Revealing the Monster

The whole story has been building to this point. The protag has finally figured out how the kill the monster that has terrorized him for hundreds of pages. He rushes up the stairs and pulls the curtain back revealing the monster in all it's horrific glory for the first time. Except it's like the literary equivalent of a rubber spider on a fishing pole.

How can we prevent the monster from being a dud?

Do you have your protag in a state of paralysis so they can focus on each detail? Does the character just focus on one thing, say big sharp teeth, then react? Do you even draw back the curtain; like the Dad that wouldn't open the door in The Monkey's Paw?

One of the most effective monster reveals, for me, was the mansion demon in Wastelands - The Dark Tower 3. It began with the character in a state of paralysis, but the whole reveal happened over many many pages while a lot of action was occurring (and different POVs). The tension of all the other action carried the monster reveal very well.

Is that the secret? Should we strive to weave the reveal into everything else that's going on? What if it's a short story and you don't have all this other stuff that a novel would have?

Does anyone have a favorite reveal? I've read a lot of disappointing ones lately and I'm dying for something good.

The thing I took away from Danse, maybe I should give it another read, is that it's damned near impossible to hide the zipper on the rubber suit (or in other words, the reader saying "Oh, I can handle that!"). So if your audience sees the zipper - just try, try, try again. Which, I guess, is good advice but it's a bit of a letdown.

In Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, I've always been a bit disappointed that we never get to know exactly what happened there. On the other hand, in Matheson's Hell House I'm disappointed when we see Belasco and it's so easy for them to end it.

Perhaps I've just illustrated to myself why revealing the monster is such a difficult task.

Just a peek behind the curtain, or weaving the reveal into a high tension scene, may be the ideal for most stories.