Monsters We Love to Love

Posted by Sela Carsen, 05/22/09 09:25 PM

No, this isn’t about Grover, the loveable, furry blue monster from Sesame Street.

This is more about the kind of monsters who used to keep you awake at night with the covers pulled up over your head, praying that if they ever did come through your door they somehow wouldn’t see you. Or at least if they did, that they’d kill you quickly.

I admit it. I had a family of vampires who lived under my bed when I was about eight years old. They were pretty decent as far as vampires went. I learned not to dangle my arms off the edge of my bed, though, because it seemed wiser not to tempt them, y’know?

We can work out our all-too-real fears in fiction, and now that I’m a little more grown up, reading about monsters who have to work for their humanity is comforting. Creatures who used to be human still crave that connection. Creatures who never were like us wonder what it might be like and find great value in our humanity.

Dracula was both terrifying and heartbreaking because he could not reconcile the man with the monster. It’s a common theme in paranormal romance – one character is human, one isn’t – and the key to the relationship is built on the common ground of human love.

But what do you do with a creature who was born a monster? Who doesn’t have a problem with her nature? Who, according to the whims of her inhuman thought process, would just as soon rip your head off as help you?

How do you make that character someone that readers – and the hero – can fall in love with without diminishing her true nature? How do you celebrate her very monstrosity as she travels to a Happily Ever After with a human man?

In fact, does the very fact that it’s the heroine who is the monster change the usual dynamic of monster/human love?

Just some questions to keep you awake tonight. And don’t forget to keep your arms tucked in so the vamps don’t nibble on you.

Category: | 05/22/09 09:25 PM
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Comments: [4]

  1. 1 Inez

    Okay, my first comment must have went to internet void because it is not there.

    I love monsters. I think the best characters are the ones who have monsters inside rather than battling demons on the outside. Pretty is attractive and everyone is drawn to it but, for me, the more interesting is the monster who longs to be more than he is.

    Think Elephant man. He was for his time, a monster. People flocked to see him because he was grotesque but yet very few knew his torment. He was isolated in a room full of people who sought him out. Because of his experiences, he saw more than others with perfect vision. That was his hidden beauty, I think. it is what I want in a character.

    Comment by Inez · May 22, 10:10 PM
  2. 2 Brandy W

    I think it does change it if the monster is a woman. Its hard to imagine the woman seeing the softer side in him and changing her monster thinking ways.

    I can imagine a woman having an influence on the male monster. He sees the softness and sensitivity (cause the woman always has that) and the monster wants to cherish it and keep it safe. Therefore he is still the strong scary guy but the love he feels for his woman makes him more likable.

    Comment by Brandy W · May 23, 03:02 PM
  3. 3 Sela Carsen

    Inez, I think you nailed it with the hidden beauty. That sense of isolation and the ability to observe. I’ll need to nurture that in her.

    Brandy, I believe you’re also on track. Part of the reason I’ve got monster tunnel-vision right now is that I’m struggling to determine whether I’m writing a monster who is also a woman, or a woman who is also a monster. Sometimes these people just show up in your head and there’s nothing you can do to change them!

    Comment by Sela Carsen · May 23, 06:03 PM
  4. 4 Anatoly Quill

    I love monsters, too – the stranger the better. Check out my monster related blog…

    http://thethingupstairs.blogspot.com/

    Comment by Anatoly Quill · Jun 4, 01:26 PM

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