October 2, 2006
Vampires and Spiders and Gargoyles … Oh My!
These professors just might know who – or what – goes bump in the night.
Meet the Modern Dracula
Popular literature, movies change bloodsucker’s image.
Meet the modern Dracula: Tall, svelte, eternally young. Draped in a swirling black cape; flashing teeth that could puncture aluminum cans.
He’s handsome, he’s practically immortal – and he has the option of transforming into a bat instead of dozing through the red-eye flights.
Throw in a bit of bad-boy glamour, and no wonder vampires are so alluring.
Yet these hunky hulks of midnight menace – while staples of Anne Rice novels and Hollywood blockbusters – are a far cry from the vampires that originally cropped up in eastern European folklore… or most classic western literature, for that matter.
“They are completely different creatures,” says Dr. Jennifer Sunseri, who teaches a Slavic folklore class that, in part, charts the vampire’s rise from village pariah to silver screen phenom. 
What Do Monsters Say About Society?
Dr. Brian McFadden, assistant professor of medieval literature, says monsters not only give people a good scare, but also reflect what a society fears most.
From the medieval fire-breathing dragons to hokey ’50s space invaders that try to conquer earth in paper-plate flying saucers, monsters serve as an important literary mechanism for societies to face their fears and anxieties, says Dr. Brian McFadden, a professor of medieval literature at Texas Tech.
While the fanciful dragon might not seem related to “The Blob” at first glance, McFadden says monsters allow members of a society to feel a banding together against a common evil. That’s why they’ve endured from the gorgons of Greek mythology to today’s zombies and aliens.
Gruesome Sculptures Filled Humble Role
Gargoyles giving you chills? Just picture them gargling.
They’re always up there, those monsters – leering down, wings unfurled, mouths agape, looking ready to pounce. But fear not: despite their posturing, gargoyles are little more than glorified rain gutters.
Few architectural elements are as chill-inducing as gargoyles – the demonic visages most often perched atop Gothic churches and castles.
The sculptures have so captured the collective imagination of Americans that they make regular appearances in movies (think Ghostbusters or the Crow), video games and comic books. They’ve even spawned a popular cartoon series.
Yet for all their snarling, gargoyles originally served a humble – and practical – role for churches looking to remind would-be sinners of the world’s evil while, at the same time, wicking water off rooftops, said Dr. Matthew Gallegos, an architectural historian at Texas Tech University.
Newly Discovered Bat Named for Donor
A new species of South American bat named after Ben E. Keith, founder of the food and beverage distribution corporation.
To say thanks for a $5 million donation, a Texas Tech University biologist has named a new species of South American bat after Ben E. Keith, founder of the food and beverage distribution corporation.
Dr. Robert Baker, Horn professor of biological sciences at TTU, said he decided to name the bat after Keith when his estate donated the money to build the Natural Science Research Laboratory wing at the Museum of Texas Tech University.
Fear-Seekers: Psychologist Explains Why Humans Enjoy Scary Stories, Movies
Why do we like to scare ourselves? A Texas Tech researcher gives us the psychology behind the scary movies we watch.
Some people love to watch spine-tingling tales of horror and suspense.
Others hate feeling the fear induced by a scary story.
But one thing is certain, says Dr. David Rudd, chairman of the Department of Psychology at Texas Tech University – only humans seek out this kind of excitement.
“We’re about the only living animals that enjoy this kind of an experience,” Rudd says. “It takes advanced cognitive processing. People like being scared because they enjoy the autonomic arousal and the associated safety of, say, a scary movie, because it gives them the rush without the risk.”
Dia De Los Muertos
A day acknowledging death becomes a celebration of life.
A skeleton, with shadowed eye sockets and sinister grin, hangs from the wall.
But unlike traditional Halloween decorations, this skeleton is not trying to scare. He is in fact a delightful participant in a colorful tableau that has been created for the Mexican celebration of Dia de los muertos.
The Day of the Dead, which occurs around Halloween, is a vibrant festival that joyously celebrates the deaths of family and friends, says Tina Fuentes, professor and interim director of the School of Art.
New Creepy-Crawly Identified by Texas Tech Researcher
Just in time for Halloween, a Texas Tech researcher has identified a new species of daddy longlegs from Alaska.
Arthropods, such as spiders, have always created both repulsion and fright in humans. But for James Colkendolpher, research associate at the Natural Science Research Laboratory, a new species of arthropod found in Alaska instilled not fear, but excitement and intrigue.
Colkendolpher says he received a specimen of the new species from Matthew Bowser, a biology graduate student from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Bowser found the daddy longlegs on top of a small mountain. The creature intrigued him because it was found in such a remote habitat and because of its unusual adaptation to the alpine environment.
Mexican Ghost Stories
La Llorona and other legends demonstrate the power of the oral tradition in Mexico.
The ghost of a woman, known as La Llorona, haunts the water at night, wailing and crying for her children that she killed.
A dead woman appears to her unfaithful husband or lover with the body of an owl, a symbol of evil in ancient stories.
The devil, in the shape of a handsome man, seduces the most beautiful woman daring to dance on Good Friday, but is discovered because he has the foot of a chicken or goat.
These legends and others represent the power the oral tradition has in Hispanic culture. Dr. Genero J. Perez, a professor of Hispanic Literature at Texas Tech University, uses these stories in his Mexican American Literature class.