To prepare for Friday the 13th tomorrow, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite monsters in kid lit. Warning–some spoilers follow.
Gmork appears in Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story as a very scary wolf, and the fact that he’s chained only makes him more scary, in my opinion. But his post-death act of snatching Atreyu in his jaws saves the warrior from the all-consuming “Nothing.”
The basilisk from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was a giant snake with a murderous stare. Its poisonous fangs almost got the best of our boy hero, an event that foreshadowed the series’ finale. Also, the creature whispered rather creepy things from inside the walls of Hogwarts.
Cuddles, the giant hamster from R. L. Stine’s Monster Blood II, is probably one of the campiest monsters in kid lit. He grows large enough to attack a school after eating some strange, green goo that makes an appearance in several Goosebumps books.
Smaug, from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, is one of the coolest dragons in literature, if only for his death scene. Crusted in gems, he’s invincible–except for a bare patch on his left breast. After he’s killed by Bard’s arrow, his body crashes into Lake-town, destroying it.
What are some of your favorite kid lit monsters?
Parker Peevyhouse not only reads books about monsters, but writes them too.
Chris Eboch
Greg R. Fishbone
Nick
lindajoysingleton
Parker Peevyhouse
Joni Sensel
I really liked that thing in the cave in The Graveyard Book (what was it called again?).
I like monsters which have some mythology behind them – like they’ve been around for ages and ages.
OK, I have to put it out there. Did anyone ever read “The Thing at the Foot of the Bed”?
Not what you’re looking for, but I’m always most intrigued by the monster slumbering inside us all.
Is this like what I tell my kids: “the only real monsters are bad people” ?
Truly though, it is interesting to investigate that dark side hidden in everyone.