Once upon a time the people of Europe lived in fear of strange human-appearing monsters who came in the night to terrorize the community. These dread creatures were known by various names—the elves, the fae, the Fair Folk, the Sidhe.

Elves would creep into your home at night and steal your child, leaving one of their own inhuman spawn in its place. If not appeased they would blight your crops, sicken your livestock, and sour the milk. According to some, they paid a tithe of human souls to Hell every seven years. They could appear beautiful and alluring, but were soulless and whimsical, capable of killing without scruple or mercy.

Then the Romantics came along, and the old folk-tales began to change. The stories began to emphasize the power and beauty of the elves, rather than their cruelty and danger. They became tragic, rather than monstrous, in their soulless, pointless immortal existence.

And then the Victorians got hold of them, and they became the harmless fairies of childhood tales, their terrifying roots forgotten. Rather than a very real threat to safety and sanity, they were pretty, friendly creatures who could grant wishes.

But subsequent generations made an attempt to restore them to their former glory, turning them into the heroes of endless cheesy fantasy novels.

And…

Once upon a time the people of Europe lived in fear of strange human-appearing monsters who came in the night to terrorize the community. These dread creatures were known by various names—vampires, nosferatu, the Undead.

Vampires would creep into your home at night and suck your blood, leaving you weak and ill, and eventually killing you. They could summon rats, conjure storms, take on the form of wolf, bat, or mist, and could not be harmed by ordinary weapons. According to some, they were damned souls who Hell allowed to walk the Earth to spread terror. They could appear beautiful and alluring, but were soulless and whimsical, capable of killing without scruple or mercy.

Then Hollywood came along, and the old stories began to change. The stories began to emphasize the power, seductiveness, and immortality of the vampires, rather than their blood-lust and danger. They became tragic, rather than monstrous, in their soulless, pointless immortal existence.

With familiarity came contempt, though, and they were reduced to cheap villains on bad TV shows, or harmless characters who taught children to count, or sold breakfast cereal.

And then the romance writers got hold of them, and their power was partially restored. They became the glittering heroes of paranormal romance, their terrifying roots ignored. Rather than a very real threat to safety and sanity, they were passionate, devoted lovers who could grant eternal life.

Interesting, huh? They’ve followed the same pattern, to a large extent, starting out as genuinely scary monsters, then becoming tragic and alluring but still monsters, before being reduced to utter impotence and relegated to children. They were then partially restored, no longer villains, but superhuman and romantic.

Really, how does Twilight‘s Edward Cullen differ from an elf in a 1980s fantasy novel? Tall, strong, inhumanly beautiful, immortal, romantic…

I’m guessing this progression is a reflection of something about how people think, how we deal with our fears—we confront the monsters by humanizing them, then infantilizing them, and then idealizing them. Why it works like this, I have no idea, but it seems to.

Vampires went through the transformation much faster than elves; I think we can attribute this to modern mass media and faster communication.

And I find myself wondering about what the next step might be…

Once upon a time movie-goers were frightened by walking corpses who came in the night to terrorize the community. These dread creatures were known by various names—the undead, revenants, the evil dead, zombies. Zombies would stagger after you, relentlessly trying to eat your brains, and shrugging off damage that would kill any living person.

And we’re already starting to see stories that humanize them…

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See Lawrence Watt-Evans’ Smart Pop essays here.

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