The depiction of monsters and monstrosity in literature follows a long and complex tradition. Springing forth from folklore and mythology, monsters came to represent all that was dark and evil and unnatural. They live on the fringes of society: in the forest on the edge of town, in the castle up on the hill, or even in the darkness under your bed. They take on many shapes: vampire, ghost, werewolf (to name only a few) and they stand distinctly apart from humans–the heroes of these same stories. They exist to be vanquished, defeated, destroyed. But they keep coming back: “There are monsters in the ages before us and monsters right in front of us, and often those new monsters wear the shapes of the old” (Braudy 2).

Sigmund Freud explores the nature of the uncanny in his 1919 essay, stating that “what is ‘uncanny’ is frightening precisely because it is not known and familiar” (2). He distinguishes that while all new experiences do not produce feelings of uncanniness, those that do are caused by the unfamiliar being added to the novel and mundane. This anxiety plays out most especially in tales that depict transformative change. The uncanny effect, that which simultaneously “is” and “isn’t,” corresponds directly to the liminality and otherness that exists between the human-monster hybrid (Freud 15). The human who transforms into a monster provides the intersection between the familiar and the unfamiliar that we will here explore.

For many scholars, literary monstrosity exists as a way in which humanity may confront their inner most selves, acting as guides for what lies both outside and within the self. Though “[monsters] frighten us, [they] also contribute to the development and growth of the imagination” (Gilmore 190). Adolescence itself is a time of development and liminal transformation where the teen exists in the boundary between what is known and unknown–the known of childhood and the unknown of adulthood. Likewise, the transformative monster exists both on the fringes of society and within the society. By this definition, transformative monstrous adolescence elevates the feelings of otherness as a way in which to explore teenage liminality in an extreme setting.

Monstrosity is essentially a tool to investigate our emotions, our motivations, and ultimately, ourselves. The books, comics, television shows, and movies here provided are just a few examples that explore adolescent transformative monstrosity. They tell us that the monsters we fear are closer than we think, and more often than not, “our monsters are our innermost selves” (Gilmore 194).

The works provided here can all be found in the UBC library collection. We have also included a list of our own recommendations for consideration.

— Shanleigh Klassen, Elizabeth Lazenby, Kevin Sun