SHORT · SCIENCE FICTION
Charles Waugh
The mind needs monsters.
— from Monsters
Most acclaimed
A Newbery Halloween
Baddest witch in the world / Beverly Cleary -- Witch girl / Elizabeth Coatsworth -- Halloween to remember / E.L. Konigsburg -- Ghost in the attic / Eleanor Estes -- Poor little Saturday / Madeleine L'Engle -- Ah Tcha the sleeper / Arthur Bowie Chrisman -- Witch's eye / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor -- Magic ball / Charles J. Finger -- Man of influence / Paul Fleishman -- Camp Fat / E.L. Konigsburg -- Horse of the war god / Elizabeth Coatsworth -- Year Halloween happened one day early / Virginia Hamilton.
Mad scientists
Presents synopses of several well-known horror films whose plots revolve around the experiments of diabolical scientists, including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Invisible Man.
Monsters
"The human mind needs monsters. In every culture and in every epoch of human history, from ancient Egypt to modern Hollywood, imaginary beings have haunted dreams and fantasies, provoking in young and old shivers of delight, thrills of terror, and endless fascination. All known folklores brim with visions of looming and ferocious monsters, often in the role as adversaries to great heroes. But while heroes have been closely studied by mythologists, monsters have been neglected, even though they are equally important as pan-human symbols and reveal similar insights into ways the mind works. In Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors, anthropologist David D. Gilmore explores what human traits monsters represent and why they are so ubiquitous in people's imaginations and share so many features across different cultures."--BOOK JACKET.