This is my opinion. Read it as such.
Is it more then a little likely that some --many?-- of the older 'beast' stories (especially those in rural areas) could be the works of the
collective, scared mind of those close to the events?
To be more specific: Sometimes it is much easier to accept the incredible (it was a beast; killing about the country side) than reality (it was a man,
a sociopath, who has been killing in horrific ways).
Man seems to identify with those aspects of nature which compliment his view of himself. Man, it would also seem, tends to distance himself from that
which seems 'animal' within himself.
The many accounts which have man turning into beast and then commiting the act would only reinforce this idea. It wasn't man which commited
this evil act, rather, it was the beast that he became.
You can recognize the evil of men without recognizing the mind of man as the source of this evil.
An isolated community in the woods is like kindling for the fire when it comes to letting the collective mind run wild.
Just a thought.
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Or maybe I am just alone in that thought...
...damn.
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I can see the merit in your post. I think vampires, werewolves, etc. can be explained by this theory in a lot of cases.
If one sees a human being doing certain unfavorable things that a human shouldn't do then your mind can play tricks on you, just by the pure shock of
the situation. We're quick to create this fantasy world, because it's an easier way to explain things.
It's amazing how people can distort reality in so many ways. It wasn't that long ago that people with epilepsy were immediately dismissed as being
"possessed". Even though that is more of a lack of medical knowledge, it just shows how the collective can be influenced in those ways.
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