this was the first piece of horror fiction I really loved

the author uses humor to help set up the intense premise; the suspense builds consistently; and the ending is a twist that clearly inspired M. Night Shyamalan. you think I'm joking but I'm not. someone get me M. Night on the phone. I bet he admits it.

coming soon to HBO Max, looks like

it's absolutely a horror story. the reader is promised something scary, and that's what drives them forward. according to wiki, author Jon Stone wanted to write something that would inspire kids to read the whole book. also: it's the best-selling Sesame Street book, ever.

the story also, rather deftly, hinges upon that theme that Guillermo del Toro loves: that "monster" is not an innately bad word, although we always think it is. Also: I kinda love the wikipedia plot synopsis:

it's also a very philosophical story. the monster clearly cannot be Grover, the reader assumes, because Grover would certainly not be afraid of himself. or would he? and if he's the monster at the end, then it's all about self-discovery. Friedrich Nietzsche once said... (1/544)

one could also take it as a perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. by enticing the reader to the end of the book, Grover guarantees that there will be a monster there. does that make Grover deceptive? perhaps. he is a monster, after all.

all of this will be on the test.

another question: what does it say about Grover that he, a monster, is afraid of monsters? that's rhetorical. this thread kinda blew up. I think Grover's fear of other monsters echoes children's (sometimes) fear of other children. Or adults. I'm a writer, not a therapist.