Clowns, a comedic entertainer usually found in circuses, parties, and other celebrations. To many people clowns bring joy and laughter to their faces. Clowns do not seem harmless due to their big red smile, and their colorful outfits. However, to me they are something to be feared. Since I was a little kid I have always been afraid of clowns. I was traumatized because of the 1990 film, It, where the villain was a clown named Pennywise. This clown was unlike other clowns because only children can see it, where it would feed off them after drawing them close. This film contributed to my fear of clowns, as I once thought that all clowns eat children. Ever since my fear for clowns grew I have never approached a clown again, even if they offered me balloons, and other goodies.

Recently I have read a news article about a clown spotted in the borough of Staten Island, holding balloons and snooping around. This brought fear to the residents of Staten Island where he would be seen at night. Pictures of the clown have flooded social media networks. He was finally unmasked, and assured to the community that it was just a publicity stunt for a movie. Even though I don’t live in Staten Island if I saw the clown I would have turned and ran for my life.

(Staten Island Clown)

The topic of Clowns being a monster brings up many questions. Can human in costumes be considered a monster? Can a monster be real or is it something you make up in your imagination? Is a monster something you fear or is it just a thought? Does it have to be big ugly and scary to be considered a monster? Can a monster have good characteristics? Do monsters have to give off a sense of fear? What is the definition of a monster?

Personally, I think that every book is didactic by nature, so after I read Frankenstein, I thought, “What is Mary Shelley trying to teach me?”. After much thought, I came up with this: be wary of blind ambition and be prepared to take responsibility for your actions. While I learned this through reading the novel, Victor Frankenstein had to learn it the hard way. Victor devoted several years of his life to the creation of his own worst nightmare. He spent months assembling the organs and appendages of various corpses and never seemed to realize what he was actually doing. Blinded by his own ambition, he was unable to see the gruesome being he was creating; he never chose to ask himself, “Why am I doing this?” or even, “What am I going to do when I give this thing life?”. His chance to consider these questions was dashed with the surge of electricity that brought the creature to life.

That electric surge served as a sense-restoring slap in the face to Victor. His creation, although wracked with hideous features, had the mindset of a newly-rescued puppy. It simply wanted some sense of belonging to the world it was so abruptly thrust into. In his terror, Victor abandoned his creation failing to realize that it had a beautiful capacity to feel and empathize. Alone, the creature quickly realized that no matter how benevolent its intentions, it would always be abhorred. It grew increasingly bitter towards human beings, but especially bitter toward its creator. Victor inadvertently became the sole recipient of his creation’s vengeance. His neglect transformed an otherwise peaceful being into a merciless serial killer.

Although Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a fictional work, there is nothing fictional or furtive about the link between parental neglect and serial killers. In fact, in a study conducted of thirty-six murderers, all possessed a history of parental neglect and abuse (https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=182592). This begs the questions: “Does a lack of responsibility create monsters?” and, “Are we, in fact, the creators of our own monsters?”.

Freddy Krueger is the typical monster that provokes a feeling of disgust and rejection. He is, after all, meant to be a creation that unites detestable qualities. Not only is he physically repulsive, with his severely burnt skin, but is also regarded as sadistic serial killer. These characteristics, I believe were the reasons why I, as a little girl, was traumatized after watching A Nightmare on Elm Street. I was unable to regain my sleep for weeks . Every night, right after closing my eyes, I would have a vivid image of him wearing his green and red stripped sweater while holding his razor glove. At that moment I would instantly open my eyes. I couldn’t bear the idea that once asleep I would be dragged into a dream where there was the possibility of never waking up just as seen with the movie victims. However, as much as I resisted falling asleep I would inevitably do so after a few hours to soon be awaken by another nightmare. My fear, as a little girl, was specially a result of my feeling of vulnerability against his ability of only living in dreams making him unavoidable. The torture seemed to be eternal and it took me a long time to overcome the fear.

Evidently Krueger has characteristics of a typical monster, such as coming out during the night and having unnatural powers of deforming his own body. This, however, makes me wonder if just the mere fact he was a serial killer makes him a monster, can all serial killers be considered monsters or are they meant to have a form of physical defect? If so, are also supernatural powers such as the ones Freddy possessed of turning dreams into reality and immortality unnecessary to categorize someone as a monster? Moreover, it seems that most monsters, such as Freddy, become who they are as a result of a traumatizing experiences of their childhood. This drives me to my next concern of whether monsters are born or made, are they unfairly judged?

E.T. (obviously coming to devour me)

When I was a kid, everyone was obsessed with E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial. Well, everyone but me. The movie, by Steven Spielberg, had come out the year I was born, but it was still popular years later, spawning stuffed animals, coloring books, cartoons, and action figures. E.T. delighted all of my friends, but he completely terrified me. E.T.—a short, rounded alien with expressive eyes—seems cute enough to me now, but, when I was three or four, he would come to me in nightmares: towering above me in my back yard and threatening to gobble me up. I distinctly remember asking him if, when he ate me, he would also eat my bones or spit them out. (This was, I thought for some reason, a very important question.) But E.T. never gave me an answer. My bad dreams ended each time with E.T. picking me up, hurling me into his mouth, and then . . . that’s it. I would wake up sweating, panting, but relieved.

I was basically like this.

This memory raises a few questions for me that I think are worth thinking about further. First, does an alien even count as a monster? And, if so, why? Is a monster just a creature that doesn’t fit in or does it have to be something from earth (that is, from that place where it doesn’t fit in)? Does E.T. help us think about what, exactly, counts as a monster? Second, why did I find E.T. so terrifying when he was clearly intended to be cute? (The movie is, after all, a kids’ movie.) Maybe it has something to do with the phenomenon called the “uncanny valley” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley), which considers how creatures that start to look like humans but don’t quite look like humans can provoke a reaction of disgust. Finally, I’m curious about my fear of being eaten. One of our readings for next week calls this fear an “infantile fear” (and I was a little kid), but I’m not sure what that means (Carroll, 43). Is this a common fear in children? Do psychologists have thoughts about why that is?

[Your monster journal entry should look something like this. Share what you think is most promising, most interesting to you, from your journal. It can be a personal reflection, like this one is, or something more detached. Either way, it should end with some possible questions to pursue, and it should be the best prose you can write: detailed, proofread, and thought-provoking. Feel free to play around with links and images, and ask me if you have any trouble doing this. Your entries should be about 300-350 words; this one is right around 350. Finally, tag your entry with “monster journal” so that we can easily find them in one place.]