welcome to the monstrous feminine! here, you’ll find visions of both monstrosity and womanhood deconstructed and haphazardly tacked back together again.

you can comment under this post to suggest works that you think would be a good fit for this quest. before you comment, though, here’s a little more information about how this quest was curated, and the research and intention behind it.

WHAT IS THE MONSTROUS FEMININE?

the phrase ‘monstrous feminine’ comes from barbara creed’s ‘the monstrous-feminine: film, feminism, psychoanalysis’. in creed’s hugely influential text, she interrogates the predominantly misogynistic portrayal of women in horror cinema, breaking the representation down into six categories: the archaic mother, the possessed monster, the monstrous womb, the vampire, the witch, the femme castratrice, and the castrating mother. the through-line? men finding monstrosity in how women fail to conform to gender expectations.

since the publication of the monstrous-feminine in 1993, the term has been reclaimed, by creed herself, along with countless others. where the monstrous-feminine was once representative of patriarchal and bio-essentialist notions of womanhood, it is now expansive and elastic, often strange, surprising, and queer.

NB: the monstrous-feminine was born of men reducing women to their perceived subservience and how well they performed femininity. there’s a tongue-in-cheek-ness to the term, as many monstrous feminine figures do not conform to these notion of femininity at all. monstrous feminine figures do not have to present as feminine.

WHY WERE THE BOOKS IN THIS QUEST CHOSEN?

the books in this quest use horror to redefine and reclaim the monstrous feminine. they are not just horror books featuring women; they use aesthetics of monstrosity in a way that challenges how women (and, in many cases, women of additional marginalisations) have historically been represented in horror and in life. sometimes this discussion around gender is at the forefront. in other places, it is subtler.

some of these books critique notions of monstrosity entirely, using visions of the monstrous feminine in a way that rejects the demonisation of experiences and characteristics that we don’t understand or relate to (e.g. our wives under the sea and the gilda stories).

in putting this quest together, i wanted to ask: what does it mean to be the monstrous feminine? who gets to reclaim the monstrous feminine, and who is forced into it? how can we use horror to redefine our relationships to gender, bodies, and desirability under patriarchy and cisheteronormativity?

WHAT IS THE SELECTION CRITERIA FOR NEW ADDITIONS?

• does this book contribute to a diversity of voices represented in the quest (i.e. is this a perspective that is over-represented?)
• is this book perpetuating misogynistic and bio-essentialist notions of womanhood, or does it challenge/subvert/reckon with these expectations?
• does this book tap into an interesting conversation, horror subgenre, style or thematic focus that isn’t already reflected in the list?
• there are many non-horror books featuring ‘monstrous women’, but that’s not what this quest is for - is this book effectively utilising elements of horror?

you’ll also notice that there are a decent amount of short story collections represented in this quest. some of the most famous monstrous-feminine figures have come from short stories, and i continue to believe that some of the most exciting work within this space is happening in short fiction. short story collections have been chosen based on the basis that the majority of short stories in the collection are monstrous-feminine texts. please don’t suggest short story collections that do not meet this criteria.

feel free to ask any questions, otherwise: let’s get monstrous!