The common envelope phase is the "missing link" in binary stellar evolution channels leading to a wide range of monsters: Type Ia supernovae, binary black hole and neutron star mergers, X-ray binaries and cataclysmic variables, and more. "Failed" common envelopes
(mergers) create even more exotic creatures, such as blue stragglers and possibly Thorne-Zytkow objects. The physical complexity and short duration of this phase have challenged theorists and observers for fifty years. However, with modern computational tools and supercomputers on the one hand and the advent of large time-domain surveys on the other, we are beginning to glimpse the elusive creature and learn its habits. I will discuss what we have learned to date and hope to discover soon.