On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears

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On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears Page 46

by Asma, Stephen T.


  bones, monstrous, 30–32

  Book of Daniel, 66–67, 68–69

  Book of Enoch, 63, 72

  Book of Genesis, 72, 74

  Book of Imaginary Beings (Borges), 44–45

  Book of Revelation, 66–71, 70, 124

  Borges, Jorge Luis, 44–45, 185

  Bostrom, Nick, 261, 276

  brainless fetuses, 160

  Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 195

  Branch Davidians, 70

  Bridgewater Treatises, 164, 165

  Brisson, Luc, 42

  Brodsky, David P., 226–227

  The Brood, 201

  Browne, Thomas, 127, 244

  Browning, Tod, 140

  Bruno, Giordano, 107–108

  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 195

  Bullock, Dave, 259

  Bundy, Ted, 245

  Bunker, Chang, 137

  Bunker, Eng, 137

  Burton, Tim, 193

  Bush, George W., 245, 248, 281

  Byron, George Gordon, Baron, 152

  The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer, 194

  caimans, 132

  Cain (biblical), 88–90, 95, 96, 98, 101

  California, 228

  “The Call of Cthulhu” (Lovecraft), 184–185

  Cambodia, 7–9, 8

  Cameron, James, 257

  Camoudi snakes (anacondas), 132

  cannibalism, 195, 278

  Canon Episcopi, 115

  capitalism, 243

  Carr, Robert, 232–233

  Carrol, Sean B., 178

  Carroll, Noel, 184, 192

  Cartesian model, 236, 238

  Caspian Mountains, 90

  castration anxiety, 190

  category jamming, 184

  catharsis, 196–197, 201

  Catholic Church. See Roman Catholic

  Church cats, predatory, 24

  Caverly, John, 208

  centaurs

  as liminal beings, 40, 125

  Lucretius on, 47, 50

  as omen, 44–45, 48

  CGI characters, 191

  Chambers, Raymond Wilson, 98

  chance, 165

  Chase, Anthony, 216

  Chicago, Illinois, 246–247

  children, 209–210, 269–270, 273–274

  chimeras, 40

  chimpanzees, 239–240

  China, 5–6, 11, 14

  Chinguo, Stanislaus, 278

  Cho, Seung-Hui, 205

  Chomsky, Noam, 236

  Christianity

  and Beowulf, 97–98

  and cross symbol, 105

  demons and devils of, 13, 64, 68, 106

  and desire, 117

  and genealogy of monsters, 84–86

  and hell, 71

  and heresy, 107–108

  and heroics, 99, 102

  humility-emphasis of, 99–100

  and Jews, 90–91

  and Judgement Day, 100

  and monster killers, 99–100

  and monstrous human races, 37

  and Muslims, 241

  persecution of Christians, 67–68

  and Resurrection, 83

  on souls of monsters, 79–83

  and xenophobia, 86–87

  See also Bible

  Christopher, Saint, 81

  The City of God (Augustine), 77, 86

  civilizations, monstrous, 240–244

  Clark, William, 32

  clash of civilizations, 240, 248

  classicism, 51

  Cleaver, Eldridge, 246

  Clinton, Hillary, 281

  cloning, 189–190

  cockroaches, 263

  coelacanth, 2

  Collins, Francis, 274

  Colossus: The Forbin Project, 267

  Columbine massacre, 204, 205

  Columbus, Christopher, 91

  communism, 243

  compassion, 224

  Confessions (Augustine), 79

  conjoined twins, 157, 174

  Alberch on, 173

  Chang and Eng Bunker, 137

  as expression of God’s will, 76

  Lazarus and Baptista, 83, 84

  souls of, 83

  conscience, 188–189, 210, 220

  consumerism, 241, 243

  contingency, 165

  Cope, Edward Drinker, 237

  cosmetic procedures, 262, 265–266, 276–277

  cosmic fear, 185, 186, 191, 192, 193, 194

  Council of Constance, 107

  Crane, Stephen, 231–233

  Craven, Wes, 183

  creationism, 164, 168, 178–179

  credulity, 32–36

  Bacon on, 127

  of Barnum’s audience, 136

  in Doran’s model, 130–132, 140

  and paleontology, 279

  Crimes and Misdemeanors, 281

  criminal monsters, 203–228

  aggression and rage, 208–212

  and causes of psychopathology, 223–226

  and desire, 212–218

  and detachment, 218–223

  judging and managing of, 226–228

  labeling of, 216

  See also serial killers; specific individuals

  Cronenberg, David, 200, 201

  cryptozoology, 32, 279

  Ctesias

  on griffins, 28

  on manticores, 33, 34

  as source for Alexander, 22

  on umbrella-footed humans, 36

  on unicorns, 129

  Cthulhu, 184–185, 186

  cultural category, monsters as, 13

  curiosities, 135, 137–140

  Cuvier, Georges, 128, 156–157

  cyborg technology, 260–265

  cyclops, 158

  Alberch on, 173

  as creation of God, 86

  and fossil elephant skulls, 31–32

  medieval authorities on, 77

  and Odysseus, 26–27, 98

  popular belief in, 35

  and rise of science, 129

  soi pour soi explanation of, 158–159

  teratological explanation of, 156–158

  Cynocephali (dog-headed men)

  Augustine on, 77

  and Christianity, 88

  depiction of, 78

  and embellishment, 36–37

  Isidore on, 78

  and rise of science, 129

  Saint Christopher as, 81–83, 82

  Dahmer, Jeffrey, 195

  danger from monsters, 13

  Darrow, Clarence, 207–208, 218

  Darwin, Charles

  on artificial selection, 272–273

  Origin of Species, 138, 168

  popular reactions to paradigm, 199–200

  and racial attitudes, 235

  on saltational jumps, 166–169, 179

  on speciation, 163

  See also natural selection Darwin, Erasmus, 152

  Daryaee, Touraj, 243

  David (biblical), 73

  Dawn of the Dead, 195

  De Anima (Aristotle), 80

  death, 190, 215, 266

  decay, 201

  deceit, 220

  “Declaration on Armed Struggle against Jews and Crusaders,” 248

  deconstructionism, 253

  deformities, 143. See also disabilities

  dehumanization of others

  and criminal minds, 219–221

  cultural ubiquity of, 37

  and environmental variables, 241, 244

  in media, 226, 245

  by religious ideologies, 249

  and technology, 258

  De Mirabilibus Mundi (Solinus), 88

  Democritus, 37

  demons and devils

  and acts of maleficium, 113

  ancients’ beliefs regarding, 56–58

  in Book of Revelation, 67

  and desire, 117, 144

  and exorcisms, 106–107, 119–120

  and gender, 118–119

  incubi, 113, 144

  modern belief in, 13

  and Paré, 148 />
  possession by, 57–58, 59, 106–107, 117, 225–226, 278, 284

  powers over nature, 115–116

  and rise of science, 134, 149

  and Socrates, 57

  and St. Anthony, 104–106, 105

  succubi, 113, 144, 145

  and witches, 108, 109, 111, 112–113, 118–119

  Dennett, Daniel, 251, 268, 269

  Derrida, Jacques, 253

  Descartes, Rene, 149–150, 236

  The Descent of Man (Darwin), 3, 168, 169

  desire

  ancient period, 51–60

  and criminal minds, 212–218

  and demons, 144

  medieval period, 116–119

  psychological effects of, 188

  and repression, 189–190

  See also sexuality

  despair, 186, 248

  detachment, 218–223

  deviations. See variations, genetic The Devil’s Rejects, 195

  Dhu’l-Qarneyn (He of the Two Horns), 92

  Diamond, Stephen, 212

  Dick, Philip K., 220–221

  digit formation, 173–175

  dinosaurs, 28–29, 29, 32

  Diodorus, 37

  disabilities

  and Barnum’s shows, 137–140

  and infanticide, 40, 41

  and “monster” term, 15

  and moral depravity, 143

  disbelief, suspension of, 131

  discipline, 209–210

  Discourse on Method (Descartes), 149–150

  disease, 201

  disgust, 184

  DNA, 175

  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

  (Dick), 220–221

  Dobson, James, 245

  Doctor Faustus (Marlowe), 131

  Dodds, E. R., 56, 57

  dog as metaphor for thumos, 58

  Dog-faced Boy, 137,

  dog-headed men (Cynocephali)

  Augustine on, 77

  and Christianity, 88

  depiction of, 78

  and embellishment, 36–37

  Isidore on, 78

  and rise of science, 129

  Saint Christopher as, 81–83, 82

  Donnie Darko, 241

  doppelgangers, 188, 189–190

  Doran, Madeleine, 130

  Dracula, 191

  dragons, 125

  and Alexander’s forces, 20–21

  of the Bible, 67, 68

  in China, 11

  and St. George, 102, 191

  “The Dramaturgy of Death” (Wills), 232

  dread, 185

  dreaming, 49–50

  Driesbach, David F., 78

  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (film), 207

  dualism, 267

  Dyson, Freeman, 271–272

  Eastern monsters, 14–15

  East/West conflict, 240–241

  Eco, Umberto, 77–78

  E. coli, 199

  education, 249

  Edward Scissorhands, 193

  eels of the Ganges River, 33, 34

  Ego, 209

  egocentrism, 220

  Ehrenreich, Barbara, 24

  Eichmann, Adolf, 244

  Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (Arendt), 244

  elephant fossils, 31–32

  The Elephant Man, 193

  Ellis, Bret Easton, 241

  El sueno de la razon produce monstrous (Goya), 151

  embellishment of monster tales, 22–23

  embryology

  Aristotle’s understanding of, 45–46

  and body plans, 157–159

  and deviations, 162, 163

  and epigenesis, 45–46, 159

  and homeotic genes, 177–178

  Hunter’s theories on, 154–156

  and law of soi pour soi, 158–159

  and preformationism, 45–46

  emotional caricatures, 3

  emotions, 52–54, 55–56, 57, 58

  empathy

  and Adolf Eichmann, 244

  and oppressed classes, 247

  and psychopathology, 220, 222–223, 224

  and uncanny valley, 191

  Empedocles, 46–47, 163

  The End of Faith (Harris), 250–251

  Enlightenment, 129–130, 151

  entertainment, monsters as, 130–131

  environmental issues, 257

  Epictetus, 59

  Epicurus, 37, 44

  epigenesis, 45–46, 159

  Eraserhead, 193

  Eros, 215

  erotic attraction, 54–55. See also desire; sexuality

  essential forms of Aristotle, 46, 47, 48

  ethical progress of society, 187–188

  Ethiopia and Ethiopians, 22, 78, 234

  ethnic groups, 36, 85, 216, 233–234

  ethnocentrism, 36, 37

  Etruscans, 39

  Etymologiae (Isidore), 75, 126

  eugenics, 273

  Euripides, 55, 58, 59

  European bison, 33

  evangelical Pentecostals, 131

  Eve (biblical), 88, 89, 238

  Everett, Bart, 259

  evil, 227, 283

  evil twins, 189–190

  evolution

  and Darwin, 168

  deviations in, 162, 163 (see also variations, genetic)

  and Empedocles, 46–47, 163

  evo-devo, 175–178

  God’s use of, 165–166

  and phobias, 3

  of robots, 259

  and teratology, 173–175

  See also mutation

  evolutionary developmental biology (evodevo), 175–178

  exaggeration, 22–23

  executions, public, 232–233

  exogenic theory of monsters, 165

  exorcisms, 106–107, 119–120, 278, 279

  extinction, 27, 30, 31–32, 164

  Faces of the Enemy, 235

  facial deformities, 78–79

  Fatal Attraction, 280–281

  Fausto-Sterling, Anne, 42

  fear

  and angst, 185–186, 194

  and category jamming, 184

  cosmic fear, 185, 186, 191, 193, 194

  and empathy, 222

  psychological effects of, 188

  and psychopathology, 224

  and xenophobia, 239

  feces, 184

  Feejee Mermaid taxidermy hoax, 136, 140

  feminism, 48

  fetal development, 155–156, 168. See also

  embryology Feynman, Richard, 260–261

  films

  economic horror genre, 280–281

  heroism portrayed in, 24

  horror film genre, 192

  science fiction genre, 199–202

  splatter-punk film genre, 194, 195

  torture porn film genre, 194–198

  uncanny aesthetic in, 193–194

  fish, smallest, 177

  Flannery, Tim, 3–4

  Flood, biblical, 72, 74, 75

  flukes (parasites), 251

  Forbidden Planet, 212–215, 214

  fossils, 30–32, 279

  The Fragility of Goodness (Nussbaum), 8

  Frankenstein (film), 272

  Frankenstein (Shelley), 151–153

  danger associated with, 13

  and horror genre, 183, 196

  and Hunter, 154

  and La Mettrie, 150

  as mosaic being, 40

  and outcast archetype, 11–12, 100

  Franks, Bobby, 205, 217

  freaks, 7, 135–140

  Freaks (film), 140

  freedom fighters, 249

  Freud, Sigmund, 189

  on aggression, 191, 192, 202, 209–210, 243

  and criminal minds, 212

  on horror and vulnerability, 188–194

  and Id, 209, 212–215, 217, 218

  and Leopold and Loeb, 207

  pessimism of, 187, 209

  on projection, 57, 198

  and psychological pathology, 209–210
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  on repression, 116, 189–190, 192, 195–196, 197

  on sexuality, 215

  on technology, 257

  Friedman, John Block, 83

  Fritzl, Josef, 204–205

  fruit fly mutations, 170–171, 171, 172

  Fukuyama, Francis, 273–274

  Gacy, John Wayne, 195, 219, 219–220, 225, 280

  Gaiman, Neil, 185

  Galilei, Galileo, 148–149

  Galvani, Luigi, 152, 173

  Galynker, Igor, 223

  gangster personalities, 53

  Gardner, Erle Stanley, 205, 208, 218, 245

  Gay, Peter, 217

  Gein, Ed, 195

  genders

  and ancient theories of animal origins, 46

  androgyny, 42

  and demonization, 118, 118–119

  hermaphrodites, 39–42, 41, 57, 76, 77

  transgendered people, 270–271

  genealogy of monsters, 84–86

  gene expression, 176–177, 225

  generational cycles, 234

  Generation of Animals (Aristotle), 48

  Genesis, 72, 74

  genetic engineering, 262, 271–273

  genetics, 170, 225

  Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Etienne

  on common body plans, 157–159, 164

  and embryology, 153

  and Hox genes, 178

  popular reaction to, 165

  and teratology, 156–159, 166

  George, Saint, 102, 191

  Germans, 238

  Ghost in the Shell, 267

  ghost-men of Africa, 38

  ghosts, 131

  giants

  biblical giants (nephilim), 72–73, 74–75, 76

  giant-eared races, 37

  giant ground sloths, 32

  giant monster film genre, 255–257

  giant octopi, 35

  giant squid, 2

  Mandeville’s tales of, 91

  symbolism of, 98

  Giger, H. R., 192, 200

  Global Attitudes Project, 249

  God

  and acts of maleficium, 113

  creation of monsters, 75–76, 86

  and deformities/disabilities, 143

  enemies of, 98

  and evolution, 165–166

  and exorcisms, 119

  and human vulnerability, 192

  and Job, 64–65, 106

  and medieval theology, 71, 163–164

  monster accomplices of, 63–67

  and races, 235

  and saltations, 165–166

  and St. Anthony, 104, 106

  and suffering, 116

  and witches, 119

  Goddu, Teresa, 13

  Godzilla, 201, 255–257, 256

  Gog and Magog, 87, 90, 92

  Going Postal (Ames), 246

  Gold, Judith Taylor, 91, 216–217

  Golding, William, 247

  Goldschmidt, Richard, 170–171, 173, 175

  Golem, 11–12, 12, 40

  Goliath, 73

  Gombe National Park in Tanzania, 239–240

  Goodall, Jane, 239–240

  Gorgons, 28, 40, 51, 190

  gothic literature, 183

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 173–175

  Goya, Francisco, 151

  grandiosity, 220

  Grant, Barry, 280–281

  Gray, Asa, 179

  Gray, Nicola, 224

  Great Papal Schism, 107

  Greeks, ancient

  in Book of Daniel, 69

 

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