Blood rain (disambiguation)

Blood rain is a phenomenon where blood is perceived to fall from the sky in the form of rain.

Blood Rain may also refer to:

See also

Blood rain

Blood rain or red rain is a phenomenon in which blood is perceived to fall from the sky in the form of rain. Cases have been recorded since Homer's Iliad, composed approximately 8th century BC, and are widespread. Before the 17th century it was generally believed that the rain was actually blood. Literature mirrors cult practice, in which the appearance of blood rain was considered a bad omen. It was used as a tool foreshadowing events, but while some of these may be literary devices, some occurrences are historic. There is now a scientific consensus that the blood rain phenomenon is caused by aerial spores of green microalgae Trentepohlia annulata.

Recorded instances of blood rain usually cover small areas. The duration can vary, sometimes lasting only a short time, others several days. By the 17th century, explanations for the phenomenon had moved away from the supernatural and attempted to provide natural reasons. In the 19th century, blood rains were scientifically examined, and theories that dust gave the water its red colour gained ground. Today, the dominant theories are that the rain is caused by red dust suspended in the water (rain dust) or by the presence of micro-organisms. Alternative explanations include sunspots and aurorae.

Blood Rain (novel)

Blood Rain is a novel by Michael Dibdin, and is the seventh entry in the popular Aurelio Zen series.

Plot

Aurelio Zen gets the posting he always dreaded—he has been sent to Sicily, home of the Mafia, albeit in a nondescript liaison job, briefed to spy on the Mafia. Carla, the woman who is his adopted daughter is there too, setting up police computers and worries that someone has a backdoor into data. Carla enjoys a flirtation with a heavily guarded woman magistrate whose pursuit of the Mafia is based on quite personal agendas.

Someone is left to die in an abandoned and locked metal wagon in a railway siding with a scrawled name as a clue. The local Mafia chiefs, the Limina clan, anxious to retain prestige, deny that it is their missing son; but many die for this murder that supposedly never happened. After the magistrate is murdered along with Zen's daughter, he discovers that a file left in his keeping points to irregularities in the murder investigation and a possible "third level" aiming to destabilise the powers of the old clans raising many unanswerable questions.

Blood Rain (film)

Blood Rain (Hangul: 혈의 누; RR: Hyeolui Nu) is a 2005 South Korean film. A murder mystery set in 1808, the film touches on historical prejudice against Roman Catholicism in the Joseon Dynasty. Although primarily a period thriller, director Kim Dae-seung weaves together an unconventional mix of styles—a puzzle-box mystery plot traditionally associated with detective fiction, class-conscious social commentary, lush cinematography, sets and costume design, and a flair for gore.

Plot

It is year 1808 on Donghwa Island, a small island with a technologically advanced (for its time) paper mill. The presence of the mill has spawned a bustling village, and given its townspeople a certain degree of wealth. With climate and trees perfectly suited for papermaking—and a location remote enough to ensure both privacy and secrecy—the island has established a profitable business in high quality paper, with trade routes stretching as far away as China.

This isolated and largely autonomous island begins to be plagued by a string of gruesome murders. However, it's not just the mounting death toll that's causing residents to worry, but the sadistic, methodical way in which the victims were killed. With the killer still on the loose, the government sends in special investigator Wonkyu to crack the case. While conducting his dogged investigation, he soon uncovers a myriad of hidden secrets, tracing the murders back to an incident that occurred some seven years earlier, in which the former owner of the mill was executed for practicing Catholicism. The townspeople, for their part, are convinced that the dead man's ghost has come back for revenge. As the young officer digs deeper into the island's dark past, Wonkyu discovers that there may be something even more frightening than the murders or the murderer—a truth that will make him question the depths of human nature.