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The Science Of Monsters: The Origins Of The Creatures We Love To Fear (2013)

by Matt Kaplan(Favorite Author)

3.42 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Scribner

review 1: I read this expecting it to be both entertaining and interesting and it was definitely that, but it's really more of a fun read than anything I'd consider serious nonfiction reading. I mean, it's about the science of monsters, so by definition it's both speculative and not serious. Kaplan is actually a very entertaining writer and the random footnotes with jokes and asides made me laugh out loud a couple times. Kaplan basically takes a look at the different monsters in legend, fiction and film and speculates on what fears could have given birth to them. He starts out with Greek legends like the Nemean lion and Medusa among others and then moves on to more recent monsters like aliens, killer robots and parasites. Each chapter puts the monsters into specific categories ac... morecording to the type of monster and then Kaplan explains what he believes, based on science and pyschology, gave birth to that particular breed of monsters. For vampires and werewolves, he brings up features of rabies and the rotting of corpses that might lead people to believe that bodies were turning into the undead and feasting on blood or becoming wolves at night. Many of the explanations for the earlier monsters came down to fossils or diseases that people just didn't understand. The later monsters like artificial intelligence, aliens and created monsters were interesting in that Kaplan relied as much on psychology and looking at what people feared at the time as on the science behind them. As you might expect with so much speculation, there were times that it was a little unbelievable. The best example of this is when Kaplan is looking at the Golem of Prague (a clay monster supposedly created by a Jewish rabbi to defend the Jews of Prague against their anti-Semitic neighbors). Kaplan claims that since a monster made out of clay is inherently not believable in real life, it must be a cover for a "Jewish Dark Knight." Because clearly it is more believeable that a Jewish Batman was running around Prague than that it was a fantasy dreamed up by someone tired of the oppression the Jews were dealing with at the time. So some silliness aside (which really should be expected in a book of this type), it was a highly entertaining read that I'd recommend to anyone with a sense of humor who's interested in a study of monsters and fears.
review 2: I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately all I could do was like it. There were some really interesting moments explored like the explanation of the zombie myth in Haiti and the idea that Ridley Scott's Alien is like a modern day minotaur story but in general it was a pretty mediocre book. There was no in depth exploration of such interesting material, it was more of a general look with wide speculative theories that didn't seem to be based on much evidence. To make matters worse Kaplan repeatedly explains away the existence of monsters by suggesting people found odd fossils. No suggestion that people might have just used their imagination. If you want an easy, broad read this is the book for you. But it's not academic or revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination. less

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