But Why Do We Create Monsters? | Part 2: Witches, Werewolves & the Cultural Fear Machine
But Why? Real talk on messy minds, and messier systems
️ Part 2 of our Halloween series: Monsters as Mirrors ️
If today’s monsters reflect modern fears…what were we afraid of 500 years ago?
In this time-travelling episode, Kristin and Laura head back to the past to ask: where did our monsters come from, and what were they covering up?
From witch trials to mummies, this episode unpacks:
Why werewolves symbolised the “untamed man”
Why vampires became sexualised aristocrats
How zombies reflect fears of slavery, exploitation, and soulless labor
Why Frankenstein is really about abandonment, control, and man-made monsters
How the fear of women’s knowledge shaped the witch hunts
Why the empire was haunted by the mummy’s curse
With just enough disgust psychology, imperialist critique, and literary nerdery to keep it weird, this episode explores how each monster reveals what power wanted to hide.