My Favorite Thing Is Monsters

The influence of religion, mythology, and fairy tales on Karen’s personality, worldview, and art becomes evident from the first page. It depicts a cover of Ghastly magazine with a werewolf’s head on the cover. The story immediately moves into a dream Karen has in which she transforms into a werewolf and becomes hated and hunted. The religious influence on Karen’s life is also evident, as Karen reveals early on that she attends a Catholic school where the nuns “absolutely hate true crime and detective comics almost as much as they hate monster and horror comics” (43) and feels like she is not liked or wanted at school. Her brother, who teaches her many things about art and religion, tells her about Saint Christopher, “the werewolf saint” (43). Karen takes this literally and draws herself talking to a dog man with a holy glow around his head. Saint Christopher tells Karen, “If I can be a saint, then you can definitely be a detective” (43), and Karen is reassured, by a religious figure, that she is on the right path. Karen’s mother is also Catholic and regularly spouts her superstitions, which Karen sometimes takes literally as well.

One of Karen’s favorite paintings, The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli, is drawn across two full pages and used as an introduction to the trail of clues that Karen follows to solve Anka’s murder. She has the strong feeling, based on her knowledge of this painting, that Anka was haunted by a demon, too. Fairy tales are rooted in Karen’s mind as well, which can be seen when she draws her brother’s dual personalities as a dragon and a knight which tames the dragon. She also uses stories to escape from reality, as she is bullied, neglected by her only friend, surrounded by death and sex, and living in a time of political uncertainty. Karen’s knowledge of art and stories make her the perfect candidate to solve Anka’s murder, who had a similar passion for the imaginary and fantastical. For both strong females, escaping into myth, allows them refuge from the true horrors they live with every day.

Like Karen, Anka Silverberg grew up during a time of political uncertainty and faced persecution simply for being herself. She was abused and trafficked by her own mother, later sent to live with a pedophile, and eventually publicly identified as a Jewish person and sent to a labor camp. Anka learned about the ancient Greek and Egyptian myths from the cook at the brothel, a kind older woman named Sonja. Sonja tended the garden at the brothel, and often took Anka out there when she was young to tell her stories and give her a resemblance of a normal childhood. As a result, Anka associates these myths with safety and calm. Later in life, she creates her own garden in the foyer outside her apartment, which Karen often uses as a place of solace too. When Sonja told her stories, “the brothel was transformed into Mount Olympus” (141). Anka identifies with Persephone, trapped forever in Hades. Much like Karen, Anka becomes fully immersed in these stories, almost as if they are real. When Anka is sent to live with the pedophile, who also houses other girls, she copes with it by telling one girl the myths that she learned.

Anka foreshadows her own death when she describes the story of Apollo who, in a state of despair, turns “his lover’s spilled blood into flowers” (152). Deeze, a former lover of Anka’s, later admits to being responsible for her murder. Anka also loves Egyptian mythology, naming her pet cat King Tut and housing many Egyptian relics in her apartment. In the novel’s conclusion, Anka’s and Karen’s knowledge combine to help Karen solve the mystery of Anka’s death and the answer to Victor’s identity. In Karen’s dream, Anka appears with a keyhole bullet wound on her chest. She tells Karen to investigate it, and Karen sees an image of a grape god. Next, Anka appears in a picture and tells her, “You already know who did it…but if you need a clue…you’ll have to follow me into Hades” (401). Karen dives through painting after painting until she finally uncovers the truth.