Enchanted Creatures: Our Monsters and Their Meaning

A fascinating journey through 15,000 years of human imagination and mythology, exploring the incredible variety of monstrous creatures we have created and what they can tell us about ourselves.

The hydra rears its many heads in a flurry of teeth and poisonous fumes. The cyborg lays waste to humanity with a ruthless, expressionless stare.

From ancient mythology to modern science fiction, we have had to confront the monsters that lurk in the depths of our collective imagination. They embody our anxieties and our irrational terrors, giving form to what we don’t wish to know or understand. For millennia, monsters have helped us to manage the extraordinary complexity of our minds and to deal with the challenges of being human.

In Enchanted Creatures, Natalie Lawrence delves into 15,000 years of imaginary beasts and uncovers the other-worldly natural history that has evolved with our deepest fears and fascinations. Join Lawrence on a tour of prehistoric cave monsters, serpentine hybrids, deep-sea leviathans and fire-breathing Kaiju. Discover how this monstrous menagerie has shaped our minds, our societies and how we see our place in nature.

Natalie Lawrence is a writer, illustrator and researcher. She has a degree in Natural Sciences and received a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University for her work on early modern exotic monsters. She published Planta Sapiens with Paco Calvo in 2022, and her first solo book, Feathers and Eggshells when she was a teenager. Her writing has appeared in New Scientist, Aeon Magazine, Atlas Obscura and BBC Wildlife, amongst others, and she has spoken for TEDX, BBC Radio and podcasts. She lives in London with her curiosity cabinet and the occasional atlas moth.