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THE SORROW EATER by Neil Görz

I call it The Sorrow Eater (Der Trauer Fresser) - feeds off pain, despair and blood. Story goes that an old man lost his wife and walks into the woods to mourn, where he finds a strange piece of horned wood. He takes it home and hangs up on the wall because he thinks it's unique. Mourning the loss of his wife the dark spirits of the forest call to him and begin to lie to him - saying that if he finds a child and sacrifices it in the woods his wife will return to him... but only if he places the horn into the bloodsoaked earth. He goes crazy with desperate grief and continues dreaming of the spirits and their plan. Soon he can't distinguish between reality and actually steals a little boy out of a neighbors house - and kills the child in the woods. He places the horn into the ground and the the Sorrow Eater rises from clay, stones, fungus, insect and wood. But it has what it wanted - freedom! It mocks the man who becomes insane from heartache. He is sent to a mental institution for the criminally insane. There he frantically rants about the being to anyone who will listen but for years no one will believe. Only a caring new male nurse slowly truly starts to listen to his story and crime. The Sorrow Eater roams the forest and those with sorrow who enter or are near are drained of blood and left dead on the forest floors. The nurse soon looses his lover and upon entering the forest surrounding his home he begins to feel a menacing presence. Soon he takes in the full depth of the old man's story and the deaths that have plagued the region for years.

I wanted it to totally have the characteristics of the forest. It is composed of drift wood pieces (I had collected from a river bed - 1. The Horn and 2. The Spine) - along with clay. I added twig antennas, arachnid red eyes, moss, worms on the head and maw, moss and fungus as well as 3 bark plates on the sides and top of the head. I feel that gives it a punky look. It was painted with acrylic paint - an olive color and a glossy black.

The Sorrow Eater is a thing I dreamt up while exploring the vast and sometimes dark forests of my hometown in Germany. The folklore is created by me and am currently planning on making a short film of the myth. Thank you for your time.
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