A spider's web or a feeding ground... What'd fit better for those than a butterfly's dream?

[He tilts his head and his mask enough to flash the barest glimmer of a melancholic smile.]

Why not both? Our emotions and souls might be eaten and our bodies sucked dry until not even brittle bones remain - and then our thoughts and memories may be recycled as statists to keep the illusion going for the next round of victims. That's what a smart monster might do.