Monsters of Our Own Making: The Peculiar Pleasures of Fear

Since the beginning of storytelling, monsters of all kinds have inhabited myths, legends, folklore, and oral traditions, and they continue to thrive amidst society's ever-increasing attraction to the thrill of experiencing fear. Today many of us seek out horror movies, read thrillers and Gothic novels, and visit haunted houses, in our endless pursuit of the macabre and exciting. In Monsters of Our Own Making: The Peculiar Pleasures of Fear, Marina Warner explores the world of bogeys from their incarnation as ogres in nursery tales to their current role in the new, twisted reality of contemporary conflicts, where there is no guarantee of a happy ending. Marina Warner digs into the past to uncover the origins of these myths, to examine their history and social function over time. Paying particular attention to the prevalence of male figures of terror, Warner reveals their connections to current ideas about sexuality and power, identity and ethnicity, youth and age.

Marina Warner is a novelist and cultural historian. Her many books include From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers and Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media. She is professor of literature, film, and theatre studies at the University of Essex and lives in London.