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Here Be Monsters


I’ve been working on research of monsters, their role in our culture and their function in video games. I presented a paper about monsters at the FROG conference in October and I will be writing a chapter about the topic for the  Monstrous Cultures edited volume. 

About a year ago, I opened my faculty inbox and, among dozens of other calls for papers, one thing caught my attention. Marina Levina from the University of Memphis, Tennessee, and her colleague Diem-my Bui were asking for chapters about monstrosity in the 21st century. Obviously, I cannot think of any monsters more typical of this century that the video game monsters – hordes of underlings and an ensemble of bosses that provide artificial, yet intriguing challenge. I started thinking about they ways in which monstrosity is represented in the ergodic medium, drawing inspiration from philosophers like Richard Kearney or scholars of religion like Timothy Beal. I also consulted my friend Clara Fernandez’s indightful treatise on Castlevania. The project is a work in progress, so I will appreciate any feedback, criticism and suggestions.

Download the PDF of the poster here: The Monster and the System