Making a Monster with Sara Amundson

Drawing of Constellation Cetus, the Whale or Sea Monster by Samuel Leigh, 1824

Here we are in the home stretch, counting down to the best holiday of the year. What is Halloween without monsters? Is there a better time of year for scary stories? Okay, monsters and scary stories are excellent year-round, but they are especially potent at Halloween.

Horror writer Sara Amundson asks, "Have you ever wished you could be the proud parent of a monster, with none of the fuss and muss of actually giving birth to and raising a savage, deadly creature?"

Why yes, yes I have.

With Amundson's Make a Monster you get to suggest a physical feature or power. If Sara picks your monster, she'll write a piece of flash fiction featuring your spawn killing someone and give you credit as a monster parent on her website and social media. If your monster ends up in any of her Dreamer series books, then you'll get a Monster Parent credit in the book's acknowledgements. The Dreamer books are about monsters born in our dreams that end up in the real world.

Previous monsters include a Unicorn (of course), Razor Blade (heatbreaking), Hair, Circus Tent (holy shitballs), the Pumpkin Spice Latte, and more. I'm pretty sure that more than one of these is real.

I had to try it out, of course. My monster progeny's special power is spraying acidic glitter. Showtunes might also be involved.

If you want to try getting the Sara Amundson treatment for your monster, head over to her site or follow her on Twitter @saraterror and use the #MakeAMonster hashtag.

Happy monster making!