Submitted by spirited-astray
Many classic horror icons and other disturbing creatures share common characteristics. Pale skin, dark, sunken eyes, elongated faces, sharp teeth, and the like. These images inspire horror and revulsion in many, and with good reason. The characteristics shared by these faces are imprinted in the human mind.
Many things frighten humans instinctively. The fear is natural, and does not need to be reinforced in order to terrify. The fears are species-wide, stemming from dark times in the past when lightning could mean the burning of your tree home, predators could be hiding in the dark, heights could make poor footing lethal, and a spider or snake bite could mean certain death.
The question you have to ask yourself is this:
What happened, deep in the hidden eras before history began, that could effect the entire human race so evenly as to give the entire species a deep, instinctual, and lasting fear of pale beings with dark, sunken eyes, razor sharp teeth, and elongated faces?
… Just be careful out there.
^^This
Die Antwoord! I love her.
I’d argue that this and this is why we are instinctually terrified.
And the pale sunken part is easy. They’re the traits of a corpse. Revulsion is naturally triggered in humans because corpses carry disease, not to mention the stigma associated with death. The paleness is pallor, and the gums and skin recede, making the teeth appear sharp, nails claw-like, and face gaunt and shadowed. We can look at vampires and Nosferatu as classic examples. The Watchers were also depicted as pale skinned and predatory, marking them as not quite alive to Middle Easterners.
The only monsters out there are the ones we create.
