Free Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting by W. Scott Poole Page A

Special thanks to Christina Shedlock who created an incredibly detailed and useful index for the book. I look forward to reading her own forthcoming scholarship.
    I’ve dedicated Monsters in America to my goddaughter, Niamh Margaret Carmichael. She is three years old but has already fallen desperately in love with books. I hope one day she will read and enjoy this one. I am excited to think about how her emerging sense of humor, her developing flair for the dramatic, her love for irony, and her already fiery temperament will respond to my monsters. I should also note that she is lucky to have parents, Noelle and Tim, who are already teaching her that monsters are for story time rather than symbols for religious and political enemies.
    This book would not have happened without my partner Beth Phillips. Her interest in my work never fails to encourage me. She willingly read every word of drafts, catching errors and making valuable suggestions. More importantly, without her I simply would not always have the courage to make my strange ideas a reality. She makes both my work and my life a good place to be. I love you Beth.

Preface
     
WITH A WARNING TO THE UNSUSPECTING READER
     
    Come now,
    My Child
    If we were planning
    To harm you, do you think
    We’d be lurking here
    Beside the path
    In the very dark-
    Est part of
    The forest?
    —Kenneth Patchen
     
    E ntertaining Comics (usually known simply as “EC”) created some of the most subversive images of the 1950s in titles like Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror . These macabre tales of mayhem, taking place in the midst of middle-class American life, used the conceit of a host known as the “Crypt Keeper” to introduce the horror and mix in some black humor. Late night showings of horror films on local TV used the same convention. In 1954 the world met Vampira, a campy and seductive woman in black, who introduced each film with a bloodcurdling scream.
    Here is a favorite introduction to a tale of terror from the Crypt Keeper that seems germane to this book’s purpose:
Welcome dear fiends! Come in! Come into the Crypt of Terror! I am your host the crypt-keeper … This one is sure to freeze the blood in your veins … Guaranteed to make little shivers run up and down your crawling spine! This little adventure in terror is about to happen to you! You are the main character.
    Right now, I am your crypt keeper and your Vampira. I am going to introduce you to monsters. I aim to give you unpleasant dreams.
    Since this is a book about monsters, you probably want to hear how I define the monster. Defining one’s terms, I am sure you have been told, is essential to any discussion. Setting out on our nighttime journey with a clear meaning of our terms might help us survive the night. A book about monsters should define its monsters.
    But I am not going to do it. At least, I am not going to give you a straightforward definition to underline or highlight. I prefer to take you on a wild ride through the darkness of the American past, galloping hard and fast like Ichabod Crane (and not making any ill-considered stops like poor Marion Crane) in hopes we can reach the bridge in time. Maybe if we do, we will have worked out our definition of the monster.
    Scholars like clear analytical mandates, that is, direct assertions of argument followed by supporting evidence. Since I hope at least some scholars of American history and culture will read this book, let me throw them a bone or two. I will even give them a scholarly citation to munch on like zombies with a nice meaty thighbone. I buy fully into Judith Halberstam’s argument that monsters are “meaning machines,” exuviating all manner of cultural productions depending on their context and their historical moment. In American history they have been symbols of deviance, objects of sympathy, and even images of erotic desire. They structured the enslavement of African Americans, constructed notions of crime and deviance, and