I'm a fourth year student at UCSC, and I plan on attending law school post-graduation. My hobbies include reading, rock climbing, and playing board games. 

Our own minds are often our worst enemies, taking the shape of monsters that we can never entirely dismiss. For many children the worst monsters lurk in the hidden places past the horizon of observation, in the closet or under the bed. I was an imaginative child prone to these same fears. Whenever the true black tendrils of night crept into my familiar room, and silence spread its icy wings, my mind filled in the silence with ephemeral shades, monsters of no clear shape but clearly malignant. 

Knowledge has the power to create and dispel monsters. This power lies at the center of my favorite monster, the Oracle. With limitless knowledge, the oracle is a fearsome entity indeed. Most oracles are considered to be neutral or benevolent, chosen by the gods to aid adventures on their quests or to give prophecies to kings. Yet, it is often these self-fulfilling prophecies themselves that often cause most harm. Take the myth of Oedipus as an example. Perhaps if King Laius had not given weight to the oracle's words then things would have ended differently. My favorite of these omniscient beings is the Cthaeh from The Wise Man’s Fear, an oracle who looks into the future and determines which words will later cause the most tragedy to befall humanity, a truly evil entity indeed. 

I am a third-year student at UCSC, majoring in Political Science. I grew up in San Diego and my time outside of school is mostly taken up by work, hanging out with friends, and the occasional hobby! The monster that scared me the most as a kid was Bloody Mary or any other monster that appeared in mirrors. I had a huge fear of looking into the mirror and seeing something not there in person. Sometimes I would try to psych out my reflection because I was convinced that there was an evil version of myself in the mirror that would mess up its mimicking. The monster that makes me feel most powerful is probably Medusa, I find her story to be fascinating. The modern version of Medusa was a victim of Posiden and Athena punished her instead of him; Medusa did not start as a monster but was turned into one. Her story has been reclaimed by victims of abusive power dynamics. The myth strikes me particularly because it details the complex trauma and history that led to the creation of a monster. I like understanding the backstory of a monster because it brings better insight into the way the monster acts.

I am a second-year Biology student who enjoys art and reading fantasy novels. Growing up, I was more of a bookworm and not a Star Wars fan, so when my elementary self saw and heard Darth Vader at Disneyland, I was terrified. Although I was scared of him, Darth Vader also made me feel powerful in a way. I recall reading Vader’s Little Princess by Jeffery Brown, and I was able to learn a lot about him. By reading about him in a mini comic book, I was able to understand and get over my fear. Additionally, it felt like I had overcome a big challenge, making it a big accomplishment for me at that time. That memory is still relevant to me to this day because it showed that I can overcome my fears, and it even got me into watching a few Star Wars movies. My favorite monster is the sirens. I first learned about them while reading The Odyssey, and I was fascinated by their role and impact in the story. The sirens are half-bird, half-woman who sing beautiful melodies and lead sailors to their doom. After some research online, I found that the sirens are symbols of desire and temptation, and I was able to understand why some see them like that. 

Characters: 

Asuramaru - Seraph of the End

Jeong Gu-won - My Demon

Mr. Applegate - Damn Yankees

Hi, I'm Cynthia, I am a first-year Film and Digital Media student, who enjoys reading and watching all kinds of movies! Growing up, my favorite film had been the little mermaid, but thanks to the time in elementary school where we had done projects on mythology creatures my opinion on them began to change. At first I remember being so happy that I got to do my research on the species of my favorite character, but when I went to look up what a mermaid actually looked like the images were not what I had expected. At first I was a little scared because every time I had looked at my favorite princess, all I saw were the images of mermaids that google had shown me. The images usually consisted of razor sharp tails, dark long hair and eyes that looked like they would pierce through my body. Which is the complete opposite of Ariel, who has bright red hair and a shiny green tail. However, as I continued with my research I had started feeling less afraid and became more fascinated with mermaids. I think my favorite part about them is how they are kind of like sirens in the sense that they too use their voices to lure people in. I also want to mention that, typically mermaids represent rebellion and freedom, which if I compare that to the little mermaid I can totally see it. 

Characters: 

Valak - The Nun 

Danily - Demons. 

Sixtass - Insidous

Hello, My name is Jordan Ramirez. I am a 5th year psychology student. When I think about what monsters scared me the most as a kid, my mind immediately jumps to the movies about possession. I grew up in a catholic household, and while upholding the religion wasn't a big aspect in my family, demons and devils were my first introduction to the occult. Hearing from church that devils were evil and will torture me, I became pretty afraid of them. When I saw movies like the Conjuring, or Insidious, I always loved how scary they were because of how close the concepts hit home. 

If I had to choose a favorite monster, I would love to pick Sully from "Monsters Inc.". In both movies, I love everything that Sully goes through as a character, and personally I think he has a very scary design that is placed in a kid friendly environment. I used to watch Monster's Inc and Monster's University alot growing up. so I had a lot of exposure to the idea of a monster from a very young age. I never saw them as something to avoid, however. Growing up, horror was my favorite genre and it still is.