Favorite Movie Monsters and Their Psychological Appeal

A nationwide and demographically representative sample of 1,166 people responded to a survey exploring choices for a favorite movie monster and reasons underlying the choice. Results of the study indicated that, irrespective of demographics, the vampire is the king of monsters. With a few exceptions (e.g., Chucky, Dracula and sexiness), males and females were generally attracted to the same monsters and for similar reasons. Regarding age differences, Younger people were the more likely to prefer recent and more violent and murderous slasher monsters, such as Freddy Krueger, and to like them for their killing prowess. Older people were more attracted to earlier vintage, non-slasher monsters like Karloff’s Frankenstein. Slasher and non-slasher monsters who ranked in the Top 10 in terms of popularity, differed in two important respects: Slashers were preferred for their killing prowess while non-slashers were preferred for their being objects of empathy, pity or compassion. Overall, though, monsters were particularly liked for their intelligence, superhuman powers, and their ability to (safely) show us the dark side of human nature.