In the arena of human/animal combinations — no one beats the mythology of ancient Egypt. These were gods, not monsters, but these human/animal mash-ups turn out to be wonderfully monstrous. Anubis, as the god in charge of embalming the dead, holds a very special place in civilization that was focused on the afterlife. With a jackal’s head and a man’s body, Anubis is pretty scary. Bastet is the ultimate cat lady. No, she did not live in a small house with 50 cats; she had the head of a cat on a woman’s body. She was a protective goddess, but,
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Once the monsters of the deep, dark sea and the deep, dark woods seemed less probable — with exploration and development chipping away at the possibility of monsters lurking just beyond the reach of civilization — monsters in the sky took hold. Science fiction is filled with monstrous alien beings. Sometimes they visit the earth, causing panic. Orson Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’ is the most famous extraterrestrial induced panic-attack, but the invasions continue to inspire fear. I’m particularly fond of the original ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’ Many of these alien invasion films are metaphors for the foibles of
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The dragon is the only mythological monster in the Chinese zodiac. Some people may think that rats are real monsters — but they are not. They just scare a lot of us with all the scampering around building sites and subway tracks. Dragons are fabulous monsters. They are huge, fierce and powerful. The Chinese actually have nine kinds of dragons — this year is the year of the Water Dragon. It’s supposed to be very lucky. I certainly hope that it’s a lucky year for MONSTERS. The dragon is the symbol of the emperor or the imperial dynasties of China’s
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I remember seeing the cult film Cat People — the original 1942 version —when I was in college. If you missed it, it’s a tense, horror tale about an average Joe married to an exotic and very troubled beauty. Irena, played by Simone Simon, is from Serbia and she in convinced that when she gets emotional she turns into a panther. It’s an ancient curse based on the folk tales of her homeland. It’s a clever film that allows the viewer to fill in the blanks and respond to shadows and scary noises. The monsters that lurk in shadows offer
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We’re more than half way through Monster Meditation Month. It’s time for an excerpt from one of the novellas in the Candy’s Monsters series of ebooks. The Mary Shelley Game is the first Candy’s Monster. It’s available for the Kindle, and with the free Kindle Reader program, you can also read it on your iPad, iPhone, Android Phone, computer and many other devices. As an homage to the origins of Mary Shelley’s original — her story started as a way to entertain her friends during a rainy stay at a country house — the characters in The Mary Shelley Game
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Revenge figures in many monster myths and stories. Magical spells turn human beings who have violated sacred laws or challenged a vengeful god into monsters. The unwelcome, and uninvited, guest at the party curses more than one fairy tale character with a monstrous fate. And sometimes monsters seek revenge on those who scorn them. Revenge figures in the story of Medusa. Medusa was one of the Gorgons, but unlike her sisters she was mortal. Most versions of her story begin with Medusa as a beautiful, young woman, known for her charm and for her lovely hair. Poseidon pursues her and
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Before I started this foray into monsters I had no idea that anyone had codified the study of those real/mythological creatures that lurk on the outskirts of human societies. The Yeti (AKA The Abominable Snowman), Sasquatch (AKA Bigfoot), Chupacabras (goat suckers), Ogopogo (AKA Naitaka) and a curious assortment of ‘living examples of extinct creatures’ and animals described by less than completely credible scientific sources, inhabit the strange corner of the universe occupied by cryptozoologists. The Yeti is particularly fascinating. He — he’s nearly always described as male — is an ape-like cryptid of the Himalayas. People claim to have seen
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When I first announced that I’d spend February posting daily Monster Mediations on this blog, I asked the Facebook followers of Candy’s Monsters to suggest their favorite monsters. I got some very good suggestions, including the Loch Ness Monster, the Sock Monster and — the Cyclops. The big guy with one eye holds a special place in my heart. Not because I have a thing for large, one-eyed cannibals, but because he figures prominently in my initial infatuation with Greek mythology. It all started with The Odyssey. My 9th grade English teacher offered us a choice between reading a prose
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No, I’m not going to address the serious issues of domestic violence and the human monsters who perpetrate horrific crimes on family members. I’m referring to the other varieties of domestic monsters — the fanciful creatures of imagination. The Monster Under the Bed This is the monster that haunts entirely too many children, bringing sleepless nights or terrible dreams to the child attempting to sleep a few feet above the monster’s lair. Parents and babysitters must learn to check every corner under the bed because this monster shrinks to fit into tiny spaces and expands the moment the bedspread falls
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In Greek mythology the Sphinx had the body of a lion, the wings of a powerful bird and the face of a woman. Variations with a man’s head turned up in Egypt and Assyria. Other ancient civilizations all over South Asia and Southeast Asia have their own versions of this lion/human combination with or without wings. There have been many artistic revivals of the image and gorgeous, very feminine, sphinxes are found guarding palaces all over the world, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Portugal. I’m most interested in the famous Greek Sphinx — the smartest of the smart
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