2 killer Halloween projects from ASU’s monster expert
Emily Zarka, ASU's monster expert, has two Halloween projects examining the most prolific killers of reality and fiction — and how our cultural conception of one informs the other. Photo by Quinton Kendall
Werewolves, zombies, Michael Myers and Scooby-Doo villains all have one thing in common: They’re monsters who’ve abandoned their humanity.
Emily Zarka believes that monsters offer a haunting lens to study the human psyche. They also reveal how societies have dealt with the humanity of people who commit monstrous acts.
“My work is trying to understand human history through monster history and looking at why we create these creatures and narratives when we do, and what that can tell us about ourselves,” says Zarka, Arizona State University’s resident monster expert and instructor in the Department of English.
This Halloween, Zarka brings her monster knowledge to a new audiobook and her YouTube show to explore society’s most prolific killers from history and fiction.
The monstrous tropes in real-world killers
“Serial Killers: Real and Imagined” is Zarka’s first audiobook, which she wrote and narrated. The 10-part, three-hour book spans hundreds of years of history and examines the monstrous archetype of the serial killer, which she believes is grounded historically in folklore and popular culture.
She points to how many serial murderers are given dehumanizing monikers, such as “butcher,” “slayer” or “creeper,” or even names that harken back to creatures of legend, such as “vampire” or “werewolf.”
“I think we just really don't know how to make sense of humans who commit these real horrible acts, not just once, but repeatedly,” Zarka says. “So by dressing that up as something monstrous, it's easier for us to explain that horrific violence in our minds.”
Her book examines how the portrayal of serial murderers in both news and fiction consistently blurs reality and legend and how our conception of real-world serial killers is influenced by some of these narratives. Zarka explores the rise of the serial killer in popular imagination, our fascination with true crime and the boom of serial murder coverage we see today.
The audiobook also dives deep into the history of serial killers, from infamous killers such as Jack the Ripper and H. H. Holmes, to the alleged serial murders by Countess Elizabeth Báthory, and all the way back to the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
“Looking at some of the original werewolf and vampire legends, there's some evidence in these periods that society was trying to explain horrific real crimes committed by real people by making them fictional monsters,” Zarka says.
“Serial Killers: Real and Imagined” was produced in conjunction with The Great Courses, who contacted Zarka to delve into the topic of serial killers, which she hasn’t covered in her previous work.
Zarka's turn as a 'final girl'
When it comes to the made-up murderers of our cultural moment, the slasher genre rules the spotlight.
Zarka is a true fan of slasher fiction in all forms. She defines it as a horror subgenre focused on a masked human murderer who preys on a cohesive group — often teenagers. Members of the group have something in common and often are connected to the killer in some way. Notable examples include John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” Wes Craven’s “Scream” and the “Friday the 13th” series.
For Halloween, Zarka is releasing a special episode of her show “Monstrum,” which airs on PBS Digital Studios’ Storied Youtube channel. The episode explores the origins, tropes and evolution of the slasher genre. “The Unspoken Rules of Slasher Movies” can be found on YouTube or PBS.
Zarka’s show explores monsters, myths and legends from a literary perspective. She’s covered classic literary figures including Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu; cryptids such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster; and mythical monsters such as dragons and werewolves.
The 30-minute Halloween special ventures into new territory for the show, with costuming, sets and special effects to immerse viewers in an exploration of the genre. Zarka breaks down what she considers to be the “10 unspoken rules” that define slashers and discusses the cultural and historical forces that shaped those rules.
“I go all the way back to the proto-slasher period of the 1960s up until today, and some of the really creative new slasher movies that are coming out now,” Zarka says.
Further frights
Looking for more monstrous tales to keep you frightened? Check out Zarka's list of essential slasher media to enjoy this Halloween.
Movies
“Halloween”
“Scream”
“The Burning”
“Black Christmas”
“A Nightmare on Elm Street”
“Freaky”
“You’re Next”
“Happy Death Day”
“The Final Girls”
“Totally Killer”
Books and comics
“Where Monsters Lie”
“The Indian Lake Trilogy”
“Maniac of New York”
Games
In the last 10 years, she says there’s been something of a slasher renaissance, with the genre stalking its way into other mediums that subvert its tropes and explore its trappings in new ways.
She points to its emergence in gaming, such as the board game Mixtape Massacre or the video game Dead by Daylight, an asymmetric multiplayer survival game. One player takes on the role of a slasher villain and four others are survivors, attempting to evade, thwart and escape the killer.
Recently, creators have even used the genre to explore social issues. Released in 2021, Grady Hendrix’s novel “The Final Girl Support Group” uses the genre to examine the normalization of violence against women. The comic book “Maniac of New York” by writer Elliott Kalan and artist Andrea Mutti positions an unstoppable, masked serial murderer as a metaphor for gun violence and American society’s seeming indifference to it.
“For genres to succeed, they need to expand,” Zarka says. “I think for something to become truly a cultural classic, it has to become different kinds of media and still be recognizable — and I think there's something so cool and powerful about that.”
My teacher, the slasher
Beyond the gore, outlandish kills and over-the-top acting, Zarka believes there are lessons we can learn from slasher fiction.
“When I was growing up, there was something empowering about watching these films. Part of that is that someone does have to survive the slashers — usually the final girl,” she says. “I think it reminds us that we would be able to survive a horrific situation as well.”
One of her favorite slasher villains — the silent, unstoppable Michael Myers of “Halloween” — even imparted an important message to a young Zarka.
“Watching that movie as a teenage girl and seeing someone stalk a teenage girl really stuck with me,” she says.
She distinctly recalls the scene where Laurie, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, is running through her neighborhood at night, desperately banging on front doors and begging for help as the villain stalks her. Porch lights turn on, then switch off.
“I remember my mom saying, ‘That's why you always want to scream ‘fire’ if you need help, because people don't know where the fire is, so they're actually going to intervene,’” Zarka says. “I think it's cool that you can use these movies to have conversations with friends and family about things like that.”
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