"Monstro" is a short story by Junot Diaz in the science-fiction genre. The story gives a contemporary updating to the conventional tropes of the zombie apocalypse story. Diaz subverts the genre by making this end-of-the-world chronicle a coming-of-age story, as its unnamed narrator looks back on a fateful, lovestruck summer spent in the Dominican Republic when he was 19. Functioning as an allegory about the consequences of neglect of the planetary ecology and human community, "Monstro" also touches on themes of race and class, imperialism and colonialism, the decline of American influence, and science versus superstition.
