing of introduction led many to believe that Taim is Demandred in disguise. It’s later confirmed in the last book of the series that while he was recruited by Demandred, Taim is a completely separate person.

Buy the series here.

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

The paralyzed director of CERN, Maximillian Kohler is shown to hate the Church because his parents, for religious reasons, refused the treatment that would have prevented his condition.

This hate for the church and accessibility to the anti-matter bomb currently threatening the Vatican makes him the most likely suspect—until it’s proven he’s innocent, but by then it’s too late and he’s already dead.

Buy the book here.

Red Herrings as an Informal Fallacy

It’s important to know that apart from being a literary device, a red herring can also be an informal fallacy—a type of fallacy that has flaws in reasoning rather than in logic.

As an informal fallacy, a red herring attempts to redirect an argument to a subject that only has surface relevance to the main subject. It’s mostly used to divert the argument to something that the person doing the diversion can better respond to.

It may or may not be intentional and may happen even without a conscious decision to mislead. Here is an example of this particular fallacy:

Journalist: What do you have to say about the recent accusations of corruption against you?
Politician: All I have to say is that my team and I are hard at work. Just look at the new program we've launched for the homeless.

In the conversation above, the reporter raises a concern about a politician’s alleged corruption and specifically asks the politician to comment on it. Instead, the politician attempts to shift the discussion toward a subject that’s safer for them to answer.

The red herring fallacy is considered a fallacy of relevance, as it involves information that is irrelevant to the main subject. It’s also sometimes called a diversion or digression fallacy due to its intent to divert a topic to another topic instead.

Cole Salao

Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!

The post Red Herrings: Definition, Origin, and Examples appeared first on killerthrillers.net.