Note: This post originally appeared on Tales after Tolkien: Travels in Genre and Medievalism, the blog of the Tales after Tolkien Society, on 21 May 2019.
What is it about monsters that have fascinated us for centuries? From The Odyssey and Beowulf to Dracula and It, stories featuring the monstrous have always captured our imaginations. We are drawn to them, and yet at the same time fear them. In our modern times, so-called ‘monster-of-the-week’ TV shows seem to air on every channel or streaming service. In similar fashion, the images in prodigy books attracted the general public five hundred years ago. By comparing the two, we can get a glimpse of what monsters embody for us.