Introduction: Monsters and the Monstrous

When we talk about the monster, we talk about threat, fear, about that which is Other. Though fear must be as old as time (indeed, it has been credited as one of the affects that has guaranteed human survival), it is only in the past decades that scholars have started to pay attention to the nature and potential of the fear experience through interdisciplinary explorations. What they've discovered is this. Fear disrupts your worldview. You no longer feel you can predict the way reality works.¹ Instead, you're thrown into your body in a state of heightened awareness. Your senses become keener, your heart pumps more oxygen to your organs and the adrenaline increases your physical strength. Something has undone your world, but your fear response gives you all the tools you need to recreate it. You can no longer rely on your assumptions. Instead, you are forced to focus on what's happening around you, use your improved senses to assess the situation, and your increased strength to take action.