I started writing book 18 (out of 21) of the Rome series because it’s the odd book in the series that diverges from strict realism and is more maybe supernatural maybe mundane kind of gore horror about monsters in Borneo that eat Japanese soldiers during the war. Is it really some demon conjured up by the natives using magic or is it just some unknown animal that was disturbed by the war? I deliberately avoid answering questions.
There’s a lot of real history here.
There was a major incident where
allegedly 900 Japanese soldiers were eaten by crocodiles in a single night (although it’s believed most simply drowned) and this saved a group of British soldiers from annihilation.
There was real life cannibalism in the war, with the Japanese eating their enemies as a kind of shock and awe. The monster might just be a person who’s been heavily drugged and has entered into a cannibalistic frenzy. That would certainly explain the intelligence of the monster that only kills certain people.
There’s even been cannibals in the region (in New Guinea)
in recent times. This is famously the cause of the
brain disease Kuru seen in the Fore people.
And of course I’ve been fascinated by Borneo since I was real young so I had to include the island into the new Roman Empire.