Greeting Darklings:

Horror has many well-known monsters that range from serial killers to brain eating zombies to Godzilla. Today’s post is about an overlooked type of monster: the sympathetic one. It’s my opinion that there ought to be more sympathetic monsters. I will tell you why I feel that way. 

Most monsters in horror novels and movies fascinate us. I believe that the best monsters are sympathetic. Take the most famous one of all, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. The mad scientist’s creature breaks our hearts and fills us with dread at the same time. 

The monsters in my novella The Cult of the Spider People are NOT sympathetic but Piper is. She begins as a human being in the novella and by the end, she transforms with agonizing pain into an Arachnas. Piper yearns to be human, but she will never be human again. She does not wish to feed on blood to sustain her existence. She does not want to harm anyone, but she has no choice. The Arachnas were never in human form. They are eerie, blood drinking spider people. 

The ghost in my novel The Mourning Tide bears a curse. He is forced to carry the seaweed that choked and was on his body when he was murdered, and he carries sadness everywhere with him. Jonathan, the ghost, accepts the painful fact that he may never be saved from his unbearable lonely existence and that his murderer who is alive and well may never be brought to justice. All that changes when Rosemary arrives and moves into his home. Jonathan was a mortal. He had a family that he loved. That was all taken from him. 

Sympathetic monsters add a human element to their existence and form. A tragedy may have made a monster into what he or she or it is. It takes us by surprise when we least expect it. I remember when I lived in this one house with my family. We had a rodent problem, but one of those rats stands out in my mind. The rat did not bite or run or burrow. It just sat there with sadness, old and feeble. It wanted to die, to be released from a painful existence. So my older brother and my mother put the rat into a pot. They drove far away from our home, and released the rat. I think it died alone, but maybe with more dignity. Ending suffering is a humane thing to do. A rat is not a monster, but it does prove that we should not always be so eager to judge. 

That breaks my heart. Most people fear rats. Rats are furtive and hide and their appearance give people the willies. But rats are misunderstood. They are extremely intelligent. Spiders are misunderstood yet they move into our homes to control the insect population. But people overlook the efforts of their web weaving allies and try to kill spiders with chemicals, for example. I never harm spiders. I know they are my allies and are allowed to weave their magnificent webs. Their appearance does make people uncomfortable. But they are an apex predator. They kill off many pest insects and we should be thanking them. We would all have a much bigger problem if it were not for the amazing efforts of spiders. 

What may be a sympathetic monster to one person may not be seen in the same way by another person. A spider is not a monster, yet people fear them and will do anything to be rid of them. A rat is not a monster, yet people fear them. Bats make people uncomfortable, but they eat tons of mosquitoes. I have a great deal for spiders, rats and bats. They are treated like vermin, but they have done nothing wrong. Spiders. rats, bats and even seagulls, bluejays and crows are just being what they are. That is to me, the best type of monster. It is just being what it is. 

A creature that can’t help what it is, that people find themselves relating to in one degree or another is better than something contrived. People like to live in their homes and live their day to day life without problems. They don’t want to see the dark side of nature- me included. I did not watch the movie about an android doll Megan or Annabelle or Chuckie. I can’t relate to those dolls. They seem to just be in a horror movie for the sake of the movie. But when I watched Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that Robert DeNiro starred in as the creature, I bawled my heart out and I was terrifed at the same time. That stayed with me. I will never forget how the creature won my heart and broke it. 

I am a Witch. I suppose in one sense I could be seen as Other, a rebel, a free spirit, a cauldron burning, moon worshipping Witch who dares to stand out from the norm. Does that mean I am a monster? I am seen as different. Well no I am technically not a monster, but I have seen parents cover their children’s eyes or cut ties with me permanently. I am viewed as Other, of not belonging to the normal – whatever normal really is – of society. I would not change what I am though for anyone. A crocodile is just a crocodile, but they hunt and they have to feed and mate. Tarantulas, spiders, monkeys, scorpions, vultures and black widow spiders make people uncomfortable. They are not monsters in the technical sense, but people are wary of them. They just are what they are.

The most dangerous and most inhumane monster on earth is Man. By that I mean, that it is man’s damage to the environment, to the entire earth that has caused many animal speicies to go extinct. Man has caused 60% of the animal life on earth to go extinct since 1970. That is a huge number. So who is the monster here really? A creature with scales, webbed feet or fangs? Or a creature that lives in a high rise with a car emitting dangerous toxins in the air or a man working for a company that is destroying the Amazon rainforest with no thought to the consequences of their actions? I ask you to reflect on this and ask yourselves… are we the monster? Owls live in trees that get chopped down to make way for a highway, trees that provide us with oxygen, bear fruit or house a family of squirrels. The oceans are polluted and there is no thought for the squids, fish, whales, dolphins or algae or sharks that live in them and have their own families. 

The destruction of the earth is by no means sympathetic. It reflects greed, corruption, complete and utter destruction with no regard for the life that lived there. That is so unforgivable. When a being, human or not, is aware of its actions and has no empathy, that is dangerous. That is a monster. Mankind has caused corruption, climate change, greed, apathy, poverty, destruction of the earth, wars, famine, disasters. Not the seagulls, bats, rats, vultures, gargoyles or spiders. Nope. Because they wouldn’t. I hope we realize soon that we can’t take money to the grave. It means nothing when we are rotting in coffins. Money will mean nothing then. Those tall skyscrapers, fancy cars or massive yachts are just material possessions and objects. They are not reflective of the bigger picture in life. 

Like I say, the best monsters are the sympathetic ones. The ones who terrify us or reflect our own fears back to us and yet win our hearts at the same time. I want to read a novel or watch a movie about that. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(