Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A monster walks into a bar. . .
One patron is terrified because the monster looks like nature’s worst nightmare.
Another patron shakes with fright because he can’t see the monster, but he knows there’s something after him.
The third patron’s fear arises from recognizing the monster and knowing how it can hurt him.
The bartender isn’t scared until it’s too late to save himself because he doesn’t see the monster for what it is.
1) Monsters too big, too creepy, or too ferocious for the mind to comprehend terrify us.
The Jabberwocky of Lewis Carrol’s Through the Looking Glass
The Wendigo of Algonquian legend
Werewolves, anywhere
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
2) The invisible monster creates knee-knocking fright because we can’t fight what we can’t see.
Ghosts in the closet
Goblins under the bed
Demons behind the door
3) We flee in fear from the monster we recognize, understanding all too clearly how it can rend our limbs from our torso.
Baba Yaga, from Slavic fairy tales
The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow
4) We lose our wits when the monster hides in the familiar.
Chucky, the diabolic doll in a series of movies in the 90s
Pennywise the Clown, from Stephen King’s It
Cujo, when man’s best friend turns on him
Christine, when saying you’ve got a bad car means more than it’s a lemon
What’s the last book you read that made you keep the lights on all night? What scares the socks off you?