When it comes to horror, my favorite thing about it are the monsters. They make something so much more creepy. It could be Candy Land of all things. If a Silent Hill-like creature was put in there, it would make it so much more disturbing. These monsters can be anything from aliens that traverse space, demonic hellspawns, manifestations of human atrocities and selfish emotions, and more. But, what is it about monsters in horror that makes them scary. Why do people find things like the Alien franchise scary, or consider Silent Hill as one of the best horror games ever? Well, let’s take a look at, what I think, makes a creative monster.
1: Designs
If you’re going to make a monster, you need to think of a way that it will look. This is the most important part. Monsters must look creative, and disturbing, or just something that could get under a person's skin. A great idea of monster designs are the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. They walk so slowly, with their black slender bodies and their emotionless faces. It’s hard to describe just what these things are, which I think make them so much more interesting. Another good example is Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2. Looking at him, we can already tell that he is threatening, what with the large cleaver. Pyramid Head is not a monster that can just come to mind with the snap of the finger. It takes time to think of a monster that looks like this. That’s what designing a monster needs. It needs to have time put into it. A bad example of a monster design is the alien from Robot Monster. It’s just a man in a gorilla suit and a helmet. It’s far from being scary. It’s just silly. You can’t just put someone in a suit, especially a very cheap one like that, and consider it scary. Designs for a good monster take time. If you’re gonna make a spider monster, don’t just make it a normal spider. Sure, some people may be scared of spiders, but you need to be more creative. Why not have the spider’s legs be human arms and put a mouth with teeth on it’s abdomen that screams in agony when it opens. That would be disturbing, but also show the effort you put into creating it. Never just make a quick design with monsters. Always think about how they look first.
2: Sound
If you want to scare someone without even showing the monster, a good thing to do is to create a sound that is unique or even a trademark of the monster you are showing. Monsters that have a sound makes them so much more disturbing, as you wonder what is making that sound, where is the sound coming from, when will they pop up, and what will happen to the people involved when that creature pops up. A monster’s sound gives you a lot of things to work with, and allows you to slowly build up to the creature that you have hidden and only show with the sound. One of the best examples is the Behemoth from The Mist. Most of it is blocked out by the fog, so seeing it is a little difficult, but when you hear it, it’s incredible. It shows how large this creature really is without really showing the creature itself. Another great example are the Hybrids from System Shock 2. Hearing their screams may be scary enough, but it’s scarier to hear them beg for you to kill them, since they are still alive with the parasite controlling their brain. It’s a disturbing thought, really. Sound can create many unnerving things, which is a shame to see it used so rarely.
3: Movement
It may seem odd as to how a creature can have terrifying moment, but I assure you, a creature's movement can be very disturbing, if you do it right. It is best to have the person the monster is attacking be in a place that leaves them helpless, especially if the monster happens to be rather slow. There are two ways this can be scary. The first is if the monster happens to be slow and lumbering, slowly inching their way towards the person. A good example are the zombies from Resident Evil. Being trapped in a small corner as a zombie slowly makes their way toward you, ready to devour you whole is a pretty disturbing thought when you think about it. The second way for movement to be scary is if the monster is moving very fast, running or even going at inhuman speed toward their target. You must be careful with these, as these could be a jump scare, a thing that most horror fans are, and I assure you, NOT a fan of. A perfect example of a monster that moves fast without being a jumpscare are the Twitchers from Dead Space. Completely different from how other Necromorphs move, they will run at you while twitching in a disturbing way, making you shoot your gun or run in a panic. But, if you want to create a fast creature that is also rather fast, than the perfect example is the Leech Man from Resident Evil Zero. It manages to lumber and move around slowly, but can also run at you very fast. It takes a lot to manage to be both slow and lumbering but fast and surprising.
4. Threatening
This one is pretty common knowledge. The best thing to do to make the monster scary is that they have to be a threat to people, they must be a danger to humans, and they cannot be reasoned with or can escape from, and the only way to defeat them is for either it to die or the person it’s after to die first. The reason why people do not find Pokemon to be the scariest game ever is because they are not a threat to people… Most of the time. Pikachu is just a little rat monster. That isn’t very scary. But Pokemon like Lampent wait in hospitals for people to die so that they can take their souls. Suddenly, Pokemon isn’t so happy anymore once they are a threat to people. Same thing goes for all monster collector games and shows. They are not scary because the monsters in them are not a threat to the people. Some people can even find games like Legend of Zelda scary, because some of the monsters are a threat to a young child. And when one of therm actually lives underground and tries to eat you alive, it’s pretty easy to see why.
5. Be Mysterious
This may be going back to when I was talking about sound, but keeping your monster a secret is a very important thing to do. You should never, and I mean NEVER, introduce your creature right away. Sometimes, it works, but if you want to enhance the fear, you should add some mystery to it and make people wonder what it was first. A good example is the first Licker from Resident Evil 2. When you're walking down the hall, and you come to a window, you’ll see this… thing crawl along it for a split second. Before that, there gone, and you can only wonder what that was and if it will return again. And when the Licker does return, it manages to make people a little more scared than what they thought it was. The Hunter from Resident Evil was a good example too, showing you sprinting towards you in a first person perspective. Just wondering what that thing is and how it can move so fast is a very scary thought on it’s own, and when you see it, it definitely lives up to being a major threat, since they are one of the most challenging enemies in the game. However, you don’t need to be vague with just the appearance. Being vague with your story is also a good idea. Which brings us to, and I can’t believe I’m putting them here…. The animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy’s. As much as I don’t like this game (Like… at all), I love the story behind it, and the animatronics have some very great backstory, yet they tell you nothing. All you know is that you're working in a pizzeria that just so happens to be the place where a murder occurred some time ago, and these animatronics are involved in the murder mystery some how. Being mysterious with your monsters won’t only scare your audience, but it will also intrigue them, making them want to know more about them, whether it be to see what they truly look like or to find out what their history is. Being vague with your monster is the best way to create a good one.
6: Be Original
Everywhere you look, you can see the same kind of horror movie. Whenever there’s a new horror movie that comes out, it’s just the same thing. It’s either gonna be a movie about a serial killer that breaks in the house, or a movie about a girl being possessed by the devil because Exorcist was such a success, or god forbid it be another ghost or zombie or poorly made cash grab sequel to a franchise that should just end already. Do you know why people are sick of seeing horror movies and games about killers, ghosts, and possession? Because it’s the same thing over and over and over again. You may get something new and unique like The Conjuring, but rarely do we get to see those new ideas used. The reason is because horror is so subjective, that anyone can be scared, so Hollywood keeps throwing these movies out to you in hopes that you’ll watch it and give them money. Nobody wants to see a movie that’s been done over and over and over again. We still get a lot, and I mean a LOT, of those movies today. But thankfully, there are movies today that are trying to be unique, like Don’t Breathe, which I recommend watching. Seriously, it manages to do way more than any of the million Paranormal Activity movies. Just follow everything I did, and you can create a great monster. Hopefully better than Hollywood ever could. Take care.
1: Designs
If you’re going to make a monster, you need to think of a way that it will look. This is the most important part. Monsters must look creative, and disturbing, or just something that could get under a person's skin. A great idea of monster designs are the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. They walk so slowly, with their black slender bodies and their emotionless faces. It’s hard to describe just what these things are, which I think make them so much more interesting. Another good example is Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2. Looking at him, we can already tell that he is threatening, what with the large cleaver. Pyramid Head is not a monster that can just come to mind with the snap of the finger. It takes time to think of a monster that looks like this. That’s what designing a monster needs. It needs to have time put into it. A bad example of a monster design is the alien from Robot Monster. It’s just a man in a gorilla suit and a helmet. It’s far from being scary. It’s just silly. You can’t just put someone in a suit, especially a very cheap one like that, and consider it scary. Designs for a good monster take time. If you’re gonna make a spider monster, don’t just make it a normal spider. Sure, some people may be scared of spiders, but you need to be more creative. Why not have the spider’s legs be human arms and put a mouth with teeth on it’s abdomen that screams in agony when it opens. That would be disturbing, but also show the effort you put into creating it. Never just make a quick design with monsters. Always think about how they look first.
2: Sound
If you want to scare someone without even showing the monster, a good thing to do is to create a sound that is unique or even a trademark of the monster you are showing. Monsters that have a sound makes them so much more disturbing, as you wonder what is making that sound, where is the sound coming from, when will they pop up, and what will happen to the people involved when that creature pops up. A monster’s sound gives you a lot of things to work with, and allows you to slowly build up to the creature that you have hidden and only show with the sound. One of the best examples is the Behemoth from The Mist. Most of it is blocked out by the fog, so seeing it is a little difficult, but when you hear it, it’s incredible. It shows how large this creature really is without really showing the creature itself. Another great example are the Hybrids from System Shock 2. Hearing their screams may be scary enough, but it’s scarier to hear them beg for you to kill them, since they are still alive with the parasite controlling their brain. It’s a disturbing thought, really. Sound can create many unnerving things, which is a shame to see it used so rarely.
3: Movement
It may seem odd as to how a creature can have terrifying moment, but I assure you, a creature's movement can be very disturbing, if you do it right. It is best to have the person the monster is attacking be in a place that leaves them helpless, especially if the monster happens to be rather slow. There are two ways this can be scary. The first is if the monster happens to be slow and lumbering, slowly inching their way towards the person. A good example are the zombies from Resident Evil. Being trapped in a small corner as a zombie slowly makes their way toward you, ready to devour you whole is a pretty disturbing thought when you think about it. The second way for movement to be scary is if the monster is moving very fast, running or even going at inhuman speed toward their target. You must be careful with these, as these could be a jump scare, a thing that most horror fans are, and I assure you, NOT a fan of. A perfect example of a monster that moves fast without being a jumpscare are the Twitchers from Dead Space. Completely different from how other Necromorphs move, they will run at you while twitching in a disturbing way, making you shoot your gun or run in a panic. But, if you want to create a fast creature that is also rather fast, than the perfect example is the Leech Man from Resident Evil Zero. It manages to lumber and move around slowly, but can also run at you very fast. It takes a lot to manage to be both slow and lumbering but fast and surprising.
4. Threatening
This one is pretty common knowledge. The best thing to do to make the monster scary is that they have to be a threat to people, they must be a danger to humans, and they cannot be reasoned with or can escape from, and the only way to defeat them is for either it to die or the person it’s after to die first. The reason why people do not find Pokemon to be the scariest game ever is because they are not a threat to people… Most of the time. Pikachu is just a little rat monster. That isn’t very scary. But Pokemon like Lampent wait in hospitals for people to die so that they can take their souls. Suddenly, Pokemon isn’t so happy anymore once they are a threat to people. Same thing goes for all monster collector games and shows. They are not scary because the monsters in them are not a threat to the people. Some people can even find games like Legend of Zelda scary, because some of the monsters are a threat to a young child. And when one of therm actually lives underground and tries to eat you alive, it’s pretty easy to see why.
5. Be Mysterious
This may be going back to when I was talking about sound, but keeping your monster a secret is a very important thing to do. You should never, and I mean NEVER, introduce your creature right away. Sometimes, it works, but if you want to enhance the fear, you should add some mystery to it and make people wonder what it was first. A good example is the first Licker from Resident Evil 2. When you're walking down the hall, and you come to a window, you’ll see this… thing crawl along it for a split second. Before that, there gone, and you can only wonder what that was and if it will return again. And when the Licker does return, it manages to make people a little more scared than what they thought it was. The Hunter from Resident Evil was a good example too, showing you sprinting towards you in a first person perspective. Just wondering what that thing is and how it can move so fast is a very scary thought on it’s own, and when you see it, it definitely lives up to being a major threat, since they are one of the most challenging enemies in the game. However, you don’t need to be vague with just the appearance. Being vague with your story is also a good idea. Which brings us to, and I can’t believe I’m putting them here…. The animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy’s. As much as I don’t like this game (Like… at all), I love the story behind it, and the animatronics have some very great backstory, yet they tell you nothing. All you know is that you're working in a pizzeria that just so happens to be the place where a murder occurred some time ago, and these animatronics are involved in the murder mystery some how. Being mysterious with your monsters won’t only scare your audience, but it will also intrigue them, making them want to know more about them, whether it be to see what they truly look like or to find out what their history is. Being vague with your monster is the best way to create a good one.
6: Be Original
Everywhere you look, you can see the same kind of horror movie. Whenever there’s a new horror movie that comes out, it’s just the same thing. It’s either gonna be a movie about a serial killer that breaks in the house, or a movie about a girl being possessed by the devil because Exorcist was such a success, or god forbid it be another ghost or zombie or poorly made cash grab sequel to a franchise that should just end already. Do you know why people are sick of seeing horror movies and games about killers, ghosts, and possession? Because it’s the same thing over and over and over again. You may get something new and unique like The Conjuring, but rarely do we get to see those new ideas used. The reason is because horror is so subjective, that anyone can be scared, so Hollywood keeps throwing these movies out to you in hopes that you’ll watch it and give them money. Nobody wants to see a movie that’s been done over and over and over again. We still get a lot, and I mean a LOT, of those movies today. But thankfully, there are movies today that are trying to be unique, like Don’t Breathe, which I recommend watching. Seriously, it manages to do way more than any of the million Paranormal Activity movies. Just follow everything I did, and you can create a great monster. Hopefully better than Hollywood ever could. Take care.