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Monster Mash

By: Brad Martins

As Halloween is getting closer, everyone starts to put monster decorations around the house. Cobwebs are strung from doors, and tombstones are placed on the front lawn. Obviously, we all know that children dress up as all kinds of monsters and mythical creatures on Halloween Night. Where did these witches, vampires, and werewolves come from? I decided to find out the origins of some of today’s more common monsters.

Witch - One of the most common monsters found around Halloween, this creature, usually a woman, most likely originated in ancient Greece. One of the first witches was Circe, who unlike today’s witches was beautiful. She was also not evil, as we tend to picture witches today, but instead very vain.

Vampire- Although vampires have been around for hundreds of years, the typical, high-collared, sophisticated, gentlemen originated in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. In the story Dracula has sharp teeth, hairy palms, and is very pale.  Stoker probably based his character on Vlad Tepes, a ruler of what is now Romania. Vlad was known for bathing in his enemies’ blood, as well as stabbing them with wooden stakes.

Fairy- The cute little people with wings were not always so kind and fun loving as we picture them today. Most likely originating during the medieval ages, these fairies were blamed on every negative thing imaginable. From nightmares to heat attacks, fairies were blamed every time someone had some bad luck.  After a while witches started to take blame for the bad things in life, and fairies became the kind-hearted beings we picture them as today.

Ghost- Ghosts have existed in almost every culture through history. Ghosts today are depicted as frightening souls who have come back in search of a person who had done them wrong in life. This was not always so. Many of the ancient cultures honored the dead and had special holidays to celebrate the departed.  The ancient Egyptians were so concerned about their time spent as a ghost, or afterlife, that they built huge tombs filled with riches to ensure their well being there. (Aka the pyramids.)

Werewolf- The first werewolf was in ancient Greece. A tyrant named Lycaon angered the gods and was turned into a wolf with manly features. Werewolves were not really considered evil until the witch persecutions started in Europe. After that the depiction of werewolves were turned into bloodthirsty creatures that enjoyed killing and no longer could control themselves while being a wolf.

Although many movies and books have been made recently, a lot of monsters have been around since the ancient Greeks. Some monsters have had such an impact through storytelling that society just keeps retelling the stories again and again.  Guess what? They're still scary after all this time!