My Favorite Thing Is Monsters

Karen’s life, like the pages of her diary, is filled with real and imaginary horrors. The real and imagined are juxtaposed both in her life and in her art, and Karen blends the two as a way of coping with the challenges she faces. Her imaginary art and deep passion for it is heavily inspired by her brother’s love of horror as well as his love of art. Several of the paintings they admire together are based around themes of horror and death, and this excites and intrigues Karen. One of her favorite paintings is of a demon sitting on top of a woman, scantily clad and looking as if she has been taken over. In Karen’s world, sex and horror often mix, as is regularly the case in horror films and magazines. Many of Karen’s diary pages are filled with her drawn versions of Ghastly horror magazine covers, of which she clearly puts a lot of time and effort into. These covers often depict women in vulnerable situations or being taken over by monsters. Karen also sees herself as a monster and wishes she could become one in real life. She believes that if she becomes a monster, she will be not only living as her true self, but perhaps she can also save herself and her family from death.