Werewolves, werewolves werewolves. No, I’m not keyword-stuffing - I’m speaking in a condescending tone to werewolves everywhere. Why do you play with our hearts so? Why do you tease us with your spectacular supernatural abilities, only to rip our eyeballs out and eat our throats when we get too close? We humans are just human, after all.

But I guess that means you….are just werewolf. And I thought we could make it.

So I got a Plush Werewolf to sleep with at night.

And I even made friends with other weirdos who like plush werwolves. (It’s becoming a national craze! Like being a flapper or hula-hooping!)

Now, I need a good plush vampire to go along with him…because vampires also rule.

An 1886 horror classic was Robert Louis Stevenson’s short novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson was already an established author, but had not delved into the realm of horror stories previously. (Instead he was known for novels like Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and A Child’s Garden of Verses.) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was quite a departure from his other works. This unique novel, which was so far ahead of it’s time, made Stevenson famous around the world.

The story is based on the true tale of Deacon William Brodie, a respected gentleman of Edinburgh whose life ended swinging from the gallows. By day, Deacon Brodie was one of the finest architects and craftsmen of Scotland, but by night, he led a band of thieves that prowled the streets at night.

While Deacon Brodie was the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson penned the novel in about 3 days after having a very vivid dream of such a being: a man with 2 different and opposing personalities. Dr. Jekyll was an upstanding citizen, a conservative chemist born to wealth who invented a potion that allowed his alter-ego to come out in full-force. Mr. Hyde was a vile scoundrel who sought thrills in cruel and criminal activities. Soon Mr. Hyde becomes the dominant personality and Dr. Jekyll only a shadow.

Robert Louis Stevenson was a master story teller. In spite of his life-long tuberculosis illness, he managed to travel the world, penning classic works we still enjoy today. He was a dreamer in the literal sense, attributing many of his ideas to dreams he had which were given to him by his own “brownies” or “the Little People” who lived in his brain and conjured up ideas while he slept.

Monsters are fascinating. The idea of monsters has been around since the beginning of mankind and we continue to think up new and more terrifying monsters. But where did they come from? Who thought up these beings made to scare us? Well, some creatures are based on folklore, some to explain the unexplainable, and some purposely made just to scare us.

Frankenstein is one such monster.

First, please be aware (if you have not read the gothic novel by Mary Shelley, first published in 1818) that the name Frankenstein refers to the mad scientist who created the re-animated monster. In the book, the creature is never given a name. But today most of us refer to the creature as Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley grew up surrounded by literature and books: her father owned a bookstore where authors and intellectuals converged and Mary was able to meet many of the writers of her day. Plus, both her parents were writers as well. When she was 16, she fell in love and ran off with a writer, Percy Shelley. They traveled much and Mary even wrote her first work based upon her travels.

One cold evening, while they were with friends Lord Bryon, John William Polidori, and Claire Clairmont near Geneva, Switzerland telling ghost stories, the idea came about for each of them to write a scary story to frighten the others. That night Mary had trouble thinking of what to write but then the idea came to her, probably inspired by recent scientific and medical breakthroughs of the time, the Industrial Revolution, and the contemporary interest in alchemy.

She began writing the story and when her husband read it, he encouraged her to write a full novel. She did. And it was an instant success. She was 19 years old at the time.

If you have not yet read Frankenstein, you should. The story is compelling and poses some interesting comparisons between conflicts in the story and in real life. It’s not just a good story that spawned an entire genre of horror stories, but a piece of literature that deserves a deeper analysis.

Regardless of the background of how Frankenstein came to be, he continues to be a central horror figure in our culture - and rightfully so.

Why is it that we humans have such a fascination with monsters? All over the world and throughout the ages, people love believing in and telling stories about monsters.

And it starts with the very young.

In our own culture, even toddlers are introduced to the idea of monsters by society. Just think about it. In children’s literature the monster character is prevalent: Where the Wild Things Are, “The Hairy-Nosed Preposterous,” many of Mercer Mayer’s books are monster-based, and the list goes on and on. This obsession with monsters for young children spreads to television and movies as well; most Sesame Street characters are monsters, and a little looking will reveal that other children’s shows and movies aimed at small children also feature monster characters.

Introducing even the smallest children to the concept of a monster is part of being human, it seems.

One possible explanation for this, according to John Hubinette, is that “children (as well as grown-ups) like being a little scared as long as it happens under controlled circumstances. Children tend to be very fascinated with the unknown and abnormality. I think that monsters in a way embody the abnormal, making it possible to experience this abstract notion in terms of something concrete.

Monsters in children’s literature might also pose a challenge to children to learn how to conquer fear and learn to cope better with their own feelings.”

So maybe exposing very young children is our way of preparing them to be brave and survive in a grown-up and sometimes scary world.

Horror characters come and go, just as horror movies do. But there are some monsters so intriguing that they manage to keep re-appearing year after year. These are the classics- the monsters that capture our darkest imaginations and will continue to terrify us generation after generation.

1. The Vampire. Why is the idea of the vampire so captivating? Some people are so fascinated by Vampires that they claim to be one, even drinking blood and sleeping in coffins. So what is the allure of the vampire? The answer is simple: Vampires are sexy. They come out at night. They never get old or die. They prey upon beautiful women scantily clad in nightgowns. Many live in castles. Sometimes they fly. And they dress well. Powerful and dominating, the mysterious Vampire tops the list.
2. The Werewolf, or lycanthrope. All around the globe in many cultures, the belief in werewolves or other shape-shifters pervades, making the werewolf one of the oldest and most popular monsters. Maybe this is a way mankind explains how another human can be so evil, or it maybe it’s just due to plain hyper superstition. Whatever the reason, this monster is particularly frightening because it’s really a person who can change into a hideous and murderous creature.
3. The Undead- as in they died but came back to life. This includes mummies, zombies, and Frankenstein. Ah, the idea of life after death can be so comforting, unless referring to those who come back to kill! Practically unbeatable, because how do you kill something that is already dead?! Is there anything more terrifying than a person who just won’t die and who is intent on killing off the whole village???
4. Evil Aliens. There are those who believe there is life in outer space that is far more advanced than the human race. So what if that life-source decided to do away with humans and maybe even the whole planet earth? Thus is born the idea of evil aliens who are capable of annihilating all of humanity. Some classic movies were based on this horrific monster: Alien, Predator, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Blob, the Thing, etc. One of the scariest monsters simply because they could be real.
5. Psycho Killers. Some of the most notable horror characters are humans. Maybe not mere humans since some seem to fit into other categories, such as coming back to life, or seem to possess inhuman capabilities. There’s Jason, and Michael Meyers, and Norman Bates- just to name a few. The crazed human killer is a popular and frightening monster that will doubtlessly continue to scare the be-jeesus out of people throughout the rest of history. And worst of all is that there really are crazy killers out there, so lock your doors!

These 5 horror characters top my list for the Top 5 Monsters of all Time. Which is your favorite and why???