When the term monster comes to mind, many people immediately associate it with some kind of physically impure creature with a deformed appearance. According to Noel Carroll, these creatures are carefully constructed and designed with the idea of fusion and fission in mind. However, having a terrifying biological makeup doesn’t always have to be the case in order for something/someone to be qualified as monstrous.

What about earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes? They are some of the most violent disastrous natural phenomenas that exist and they, too, happen to possess qualities of monsters in that they have the ability to kill and wipe out a large population in a matter of seconds whilst spreading widespread panic to rest of the country/world. Sounds relatively similar to a monster, doesn’t it?

Tornadoes are large funnels of loud rotating wind that form when warm moist air makes contact with cool dry air. These windstorms cause mass destruction as some of the winds can reach up to 300mph, pick up debris and dust particles and violently swirling them in a funnel formation. Take the movie Wizard of Oz, for example. In the film a powerful cyclone develops, uprooting trees, knocking down fences, and destroying property. Unable to open the door to the storm cellar, Dorothy quickly runs to her bedroom to take cover. After being knocked unconscious by an object blown from the strong winds of the storm she wakes up to find the entire house being taken up by the strong monstrous cyclone as the entire structure whirls around the funnel in mid air.

Earthquakes, although not quite as visible as tornadoes or cyclones are (which may make it even more terrifying), also happen to embody the characteristics of a monster as it’s powerful strength causes the ground to make pounding movements which, in turn, evoke feelings of fear and paranoia. We usually hear about these earthquakes attacking California but, just a few years ago, we experienced one in New York. I remember sitting in my dad’s car that afternoon when all of a sudden the vehicle started shaking left and right. We quickly looked to the back, thinking that someone was pulling a foul prank on us by using their weight to push our car back and forth, but there was no one there. In a matter of seconds I started hearing screaming and people began evacuating from the surrounding buildings. Thankfully the earthquake didn’t cause too much damage but those few seconds were still terrifying as, in the back of our minds, we knew that there was no escape from the the trembling ground beneath us.

This brings me to the question – Do all entities have to have a pumping heart and a conscience with rotten motives to be considered a monster? Do all monsters have to be physically disturbing and repulsive in appearance? Is it possible for certain natural disasters be considered monsters? If an entity causes mass destruction and evokes widespread panic, is that enough to qualify it as a monster?

The Monkey King (Wu Kong)

Hero or Monster? The being, The Monkey King, is revered as a hero in the eyes of little kids who are familiar with him. In ancient China, Wu Kong or The Monkey King, is depicted in different roles in different stories, but in a specific one, I recalled him as an individual that rebelled against the gods which leads to conflict amongst them. As I recall from memories of him as a kid, I always looked up to him as a figure of heroic standards simply because of the light that the stories portrayed him in, but is he really a hero? Through Carroll’s lens, The Monkey King would be biasedly labeled as a monster simply through the judgment of his appearance. The Monkey King physical appearance is comparable to a human but with a monkey infusion to his human-like looks. Most people that are familiar with the Monkey King would disagree with Carroll’s understanding of monsters simply because they would dispute the idea that the Monkey King is a monster.

To a certain extent, the Monkey King was a role model that I tried to imitate maybe because of the pure awesomeness that I associated him with. It is understandable that some might see him as a monster the same way that some see King Kong as a monster. The misunderstanding that exist between these individual and society, itself, can be attributed to society’s definition and understanding of the norms. Despite the question that has been brought up that questions the heroicness or monstrosity of the Monkey King, I still hold firm to my belief that he is far from what the word “monster” describe, simply because he is part of my childhood memories and an individual that I admire and love to a certain extent.

Dolls are one of the scariest things from my childhood that I still find frightening to this day. I’m not talking about just any dolls, I’m talking about the ones that we see in movies. Those creepy old dolls that just sit in the corner of the room and then suddenly disappear. Something about these dolls just makes them so creepy. I’ve always wondered why kids would love playing with these things. The expressionless face of these dolls stare right at you, into your soul.

There are many movies that are noted for having a scary doll as the main monster. Chucky is a scary doll that is out to kill. Chucky is a doll that is possessed by the spirit of a serial killer. He constantly tries to kill humans to transfer his soul to their bodies. When I was little, Chucky would scare me a lot. I never watched the movie but I saw pictures and heard about it. The thought of these “innocent” looking dolls coming to kill me, frightened me.

In the Saw movies, the puppet named Billy is used by Jigsaw to talk to his test subjects. Billy is a clown-like puppet doll that rides a tricycle. Jigsaw, the man behind the puppet, uses Billy to describe the sadistic traps and trials that the test subjects must go through in attempts to survive. When I was little, Saw scared me a lot as well. The puppet’s face was scary and the fact that it moved on its own added to the effect. Jigsaw asks his test subjects if they want to play a game, which is what he calls the deadly scenarios the subjects are put in. These games are definitely no fun, and the puppet, Billy, isn’t as well.

Can dolls be considered monsters? Dolls are inanimate objects so how can they be called monsters? How about the dolls portrayed in movies? Those dolls are shown as killers and possessed by evil spirits to haunt and torture people. Can we consider the doll to be a monster, or the spirit that is controlling them? Regardless, all of these expressionless scary old time dolls are creepy.

The Mothman was a creature that was frequently spotted in Western Virginia during the mid to late 1960’s. Many accounts described a figure that resembled both a human and a moth. This creature, however, was never reported to be violent. Many observers noticed it from a distance or following them.

The first account of the figure occurred in November of 1966. Five men were digging a grave when they noticed a mysterious figure flying low above them. A few days later, more accounts came in. This time, a better description was attained. Two couples claimed that they saw the same figure. They described it as a large man with ten foot wings following their car near a World War II munitions plant. Even more people saw the same being after these incidents. Many further accounts recall a creature of the same size and with red glowing eyes.

A year and a month later, sightings halted. To be exact, after December 15, 1967, less and less sightings came about. This was a very strange coincidence because on the same day marked the collapse of the Silver Bridge and the deaths and disappearances of many people. Whether a coincidence or not, many people blamed the whole incident on the Mothman and grew suspicious of its disappearance. Legends arose after the event, correlating the sightings with the bridge collapse. After this incident, fewer and fewer sightings were reported. Still, people of today claimed to have spotted the monster, some even have seen it hundreds of times.

The descriptions of the Mothman stay consistent. A few questions arise. Were the witnesses all in on the plan? Did the Mothman really exist? Why were the spottings only in West Virginia? Do you believe the Mothman had anything to do with the bridge collapse and the deaths it caused? And finally, does such a beast exist today?

The Strain is a TV show based of the book of the same title that was written by Guillermo del Toro. It involves vampires who are also known as Strigoi and someone called “The Master” who inhabits the body of Jusef Sardu. The show is about Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and Professor Abraham Setrakian along with a band of fighters who are trying to stop this from happening.

The Master and these other vampires lack noses, and have clawed fingers with grayed and hairless skin. The Master is one of seven Ancient vampires and is the reason for bringing the “virus” that turns people into these vampires. The virus is spread through these worm-like creatures, which are shown in the first picture. These worm-like creatures seep their way into your body through any entrance they can find, it also includes forcing their way through your skin without creating any holes or while being fed upon by another vampire. Once inside your body, you are done. It is a fast acting disease that is incurable and it manipulates your genes to cause rapid physical changes. Some of the helpers that The Master recruits only have physical alterations, but still seem “normal” to the eye.

For the vampires to “feed” a stinger will extend out of the mouth for up to six feet. In the case of The Master, his jaw also widens to something like the capability of a snake. The stinger will come out of the mouth and it creates a small incision in the throat or thigh of its victim, this incision is not visible to the naked eye. This stinger also acts as the reproductive system, by transferring these worms that infect the bloodstream while feeding.

To kill these creatures, the traditional weaknesses apply. The vampires are extremely vulnerable to sunlight, due to the ultraviolet light in the UVC range. One can also use a fluorescent lamp to repel a vampire. Other things that work are the class silver weapons, or silver based sprays. Conventional weapons will still cause physical damage. A third way to kill these vampires is to decapitate it or break the spinal column.

While I watch this show I come to wonder why the traditional methods don’t work, as crosses, holy water and garlic show no effect on the vampires. Another thing I wondered about was, if The Master was encountered before during the Holocaust by Professor Setrakian, why was he not killed then?

The first result I found when I googled monster was for Monster.com.  It is an online “employment solution” which helps people build resumes and find employers who need someone to work for them.  They work on a global scale and can help someone find almost any professional job.  They believe their success is based off of innovation and constantly changing and improving not only their site but how people see employment.  Personally it just sounds like an average job finding site which I guess is doing pretty well.

Don’t worry this post isn’t a plug for them and I am not getting anything for talking about their website.  However I find it interesting that a job search company decided to use the word “Monster” as their name.  A word that has almost nothing to do with finding a job other than working in some line of horror whether it be a haunted house or a scary movie.  Not only that but the fact that this business was able to get the domain name of www.Monster.com.  I would have thought something more related to the topic of actual monsters would own www.Monsters.com.  Instead it’s some job site that in all honesty I will probably use when I’m older.

Perhaps the creators of this business do not find the word to represent scary and horrible beasts.  Instead it may mean just something unusual and large.  Those aren’t two words that are bad for describing a business.  Large being almost always a good thing and unusual or not the norm can be a good term to separate one’s business from the rest.  When I think of the word monster being used like this I also think of Monster Cookies which, If you can find the right recipe and use the proper ingredients, taste amazing and are fairly large.  Does the word “monster” have much less of a negative connotation in contemporary society?  Is it the meaning of the word monster that has changed? Or is it how people feel about the word that has changed?  Maybe as we age and mature as individuals the word monster scares us less?  I really don’t know here is the song I listened to on repeat until I finished this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLp_Hh6DKWc