Monsters...Monsters and Monsters. Oh my!

It's no industry secret that decades of movie magic have initiated us all into the realms of the Paranormal. Some have speculated the popularity and rise in UFO sightings began with Hollywood. Whatever may or may not be the truth, the fact of the matter is MONSTER movies have inspired generations to believe in Monsters.

Hollywood Monsters range from viruses that mutate and turn humans into flesh-eating zombies, to Giant creature of unknown Origin who rise from the ocean to destroy Manhattan. What we know today about Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Aliens comes from Hollywood.

Hollywood has taken old tales from the old world and spun them into Blockbuster gold, and at the same time, successfully conditioned generations to look under the bed and in the closet. Just think about it...if you had a fear of the dark, was it because something actually happened to you in the dark, or was it more likely a movie you saw as a kid that stayed in your head, festering until it became a belief of its own?

Chances are many of our phobias came from nights spent watching Dario Argento's DEMONS, or George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Our monsters, the ones we spend time checking corners for were not invented in Hollywood, but they sure were adopted, refurbished and sent back out onto the road on shiny new tires...thanks to Hollywood.

My Grandmother comes from the old country. The monsters she talks about were very real back in her day. They were there before Hollywood. They were there back when stories were spoken word. Oral traditions. They lived in caves. They took over human bodies. They consumed flesh. They transformed in the darkness. They shunned the light of day. They flew in the air, close to the moon. You name the cliche, the old monsters from back before celluloid did those things.

In fact, the original, old school monsters of yore were far superior and scarier than the sexy Vampires and Werewolves and Witches we've come to know. They were scarier because they were the 'unknowables'. They were the hidden things that people of that time speculated about. Caught glimpses of. Heard stories about. But never saw.

It's no different with the majority of us. Yes, some people have their experiences to back up their phobias, but most of us have never seen a real Vampire. Never been chased by a Werewolf. Never had to outrun a shambling Zombie, and yet, deep down we believe.

We still come home from work, just as the sun is going down, to check the closets and under the beds. We still sleep with some of the lights on. We still have weapons sequestered in certain places in close proximity to where we spend a majority of our time. Some of us are far more afraid of the things we can't prove exist than we are the real threats...the human beings who can actually harm us.

But one thing I have learned is: Never Say Never. If we can think it, dream it, imagine it, ponder it or express it... then who's to say it isn't real? Monsters. They lurk in hidden corners of our minds, day and night, and for some unfortunate souls they are a truth some of us are lucky to never come face to face with.

Monsters, whether they be conjured in a studio or on a dark night in the woods, by dark souls looking to do evil deeds. Monsters exist. If you believe.