I was doing a unit in my summer school english class on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the effects of humanity's treatment on the creation. What I simply want to know is, what do all of you think of when you think of a monster, mentally and emotionally? I think there might be some interesting responses

i agree with megnificent. when you talk about frankenstein, specifically, i think that the book is a metaphor for the industrial revolution. (trying to create something beautiful, ideal and humane, but only coming up with an ugly, empty, desolate monster). if you look at the era and history that a book is written you can learn quite a bit. "The artist is the antennae of the race"_Ezra Pound

in a book by desmond morris, ("the human zoo"), morris contends that nightmares are evolutionary methods to keep kids close to thier parents. like lions, tigers, bears, in a primitive world could be considered.

people can be monsters too. i like what megnificent said about repressing the beast. there are indeed dark corners in the human psyche; it's only human. but some people let it take over, and then the ugliest sides of humanity are revealed.

1)ghosts with their eyes popped out,blood all over them.
2)a knife in one hand and his own head in another. blood all over the floor

oh man...i'm gonna have nightmares tonight.now i'm scared....i shouldn't have post this...bad idea...

great,now the images of the ghosts are in my mind.

I have read that actually. I liked that book a lot. It's a very interesting setting/concept as well.

Anyone or anything without a respect for life.

You may want to read "The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding- it does a really fantastic job of demonstrating the concept that there is a 'beast' or monster if you will, within us all, and the difference between the good and the bad, are those who suppress the beast, and those who allow it to rule them.

Chalk, you might want to check out The Philosophy of Horror if you're interested in reading more about monsters... I remember one section of the book in particular that discussed the nature of monsters (what makes them horrifying, why we consider them horrifying, etc). You might find it interesting to compare what the author says about monstrosity to the responses on here.

Amazon.com : The Philosophy of Horror

And now to stop rambling and address your question... when I think of a monster, I think of a supernatural beast of incredible strength and malevolence that mankind is powerless (or nearly powerless) against. Such a monster could ravage the Earth on a whim, and the survivors would only be able to mourn over the scorched remains of what once was their life. Cheerful, isn't it?

Scary, madness...*screams* Yea, sorry all my posts really suck.