Here be monsters!--Of course, because in the hallowed halls of literature, nothing spells
resounding save-the-world triumph like lopping off the head of the biggest, baddest baddie
in the valley, just before the clock ticked midnight and the evil villain’s plan finally
came to fruition--yadda yadda yadda, you get the picture, you know how it goes.
The point is, in horror--countless writers have made it their lives work in an attempt
to waylay the archetypal evil villain, by penning some of the most horrifying monstrosities
that the human mind can manage to muster.
Some of them have failed horribly--but for the most part, the arsenal of Terrifying Monsters
in Literature is looking pretty damn full.
So, I guess we better take another look.
Hello horror fans, what’s going on--and once again, welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube, Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch, as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Most Terrifying Monsters In Literature--Part 2.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that scene was of course of The Losers Club facing down Bill
Skarsgard’s version of Pennywise the Dancing Clown--which if you’re asking me is perhaps
one of the most terrifying monsters ever penned in literature, particularly for coulrophobes
or anyone of a fearful disposition for All Consuming Eldritch Entities.
Which should be all of us, really.
But it leads us to the same point that we laid on in the first part of this series--we’re
trying to keep this list as fresh as possible, so like before with the masters of monstrosities,
no King, no Lovecraft and no Barker.
Let’s jump into it.
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Dementors Harry Potter
And while some of you may find umbridge with this placement--see what I did there--there
is no denying the fact that for a series of children’s novels, the incredible J.K Rowling
had a particular penchant for creating some downright terrifying magical creatures--and
despite the very *human* horror that is present in the series, the Dementors are at the tip
top of the all-evil magical entities pile.
And actually, when we look back at these villainous wraiths with the eyes of an adult--there’s
surprisingly more horror to be found behind their wispy form--particularly when we take
into account the recently expanded Harry Potter universe.
For those of you that don’t know, in the Wizarding World--a Dementor is a gliding,
wraithlike creature that feeds purely on human happiness, draining them of all joy and life--and
only leaving behind emotions of pure depression and despair.
If given long enough exposure, they can fully consume a person’s soul--leaving them in
a permanent vegatative state.
In the Harry Potter canon, although featuring heavily during the dark, dark times of Lord
Voldemort--the Dementors are inexplicably tied to one location.
The Prison of Azkaban, and here’s where the real world allegory makes things much
more terrifying from a different kind of perspective.
The desolate island prison in the North Sea, Azkaban, was supposedly created by a wizard
named Ekrizdis--who practiced the most terrible and evil kinds of Dark Magic--where he’d
lure Muggle sailors to his island purely for the sake of torturing them and feeding off
their misery.
After he died--and the charms concealing his torturous island wore off, the Ministry of
Magic eventually became aware of the place--where they discovered all kinds of unspeakable horrors,
the main one being an entire colony of these evil, wraithlike Dementors.
And what they did they do?
Shut it away, locked it up--and portholed the key into space?
Nah.
They decided they’d cut municipal wizarding costs and use the place as a prison.
Good job.
Coming in at Number 4 - The Yeerks Animorphs
And if you’ve read the Animorphs Series, written by K.A Applegate and Michael Grant,
you’ll know that the insanely long run, which consisted of 54 books--wasn’t exactly
the charming, body-morphing, Young Adult story that it was made out to be, particularly at
the end of the series--where things just got way, way out of hand.
And despite the subsequent murder and existential crises that followed--the most vile and disgusting
foil to these young shapeshifters--were the Yeerks, a grotesque, parastice species of
alien, slug-like creatures that infected the most appropriate host-species to do their
bidding.
Over the course of the series, it’s revealed that these otherwise useless slugs have pretty
much taken over the entire galaxy, and their sights finally turned to the buffet of humans
that had no idea what was coming for them.
In their natural state, Yeerks resemble large slugs and live in huge lakes of sludge known
as Yeerk Pools.
Which, you know, is pretty gross--and would be a pretty unfortunate place to go skinny
dipping.
Yeerks have the ability to enter their hosts body through the ear canal--where they subsequently
take over all brain functions, including basic motor and speech control--and thus essentially
*become* that person.
Which, as you may imagine, comes into all kinds of calamity for the Five Anamorphic
Heroes who are just trying to figure out how the hell they can accidentally stop morphing
into an Iguana, whilst also getting forced into an intergalactic war that would result
in the destruction of all mankind.
Yeah, Animorphs isn’t just a book about kids with lizard tongues--it covers some incredibly
weighty themes, which are all orchestrated by the evli, gross slug empire of the Yeerks.
More like Jerks.
Next up at Number 3 - The Nickelheads The Dresden Files
Otherwise known as the hosts of the Denarians, which are also otherwise known as the Order
of the Blackened Denarius--or the Fallen.
Yeah, although the Naagloshi of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files featured in our previous list,
perhaps the most prime evil of the entire series are the thirty ancient coins that underpin
Harry Dresden’s save-the-world and ask questions later kinda vibe.
And if you’re wondering as to why thirty weird coins are terrifying, it may take a
little bit of explaining to do first, so--stick with me.
Throughout the events of The Dresden Files, Harry deals with some pretty powerful entities,
but the most powerful of those--are the denarii, a race of fallen angels that are contained
within thirty ancient silver coins, which are said to be the silver pieces given to
Judas Iscariot in exchange for his betrayal of Jesus.
Which is an awesome concept, but hey--that’s Jim Butcher for you.
Whoever touches these coins with their open flesh, is forever tainted and given the power
of the Fallen Angels within, consuming them as their host.
Usually, the Fallen will lead their chosen mortal deeper into its influence through whispered
promises of greatness, slowly corrupted both their soul and their mind and bestowing incredible
power of various phenomenon.
In the series, perhaps the most iconic and equally terrifying Denarian, is Anduriel--who
has taken the villainous Nicodemus Archleone as it’s host for over two thousand years,
orchestrating the chaotic Order of the Blackened Denarius by sowing discord in the mortal world,
using all other denizens of the world as his playthings--to seemingly play dice with the
ultimate fate of humanity.
Yeah, the Denarians are an awesome and unique horror concept--and they’re equally terrifying
because of it.
Swinging in at Number 2 - Slake Moths Perdido Street Station
Which, for those of you that don’t know--is an awesome novel, as well as the set up to
the equally awesome Bas-Lag series, written by China Mieville--who created a world of
such strange intrigue, in a hodgepodge of sci-fi, fantasy and horror--filled to the
brim with more strange bird-men and giant brain slugs than any horror fan could ever
hope for.
But, all of them pale in comparison to the horrifying mechanics of Mieville’s most
terrifying creation.
The Slake Moths, a species of insectoid creatures that are first given birth to in Perdido Street
Station--and serve to be the worthy evil, mind-bending, cosmic horror force through
the novels duration.
I’ll try not to spoil any of the plot points, because Perdido Street Station is really worth
the read--but the first slake moth is inadvertently created by the novels protagonist, Isaac,
a scientist who stumbles upon a strange species of bulbous caterpillar stolen from the criminal
underworld--which inadvertently seems to feast on all manners of hallucinogenic drugs.
In particular, the larvae has a hunger for a substance known as dreamshit--which turns
out, is exactly what it says on the tin--and soon enough, the gross pupae transforms into
a horrendous cosmically horrifying giant moth that quickly reveals all manners of terrifying
truths--particularly involving the world of underground drug smuggling.
Mieville’s prose is reason enough to read why the Slake Moths are as terrifying as I’m
making out--but for a creature as unassuming as a moth, he really turns up the cosmic horror
dial--and these creatures are more akin to Lovecraftian Fiction than they may first seem.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot -- The Shrike The Hyperion Cantos
And many of you guys called for this terrifying monster of literature to appear on our list,
and rightfully so--making its way to our number one spot--in a temporally insignificant manner,
just to impale us all on its Shrike Tree.
Now, The Hyperion Cantos, written by Dan Simmons and first released in 1989--is an incredibly
worthy entry into the halls of legendary science fiction.
Believe me, these books are *weighty*--and they cover some of the most grandiose themes
in the whole of the genre, most of which I’ll try not to bog you down with--because there’s
all manner of time-travel and galaxy spanning Hegemonies of Mankind--but just know that
all of those these pale in comparison to the terrifying creature, known only as The Shrike.
A being of such incredible power and strength, daunting stature and all-consuming evil--that
it’s more akin to the legendary folktales of old than it is to the world of science
fiction.
Although, for those of you that haven’t read the series--the true nature of The Shrike
is uncontested spoiler-territory--but there’s just so much to this monstrosity that we’d
perhaps be better off trying to find why it *isn’t* terrifying.
The exact origins of the Shrike are unclear, but it appears as a roughly humanoid entity--over
three meters in height, covered in a spiked carapace of chrome steel.
It has four violent arms, and four equally violent hands that are tipped with scalpel-like
finger blades, of which even Freddy Krueger himself would be weary of.
Essentially, The Shrike is as if Shelob was somehow genetically blended with The Terminator--and
then mutated over millennia into every Doctor Who villain imaginable, where it then decided
to live in the Grim Darkness of Warhammer 40k to cut it’s teeth on all of the unimaginable
horrors of the Void.
Oh, and speaking of Voids--not only does The Shrike want to impale you on it’s Tree of
Pain--it can also travel through temporal space to do so, appearing out of thin air
to slaughter you in a swipe of razor-sharp steel.
And that’s without us even talking about the narrative significance of The Shrike.
Yeah, it’s our number one spot--easy.
Well, there we have it folks--our list for the Top 5 Most Terrifying Monsters In Literature--Part
2.
What did you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more entries to add?
Then let us know your choice picks, or your own Top 5 List--down in the comment section
below.
Before we depart from today’s video though, let’s first take a quick look at some of
your more creative comments from over the past few days.
Chips and Dip says --
If your insta is twocoatsjack--where are your twocoats?
-- Well, it’s summer!
What the hell--I can barely wear a t-shirt in this heat, let alone two coats.
Gareth Pendlebury says --
Just downloaded The Name of the Wind on your recommendation.
Best be good!
-- And well, that is sweet Edema Ruh music to my ears Gareth--trust me.
You’ve made a solid investment.
On that note horror fans, unfortunately that’s all we’ve got time for in todays video--cheers
for sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, or just Top 5 Scary Videos in general, then please be
a dear and hit that thumbs up button--as well as that subscribe bell, and I’ll be seeing
you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch--you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary
Videos, and until next time, you take it easy.