Whose Your Favorite Literary Monster?

[Lauren Burd]

In celebration of Halloween I was wondering who your favoite monster is and why?

Mine is Frankenstein's Monster. He has had so many incarnations it’s scary (ha ha I made a joke). In most he is seen as a monster without a conscience. To me he is one of the most misunderstood and tragic literary figures.

The Monster is abandoned by his creator as soon as life enters his body. He is left to wonder the world in complete ignorance. He is isolated and miserable. The few times he reaches out he is ridiculed and punished. When he meets his creator again he asks for one thing, a companion. Even this one request is denied. In the end he is even denied one of the most basic dignities. A name.

[Pete Karnas]

Can people count? What about Humbert Humbert in Nabakov's Lolita. He's a disgusting, horrible person, yet so seductive. He seduces and rapes a young girl, drives her to run away and ultimately to her death, but the reader somehow comes to sympathize with him.

My second vote would go to Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It. Pennywise is the only character- real or make believe - that has ever scared me so much I couldn't sleep. Granted, I was twelve years old. Still, it gives me the creeps to this day. That's probably why I like the book so much.

Pete
What You Read

[Marissa Aizprua]

Definetly, Bram stoker's Dracula

[Anastasia Fitzgerald-Beaumont]

Lucifer in Milton's Paradise Lost, the first and greatest rebel. I'm not really sure if he counts as a monster, though, more the ultimate anti-hero. On a more mundane level I would go for Hannibal the Cannibal, the perfect predator. :-)

[lisa kit]

I pretty sure U made a pun there Lauren, but funny none the less.

I am re-reading Mission Earth L.R. Hubbard, so Soltan Gris is my pic. He is an Alien after all. Written well as a mean spirited extraterrestrial, his gullibility is a bit of a stretch. Keeping w/ a single POV writing style, Hubbard did a great job accounting for his ability to see and hear everything the hero ,Jetto Heller, was doing. Too many little things to count in such a long text (est 1.2 million words). @ book 5 Fortune of Fear on the re-read.

[Gareth Wilson]

I'm in the Loup Garou court. LOL

[Marian Perera]

Probably Cthulhu? Something you can't evade or fight or reason with or appeal to. A bit like the sentient supercomputer in Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream".

[Book Calendar]

The Loch Moose Monster was my favorite monster from a novel. Bunnicula is my second.

[Zee]

Ooo. I love literary monsters. I love Frankenstein's monster. I some ways he's more human than the humans in the book. Then there's Dracula. And yes, Milton's 'Lucifer' is the king of them all!

[ManOfLaBook.com]

The one "monster" which always put a chill up my spine is nurse Ratchet from "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest".
I don't know if that counts.

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Stephanie Lulewicz]

Hmm..That's a tough one. I'm going to have to say that one of my favorite "monsters" is Hannibal Lector. His eeriness and complexity of character is interesting.

[Penelope]

I love Professor Umbridge from the Harry Potter books.

She is vile! I actually am rereading them now, and I'm astounded and how she got away with her cruelty (didn't any of her coworkers think she was too tough???)

I finally linked to a HP site on my blog, and plan to start writing about it more in the new year. I'm going to start moving away from being a review blog and go back to my original blog goal (just having fun)

[lisa kit]

I agree, this site isn't that much fun. It seems to be more of a promotion site rather than actual book reviews. Really little open discussion I want to be part of.