October - the month for monsters

While the world is full of monsters, creatures, and cryptids of all kinds, there are a few that most everyone recognizes. These critters, many featured in classic Hollywood horror films have roots that stretch back beyond the black-and-white movies of the 1930s, and in some cases, go back centuries. Let’s take a closer look at just some of the most famous monsters in the Western canon.

Frankenstein’s Monster

Often erroneously referred to by the name of his creator, Frankenstein’s Monster has lurked and lurched through Halloween for decades. The modern view of the monster, however, is far from the one that was born from Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus.” 

Inspired, perhaps, by an ancient alchemist from Frankenstein Castle in Bavaria, Shelley crafted a creature that was arguably the first example of science fiction. Shelley’s monster was described as being 8 feet tall, and far from the flat-headed, bolt-necked Borris Karloff, he was terrifying nonetheless:

“His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.”

In yet another contrast to the modern view, Shelley’s monster was articulate, and for at least the beginning of his new life, well-mannered and emotional. The novel even sees the creation of the eponymous Bride of Frankenstein, though the skunk-striped beehive hairdo is nowhere to be seen. All in all, the monster of the novel presents a fascinating view not often seen depicted in media today.

Dracula

Many may imagine that the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” was Count Vlad Dracul, the Impaler, and while that may be true to some extent, the real Dracula was a far cry from his historic cousin. 

In fact, there were no mentions of Vlad the Impaler in Stoker’s notes, implying that he may well have just taken the name from the other famous count. As opposed to Frankenstein’s monster, Hollywood's depiction of the world’s most famous vampire is actually somewhat close to the novel.

The novel describes the count as being handsome and charming but also clarifies that his appearance changes with age, and with the ebb and flow of his power. He is described variously as having pointed ears and sharp teeth, varying types of facial hair, and even having hairy palms with red light in his eyes. 

Modern depictions have also stayed fairly close to the source material when it comes to the monster’s powers of strength, his undying nature, and his need to feed on human blood. The famous depictions of weakness surrounding religious symbols are also rooted in Stoker’s novel. 

The Mummy

As opposed to the first two monsters on our list, the inspiration for the Mummy, as made famous by the 1932 film of the same name, finds its source centuries earlier. The story begins with perhaps the most famous pharaoh, Tutankhamun.

The fascination with Ancient Egypt is nothing new, but popularity in the subject reached an almost frenzied pitch with the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. The excitement over this discovery, along with the mysterious deaths of some of the first to enter the tomb, prompted movie makers to capitalize on the phenomenon.

The monster in this case is named Imhotep, taking his name from an actual Ancient Egyptian priest who, over the course of a few millennia, was eventually deified. In a departure from the historical record, this version of Imhotep is bent on resurrecting his lost love, Ankhesenamun, who takes her name from Tutankhamun’s actual wife. 

Of course, many liberties were taken with the character to spook audiences more, but, filmmakers took inspiration from actual historical sources, such as an attempted assassination of a pharaoh, which led to at least one perpetrator being buried alive. The part about coming back to life, however, was far from the minds of ancient Egyptians. After all, why would they remove all the organs, if that mummy was going to need them later?

The Wolf Man

A relative late-comer to the Hollywood horror scene, the Wolf Man takes direct inspiration, not from history, nor from any novel, but rather from a centuries-old mythological creature. The stories of people who transform into wolves has many different iterations across many countries, but the first could arguably be from Ancient Greece.

Throughout Greek mythology, many figures were either transformed into wolves by the gods or were given the power to do so themselves at will. These stories no doubt informed later myths about various figures who, for one reason or another, could make that same transformation, such as the Úlfhednar or berserkers in Viking culture.

Generally speaking, it’s agreed that werewolves, when transformed were virtually indistinguishable from other wolves except for a few telltale signs. They reportedly had no tails and had human eyes and voices. The concept of defeating a werewolf with a silver bullet, however, came about in the 20th century in novellas and dimestore novel depictions of the creature.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Finally, the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The youngest of the Hollywood monsters, the Creature or Gillman from the Black Lagoon in the film looks like the horrible offspring of a fish, a frog, and a human being.  

The Gillman of the 1954 film reportedly finds its inspiration from Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, who reportedly told Producer William Alland about a local story of river people that dwelt in the Amazon basin called Yacuruna.

Far from being the fish-person of the film, or even a mermaid which many are familiar with, the Yacuruna are described as hairy, backwards-headed crocodile riders. Though fearsome in appearance, they can shape-shift into attractive men, seducing locals back to their upside-down, underwater cities. Maybe Julia Adams would have been more on-board with that Gillman than the one in the film!

While, of course, there are many more monsters and creatures that we could explore, this brief list of Hollywood’s monsters gives a glimpse into the things that go bump in the night, especially this time of year. λ