As a kid, I had a really strange, reoccurring nightmare. It usually started with me sitting in my backyard, by the pool, or just hanging out with my family. The weather was always perfect, and I was always having a great time swimming, talking, whatever. Once I would start to think, “Life doesn’t get any better than this!” everything would take a turn for the worse. A huge, hairy woman would come barging through the fence, screaming and waving her arms around like a lunatic. She would take a lap or two around the backyard, scaring the whole family, and then steal me or one of my family members, never to return. From the day I started having this dream on, I was afraid of Wookiees (thats how hairy this woman was). Anyway, this was my childhood “monster.” A hairy Wookiee-woman.

Okay, so this isn’t really what my childhood monster looked like, but it was the best I could find.

Once every few weeks, I would wake up sweating, heart racing, and look around my room to realize there was nothing there to be afraid of. I always wondered what in my brain made me think of such a strange situation and monster. The human brain is (in my and many others opinion) one of sciences greatest mysteries. There are many things we do not know about the human brain; especially why we dream. Check out this video I found about dreaming.  It gives a pretty good definition of what dreams are, medically, and also gives some pretty cool information about why we dream.

In the video, it explains how dreams are more often than not full of negative emotions; you’re more likely to have a bad dream than a good one. Some scientists believe this is because dreaming has a purpose— to prepare us to deal with stressful and frightening situations (like being attacked by a hairy woman). I find this to be pretty cool, actually, and I think studying and researching dreams, and why our own brains create monsters and nightmares we are so afraid of, is worthwhile.

With the recent concerns on public health and safety caused by Ebola, I started to think: “Aren’t all these germs and viruses mini-monsters?” Germs, diseases and all that nasty stuff is seen as scary and as a threat to the human race. The most destructive disease that was known to cause so much havoc and destruction was the Bubonic Plague of the Middle Ages. Writers from that time describes how “Fathers would abandon their sick sons…” and how a city would fall into complete chaos because of this disease. Then the question is raised, isn’t that part of what a monster does?

Monsters are known to disrupt or sometimes destroy public order, cause panic, destruction, fear and essentially be an enemy of a human-being. With this in mind one can argue that humans deal with monsters on a daily basis whether it be your own immune system fighting off these nasty germs or a country fighting to keep its people safe from a killer disease.

To me, it’s amazing to see the amount of media attention the recent Ebola outbreak has received and the amount of worry it has caused within our own society. With reports of this disease spreading, many are scared, horrified and praying that they never have to encounter this seemingly threatening, microscopic monster:

Just look at it! this monster is not even visible by the human eye and yet it is capable of causing, God forbid, as much chaos and maybe even more destruction than a traditional monster like Godzilla or Frankenstein who are 10,000x larger and maybe even more than this microscopic organism!

This new perspective on what a monster really is challenges what many would have considered a monster to be. Maybe size doesn’t really matter when creating or labeling something as a killer monster…

I am NOT a big fan of scary movies. Surprisingly enough it is never the zombies, vampires, etc. that instill terror within me. No. In fact, supernatural creatures fascinate me to a point where I find myself looking up their origins and backgrounds. One of the things that really make me jump out of a chair is that creepy background music. I am not sure what it is, but no matter how scary a movie is, for me, it becomes ten times scarier with suspenseful music included. It doesn’t even have to be music – the sound of a door opening will have me shaking like a leaf. I guarantee you that when watching a scary film my palms will be glued to my ears. Just last year, my tennis team set up a mini-camp in someones backyard (sounds lame but it was the best decision we ever made,) and created an outside theater with a help of a white sheet and a projector. The majority of the girls wanted to see something scary so we went with “The Shining”. Needless to say I had to bury myself in a pile of blankets.

Another reason why I don’t watch scary movies is that I GENUINELY believe that some of them could potentially happen. I am not saying monsters are real (then again, what do I know), but things that have to do with exorcisms, spirits, etc. really freak me out. We don’t know whats out there! If there is a positive other-wordly presence out there (such as God), who is to say there is not a negative one? After all, for every one, there is always a negative one. People depict encounters with the supernatural and many movies claim to be based on real events. Sitting through a scary film knowing the unfolding plot that is being shown is something that COULD happen to me is an activity I do NOT find enjoyable.

With its upcoming release in just two days, American Horror Story: Freak Show, is all over social media. The show has released multiple teaser trailers and has given us a preview of the several “freaks” that will be featured on the show. As the title states, the season will center around a freak show.

After looking into this season, I saw that the title of the first episode will be “Monsters Among Us.” This immediately caught my attention because a question arose in my head, “Are Freaks Monsters?”

The freaks in the show all have some sort of biological impurity. One freak is a conjoined twin, while another is a bearded lady. To a certain extent, these freaks are almost like Carroll’s fusion monsters. They are kind of combinations of categorically distinct beings. Others simply have a deformity of some sort. So are these freaks really monsters or they simply impure humans? A better question is then, is an impure human a monster? Should we simply focus on one’s physical appearance, or must we be able to determine their state of mind in order to call them monsters?

Hopefully the show will be able to answer these questions. We will learn about the different backgrounds of these freaks and maybe if we are able to understand them better, we will be able to judge whether or not they are monsters. Is it possible that all these freaks are simply hideous on the outside but beautiful on the inside? Or maybe these freaks turned into monsters because of constantly being ostracized by other humans. The only way to truly find out is by watching the show and finding out some more about the freaks.

Freak shows have always seemed really interesting to me. Since the first time that I have heard about freak shows and have seen them in movies, I had always wished to go to a real freak show. Although I may never see one, I am still delighted with the fact that this show is coming out and hopefully it will have a little twist to it as well.

The Cabin in the Woods, was a movie which incorporated many monsters of different origins. Some of which include werewolves, aliens, mutants, wraiths, zombies, clowns, witches, and mummies. The list goes on, in the movies these monsters are all secured and trapped in boxes like prisoners. It incorporated how humans are always so curious, by letting them choose an item as an experiment to see which monster would come to kill them. It was a movie that was funny, and scary at both the same time. The scary part of the film was partially when the monster the campers have chosen previously was killing them off.

However within the movie I believe that the real monsters are the scientists in charge of the entire operation. They keep monsters all locked up in cages waiting to be sent up to the surface to kill the campers as a sacrifice. The scientists watch as everything happens through cameras that they have set up around the campsite. They also use gadgets to help the monsters kill all the campers, such as blocking the cave, which was the only way in or out and unlocking the doors to their cabin. In the end the scientists weren’t so lucky as the campers found the entrance into their operations’ base, which was located under the campsite. When they got down they mistakenly released all the monsters from their so-called cells. They all go on a rampage killing anyone they saw.

Some questions that come up when I watched this movie was: Who was really the monster or monsters in the film? Do monsters necessarily have to be inhuman or can they be humans? Why did they make the film in a way that sacrifices were needed for the greater good of mankind? This made me wonder what would have happened if the sequence of events went differently.

I recently came across this link on Facebook; it is a collection of nine, two sentence horror stories (http://canyouactually.com/9-of-the-most-terrifying-two-sentence-horror-stories-ever-told/). Although all were eery, number two terrified me because it dealt with my long-lost (or so I had thought) fear of nightmares.

(You might want to read the second story before reading this!)

Number two describes a scenario where the author is met with a terrifying monster at 12:07 AM. When the monster starts to push her “long rotting nails” through the author’s chest, he or she wakes up. The author is relieved that it was only a nightmare but then notices that it is only 12:06 AM. At that moment, he or she hears the closet door creak open.

Ever since I was a little kid I was scared to go to sleep because I felt vulnerable to my mind. I had no way to defend myself against any of the terrifying images or scenes my mind would conjure up. Usually when people wake up from a nightmare, they are instantly comforted by the relief of knowing it was all fake. In my case, there was no relief when I woke up. In the darkness of my room, I felt my heart beating out of my chest and remembered the terror I had just experienced. In a sense, the author of this story shares a similar experience with me. He or she woke up from a nightmare only to find that he or she was still being terrorized by it. Although my nightmares obviously never materialized into reality (knock on wood), my mind was still centered around that feeling of horror.

I have not had any nightmares for years, so I had “forgotten” about my fear. However, this story has brought it back into my mind and I can’t help but wonder why I am so afraid of having a nightmare. Perhaps I am so scared of them because I do not know what provokes them. To me, they were always entirely unpredictable.

Can we actually conquer a fear? Or do we simply “forget” it until something triggers it? And more importantly, why did Facebook ruin my life?

The creature of the black lagoon was characterized as the epitome of terror. This film gave life to a magnificent monster. Many of his physical features are meant to intimidate and pester people. Even the movie ads portray a monster that looks dangerous and repulsive. This monster originates from the amazons and is a combination of human and fish. His extremities are covered by scales, and he is able to agilely swim and walk. The success of this monster was mostly because many of the 50’s Sci-Fi films began to make use of various side effects.

What is particularly surprising is that aside from the fact the monster displays a physically dangerous appearance all of the movies present a creature that is mellow. It is somewhat ironic to see the monster in the ads as a scary monster, yet the first movie is about a creature that falls in love with a member of the explorer team. The second movie, The Revenge of the Creature (1955) exhibits him as a powerless being that is mistreated while in captivity. Lastly the movie entitled, The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) makes of this monster a fragile creature that is old and hurt, desperate to be sent back to its natural habitat. All of these movies, instead of making the creature of the Black Lagoon appear as the monster, they make humans appear as the real heartless individuals who show no remorse in mistreating and vilely exhibiting a poor creature as if he were the worst creation in the world.  Nevertheless, the “scaring” effect this monster produced resulted in innumerable copies and remakes of this character. In my point of view this creature is anything but a monster; he clearly exhibits very human-like qualities such as vulnerability, compassion, love and fear. Yet, during the time period the movie was aired the monster was detested and scary. This drives me to think whether movie industries attempt to display the image of a typical monster only by means of disturbing physical characteristics, after all that was the only thing scary of this monster.

The title of the show is very misleading and I will be the first one to point that out. “Teen Wolf” does not sound like it could be something enjoyable for anyone else but a tween girl obsessed with the mainstream appeal of the supernatural. Sure, the show has all the ingredients of a potentially bad plot: attractive actors/actresses playing characters in distress, overly dramatic music and werewolves. Majority of the world has deemed werewolves no longer as something feared but cool. Thus, many do not stop and try to give Teen Wolf a viewing it deserves. Honestly, I find the show to be extremely entertaining. The past 3 seasons had incredible story lines and some unforgettable characters, Personally, I especially enjoy and appreciate how much effort the writers put in the backstory of the monsters that the viewers come to know over the course of the show.

There is always great attention and inspiration taken from various mythology backgrounds as well as history itself. One of my favorite monsters created on the show was a nogitsune – a dark fox spirit who feeds on pain and chaos. It was originally called upon by a fox (another supernatural creature) in order to seek revenge on the soldiers at an internment camp for the japanese during World War II. After possessing a body of a person the spirit became uncontrollable, killing everything in sight and was soon stopped. In the present day, due to certain events the spirit was accidentally unleashed yet again and it took over one of the main characters, Stiles Stilinski. Throughout the season we see an internal fight within his best friend Scott Macall as to whether or not the consciousness of Stiles is still present in his body to be potentially saved or is he forever lost under possession and would have to be killed. What would you do if you’re best friend was suddenly committing mass murders, sending out freakish mass hallucinations and indulging from emotional vampirism? I would certainly be lost in action.

…petrifying.

While yes, it is true, kids are some of the scariest things in existence and can very often be more terrifying and monster-like than any other creature in imaginable, the fear caused by young, snot-filled, dirty children is not what this entry is about. This post is meant to be thought provoking on the subject of why kids are afraid of things that go bump in the night and when (or if) they grow out of this. Young children all seem to have common fears—the dark, a monster under their bed, a vicious creature in their closet at night. They also tend to go to their parents for help in these situations, asking them to check under the bed for The Bogeyman or to turn on a night light near their bed. A rather interesting question to ask ourselves is why don’t kids need to check under Mom and Dad’s bed for a monster lurking in the dark? A rather far-fetched scenario, I’ll admit, but still one with thinking about.

Is being frightened by monsters something children grow out of? or is it more so that adults are able to get used to the idea of a monster? While it is the job of a parent to ensure the safety of their child (even if it is from an imaginary beast), when do humans make the switch from being afraid of the monster to being the thing the monster is afraid of? Why are parents the child’s saving grace when they are frozen with the fear of an unlikely danger? Perhaps its just an act, because I personally believe no one would ever be able to grow out of being afraid of a monster. No matter the age, no one would ever be able to look a monster in the eye (let’s just go with the idea that there is such a thing) and say they weren’t even the slightest bit on edge. Being afraid is something which can only be repressed— not eliminated completely.

When it comes to the topic of monster, “Nian” is usually the first name that pops up in Chinese people’s minds. As a China born kid, i have heard numerous terrifying stories about superb Chinese monster Nian. In Chinese mythology, Nian has a shape of lion body and head of a unicorn. Ordinarily, Nian lives under the deep sea; however, it will come out and eats people, cattle and children in each spring around Chinese New Year time. With its extraordinary strength, lightening speed and the ability of controlling fire,   Nian can easily tear down a village in minutes. Eye of the Cyclops, neck of the titans (from Attack on titan), heel of the Achilles, even the greatests have their weakness, fortunately, Nian has two. This big bad ferocious beast is very sensitive to loud noises  and is afraid of red color (surprise haha).

By now, you probably can figure out why do Chinese people like to wear red color and light up fireworks during New Year time. With the combination of loud drums and red custom body suit, Chinese Dragon/Lion dance was made to scare off monster Nian essentially. Furthermore, the tradition of giving kids red pocket during New Year shares the same ideas. As far as i know, at least half amount of Chinese traditions were invented because of the existence of monster Nian. How lovely, isn’t it?

Along the same lines as the connection between Nian and Chinese custom; ghost, monsters and hallows have conspicuously effects on the eastern tradition holiday Halloween. And With more and more samples coming together, the relationships between peoples customs and the stories of monsters had me thinking, how much percentage of our tradition was based on the stories of monsters? What would our life be without monsters’ stories? Although monsters are precisely not something that we should be thankful to, our life certainly would be less interesting without them.