A Monster is something or someone that produces fear, and danger by its appearance or actions.
The word monster comes from the Latin 'Monstrum"meaning something evil, wrong. Also generally morally objectionable, and a freak of nature, someone or something who does horrific or cruel things.
Monsters predate history, and have been part of all cultures in mythology ,literary works and cultural heritage.
In Greek and Roman religious contexts monsters were seen as a sign of divine displeasure ,and birth defects were ominous being an unnatural event, or malfunctioning of nature. For instance Surtorius describes the snake's absence of legs and the flying ability of birds as monstrous as both are against nature!
Seneca a playwright and philosopher said that the word monster is a horrific visual revelation of truth!
Some of the ancient monsters are in fact divine beings according to Mythology, like Hydra and Medusa.
The history of monsters , in most cultures are long and have been the staple of fantasy fiction and science fiction.
Lately almost every week another science fiction movie with horrendous looking outer space monsters are shown, and seemingly popular with all ages.
In most science fiction movies of today hideous monsters are constantly fought and the good prevails. The reason
such movies are a becoming increasingly popular, is that that viewers seem to be continuously seeking scares, by imagining the worst possible horrors, and in the process freak themselves out. There have been horror films from the beginning, like Cat People in 1942, and the Haunting 1963.
A few of the scary monster movies I have encountered:
The Triffids are dangerous carnivorous flowers that invade homes and attack humans.
Who does not remember Stripe in the Gremlin movies..1984.
Material to scare he children for sure. He is the evil product when Mogwai were fed after midnight, a destructive nihilite, living only for terror, in particular terrorizing children.
The Pack 2010
A Hitchhiker lures a beautiful rebellious woman to his mother's isolated farm...Where she harbors a terrible secret. Buried underground outside her cabin are the bodies of her deceased seeds, who were killed in a mining accident.Her living son brings her women to feed her zombified offspring, by stringing them their feet cutting them, an letting their blood entice the ghouls to rise up from the ground and devour them.
Freddie Kreuger.
One of the movies that scared many people, was the series of Elm street, and the follow ups featuring the monster Freddie Krueger.
Freddie Kreuger was a serial killer on the surface a family man, (He was the serial killer in Springwood Slasher, who when caught by the parents of his victims, were burnt alive..)He then became Dream Demon, who could enter his victims in their dreams, and kill them in the dream world, causing their deaths in the real world, and then he absorbed their souls..
A long list of monster and horror movies have been keeping many people on edge...things that nightmares are made of.
