cLARIFY

Monster Descriptions

Dracula

"Dracula” by Bram Stoker

A Transylvanian lord and magician, the undead Count Dracula is the origin of the modern vampire—the charming, refined, yet menacing monster whose true nature is only revealed while on the hunt for human prey.

Dracula is another monster that plays to our basest fears. He is a predator who feeds upon human blood. He is a dead man given unholy life beyond the grave. He possesses overwhelming strength and is nearly impervious to harm. He is a trickster capable of walking among us and luring us into his wicked schemes.

Dracula’s terror is not limited to fiction, either, as it seems likely that he is at least partially inspired by stories of Vlad Dracula, the Impaler, a 15th century European tyrant with the nasty habit of impaling people—a method of execution that ensured a slow and agonizing death.

 

Frankenstein's Monster

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

Created and then rejected by the scientist Victor Frankenstein, the monster of “Frankenstein” (contrary to popular belief, Frankenstein was the name of the creator, not the monster) is the embodiment of mankind’s follies come back to haunt us. In his arrogance, Frankenstein sought to create life by piecing together corpses and using perverse science, but when he glimpses the brutish creature he has created, he recoils in horror and spurns it.

Without guidance, the monster seeks to make its own way in the world but is greeted by horror and revulsion by all it meets, and it swears vengeance upon humankind, and upon his creator, and begins a methodical series of murders targeting everyone Frankenstein cares about. In the end, Frankenstein is forced to live as his creation, alone and without comfort.

It’s a haunting and tragic tale, and its resonance in a world filled with not always pleasant side effects of scientific advance makes it all the more disturbing.

 

Mr. Hyde

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Mr. Hyde isn’t a monster in the strictly literal sense, but most is assuredly so in the figurative one. Mr. Hyde emerges when the ambitious Dr. Jekyll takes a strange potion he has concocted, turning his personality from kind and good into cruel and amoral. Dr. Jekyll is at once appalled by his horrific deeds and unable to resist succumbing to them, and after taking the potion several times starts to turn permanently into Mr. Hyde. The story explores the duality of human nature forcing readers to address some of their less than desirable characteristics and to really plumb the depths of their souls. Mr. Hyde is perhaps one of the most fascinating and scary literary monsters because he is the monster that lives in all of us. 

 

 

werewolf

A werewolf is a  human  being who, upon the complete rising of the full  moon , becomes a fearsome and deadly near- wolf . This condition is caused by infection with  lycanthropy , also known as werewolfry [1]

Werewolves can be easily distinguished from regular wolves by their shorter snout, more human-like eyes, the tufted tail, and their mindless hunting of humans whilst in wolf form [2] . At all other times, they appear as normal humans, although they will age prematurely, and will gain a pallor as the moon approaches and then wanes [ 2]. 

A werewolf cannot chose whether or not to transform and will no longer remember who they are and would kill even their best friend given the opportunity once transformed [1] . Despite this, they are able to recall everything they have experienced throughout their transformation upon reverting to their human form [1] . A mixture of powdered  silver  and  dittany  applied to a fresh bite will seal the wound and allow the victim to live on as a werewolf, although tragic tales are told of  witches and wizards begging for death rather than becoming werewolves [2] . The  Wolfsbane Potion , invented by  Damocles , allows the werewolf to keep their human mind during transformation [2] . 

 

Zombies

Broadly say, zombies have the appearance of the living but their lack of free will and souls give them the appearance of mechanical robots.

An insatiable and endless desire to consume living animal flesh, usually human seems to be their only motive for existence. They are incapable of speech, but often tend to make moaning and guttural sounds.

Some display visible signs of desiccation, decay and emaciation on their face and body. They have blank, expressionless faces that become more animated when they get hungry and engage in a feeding frenzy.

 

They are normally encountered wearing whatever clothing they wore in their human life, prior to reanimation.

They seem to display an increased strength relative to normal humans; some sources attribute this to removal of normal neurological limits to muscle strength