When I studied the sex fantasies of thousands of Americans for my book Tell Me What You Want, I found that 33% of adults had fantasized about a monster or mythical creature before, such as a vampire, werewolf, or demon. Clearly, some people find monsters to be seriously sexy. So why is that? I have a two-part series for you on monstrous desire. In today’s show, we’re going to talk about who people’s biggest monster crushes are and explore the history of sexy monsters in the media. In the next episode, we’re going to get into the psychology behind attraction to monsters.

My guest is Ella Gallego, a researcher, writer, and the founder of the Monstrous Desire Study. The study examines the cultural history of erotic monsters around the globe and presents research data from over 2,200 respondents.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• What does it mean to be a “monster f*cker?”


• How long have people been attracted to monsters?


• Which specific monsters are people into?


• Why are monsters often depicted in the media in erotic ways?

You can check out Ella’s website to learn more about her work.

Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology.

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Thank you to our sponsors! 

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The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University has been a trusted source for scientific knowledge and research on critical issues in sexuality, gender, and reproduction for over 75 years. Learn about more research and upcoming events at kinseyinstitute.org or look for them on social media @kinseyinstitute.

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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.