So I’ve just recently finished watching another Netflix series called Locke and Key, and although it doesn’t really fit into the psychological horror genre that I’m currently looking into, it does touch on the aspects of the mind, emotions and memories.
Locke and Key is based on the comic book series of the same name written by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, and is adapted into a Netflix original series. It is categorized as a fantasy drama with a little bit of supernatural horror here and there. The series talks about three children and their mother who just moved into their father’s family home called Keyhouse, following his murder. The children then discover several mysterious keys throughout the house that can be used to unlock different doors to unlock magical powers.
The Head Key
One of these keys is called the Head Key. Per its name, it literally is in the shape of a head and is used by sticking it at the back of one’s neck (as seen in the image below).
image from Google Images
This used to open a quite literal door of their own head/mind, or even others’, allowing them to access memories, knowledge and emotions, in the form of personifications. Each door and “head” space varies depending on the personality of the person. For instance, Kinsey’s (the second sibling) memories manifest as brightly coloured jars in a candy shop. She is able to take these jars and show them to others; she’s showing a particular “memory” to Tyler (the eldest) in the image below. By using the Head Key, you’re also able to either put things into or out of someone’s “head/mind”.
image from Google Images
The Mirror Key
Another magical key, called the Mirror Key, opens a “mirror portal” to ‘The Prison of the Self’ (see video below).
I really love this idea of a “prison” taking an intangible form as it resides behind a mirror of your own reflection. Here’s an excerpt from my own poem that I wrote quite a while back which I feel like relates to this idea.
Are you being punished for someone else’s crime?
Well, that’s not entirely true.
Aren’t you also, as they say,
guilty as charged?
Yes, for being your own perpetrator.
Sentenced to be a prisoner of your own mind.
But for how long?
Days? Weeks? Months? Years?
For life?
So, usually in a “crime” there’s a perpetrator and a victim. But my poem tries to show that, metaphorically speaking, a person can be both a “perpetrator” and a “victim” of their own minds. To put it simply, an example that comes to mind is when we say self-deprecating words to ourselves that break us down instead of build us up. We are our own “perpetrator” for betraying our own self-esteem, but at the same time, we are also our own “victim” of this self-inflicting act. To tie this with Locke & Key and the Mirror Key, we can see from the video that the reflection could represent an “alter ego” of one’s self, leading and trapping yourself in your own “prison”. This idea is definitely something that I’d like to incorporate for my project, but still a little unsure as to how I’m going to do it (whether it be in writing or through visuals).
Reference List:
Clip Insider 2021, ‘Bode using Mirror key | Locke & Key Episode 1 | Clip HD’, YouTube, viewed 15 September 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGgE6D5OtaQ>
