Monster Story Research Paper

Why do people enjoy monster stories? Afterall they are really just shows and movies about horrible events and sick people’s disturbing lives spunoff to catch your attention and seem less threatening. Why are we attracted to this type of entertainment? Could it be the fact that we know it’s all somewhat true and real which makes it interesting or that people forget that these types of entertainment were based off of real crimes and monsters which makes them seem more innocent and fictional? Although not all monster stories revolve around the same monster or even a specific monster they all contain the same aspects that capture our attention and intrigue us by showing us parts of the reality in a not so scary and realistic way. This method of showing us the truth captures audiences’ of all ages. All good monsters stories contain the elements of fear, power, obsession, violence, mystery, contrast, and disbelief.
Showing the use of fear and power relates directly to ruling by fear which we know, by past, real life experiences, is real and can be fatal and disastrous.
We know for fact that serial killers and sociopaths have traits that define them, not only that they don’t feel sympathy and that they have an urge or a feeling that they need to fulfill but they have an obsession. Most killers have a ‘type’, they could target their victims by age, gender, religion, race which could make some people feel safer, if they are in your area but you don’t fit their previous victims, but it could also make you feel very, very unsafe, if you fit that type and you are near them. When watching movies or reading about monsters you could probably figure out what their type is pretty quickly and even if you fit the profile you’re intrigued because although you know it’s based on a true story you know that this person isn’t still roaming
around.
All good monster stories use mystery and contrast. Like monsters in general we are intrigued by a mystery, but why are we looking to be confused and clueless? Mysteries and missing parts of stories makes us think and allow us to use our own imagination. When pieces are not yet revealed in a story or the plot could have multiple endings we, as the readers, get to come up with how we think it will end and predict what will happen next.
Disbelief and violence are very commonly used in monster stories to add in the horror and cruel aspect of the story. In stories such as Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, she uses disbelief in the characters, like when Victor is working on creating a monster we know that when he finally does he is shocked and can’t believe his eyes about what he has created. The audience also experiences disbelief when we see the actions that the monster takes and the violence toward Victor’s family and friends.
We can take away that we love seeing monster films and reading stories about monsters because we enjoy the thrill of these stories and thoughts without having to actually be in danger or experiencing it. We enjoy seeing and learning about each of the aspects that go into creating a good monster, both in real life and in the media.