Naked Young Witch with Fiend in Shape of Dragon, Hans Baldung-Grien (1515).
My Mission
For as long as Man has stood on two feet, monsters have proliferated our stories. Our mythology, stories, and now television have been rife with monsters who forced us to reckon with questions concerning humanity, morality, sexuality, and identity. However, while beholding the monster in all its glory, it was not just fear that struck our hearts, but desire as well.
PAINTING: Tamara and the Demon, Konstantin Makovsky (1889). ILLUSTRATION: Tamara and the Demon, Mihaly von Zichy (1880)
It may seem antithetical to be attracted to what we fear most. Yet, fear is a powerful aphrodisiac and only one of many reasons why people have been caught in the monster’s hypnotic allure for centuries. While monstrous desire in media and popular culture may appear to some as a contemporary phenomena, this does not take into account the centuries of erotic monsters around the world that played a role in forming the zeitgeist we see today, from Dracula to hentai to Ice Planet Barbarians.
The purpose of the monstrous desire study and its research is to explore media and popular culture’s fascination and obsession with erotic monsters, subsequently interrogating how the historical presence of erotic monsters is neither a contemporary phenomena nor a reflection of sexual deviancy. These findings, compiled from a survey of 2,202 respondents eager and excited to talk about erotic monsters, are now being studied for a book that aims to address one main question: “What is so erotic about the ‘Other’ that appeals to people so much?”
PROMO: Rolling Stone “X-Files” Promo Shoot, shot by Mark Seliger (1997). MOVIE POSTER: Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), dir. by Jack Arnold
Through the study results as well as secondary research to help contextualize the survey data within a historical framework, the book intends to explore aspects of erotic monstrosity such as:
◆ How much does fear play in attraction to monsters, or, is it the “domestication” of monstrosity that shapes our desires toward it?
◆ How does heterosexuality and homosexuality shape our desires towards monstrosity?
◆ Are people drawn to only humanoid monsters, or, monsters who possess transmogrified body parts/alien appendages (tails, horns, wings, etc.)?
◆ How do specific demographics—based on race, gender, sexuality, age—interact with erotic media and culture? And how does this interaction influence the perception of monstrosity?
This project could not have been possible without the collective generosity of many monster loving enthusiasts. As such, because of the excitement around the study and the book, I would like to keep everyone involved with this study as I work my way through the monstrosity madness. This website features not just the quantitative study results, but blog posts about the secondary material I am reading and researching while writing the book, interviews with erotic monster authors, clips of authors and writers speaking about monstrosity, as well as analysis of specific erotic monster movies.
I thank you all for your support and enthusiasm. Be warned all ye who may be devoured whole by this subject, as I have been.
Find Out More
Intro Interactive Data Slides Commentary: I was going to keep this survey open for much longer but I didn’t know that the survey platform I was using (Surveyking) not only capped my responses at 2,000, but didn’t allow me to download the data even though it allowed for respondents to
Hello all! I come bearing exciting news: I am planning to do another monsterfucker survery, but this time officially! With the help of fellow monsterfucker-academic Phoebe Santillan, we are looking to duplicate our surveys to confirm initial results and then submit the research to scientific journals! Unfortunately, study funds are
Hello All! I am so excited I get to share with you my interview with Dr. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. He is a professor at Central Michigan University, where he teaches subjects on the Gothic, American literature, and pop culture. He has written prolifically about the gothic and monstrosity, having written
Keep up to date with the study.