Monsters: Fact or Fiction?

From Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to Dracula and the Wolfman, every culture has its monsters.

But these stories weren’t created just to scare us.

In this episode, we explore why humans invent monsters — and what those legends reveal about fear, power, control, and the darker edges of human nature. Drawing from folklore, Hollywood, and real historical figures, we ask a simple but unsettling question:

Are monsters fiction… or mirrors?

This isn’t about the supernatural.
 It’s about what we choose to ignore — and what happens when we do.

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Transcript

Every culture has monsters.

Different names.
 Different shapes.
 Different stories.

Some live in dark water.
 Some hide in deep forests.
 Some only come out under a full moon.

And some…
 walk among us every day.

So today, let’s ask a simple question:

Are monsters fact… or fiction?

Let’s start where most monster stories begin.

With the unknown.

A massive shape beneath the surface of a cold Scottish lake.
 A creature roaming forests so vast and quiet they swallow sound.
 Blurry photos.
 Footprints that disappear.
 Stories passed down for generations.

The Loch Ness Monster.
 Bigfoot.

Creatures said to exist just out of reach —
 always seen, never proven.

And maybe that’s the point.

These monsters live where humans don’t fully control the environment.
 Deep water.
 Endless trees.
 Places where we’re reminded that we are not in charge.

We fear what we can’t map.
 What we can’t explain.
 What refuses to be pinned down.

But those monsters stay out there.

They don’t knock on your door.
 They don’t sit across from you.
 They don’t earn your trust.

Not like the others.

Some of the most famous monsters didn’t come from forests or lakes.

They came from history.

Take Dracula.

Elegant.
 Charming.
 Well-spoken.
 Invited in.

A monster who doesn’t attack in the open —
 but waits until you lower your guard.

That story didn’t come out of nowhere.

It was inspired by a real man.
 A ruler known for cruelty so extreme it became legend.
 Impaling enemies.
 Using fear as control.
 Power through terror.

Over time, history softened into myth.
 And myth turned into fiction.

But at the core was something very real.

Because the most unsettling monsters
 aren’t the ones who look terrifying.

They’re the ones who don’t.

The ones who smile.
 Who shake hands.
 Who wear uniforms, titles, or respectability.

The ones you never see coming.

Then there’s the Wolfman.

The idea of a man who changes under a full moon.
 Who loses control.
 Who becomes something violent and unrecognizable.

That story isn’t really about wolves.

It’s about us.

About the thin line between restraint and instinct.
 Between civilization and impulse.
 Between who we think we are…
 and what we’re capable of becoming.

Old folklore understood something modern society still struggles with:

Evil doesn’t always arrive from the outside.

Sometimes, it comes from within.

The Wolfman doesn’t choose the transformation —
 but he’s still responsible for what happens after.

And that’s the uncomfortable part.

Because if monsters are real,
 maybe the scariest ones don’t need claws or fangs.

They just need justification.

So why do we keep creating monsters?

Why every culture?
 Every era?
 Every generation?

Because monsters give us distance.

If something horrible is done by a “monster,”
 we don’t have to admit a human did it.

We don’t have to look too closely.
 We don’t have to ask hard questions.

Calling someone a monster makes it easier to sleep at night.

But it also makes it easier to ignore warning signs.
 To excuse behavior.
 To stay silent longer than we should.

Monsters don’t thrive in darkness.

They thrive in avoidance.
 In denial.
 In silence.
 In people looking the other way
 because it’s uncomfortable to speak up.

So… are monsters fact or fiction?

Maybe that’s the wrong question.

Maybe monsters aren’t creatures at all.

Maybe they’re mirrors.

Stories we tell to remind ourselves where the edge is.
 What happens when power goes unchecked.
 When fear overrides empathy.
 When instinct replaces conscience.

Every monster legend is really asking the same thing:

What happens if we stop paying attention?
 What happens if we convince ourselves,
 that could never be me?

Because here’s the truth we don’t like to say out loud:

Every monster story starts with a choice.

A moment where someone crosses a line —
 or refuses to draw one.

The difference between fact and fiction
 isn’t whether monsters exist.

It’s whether we recognize them in time.

In others.
 And in ourselves.

This is How Did We Get Here?
A podcast about the choices, cracks, and crossroads that shape us.

I’m Jim Richmond.
 And I’m still here for a reason.
 Maybe you are too.