Not exactly new, I've had this idea running around my mind for a couple years now...I want to get some opinions about this...I don't think this is one that's been done before. A story that deals with a new kind of serial killer...nobody knows who he is, what he is, where he comes from, his victims don't seem to have ANY connection to one another, only similarities is they're all guys, all between 30s and 40s, and they were all killed from being burnt alive with a flamethrower, and any description that can be given about the killer from any witnesses who were in the wrong place at the wrong time to get a brief glimpse is that he's dressed in an all white flame retardant suit and a helmet so nobody can see his face.

As far as I know it's not an idea that's been used in fiction before, is anybody else familiar with such a thing? And, I know it needs a lot more thought behind it and hell of a fine tuning job, but for something to go on, what do you think? Does it sound promising?

I don't know what you mean by witnesses being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I think a story would be good if told, in part, from witnesses' testimony if all said witnesses were somewhere they should not be, like a person in a secluded dining spot, cheating on a spouse, an alcoholic, just fallen off the wagon, at a dive bar, a minor prostituting herself even though she is from an upper middle class upbringing....that kind of thing.

RedBedroom wrote:

I don't know what you mean by witnesses being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I think a story would be good if told, in part, from witnesses' testimony if all said witnesses were somewhere they should not be, like a person in a secluded dining spot, cheating on a spouse, an alcoholic, just fallen off the wagon, at a dive bar, a minor prostituting herself even though she is from an upper middle class upbringing....that kind of thing.

Actually I was thinking of taking it from the perspective of a cop or a fire marshal who is on the scene of every murder and tries to find out for himself who the killer is and what the motive is. I know that part of it sounds like a beaten dead horse but I have some plans for it from there that should take care of any cliches that might be expected.

Sorry but it doesn't really pique my interest. Murder by fire isn't a new plot device. Granted, it's not via a flamethrower but fire was the murder weapon in Backdraft and I've seen a couple of movies and TV shows where someone is serially lighting homeless people on fire. Basically, the idea of someone running around in a flame retardant suit, helmet and flame thrower (even a compact homemade one), targeting a specific demographic and going unnoticed (except for brief glimpses) just doesn't seem plausible to me. Well, you're a writer and I'm just a reader so maybe you've got all that worked out but your plot device to the contrary, the idea leaves me cold.

How is the story going, Super?