Sonia Gensler’s Guide To Making A Monster

Sonia Gensler came to the high school to discuss what she believes is the secret to creating the perfect monster, which she is an expert on as a horror author. 

Gensler has written three books throughout her decorated writing career, which she discussed in her presentation. Her first novel, “The Revenant,” is about a teacher who experiences terror in school surrounded by elites and mystery. Her second, “The Dark Between,” is about otherworldly scientists trying to bridge a gap between the world of humans and spirits. Her most recent novel, “Ghostlight,” is about a group exploring an eerie house to shoot a ghost film. 

Gensler grew up in Tennessee, where she experimented with drama and band. From there, Gensler describes her previous jobs as ‘impractical,’ varying from being a historic home director to a museum interpreter. Eventually, she settled on being an author with the goal of spreading her love of horror literature to those who share her passion for the genre. 

There are several types of monsters, and Gensler dissected what each type was. The presentation  mostly included  photos and identification of monsters. This involved a lot of student input about the monsters and sharing opinions. 

As a class, we started by looking at unique scenarios, identifying which characters were monsters and which were not. The primary example was the difference between Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster. While Frankenstein’s monster is identified as a monster, he did not ask to be born. He was created. 

The real monster, as we as a class found, is Doctor Victor Frankenstein, the man who created the abomination. Being able to identify the different roles of the characters was an essential part of the presentation.

After a series of identification slides, we moved on to identifying the different types of monsters. Some were clearly creatures, such as the shark from Jaws, however, some were humanoid, such as Dexter from the popular serial killer drama, “Dexter.”

Overall, Gensler was very well spoken and an entertaining presenter. The atmosphere she created for the students was positive and lighthearted. The discussion topics were open to all students as Gensler rolled through her slides depicting certain types of monsters and the process it takes to create one. 

Building a monster to Gensler is similar to creating a person. There must be goals and values, otherwise, a monster falls flat. If a monster is destroying everything, but there is no reason behind it, it makes for a more dull story and gives little meaning to the protagonist’s actions.

The effectiveness of a monster is closely tied to the motivations, strengths and weaknesses of your protagonist, according to Gensler’s website. These two must intertwine in not only events but also values and more.

Gensler was a wonderful presenter. I have absolutely no doubt that all that were in her class for litfest would love to see her on the docket for next year’s list of presenters.