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Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors

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Joseph Campbell gave much attention to the universal nature of folk heroes in his seminal "Hero of a Thousand Faces." He advanced the idea of the monomyth, a fundamental story told time and time again in every culture. Gilmore, in "Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors" seeks to continue Campbell's thinking, this time examining the monsters which heroes are pitted against in these monomyths.

Gilmore is no Campbell, however, and what was a life's work to Campbell is just a one-time, although enthusiastic, book for Gilmore. He does assemble a fair argument on a universal monster; Larger than normal in size, Human eating, combining the traits of several animals into a single creature. It is true that most monsters fit this general description, and he gives us a good picture of the fundamental fear of the human mind. The main case studies in "Monster" are the North American Wendigo and the Spanish and French Tarasque. These get an in-depth study, while much of the rest of the book is a tour through monsters of the world, in cultures as diverse as Japan, China and East Asia, the United States, Europe and the Hopi of North America.

More interesting than the shared form is how this "Mono-monster" is viewed in the various cultures, sometimes feared, sometimes worshiped, sometimes accepted with neutrality. While all cultures give breed to something similar in shape and temperament, they do not all respond to the beast in the same manner, according to Gilmore's research. There is clearly room here for further study, and "Monsters" is ultimately wide but not deep.

Perhaps the area covered is a bit too wide for such a slim book, as there are a few factual errors that creep in. I recognized a few glaring errors in the chapters on Japan, which is my own particular area of expertise. For instance, he says that the Edo period preceded the "modern Tokugawa period." In fact, the Tokugawa era is a medieval period, and Edo was succeeded by Meji, when Japan modernized. While this kind of slip may have little impact on his overall ideas, it does bring into question the accuracy of his other statements.

The author obviously loves the work he is doing, however he seems to have had very little first hand experience with the sources he uses. IOW, he quotes what others have said about the myths of given cultures rather than doing the research and actually reading these himself.

Further, the book is muddle by typos and just plain bad information. This abounds for the material dealing with the ancient world, but seems to abate as one moves closer to the present.

In summary, his theories are interesting, his methodolgy is intriguing, his actual descriptions of monsters are sometimes completely off. Read it with care.

Gilmore's "Monsters" is a little hard to describe, but it's enjoyable. In some respects, it is a dry academic book straight from a university press. There is the inevitable chapter that offers a Freudian explanation for our vision of monsters, as well as the occasional Teutonic sentence that would be more at home in a turgid article than in an otherwise entertaining book.

You can breeze through the drier material (unless you revel in that sort of thing) and take advantage of the fact that Gilmore clearly loves his subject. He energetically surveys stories of monsters from cultures all over the world, and he finds in these tales a deep commonality: monsters are always large, evil, physically grotesque, and determined to eat as many people as they can catch. Such creatures are usually a bizarre mix of human and animal, and they are often divine or related in some way to the people on whom they prey. In these stories, there is frequently a hero, himself superhuman and somewhat frightening, who is able to kill the local monster for the benefit of the community.

Readers who expect to find a tale of "cryptozoology"--of the physical search for legendary monsters like Bigfoot, Yeti and the Loch Ness serpent--will probably be disappointed. Gilmore's monsters live in the landscape of the mind, and they will never be found in the forests and mountains of the physical world. Still, Gilmore's journey through the imaginations of many cultures is conducted with enthusiasm and vigor, and it is this quality that makes "Monsters" fun to read.

Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, And All Manner Of Imaginary Terrors by David D. Gilmore (Professor of Anthropology, State University of New York, Stony Brook), is a thoughtful, in-depth, scholarly study of the fantastic and hideous creatures abounding in myth, legend, and folklore around the world. Extensively researched, Monsters draws upon a body of lore and stories ranging from ancient times down to modern-day popular movies. A highly recommended addition to any personal or academic Mythology/Folklore Studies and/or Popular Culture Studies reference collection or supplemental reading list, Monsters is a simply fascinating study of human nature the cultural/societal issues and meanings reflected in the stories and images of malevolent, imaginary beasts.

Gilmore's book is a well-researched, fascinating glimpse into the human mind and its need for monsters. For an extra thrill, check out the two-hour special "Primal Fear" on The History Channel, in which he is one of several experts featured.