A Quick Note on Defining "Sites of Monstrosity" and "Monsters"
Monster: this term is used in many different ways and in different contexts. That is why I want to preface that for this book, I would like you understand monsters as things, human or otherwise, that inflict physical, emotional, and/or pyschological pain on others.
Sites of Monstrosity: this term is a little more nuanced and less well known. For this book, sites of monstrosity are places (behavior (actions) beliefs (religion), rational / irrational (insane,mad) animal / human, etc.) in which monsters exist or where monstrosity manifests.
Poe's works lend themselves to exploring different monsters and sites of monstrosity that contribute to the human obsession with monsters. As a result, the monsters and sites of monstrosity identified in this book may not be an exhaustive list. As you gain a better understanding of these topics, what monsters and/or sites of monstrosity do you see?