The Science of Monsters

A Beautiful Mind, 28

Beauty and the Beast, 202

bedbugs, 58

Beethoven, 107

Beetlejuice, 198

Being Human, 204

Bell, Mary, 5

Beloguzov, Oleg, 141

Benchley, Peter, 154, 155

Berardinelli, James, 197

Berezow, Alex, 112

Bhagat, Sanju, 95

The Bible, 91, 151, 169, 170

Biel, Jessica, 32

“Big Bob,” 115, 116

bird-eating tarantula, 115

The Birds, 120–126

anthropomorphism in, 123, 126

birds

brutality, random trigger, 120–121

crow ambushes, 125

“drunken,” 123

intelligence of (corvids), 123–126

prevalence of, 120

seabird incidents, 121–122, 123

theory of mind, 124, 125

domoic acid poisoning, 121–122

The Birds (Du Maurier), 120–121

Black Dog, 110

black dog folklore, 109–110

Black Mirror, 102

black swallower, 157

black widow spider, 114–115

Blair, Linda, 87, 91

Blair Witch, 181, 182, 184, 185

The Blair Witch Project, 180–186

ambiguity, and audience appeal, 182–183

being lost in the woods, 185–186

Blair Witch characters, 183–184

“found footage” style, 180

mythology, 182, 183

science and the supernatural, 181–182

viral marketing and success of, 180–181, 186

Blatty, William Peter, 87

Bloch, Robert, 21, 24, 30

“Blood” (The X-Files), 145

blood rituals, 57

bloodstain patterns, 10, 11

body decomposition, 69, 82, 83–84

Body Parts, 78–79

Bonn, Scott, 44–45

Bonner, John, 205

brain biology, 7, 71–72, 79, 121–122, 139, 144

brainwashing, 145

Brazil, 58, 83

Britton, Cameron, 44

Brontë, Charlotte, 54, 109–110

broomsticks, 173–175

Brown, Daniel James, 46

Brown, Jordan, 6

brown pelicans, 122

brown recluse spider, 114–115

Browning, Tod, 51

Buddhist culture, 82, 91, 93

Buffalo Bill (fic), 41, 42, 43

Bundy, Ted, 33

Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), 11

burial practices, 82–83

Burns, Louise & Lisa (fic), 137

Burns, Marilyn, 30, 31

Burstyn, Ellen, 87

Burton, Tim, 77

C

Cabbage Patch Kids, 9

cabin fever, 139, 140, 141

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 67–68

Cambodia, 13, 14

Campbell, Bruce, 9

Canessa, Roberto, 46–47

Cannibal Holocaust, 9

cannibalism, 32, 33, 41, 42, 44, 45–48, 83

Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History (Schutt), 47

Carlson, Richard, 149

carnivorous plants, 58–59

Carol Anne (fic), 129, 136

Carpenter, John, 3, 4, 6, 151

Carrie, 173–179

fake telekinetic event, 96–97

love, and revenge, 178–179

shower scene, 173

witch powers

animal communication, and familiars, 177

clairvoyance, 177–178

hallucinogenics/broomstick lore, 173–175

laser technology, 176–177

possession, 175

telekinesis, 173–174

Carrie (King), 173

Carrie: The Musical, 178–179

Carter, Finn, 197

Carter, Sarah (fic), 189

Cartwright, Veronica, 158

The Cask of Amontillado (Poe), 81

Castle, William, 93, 96

catalepsy, 55

Cather, Willa, 140

Catholicism, 88, 89–90

caves, 189, 190

Cayce, Edgar, 178

censorship, 9–10, 32, 77

Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 14, 111

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 15

chameleons, 205

Chandler, Helen, 51

Chaney, Lon, Jr., 201

Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute, 122

Charlotte (fic), 116–117

Charlotte’s Web, 117

Charlotte’s Web (White), 116–117

Chase, Richard, 57

Check, Jennifer (fic), 61

Chekhov, Anton, 54

Cheops (fic), 80

Child’s Play, 8–12

censorship, 9–10

crime scene analysis, 10–11, 12

history of haunted dolls, 8–9

media, and violence, 9, 10

Child’s Play 3, 9

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, 170, 177

China, 15, 68, 78

Christianity, 48, 57, 60

Chucky the doll (fic), 8, 10, 12

Citizen Kane, 149

City Lab, 125

Civil War, 79, 83

clairvoyance, 177–178

claustrophobia, 189

Claviceps, 175

Cleckley, Hervey M., 24

Clinton, Rachel, 171

Clive, Colin, 75

A Clockwork Orange, 145

cockroaches, 96

Cody, Diablo, 60, 61

coffins, 81

Cohen, Lawrence D., 173

Columbus, Christopher, 150

compass, 185, 186

congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP), 53–54

congenital heart problems, 14, 16

congenital insensitivity to pain, 7

The Conjuring, 178

Constantine, 91

cookiecutter sharks, 94

corvids, 123–126

cosmic radiation, 163–164

Costa Rican wasp, 94

Cox, Brian, 43

Crane, Marion (fic), 22, 23

Crappa Dana, 102

Craven, Wes, 13, 18, 79

Creature from the Black Lagoon, 149–153

abductions, 151

amphibious animals, 150

animal attacks on humans, 152

animal communication, 153

sea creature legends, 149, 150–151, 152, 153

webbed hands, 149–150

Crenna, Richard, 110

crime scene analysis, 10–11, 12

criminal investigations, 102

“Crocodile” (Black Mirror), 102

Cross, Henry, 173

Crothers, Scatman, 138

Crowley, Aleister, 171

crows, 123–126

CrowTrax, 125

The Crucible (Miller), 170

crucifix, 90i

Cujo, 107–112

anthropomorphism, 117

bats, 107–109

“black dog” folklore, 109–110

cynophobia (fear of dogs), 108

rabies, 110–112

Cujo (King), 107, 110

Currier, Lauren, 107, 110

Curtis, Jamie Lee, 3, 4

cuttlefish, 204

Cymothoa exigua, 94

D

Dafoe, Daniel, 47