What Are The Monsters & What Do They Want?

The monsters of From are still something of an enigma, but the show has provided several clues to their identity and the nature of the town.

Summary

• The monsters in From are central to the show's underlying themes and are meant to embody societal anxieties.
• The monsters in From can disguise themselves as humans, revealing their monstrosity right before they kill.
• The mysterious symbol in From could be a clue to understanding the monsters and their connection to the strange occurrences in the town.

Understanding what the monsters are in From is critical to unraveling the MGM+ series’ mystery, as the cryptic entities are central to the underlying themes of the hit MGM+ show. The unknown elements of the monster in any supernatural story like From must be well constructed and meaningful, as they are usually the prime metaphor for the horror story's theme. This makes examining From’s monsters all the more engaging after audiences were left with questions in seasons 1 and 2, as it was still unknown exactly what the monsters are.

From centers on a mysterious and nameless town in the U.S. and the people who become trapped within it. The first season introduces audiences to this town via the Matthews, a family who stumble into the town and meet its leader, Boyd Stevens (Harold Perrineau), who does his best to protect the people from the monsters who stalk the town at night. Keeping the monsters at bay is a challenge for the cast of From in seasons 1 and 2, however, as the monsters can disguise themselves as humans. Unraveling what the monsters in From are is one of the show's biggest mysteries, and there have already been some key details revealed.

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From's Mysterious Monsters Explained (& What They Could Be)

The Monsters From From Might Be Fae

The townspeople still haven't quite figured out what the monsters in From are, though they have figured out some key details that could provide clues to the creature's origins. In addition to the monster being held at bay by the talismans, the townspeople have also discovered that they only come out to hunt at night. They are intelligent and sometimes know far more about their prey than they should.

While the monsters in From also appear human, the creatures reveal their monstrosity right before they kill someone, and "sleep" in subterranean dungeons far below the town. As for their origins, Boyd and the townspeople have been able to deduce very little, save for the From creature’s connection to a mysterious, circular symbol with lines within it, and the fact that they seem to kill for sport and not sustenance.

The creatures’ uncannily human demeanor, monstrous transformation, and need to be let in make them seem somewhat like vampires. However, these same rules could also apply to some kind of fae creatures, where humans are seen as playthings and rules and deals are paramount. The magical elements of the town, including the faraway tree, the hallucinations and visions many residents have experienced, and Boyd’s blood curse also hint at a more supernatural answer than vampires, with the creatures potentially being demons or devils.

Why From's Monsters Only Kill Humans At Night

The Nocturnal Habits Of The From Monsters Draw Vampire Connections

Some of the rules the monsters in From follow offer several clues to their true identity, many of which have not yet been revealed. One of these rules is that the monsters only come out at night and typically enter the town from the woods. From a production standpoint, the creatures likely only come from the town at night because this creates a better rhythm for tension and release, and helps give the characters a framework to solve the mystery so that all their time isn’t taken up by hiding from the monsters. As well as this, tying the monsters to nighttime and the primordial woods plays on deeply archetypal human fears, adding to the creatures’ menace.

Narratively, the fact that the monsters of From arrive at night does add weight to the theory that the monsters are vampiric, even if they do not burn to ash in sunlight or are inhibited by running water. However, the town does mysteriously lack any version of the holy bible, which also could suggest that the monsters are vampiric or demonic. As another option, if Jim Matthews’ (Eion Bailey) theory is correct that the townspeople are being experimented on for fun, the nighttime release of the monsters could be part of the experiment, or perhaps the monsters have been modified to be hurt by sunlight on purpose.

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Why Humans Can't Escape The Town In From

The Monsters In From Are Only One Piece Of The Puzzle

Further complicating the mystery of the monsters plaguing the town in From is that the residents cannot leave once they enter. In a classic example of a spatial or temporal warp, the denizens of the town find that once they enter, all roads that should allow them to depart simply lead back to the main road. So far, walking into the woods has allowed the characters of From to make some progress in treading new ground, but not much.

Tabitha Matthews (Catalina Sandino Moreno) also discovered that the wires powering the homes lead to nowhere, further suggesting that the township is trapped in some in-between space divorced from the normal world. However, the season 2 finale saw Tabitha possibly escape from the town — or she might have died trying. That is a puzzle that From season 3 will need to answer.

All of this evidence could suggest that the town is stuck in a pocket universe or is located on a different plane of existence. This would support the idea of the monsters in From being fae, and explain why the talismans work so well if the townspeople have wandered into the world of faerie. As another option, there could be a psychic or hallucinatory effect on all the citizens that makes them think that they’re attempting to leave when they’re walking in circles. This theory is supported by the many demonstrations that something is influencing the characters’ minds in this place, as many of them have experienced hallucinations and visions.

What The Mysterious Symbol Means In From

The Symbol Is Key To Understanding The From Monsters

Along with the creatures and the strange isolation of the town in From, there's an odd symbol that recurs in the show several times. It looks something like a circle with several lines intersecting inside it and has appeared in the dungeons where the creatures sleep and in journals uncovered by the townspeople. While some of the cast are working to decode this symbol, it could be a critical clue, perhaps the sign of an occult society that is trapping the townspeople, or a strange logo of the entity experimenting on the cast.

Additionally, the mysterious symbol could be connected to the symbols of the talismans that protect the people. Perhaps it acts in contrast to the talismans, which include symbology that looks very similar to those in Norse mythology. In particular, the design of the talismans seems somewhat like the Norse Runic Compass, which symbolizes guidance, or the Norse Helm of Awe and Terror, which provides protection. If the mysterious symbol is meant to be a foil to the talismans, perhaps it is a variation on the symbol for chaos or the Roman symbol for Uranus, the titan tyrant.

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Who Is The Boy In White & Why Does He Help From's Characters?

The Mysterious Figure May Be Linked To The Monsters In From

Finally, one of the most compelling mysteries of From is the Boy in White who ushers Victor (Scott McCord) to safety. However, while he’s been a benign presence so far, the Boy in White still looks scary, making it possible that he’s not as good as he seems. This uncertainty about what kind of forces are at work in the town continues with some of the voices that seem to want to help.

It suggests that perhaps they, and the Boy in White, are ghosts who want to right some past wrong. Or he could be someone who’s cursed and wants to help the people avoid his fate. However, if the Boy in White is connected to the monsters in From, the link between them and the mysterious goings-on in the town has yet to be fully revealed.