When I saw the little man pictured above with all the knifes stuck in him, I did a double-take. I’d never seen such an unusual and provocative knife holder. But then I was standing next to Jeff Lindsay, creator of Dexter, in his kitchen. Jeff writes the Dexter novels about one of the most unusual protagonists to appear in print in a mystery series, and on the small screen, where Dexter is Showtime’s top television series.
Dexter is not only a blood splatter analyst for the Miami PD, but also a killer who hunts down other murderers who have escaped justice. He uses knives to eliminate his victims and proceeds to chop them up and dump them into Biscayne Bay. Fortunately, the gruesome stuff is left to the viewer’s imagination.
When I asked about the knife holder, I was reminded of an earlier visit in which Jeff was moving about the kitchen with one of those knifes in hand preparing to chop up some vegetables for a salad. So as Jeff took the blade to a head of lettuce, he complained in a guy-to-guy conversation that no one ever accused Michael C. Hall of being a potential mass murderer because he played the role of Dexter. But people were sometimes suspicious about him, Jeff said, because he wrote the books.
I have to admit I kept my eyes on the knife as he was talking. I was never quite sure whether he was intentionally telling me the story while he was wielding the knife as a joke or the salad chopping and story just came together coincidentally.
Maybe that wasn’t a synchronicity, but his story about the knife holder turned out to be a good one. He was in Key West walking along Duval Street when he got some interesting news. A check had just arrived. It was the first royalty check he’d received after Dexter had aired on Showtime. It was a surprising amount that instantly took the family out of their tenuous financial state.
“At that moment, I turned and looked into a window and there was this knife holder. It was so symbolical seeing it right then that I had to have it.” He bought three of them, one to keep, one for his agent, and one for his editor.
As Jeff finished the story, Trish walked in from the porch with Hilary. I pointed out the knife holder and related the story. “That’s a great synchro. Take a picture of it.”
And so I did.
Awesome, I love the show, the knife holder – not so much! Ha, good story.
We love the show, too. Jeff tapped into a dark archetype with this character!
Daz, you are a classic!
Loved the story, love the originality of the knife holder, but really not my idea of beautiful. 🙂
I have to admit to being drawn to Dexter, but then quit watching because of the macabre feeling I had rooting for a serial murderer. It just didn’t feel right, I guess. But the show is very well done.
Great knife holder for the writer, however.
Michael hall is a terrific actor. We enjoyed him in 6 feet under.
That’s a great knife holder.I once had a “Dead Fred” pencil holder on my desk,but ended up giving it away.It had a rubber figure sprawled out on the desk with a pencil through it’s heart.I had a picture of it,and if I find it,I’ll do a post at my blog to show you what it looked like.
But here’s a link to where you can buy one,if you would like to buy Jeff a present at some point;
https://www.latestbuy.com.au/dead-fred-pen-holder.html
And regarding the comment “…people were sometimes suspicious about him, Jeff said, because he wrote the books”.
After hearing him speak at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival,I can assure people that Jeff is no more a murderer than my librarian friend and palm reader,
Andrew Fitzherbert *-)
See link below if you are wondering who Andrew Fitzherbert is.
https://brizdazz.blogspot.com/2011/05/speaking-about-fishy-things-and.html
But seriously,both of these fellas are two of the kindest guys you could meet,and I’m 100% sure neither,has murdered anyone……………………………………………..yet .-)
Loved that fishy things story on your blog!
Many thanks as always, dear cousin. I, too, have arranged my home as much as possible in aligment with feng shui. I am able to do it in my own personal spaces, such as here in my computer room, and in my Egyptian sanctuary, and pretty much in the master BR. However, I live with hubby who frequents the kitchen, alas, and must abide by his convenience wishes in terms of placements of utensils, etc. Woe is me. But, I’m not in there narly as much as I once was, soooo. In any event, I have arranged my sanctuary specifically with mirrors, altar, fountain, my chair, on and on, accordingly. And north to south is very very important in feng shui, as are the mirror placements, etc, and the head of the bed where we sleep. It definitely makes a difference in the energies within the home! Thankfully, only the handles of the knives show. No blades, which is a blessing, but is all I can do….must keep the hubby happy. I tend to say “oh, pooh” in my mind a lot, but he doesn’t hear it! 🙂
oh, i know, cj, about not always being able to have everything just so-so – it’s wonderful seeing my kids now arrange their homes in alignment with feng shui – they’ve seen over the years what a difference it all does make! your egyptian sanctuary sounds so perfect! good for you! 😉
oh, i nearly forgot to mention that last night, the last thing i saw on tv was the series “bones” – i’m intrigued by the methodology in the show – but that’s another story – in any event, the episode i watched had a brief to-do with the illuminati – and the last scene i watched before i cut it off as too macabre for me was that of a young man’s body hanging in his jail cell with a large dagger penetrating his chest! just one, mind you, but still………
On seeing the picture, before reading the synchro story, the little voice in my head said, “That’s bloody awesome.” 😀
I also must reassess the knife placement in my kitchen, I’ve got beautiful knives with pearl handles. It may be time for them to be on display.
Then take a pic and post it!
Great story. The connection between the creative process and synchronicity had always been fascinating to me.
Same here!
WHOA! There’s NO way, none, that I would be able to have that knife holder visible in my own kitchen. Nope. Grandchildren come and go when we have our family get-togethers, and my knife-holders, (I have two, sitting side-by-side on the counter by the stove), are just plain, non-decorative holders, and I like it like that because it doesn’t draw attention to the knives, some of which are big butcher knives. A guy with knives sticking into his body all over? Nope again. My grands are too young and too curious, the six-year-old doesn’t miss a trick; he sees everything, no matter how obscure I may think something is, he will spot it in a heartbeat and ask questions, and Grandma would have a really difficult time explaining that one! (You should be with him in my Egyptian sanctuary! That’s a trip!) However, for Dexter’s creator, this little knife business was a great synchronicity! And so fine that the money pulled them out of the hole. So for those folks, terrific and congratulations! Just not for us, especially me. Great post, though, guys. And fun.
in love and light, dear cousin – you might want to reconsider knives out at all in the kitchen!!! even in a plain container – the feng shui concept is very very clear on the importance of keeping them out of sight – even scissors – it’s the cutting edge of these utensils that is the key here in the wellness center of your home – anyway, i used to do the same thing – years ago – before i read and read everything i could get my hands on about feng shui – the other thing i do, when my kitchen stove is placed so that my back is to a door or an open area, is to place a mirror in the space above the stove top and under the vent hood so that i can always see if someone approaches from behind me – i do the same thing when my sink is placed that way, as well – anyway, just sharing what i’ve found to be true – hugs –
What are the colors for the southeast?
the colors are green and brown for the southeast [and east] element of wood which is associated with abundance and wealth and health/vitality and growth – brown of course is nourishing and can be used in the kitchen, bedroom, entry or as a focal point maybe in a living room [not the entire room] – with the brown you could use a touch of blue [maybe a lighter blue] which would bring the element of water in to complement the wood – and then, of course, with green, also nourishing and renewing – and healing – you can use different houseplants – in my 1924 house, i did my east bedroom in a dark rich khaki brown [original mahogany woodwork trim] and used green in the adjoining bath – the bungalow style house was surrounded by huge old pecan trees and i left the upper part of the huge windows open [see, i’ve done that for years and years] for the visual thing of the trees and put wood mahogany stained shutters on the bottom half – i put no coverings on the bath window as my back yard was enclosed by plants and right outside that window was a magnificent redbud tree!
anyway, long way around answering your question, but hope it does! 😉
Thanks! I’m off to my southeast corner now!
what a neat story!!! but, nifty story and synchronicity aside, the first thing that came to my mind was the feng shui aspect of this humanoid figure penetrated with knives! in feng shui, the kitchen is viewed as the place of your well-being – physically and spiritually – and there are several ways in which to enhance this by the way you maintain your kitchen and by storing knives/scissors out of sight in a drawer, the possibility of their sharp cutting edges creating conflict and anxiety are reduced – however, obviously jeff [and dexter] have this all well-in-hand [pun intended] as they are the ones with the big royalty checks and a hit tv show – and let’s see, today, i am……….hmmmmm………………maybe i’ll go pull my knives out of that drawer!
love the story, guys! and the knife holder is just – well – just the wildest thing!
Good point about the feng shui! We;’ll pass that on to Jeff and Hilary.
I think I’ll go find some knives, too!