letter
[1735] Linnaeus defeats the Hydra in Hamburg

Part 1 1700s

[1758] Know Thyself - Cave Man
[1758] Unidentified Pain - Hell Wrath Worm
[1763] The Legacy Left Behind - Charlton's Yellow Butterfly
[1770] Blueprint for the Future - Turks
[1784] What is reflected in the face of the monster - The monster of Lake Breakwater

Part 2 1800s

[1808] The Time Traveler Washed Ashore - The Stronsa Beast
[1822] The Greatest Show on Earth Opens - The Fiji Mermaid
[1835] The World's Most Fascinating Lie - The Bat-Man on the Moon
[1840] Champions and Challengers - Missouri
[1845] The Resurrection of the Biblical Monster - Hydrachos
[1854] Everyone makes mistakes at first - Iguanodon in the Crystal Palace
[1857] Small Illusions and Giant Leaps - The Emperor Flea
[1864] Who Planted the Seed? - The Orgoeyu Meteorite
[1869] The Show Must Go On - Cardiff Giant
[1874] Sweet Bait in the Forest - The Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar
[1891] Persistent as a Wandering Ghost - The Crawfordsville Monster
[1892] The Mystery Left Behind by the Great Detective - The Swamp Viper
[1896] The Dead Kraken Waits Dreaming - The Monster of St. Augustine
[1899] In Search of Ancient Survivors - Conradi Mammoth

Part 3 1900s

[1904] If only people were as clever as animals - Clever Hans
[1912] The culprit is in this - Piltdown Man
[1917] Fairy Tales for Adults - The Coatingley Fairies
[1919] The Dragon in the Darkness of the Mind - Brontosaurus of the Congo
[1926] Knowledge is poison - Bosrodon
[1929] The real monster not captured in the photograph - De Roy's ape
[1933] The Illusion Will Last Forever - The Loch Ness Monster
[1937] How to Inflate a Monster - The Nantucket Sea Monster
[1938] The World Turns Upside Down - Martians in "War of the Worlds"
[1939] Possible Monsters, Impossible Monsters - Lowe

The final chapter

[1948] Sanderson encounters footprints on the banks of the Suwannee River.

Acknowledgements
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It has become the motif of numerous novels, movies, animations, and dramas.
Reveal the monster's true identity!
Crucial clues hidden behind rumors and lies

The existence of 'monsters', then and now, is an interesting subject of conversation that crosses the line between imagination and reality.
Like everyone else, author Lee Sang-hwa was also fascinated by monster stories since childhood.
As the author followed in the footsteps of the monster, he realized that monsters were not simply products of the imagination, but were born from a complex intertwining of the fears and desires within us humans, along with the scientific hegemony and historical ideology of the time.


It feels a bit complicated to try to uncover the true identity of the object of my passion and compile it into a book.
Some might think that I'm ruining the fun of monster stories by dissecting them and labeling them as lies.
But I am convinced that even the most trivial and vain truth has a value that infinitely surpasses the sweetest lie.
Every time we realize just how firmly we can believe in absurd monster stories, how difficult it is to break free from ingrained beliefs, and what the truth is behind the various rumors and lies that decorate history, we will surely understand the world and ourselves more clearly.
- In the text

"Modern Monster Hoaxes" begins with a series of fake monsters that successfully deceived humanity, but it also tenaciously traces how the various monsters that graced the modern era stimulated human imagination, desire, and vanity, while simultaneously functioning as a medium for expressing the anxieties and fears of reality.
For example, the author reads the issue of racism through the scientific debate surrounding the 18th century 'cave man' and raises fundamental questions about the definition of humanity, while introducing 'Misurium' in the 19th century and discussing how the birth of the discipline of paleontology greatly influenced humanity's imagination of monsters, and while digging into the incident that became the starting point of the story of the 'Brontosaurus of the Congo' in the 20th century, he also looks into the darkness in our hearts caused by imperialism and religious blind faith.


Through this chronicle of fraud, fabrication, delusion, and error, all of which have been left behind in modern history under the name of "monster," we are naturally led to consider what kind of beings humanity has defined as "monsters," and what kind of zeitgeist and beliefs have been reflected in humanity's belief in monsters.
As we follow the author's gaze, which delves into the history of modern science and society through the window of monsters, we will realize that monsters can exist in any era, with only their appearances changing.

It shook up the modern history of science and reason.
The Strange Chronicles of Monsters

When we hear the word 'monster', we often think of bizarre and fearsome beings with strange shapes and supernatural powers that often appear in myths and legends.
However, in ancient and medieval Western societies, these monsters were not so strictly distinguished from real animals.
This is because, in a time when information was not easily conveyed and religion and common sense dominated public perception, the very idea of ​​verifying truth from falsehood was not universal.
It was the power of modern science that changed this situation.
The 18th-century botanist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linnaeus) did not stop at observing each natural object individually, but established a methodology for systematically classifying them by examining their relationships with each other. His classification method was organized into the book Systema Naturae and has become the most common tool for studying plants and animals.
There was no room for monsters in a rationally reorganized classification system.

As science developed and the space for monsters became smaller and smaller, the monsters of the 18th century, unlike those of previous eras, chose to disguise themselves in a more convincing and 'scientific' way to survive.
The cavemen, hell wrath beetles, Charlton's yellow butterfly, Turks, and the monster of Lake Pagwa, who disguised themselves as 'trustworthy' beings, succeeded in surviving by blinding the eyes of the people of their time.
But how could seemingly incompatible science and monsters coexist? According to the author, "science has established itself as the most powerful weapon for eradicating monsters rooted in conventional wisdom, but it has also become a means for creating monsters beyond common sense when necessary."

Humanity's endless greed for the 'greatest show on earth'
In the midst of it all, fake monsters who have been splendidly deceiving the public

Ironically, scientific advancements give birth to other monsters.
Advances in astronomy have stimulated the public's imagination about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and advances in paleontology have revealed the existence of extinct animals such as dinosaurs and mammoths that once ruled the Earth, suggesting new archetypes of monsters.
“A paradigm of monster stories that attempts to provide a more plausible scientific explanation by pointing to surviving ancient creatures as the identity of the monster, the so-called ‘primordial survivor paradigm,’ to borrow the expression of British paleontologist Darren Naish,” was created.

As astronomy increasingly pointed to the possibility of extraterrestrial life, theologians, rather than outright denying it, sought to reconcile it with religious beliefs.
The logic was that if God were omnipotent and benevolent, he would have arranged for other planets to be habitable.
Among the theologians who accepted this logic was Timothy Dwight, president of Yale University from 1795 to 1817, who went so far as to suggest in one sermon that there might be people on the moon who would live happier lives than Earthlings.
Meanwhile, the person who most passionately advocated the theory of multiple universes in the 1820s was undoubtedly the Scottish philosopher Thomas Dick.
In his book, The Christian Philosopher, which was published in 1823 and was also very popular in the United States, Dick argued eloquently that intelligent life exists not only on other planets in the solar system but also within the sun, and that the Bible contains ample evidence for the theory of multiple universes.
- In the text

New monster stories based on science are further fueling public interest in monsters.
Coincidentally, as humanity enjoyed unprecedented prosperity following the Industrial Revolution, major cities like London and New York, in particular, were transformed into new worlds filled with people seeking new stimulation and opportunities.
In this social climate, those seeking commercial gain begin to create various 'star' monsters to stimulate the public's curiosity.
The author introduces various monstrous frauds that emerged during this period and warns of human nature's tendency to be easily swayed by greed and deception.
For example, there is the 'Fiji Mermaid', which appeared to the world in 1822.
The person who created the fake mermaid was the infamous conman Barnum, also known as the star of the movie “The Greatest Showman.”
He planned a grand show to get science on his side: he created fake scientists and fooled the press.
“Under Barnum’s clever tactics, the language of science, once used to slay monsters, has been turned into an ally of monsters.”

Another monster that has captivated humanity with lies is the 'Cardiff Giant', created by American tobacco merchant George Hull.
Hull plans to make a fortune targeting Christians who believe the biblical story of David and Goliath is true.
He made a plaster statue of himself, buried it in a pit, and then told a brazen lie that he had found a giant from the Bible, deceiving people. But soon he was fooled by an even bolder and more elaborate lie.
However, this does not mean that all modern monsters were the products of fraud and lies.
The "Crawfordsville Monster," which appeared in the skies over Crawfordsville, Indiana, in the late 19th century, came to life thanks to the testimony of credible witnesses, and later came to be recognized as "one of the most fantastic reports of UFO sightings."
The media also played a significant role in making this monster a household name in history.
The 19th century ushered in the golden age of mass media in the United States with the appearance of mass-produced one-cent "penny newspapers."
Newspapers constantly published sensational, unverified monster stories to capture readers' attention, and these stories spread like wildfire, causing a stir every time.
A representative example is the 1835 New York daily newspaper The Sun, which confused the public by reporting fake news about a "bat-man on the moon" as if it were fact.
Later, in the 20th century, radio broadcasting, a new and powerful means of disseminating information, inherited the stigma of being a medium for spreading rumors about monsters.

The “wave of mass hysteria” reported in the next morning’s newspaper was nothing more than an optical illusion.
What actually happened was nothing more than a localized riot by a small number of people, but due to the influx of inquiries, the newspapers misjudged the scale of the incident and reported it based on a handful of sensational anecdotes that fit their misjudgement, generalizing the entire incident and adding unfounded speculation, which created the illusion that the world had turned upside down.
Meanwhile, Campbell speculates that the exaggerated reporting was intended to attack the credibility of the competing medium, radio, but Schwartz points out that at the time, the conflict between the two media was easing rather than intensifying, and that about 30% of American radio stations were owned by newspapers.
Of course, even if the reporters intentionally exaggerated the incident to some extent, it doesn't change the fact that they likely perceived the "War of the Worlds" incident as being bigger than it actually was.
By accepting as fact the fictional disaster of the public's delusions about radio, they have unknowingly created another grand lie, so to speak, 'fake news about fake news.'
- In the text

This phenomenon of monster stories of unknown authenticity spreading uncontrollably through the mass media is not something that is just a thing of the past.
Even today, fake news spreads faster and more widely through social media such as YouTube, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), although the media has changed.
Fake news, including monster stories, will inevitably be reproduced, as the more people click and share, the more advertising revenue there is.
In this way, the advancement of science and the growth of mass media since the Industrial Revolution have played a significant role in the formation and spread of monster rumors, and their aftereffects continue to influence modern society.


Imperialism, world wars, and the monsters of the 'science of discrimination'
The cruel darkness of a more monstrous era

The author does not overlook the prejudice and hatred hidden in many monster stories.
Because we cannot discuss monsters without examining what modern Western civilization has perceived as a "monster"—that is, as something unfamiliar, fearful, and alien.
For example, Carl Linnaeus suspected that the "white Negro" who appeared in London in 1758 might be the legendary caveman, and Georges Montandon, a French anthropologist steeped in racist ideology, tried to support his claims with photographs of an unknown ape taken in South America.
The two world wars, in which the darkness accumulated throughout modern history burst forth in its most tragic form, also had a profound influence on monster stories.
While imperialist ambitions and perverse patriotism each created new monsters, the horrors of war gave even the most outrageous monster stories an irresistible persuasiveness.
The author comments on how people in the 20th century were fooled by nonsensical stories like the 'Cottingley Fairy':
“In the aftermath of World War I, which was called ‘the war to end all wars,’ wounded and weary adults may have had to desperately believe that a fairytale-like world as beautiful as a child’s imagination existed not only in reality but also in reality.”

In this way, when science was reduced from a gilded pedestal of civilization to a tool of destruction, ethics and morality were trampled under the ideology that justified massacre, and war and the Great Depression devastated citizens' lives, and economic and psychological anxiety reached a peak, monsters went beyond mere imaginary beings and became metaphors symbolizing the dark side of the times.
At the end of these monster stories, which the author has pulled out of the darkness of modern history through extensive literature research, we naturally turn our attention to the darkness facing modern society.
What will the new monsters of the 21st century, born from threats like technological supremacy, climate disaster, ecological destruction, and the resurgence of fascism, look like? The twenty-nine ancient monster tales contained in "Modern Monster Hoaxes" serve as both a warning and a prophecy for the future.
No matter how much science and technology advance, monsters will never disappear unless we, as humans, fundamentally change.

The War of the Worlds was clearly the end of an era, though the world wasn't turned upside down overnight.
It was never going to happen that bizarre Martians would appear and threaten humanity in killing machines.
But changes and threats that were too difficult to even imagine were about to arrive at any moment, and news of them would pour into society at an unprecedented rate and with unprecedented mercilessness.
The broadcast on October 30, 1938, was merely a preview.
At the end of the long modern era, when all sorts of monsters swarmed in the shadow of scientific and technological advancement, a new world, the modern era, was finally approaching.
- In the text
? The author's autograph is included on the cover.