How could I resist a title like this? Have been wanting it for some time, and finally got this fair-condition ex-library hardcover from Better World Books. It's about our love of being scared, with examinations of popular fictional monsters and theories as to what real-world creatures or events may have inspired those creations. Fossilized bones may have inspired quite a few myths, from gigantic birds to the Cyclops (a mammoth skull, minus tusks, has a single huge hole in front where the trunk would have attached, and could easily be mistaken for a one-eyed humanoid skull). Natural disasters may have inspired Scylla and Charybdis; mines or volcanoes could have vented hot gas that brought dragons into the imagination; and so on and so forth. Some of the speculations were interesting, yet I found myself wondering how logical the connections were, or if it's simply the case that some people have very active imaginations and can come up with appealing stories without basing them on anything in particular...

While I'd expected to find the source-of-the-myth bits the most interesting, as it turned out I was more impressed by the discussions of why different threatening story-elements appeal to us: when we watch tales of alien invasions, are we fearful of being overrun, or do we just like the idea of having a clearly-designated foe?

I left this book in the Little Free Library on this beautiful fall day. Hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2016 Tick Tock release challenge, for the embedded "AM" in the title. ***

*** Released as part of the 2016 You're Such an Animal release challenge. ***

*** Released as part of the 2016 Spooktacular Halloween release challenge. ***