As Halloween once again approaches, we at Language Connections have taken a closer look at some of the most iconic Halloween monsters and where they originate from. You may well be surprised by the origins of five of these well-known creatures…
Halloween Monsters Names
Before you begin reading, here’s a riddle: Which of These Monsters Below Gets Soggy in Milk? See if you can answer it by the end of the post….
Halloween Monsters | Name: Frankenstein’s Monster
Monster Origin: England
“It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE!”
While not actually in the original novel Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus this cry still reminds many of one of the most famous monsters from literature and cinema: Frankenstein’s monster. Written in the early 19th century by Mary Shelley, this classic novel is considered to be the first work of Science Fiction.
While Frankstein is not actually the name of the Halloween monster – as it was never named in the novel, modern language has adopted it as the name of this hulking creature. The German name Frankenstein, translated in English as “stone of the Franks”, is derived from the fact that a Frankish family (Franks – the Germanic tribes that settled in Western Europe) built a castle near a stone quarry. It is associated with various places in Germany.
Of course, one could argue that Dr. Frankenstein himself was the monster of the book all along…
Halloween Monsters | Name: Ghoul
Monster Origin: Arabia
“aauugghhh”
Ghouls are a type of monster or demon that have roots in Arabian mythology. Originally written as ghūl, a ghoul is a creature that feasts on the flesh of both the living and the dead. With the spread of Islam, Bedouin folktales were gradually brought to Europe by the 18th century along with the tale of “The Thousand and One Nights” which became quite popular and was translated into many languages.
Unlike zombies, with which they are most compared, ghouls are far more proactive in hunting their prey. They are thought to lure their prey off into deserted paths or set traps to capture them. While not often portrayed as the single antagonist in a horror movie, it is still often used as a generic placeholder when dealing with any kind of threat. Ghouls were said to be created upon the death of a man or woman who savored the taste of the flesh of humans. The meaning of the word is also thought to come from ghouls as persons who delight in the unsavory.
Halloween Monsters | Name: Vampire
Monster Origin: Serbia
“What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!”
Considered, thanks to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to be one of the classier types of monster, vampires have been portrayed in books and other media since the early 19th century. Although most people assume that the word comes from Transylvania (according to the legend which is recorded in Hungarian or Romanian), consensus has it that it actually takes its roots from the Slavic family languages.
The original Serbian word, вампир/vampire, quickly found its way into the vocabulary of geographically close languages, such as Bosnian, Czech, Slovak and German. The English word vampire was then derived from the German word vampir. According to legends, there are many different kinds of vampires, with different names and abilities, all of them known for, in one way or another, sucking the life-force out of their victims through blood or other means. As a survival tip from the team at Language Connections – if you ever need to get rid of a vampire on your doorstep, throw a large quantity of rice in front of him. True to the nature of Count von Count from Sesame Street, a Vampire must count all the grains, giving you time to call someone to take him away..
Halloween Monsters | Name: Zombie
Monster Origin: Haiti
Currently one of the most recognizable and commonly used monsters in movies, books and video games, zombies seem to be, true to their fictional nature, everywhere. Originating from the Haitian Creole zonbi, are the reanimated corpses of the dead – born from a dark history of slavery and supernatural means or witchcraft. Origins of the word point back to the Kikongo language, zumbi, of West Africa, which is thought to have made its way to Haiti with the slave trade. There are a few sources to the “birth” (if you will) of a Zombie. During the slave trade in the then Saint-Domingue, it was said that African slaves brought to the island who took their own lives would be cursed to become Zombies – no longer truly living, but still trapped in their bodies eternally, never really escaping their slavery. Over time the legend evolved to include dark magic. According to Haitian vodoo practices, zombies were born out of an unnatural death which resulted in the snatching of a human soul through black magic. They were then able to be controlled by powerful priests known as bokor. These original Zombies were less monsters, and more victims.
Today the Zombie has been all but removed from its aforementioned roots by American media. The modern zombies of Hollywood are mostly described as being created through means such as viruses, mushrooms or the like. Often used as metaphors for consumerism or social apathy in the U.S., these new types of zombies have emerged to be more physically threatening than the slow walking ones in the earlier history of American cinema, or those of the Haitian culture.
Halloween Monsters | Name: The Great Pumpkin
Monster Origin: America
“It’s the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”
Never seen or portrayed in any media, according to Charlie Brown’s comic strip and the animated version, this mystical figure allegedly appears in a pumpkin patch at midnight on Halloween, October 31st. The phrase is of course derived from English and takes its name from the form it supposedly takes: a great pumpkin. The comic strip figures, including Lucy, Linus and Charlie Brown, all participate in waiting to see the Great Pumpkin on Halloween eve, despite the fact that they are very much afraid of it.
So – Did You Guess Which Monster Gets Soggy in Milk? Let us Know In the Comments…
Happy Halloween from Language Connections!
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