When I say "cross the threshold without permission", I mean from the owner/resident. Similarly there are a number of traditions about beneficial household spirits that function similarly, but intended to ensure the brownie doesn't leave.
A lot of literary and cinematic mileage is built on subverting the old traditions about welcoming people into your home, greeting them properly, etc. -- the implication being that there are REASONS these things persist.
If, for example, you were to say "I welcome you as a guest in my home", you might rule (as author) that the very old hospitality traditions put you and the vampire in an effective state of truce -- you cannot harm him because he is your guest and he cannot harm you because you are his host, and thus with careful wording you could in fact have a pleasant dinner. Whereas if you say "my home is your home", you've effectively given him carte blanche.
(Again, my mindset also reflects 20 years of being a dungeon master and quite enjoying the Ravenloft setting...)
This is why it's useful to have a set of "rules" defined for your fantasy/horror critters when you write -- you need not reveal them fully to the reader/viewer, but without knowing them yourself, you're going to write inconsistent crap.
In FRIGHT NIGHT, for example, the mere presence of a cross does nothing; it's the faith that backs it that matters -- and thus we often see it employed since then. Notably for Doctor Who fans, in CURSE OF FENRIC, it's the psychic resonance of the faith itself that fends off the baddies, rather than the object that serves as a focus or symbol, and so the Doctor's faith in his friends and the Russian soldier's faith in the revolution work as well as (or indeed better than) the priest whose faith has begun to falter.
no subject
A lot of literary and cinematic mileage is built on subverting the old traditions about welcoming people into your home, greeting them properly, etc. -- the implication being that there are REASONS these things persist.
If, for example, you were to say "I welcome you as a guest in my home", you might rule (as author) that the very old hospitality traditions put you and the vampire in an effective state of truce -- you cannot harm him because he is your guest and he cannot harm you because you are his host, and thus with careful wording you could in fact have a pleasant dinner. Whereas if you say "my home is your home", you've effectively given him carte blanche.
(Again, my mindset also reflects 20 years of being a dungeon master and quite enjoying the Ravenloft setting...)
This is why it's useful to have a set of "rules" defined for your fantasy/horror critters when you write -- you need not reveal them fully to the reader/viewer, but without knowing them yourself, you're going to write inconsistent crap.
In FRIGHT NIGHT, for example, the mere presence of a cross does nothing; it's the faith that backs it that matters -- and thus we often see it employed since then. Notably for Doctor Who fans, in CURSE OF FENRIC, it's the psychic resonance of the faith itself that fends off the baddies, rather than the object that serves as a focus or symbol, and so the Doctor's faith in his friends and the Russian soldier's faith in the revolution work as well as (or indeed better than) the priest whose faith has begun to falter.