Status Updates From The Science of Monsters: Th...

The pufferfish and the spines found on fish are not examples of shapeshifting. The mimic octopus and cuttlefish are examples though.

"Another condition linked to werewolves is clinical lycanthropy. This is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome in which the affected person is under the illusion that they can transform into, has transformed into, or is a non-human animal...Throughout history several serial killers claimed to have been wolves during their crimes."
I think the show "Hannibal" had an episode about this.

"Hypertrichosis is a condition that is characterized by an abnormal amount of hair growth over the body. Those who performed in circuses and "freak" shows likely had this condition. In the womb, humans are covered with a thin layer of hair called lanugo. Usually this hair is shed before birth but in some circumstances, for these with congenital hypertichosis lanuginosa, the hair remains." Is that the only explanation

I did not know that the writer of the OG "Wolf Man" from 1941 was Jewish and based it off of his plight from Nazi Germany.

They should've asked the question if it was possible that a creature could be big enough to cause Tremors that can be detected by earthquake detecting machines?

So. Jules Verne wasn't far off when he wrote about a massive underground sea in "Journey to the Center of the Earth." I wonder how long the theory that salt water from ancient oceans accumulating underground has been around?

So, there are giant worms like those in "Tremors" and "Dune?" They are in Africa and underwater. Interesting.

As someone who studied anthropology in college, human biological adaptation is one of those aspects that I still enjoy reading to this day. The troglodytes in "The Descent" is an interesting theory to how humans could adapt to living underground.
Also the Bajau people of Indonesia aren't the only ones who have adapted to diving underwater for long stretches and depths. Japanese pearl divers can do it too.

To know that the settlement of Derinkuyu, Turkey was not the only location where humans have settled in large numbers underground is fascinating.

"The Descent" is one of those movies that I hear a lot of, and the more that I hear the more I don't want to watch it. A movie set in dark caves, claustrophobia abounding, and monsters attacking from the dark on unsuspecting people is terrifying.

"Section ten: Creatures." My favorite kind of horror films: creature features! The final section has "The Descent," "Tremors," and "The Wolf Man."

"'I try to avoid anything that would take any hypothetical viewer out of the movie, regardless of their expertise. Which sometimes means a fair amount of research to make sure I thoroughly understand any subject about which I'm writing, but often just means just trying to avoid doing anything obviously stupid.'"
This attitude when it comes to writing in Hollywood is now a rarity. It's now product, not story.

Instead of focusing on Carrie and the witchy powers she has (was it said she was a witch in that movie?) this chapter references a bunch of witch powers from a bunch of movies. Should've kept to Carrie and the science of what she is doing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the imagery of a witch riding a broomstick has been happening longer than the Middle Ages.

All of these descriptions on what could be defined as a mark or the look of a witch just shows that people even back then were punished for not adhering to social norms and to social perceptions.

"Section Nine: Witches" This section has the movies "The Witch," "Carrie," and "The Blair Witch Project." Only one more section to go!

The authors must be reaching with their reasoning of putting "Alien" in the category "From the Depths" by using the colloquialism "from the depths of space." Because this chapter feels very out of place with this section when the previous two talked about water-based terrestrial creatures from films.

I'm going to need a source of it being pitched as "'Jaws in space.'" The xenomorph looks nothing like a shark.

So, it's not just going to be sharks we're talking about but giant squids, black swallowers, vampire squid, giant oarfish, and Japanese spider crab.

"Prior to 1916, it wasn't believed that a shark would, or could, attack a human fatally." Whoever thought this has never, ever lived their lives near the water or made their living on it. Communities who have lived their for generations will say otherwise.

We're getting mermaids or other half-man/half-fish creatures from legend and folktales, Dagon from the Hebrew Bible, Sumeria, and Lovecraft, Vodyanoy from Slavic fairy tales, Finfolk from Scottish folklore, and the Loch Ness Monster. One of these things is not like the others.

So, the science in "Creature From the Black Lagoon" is humans with webbed hands and feet. Only 3000 humans are born with this genetic defect.

"Section Eight: From the Depths." Strangely enough, this chapter has "The Creature From the Black Lagoon," "Jaws," and..."Alien?" How did Alien get associated with this? Alien is in space, not the ocean. Honestly, they should've used any sort of monster or Lovecraftian movie to replace it with.

Well, this chapter on associating The Ring with subliminal messaging wasn't as interesting. Honestly, I would've used dolls like the one in Annabelle and the history of using them in either possession or ghost hauntings or even in voodoo-like practices.

I didn't quite put two and two together that the isolaton of astronauts in space could lead to the same sense of cabin fever as those who lived in isolation in various places on Earth.

Cabin fever is a colloquial term used to describe the feeling associated with claustrophobia and boredom that one feels when confined. When individuals are stuck indoors for an extended period of time, they may tend to sleep, to have distrust of anyone they are with, or have an urge to go outside even in bad weather...'your mind's way of telling you that the environment you are in is less than optimal...'"

Yeah, just because things are deemed "paranormal" doesn't mean that it's evidence of ghosts.

Watching a few ghost hunting shows, I'm familiar with some of these techniques. The thing is, they aren't as foolproof as we think and our brains have a bad habit in finding things that we are expecting.