Rick Yancey's The Monstrumologist is told from the perspective of an unnamed and mostly unknown narrator who finds the diaries of the main character of the novel, a young orphan named Will who is given shelter and food by the enigmatic Dr. Wathrope. Will's journals make it clear that his childhood was far from easy. In fact, he spent much of his childhood fearing for his life—but often because of humans, not the monsters who Dr. Wathrope spent his life studying and spending much of his time with.
Will's journal first recounts the day a grave robber barges into Dr. Wathrope's home late at night and hands the doctor a package that he claims has a monster inside it. Dr. Wathrope eagerly takes the package; the man gives him money for taking the package.
After looking inside the package, Dr. Wathrope determines that an Anthropophagi, or cannibal possessing profound strength, is inside. But the Anthropophagi is dead, having killed and partially digested a person prior to its death. Will vomits at this discovery—something which he frequently did while living with the enigmatic Dr. Wathrope.
Wathrope is perplexed because the Anthropophagi are not native to America and often plague other areas worldwide. He must discover where the monster came from and if it had infested other parts of America. To that end, Dr. Wathrope calls Erasmus for help. The two begin to search for more Anthropophagi in graveyards; if there are more out there, they will have to destroy them before it is too late. Eventually, Erasmus is killed by one of the Anthropophagi and Dr. Wathrope determines that there is a monster infestation.
Meanwhile, Will remains perplexed about Dr. Wathrope, his motivations, and how he gained his profound wealth. Eventually, Will and Dr. Wathrope enlist the help of a man named Varner, who they think will help them clear the town of Anthropophagi. Varner agrees and helps the two rid the town of the monsters because he feels responsible for the infestation.
The monsters wreak havoc on the town and its inhabitants, and Will, Dr. Wathrope, and Varner are initially powerless to do anything about it. Then, the trio enlists the help of a man named Kearns, who asks for money and total immunity. Dr. Wathrope quickly, but begrudgingly, agrees to Kearns' terms and they take on the monsters. Between the three men, they kill over thirty of the monsters, leaving Will to kill the alpha (after the death of the alpha, the rest of the monsters die), thus riding the town of the scourge. Varner, in turn, leaves the situation.
At its core, The Monstrumologist is primarily a story meant to entertain, shock, and horrify its readers. Yancey's novel is filled with intrigue, violence, suspense, spookiness, and strangeness. And the reviews of the book, most of which were positive, certainly reflected those characteristics: above all, readers were consistently entertained with the novel.
Although the novel is meant primarily for young adults, though, it is an exceptionally complex book about love and loss, facing hard times head-on with a good spirit, fighting hard to save a person's home, and kindness and compassion.
Tonally, Yancey's novel is very macabre. He creates this tone of the novel by using deliberate word choice. For instance, Yancey wrote that "He was covered head to toe in the blood-flecked goop, the smell of it more pungent than that of the rotting flesh upon the table." This deliberate word choice also creates atmosphere and mood in the novel, which adds to its already profound entertainment value.
