Emily Zarka earned her doctorate in literature from Arizona State University where she currently serves as a faculty member and “official monster expert.” With expertise in the Gothic genre, horror, and monsters in literature and film, Zarka’s research looks at how human history can be read as monster history. Zarka is the creator, writer, and host of the popular YouTube series “Monstrum,” the flagship show on PBS’ Storied humanities channel. She also wrote and hosted a one-hour national broadcast documentary special for PBS entitled Exhumed: A History of Zombies, which aired in October 2020 and currently serves as co-host for the Storied “Fate & Fabled” series.