High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Monster is an 1898 novella by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900). The story takes place in the small, fictional town of Whilomville, New York. An African-American coachman named Henry Johnson, who is employed by the town`s physician, Dr. Trescott, becomes horribly disfigured after he saves Trescott`s son from a fire. When Henry is branded a "monster" by the town`s residents, Trescott vows to shelter and care for him, resulting in his family`s exclusion from the community.