Physical deformity is a completely true phenomenon that exists in the real world. In contrast, each of the monsters listed in this category are entirely fictional. The second form of monstrosity we will consider in this anthology is that of mythical creatures and legends. This category has likely become the largest and most commercially successful category of the horror genre. Vampires, werewolves, and zombie films sell like wildfire, spawning television shows, movies, novels, comic books, and even their own style trends. For example, "Since 2000, about 100 movies and scores of video games have featured undead, cannibal zombies" (McAlister, 460). 

However, these legendary monsters are more than just their commercial appeal. They stem from stories that are as old as time, and have been passed down through generations from the Greeks thousands of years ago to the teenage Generation Z today. The question remains, however, why have these mythical creatures been so popular around the globe for this long? Why do they continue to inspire curiosity and entertainment? This explanation can be found more easily in some instances than others. 

With respect to vampires, their commercial appeal is somewhat simple. The vampire anthology is a perfect blend of fear, curiosity, and entertainment in the form of sex appeal. Vampires are inherently monstrous and frightening creatures. They feed off of the blood of their victims, operate exclusively at night and in the dark, and generally are portrayed as having a number of powers and abilities beyond the norm for humanity. Originally, the vampire story was represented as being much darker and more monstrous than it is today. Then, vampires were portrayed as being evil and as attacking innocents. For example, in the film Vampyr, which we considered earlier in the course, a person could only become a vampire due to their monstrous acts during life. They rise from the dead to prey upon the living, especially the young and the helpless as a punishment for their dastardly deeds during their lives. 

However, when moving toward more modern representations of the vampire, the romance and sexuality element figures more prominently and markedly between both the male and female genders: "Unlike other horror-film monsters, the vampire enfolds the victim in an apparent or real erotic embrace... She embraces her female victims, using all the power of her seductive wiles to soothe and placate before striking" (Creed, 59). In fact, vampires have moved from the monsters and the antagonists of the story to the protagonists and the anti-heroes. Most notably, in the Underworld franchise from the early 2000s, the viewer finds oneself rooting for the vampire coven as they fight the monstrous, evil werewolves. In Twilight, as well, the vampires are represented for the most part as benevolent creatures who are able to resist their more monstrous urges. 

It is quite interesting that vampires have been rendered less monstrous over time. There is a certain amount of tension evident there. Vampires are inherently monstrous in that they must kill and feed upon humans to survive. Furthermore, they are often represented as being unable to resist their need to feed, and are represented almost like drug addicts in their actions and mannerisms. The sexual tension behind their actions extends here as well, as vampires do "not respect the dictates of the law which set down the rules of proper sexual conduct" (Creed, 61). However, today they have been watered down, and the hyper-sexualized commercial appeal of the vampire has taken center stage. 

Werewolves have also featured prominently in pop-culture over the past twenty years or so. However, films about werewolves were some of the first monster films ever made. For example, The Wolf Man, George Waggner's 1941 classic, became the influence upon which most modern werewolf films have drawn. Upon being transformed into the werewolf during each full moon, the afflicted individual loses all of their self-control and is driven and compelled to attack and kill with reckless abandon for the remainder of the evening. While the werewolf is absolutely monstrous both in terms of its physical form and its actions, the individual who is the werewolf need not be monstrous in and of themselves. A sort of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde phenomenon is evident, where a purely benevolent creature can be transformed into a murderous monster without any input of their own will. This storyline is played up considerably and takes center stage in the 2010 remake entitled The Wolfman, starring Benicio del Toro. Lawrence Talbot is attacked by a werewolf and has a massive internal struggle with his own personal monstrosity as a result of his affliction. 

Finally, zombies have also become quite prevalent in films and television in recent years. Modern film franchises and productions such as The Walking Dead, World War Z, and Resident Evil have dominated at the box office. The image we all know of the zombie is an undead, relatively mindless creature with a lurching gate and decaying countenance. However, this representation has not always been the case. This idea largely stems from George Romero's 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, which was one of the most influential films in the genre. Interestingly, Romero's film was also one of the first to feature an African American hero, or protagonist. This was especially trend-setting during an era in which there was an entire sub-genre of horror films entitled "blaxploitation" films, where the black characters were generally marginalized and "killed off" before the white characters. This "Blaxploitation filmmaking contributed to the ongoing social construction of race during an especially labile era of the nation's civil right's struggles" (Benshoff, 33). 

While Night of the Living Dead was perhaps the most influential zombie film ever made, it was far from the first. 1932's White Zombie represents one of the first feature length zombie films, and featured zombies that were sentient creatures, controlled by a voodoo master, Murder Legendre. Regardless of its origin -- infection, cosmic forces, or other means -- the modern zombie is inarguably monstrous and lacks all humanity. However, the original zombies were good, benevolent people who were manipulated by an evil individual and coerced into committing monstrous acts against their will. While not inherently monstrous, their actions caused them to become monstrous. Similarly to the case of werewolves, the question remains -- which is more important, monstrosity that stems from one's actions or monstrosity that stems from inherent negative character traits?