Monsters in fiction[edit]

Prose fiction[edit]
The history of monsters in fiction is long, for example Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf is an
archetypal monster, deformed, brutal, with enormous strength and raiding a human
settlement nightly to slay and feed on his victims. The modern literary monster has its roots
on examples such as the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the vampire in Bram
Stoker's Dracula.
Monsters are a staple of fantasy fiction, horror fiction or science fiction (where the monsters
are often extraterrestrial in nature). There is also a burgeoning subgenre of erotic
fiction involving monsters, monster erotica.

Film[edit]
Main article: Monster movie

Pre–World War II monster films[edit]

Hollywood's interpretation of Frankenstein's monster, played by Boris Karloff

During the age of silent films, monsters tended to be human-sized, e.g. Frankenstein's

monster, the Golem, werewolves and vampires. The film Siegfried featured a dragon that
consisted of stop-motion animated models, as in RKO's King Kong, the first giant monster
film of the sound era.
Universal Studios specialized in monsters, with Bela Lugosi's reprisal of his stage
role, Dracula, and Boris Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster. The studio also made
several lesser films, such as Man-Made Monster, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as a carnival side-
show worker who is turned into an electrically charged killer, able to dispatch victims merely
by touching them, causing death by electrocution.
There was also a variant of Dr. Frankenstein, the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol (played by Peter
Lorre), who transplanted hands that were reanimated with malevolent temperaments, in the
film Mad Love.
Werewolves were introduced in films during this period, and similar creatures were
presented in Cat People. Mummies were cinematically depicted as fearsome monsters as
well. As for giant creatures, the cliffhanger of the first episode of the 1936 Flash
Gordon serial did not use a costumed actor, instead using real-life lizards to depict a pair of
battling dragons via use of camera perspective. However, the cliffhanger of the ninth episode
of the same serial had a man in a rubber suit play the Fire Dragon, which picks up a doll
representing Flash in its claws. The cinematic monster cycle eventually wore thin, having a
comedic turn in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Post–World War II monster films[edit]

Original Godzilla film poster

In the post–World War II era, however, giant monsters returned to the screen with a vigor
that has been causally linked to the development of nuclear weapons. One early example
occurred in the American film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which was about
a dinosaur that attacked a lighthouse. Subsequently, there were Japanese film depictions,
(Godzilla, Gamera), British depictions (Gorgo), and even Danish depictions (Reptilicus), of
giant monsters attacking cities. A recent depiction of a giant monster is depicted in J. J.
Abrams's Cloverfield, which was released in theaters January 18, 2008. The intriguing
proximity of other planets brought the notion of extraterrestrial monsters to the big screen,
some of which were huge in size (such as King Ghidorah and Gigan), while others were of a
more human scale. During this period, the fish-man monster Gill-man was developed in the
film series Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Card from the Japanese game obake karuta, c. early 19th century[a]

Britain's Hammer Film Productions brought color to the monster movies in the late 1950s.

Around this time, the earlier Universal films were usually shown on American television by
independent stations (rather than network stations) by using announcers with strange
personas, who gained legions of young fans. Although they have since changed
considerably, movie monsters did not entirely disappear from the big screen as they did in
the late 1940s.
Occasionally, monsters are depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. King Kong and
Frankenstein's monster are two examples of misunderstood creatures. Frankenstein's
monster is frequently depicted in this manner, in films such as Monster Squad and Van
Helsing. The Hulk is an example of the "Monster as Hero" archetype. The theme of the
"Friendly Monster" is pervasive in pop-culture. Chewbacca, Elmo, and Shrek are notable
examples of friendly "monsters". The monster characters of Pixar's Monsters, Inc. franchise
scare (and later entertain) children in order to create energy for running machinery in their
home world, while the furry monsters of The Muppets and Sesame Street live in harmony
with animals and humans alike. Japanese culture also commonly features monsters which
are benevolent or likable, with the most famous examples being the Pokémon franchise and
the pioneering anime My Neighbor Totoro. The book series/webisodes/toy line of Monster
High is another example.