harlan ellison and the missing word

i sit in the dark typing this, trying to marshall my resources, gather my words & perhaps wear a smarter hat. it was comic-con last weekend and so i was on "dream king" duty, as he was here in town, having had a friday panel down in SD. he showed some clips from "stardust" and then headed up north for meetings and so forth. always great to spend time with mr. gaiman.
this time, however, he invited me to a dinner with the ever-brilliant and unpredictable harlan ellison of SF&F fame. we went to a mongolian BBQ in the midst of one of the hottest days on record here in LA, and we were feeling it. after dinner, as we opened the doors to leave, a haunted wind blew into the place, scattering receipt tickets and waiters alike. we stood outside, marvelling at the temperature change. it was a magic night & i am grateful to have met this legend. he was looking for a word, one that none of us could come up with, meaning "overly punitive"-- and i was sitting with a table full of writers (josh olson was there as well, he wrote the screenplay for "history of violence" & was, as harlan called him an Oscar loser--he was nominated last year)---for the life of me, i can't figure the word out...
it was an enchanted night, after as i went through the pool area of the chateau marmont & looked up at the moon, i think a spell fell over me.