Cover: Monsters, 3rd Edition by Andrew J. Hoffman

Monsters

A Bedford Spotlight ReaderThird Edition ©2025 Andrew J. Hoffman

Monsters explores the central concept of the monstrous: Why do we create monsters? Are they animal, human, both, or neither? Which of our fears and desires do monsters embody? What can monsters tell us about cultural and historical moments? How do we cope with the monsters that haunt our imag...
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Cover: Monsters, 3rd Edition by Andrew J. Hoffman

A brief, affordable, and versatile thematic reader about Monsters

Monsters explores the central concept of the monstrous: Why do we create monsters? Are they animal, human, both, or neither? Which of our fears and desires do monsters embody? What can monsters tell us about cultural and historical moments? How do we cope with the monsters that haunt our imaginations—and our societies?  

 
Readings by contemporary fiction writers, pop culture critics, philosophers, psychologists, historians, and others examine these questions and more. Each selection has follow-up activities that prompt students to write and think critically about vampires, werewolves, mermaids, serial killers, and other creatures that go bump in the night.

Features

Bedford care and quality in every volume. Each volume in the Bedford Spotlight Series is developed with attention to design, pedagogy, and compelling readings that work in the classroom. 

Interdisciplinary perspectives on monsters and their effects on individuals and society. In order to foster student engagement, five chapters, built around central questions on the subject of monsters, offer numerous entry points for inquiry and discussion. A mix of genres as well as accessible and challenging selections from a variety of academic fields–including the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences–allow instructors to tailor their approach to each classroom.


Thoughtful support for writers and instructors. A general introduction, chapter introductions, and headnotes provide context, and prompts and assignments offer suggestions for discussion, informal writing, and research; ways to connect selections; and assignments for writing. Alternative tables of contents organized by discipline and theme suggest further ways to teach and make connections among selections.

New to This Edition

Reading Selections from Diverse Areas of Study

The 3rd edition showcases texts from a variety of sources, from classic literature, peer-reviewed academic journals, and graduate dissertations, to interviews, a cartoon, book and film reviews, and blog postings.

Expanded Coverage of Monsters and Identity

The 15 new readings represent a range of genres, subject matter, and voices, including:

  • Discussions of gender, sexuality, race, religion, disability, and more in Chapter 3, “How Does Gender Affect the Monster?,” and throughout the book
  • A broader array of author identities and backgrounds for fresh and diverse perspectives
  • Readings like Basil Johnston’s “Weendigo” and Edward T.C. Werner’s “Myths of the Waters,” which explore historial monsters from various cultures around the world

Updated Themes and Social Commentary

New topics relevant to media and pop culture, such as current films and TV shows and the rise in artificial intelligence, offer expanded opportunities for considering the monster. Notable readings include:

  • Scott O. Moore, “The Momo Challenge and the Intersection of Contemporary Legend and Moral Panic” 
  • Bruce Sterling, “AI is the Scariest Beast Ever Created”
  • Judith Clemens-Smucker, “Stranger Teens: Eleven Transforms the Monstrous Symbolism of Adolescence through a Contemporary Narrative Arc”

Adam Chitwood, “A Quiet Place Monsters Explained by John Krasinski”

Digital Options

Table of Contents

[[*Indicates new selection]]

Introduction for Students

 

Chapter 1: Why Do We Create Monsters?  

Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies

Mary Shelley, from Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus 

Susan Tyler Hitchcock, Conception 

Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, Why Vampires Never Die  

Chuck Klosterman, My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead 

Peter H. Brothers, Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: How the Bomb Became a Beast Called Godzilla 

*Scott O. Moore, The Momo Challenge and the Intersection of Contemporary Legend and Moral Panic 

Stephen T. Asma, Monsters and the Moral Imagination 

 

Chapter 2: How Do Monsters Reflect Their Times? 

Ted Genoways, Here Be Monsters 

Daniel Cohen, The Birth of Monsters 

*Anonymous, from Beowulf [[*new excerpt]] 

*Edward T. C. Werner, Myths of the Waters
*Basil Johnston, Weendigo

Matt Kaplan, Cursed by a Bite 

W. Scott Poole, Monstrous Beginnings 

*Iikura Kimie, Japanese Urban Legends from “The Slit-Mouthed Woman” to “Kisaragi Station”

*Bruce Sterling, AI is the Scariest Beast Ever Created

 

Chapter 3: How Does Gender Affect the Monster? 

Amy Fuller, The Evolving Legend of La Llorona 

Bram Stoker, from Dracula 

*Sarah Stang, Shrieking, Biting, and Licking: The Monstrous-Feminine in Video Games

Sophia Kingshill, Reclaiming the Mermaid

*Jalondra A. Davis, Magic, Mermaids, and the Middle Passage: On Natasha Bowen’s Skin of the Sea

*Gary Morris, Sexual Subversion: The Bride of Frankenstein

Carol J. Clover, Final Girl 

Jack Halberstam, Bodies that Splatter: Queers and Chainsaws 

 

Chapter 4: What is the Power of the Monster? 

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire 

*Daniel Loxton, The Howling Horror of Werewolves!

*Kiley Fox, Noppera Bo and the Fear of Nothingness

Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 

*Rodrigo Silva Guedes, Jeykll and Hyde: The Monster as a Metaphor

*Adam Chitwood, A Quiet Place Monsters Explained by John Krasinski

Christian Jarrett, The Lure of Horror 

 

Chapter 5: Is the Monster within Us? 

Adolf Hitler, Nation and Race 

Patrick McCormick, Why Modern Monsters Have Become Alien to Us 

*Fay Onyx, Ridding Your Monsters of Ableism

Anne E. Schwartz, Inside a Murdering Mind 

William Andrew Myers, Ethical Aliens: The Challenge of Extreme Perpetrators to Humanism 

*Mary Retta, The Unexpected Power of Seeing Yourself as the Villain

*Judith Clemens-Smucker, Stranger Teens: Eleven Transforms the Monstrous Symbolism of Adolescence through a Contemporary Narrative Arc

Kevin Berger, Why We Still Need Monsters

Headshot of Andrew J. Hoffman

Andrew J. Hoffman

Andrew J. Hoffman is a Professor of English at San Diego Mesa College, where he teaches courses in grammar, composition, and British Literature. He received his B.A. in English from the University of California at Irvine and his M.A. from Syracuse University. He is the author of Monsters, part of the Bedford Spotlight series, and has contributed to The Arlington Reader, Fourth Edition. In addition, he has authored, edited, or otherwise contributed to numerous other textbooks of grammar, composition, and rhetoric, in both traditional and online formats.

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Monsters 3e Additional Resources for Teaching (.pdf)

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Monsters 3e Sample Syllabus (.pdf)

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Monsters 3e Transition Guide (.pdf)