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!

Oh hi hello!! Welcome to The Werewolf Within quest!! This is a quest dedicated to celebrating our favorite furry friend, the werewolf!!!

I want to share a bit of the history and lore of the werewolf because without it, this quest wouldn’t exist, let alone the Team Jacob vs Team Edward debate.

The werewolf has been around for many a full moon. While there is no single origin story, one of the oldest mentions comes from The Epic of Gilgamesh, which was written nearly 4000 years ago. We see the werewolf pop up in cultures all around the world, from Ancient Greek mythology (story of Lycaon in The Metamorphosis by Ovid) to Nordic mythology (story of Princess Signe in the Saga of the Volsungs). Cultures across the world have their own werewolf lore. For example, in Serbian cultures, it was believed that you become a werewolf if you drank water from the paw print of one (Hemlock Grove on Netflix features this).

With the advent of Christianity, the ancient beliefs and legends were rewritten as pagan and thus sinful. The werewolf had become something to be disapproved or denied, whether by blaming mental health or more likely demonic influences. The first use of the word “werewolf” actually comes from the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of King Cnut, written between 1020-1023. It was used symbolically to warn the clergy about those who threaten the congregation (werewolves).

A turning point in werewolf history came in the 1400s in Europe when the farming and agriculture started focusing heavily on sheep. What animal really likes sheep and also now has easy access to said sheep? Wolves!! Wolves became a massive threat to farmer’s livelihood and the economy. As the wolves became a bigger threat, fear of them grew and wolves became more monstrous in the eyes of the people, leading to the idea that the transformation into a werewolf became a Very Bad™️ thing.

Humans have always been terrible, especially if they didn’t like you and had zero reason other than baseless rumors. Thus began the Werewolf Trials in Europe which took place 200ish years before the Salem Witch Trials in the United States. There is a famous story about Peter Stumpp, who was accused of being a werewolf in Germany in 1589 and was executed alongside his daughter and mistress in a brutal way.

It was during the industrialization of the 19th century that the werewolf from being a real threat to something that lived in books. From there, the werewolf started appearing on the big screen and in mass media, and it has not gone away.

For this quest I put together a variety of books from across genres that center our canine friends (or enemies in some cases)!

We are starting the quest with 47 books from several genres! I will be creating a separate post for suggestions and recommendations and will have a public shelf where you can find considerations for upcoming additions to the quest! Note: a spot on the shelf is not a guaranteed spot on the quest.

Thank you for being here and joining The Pagebound Pack with me!!! Now, let’s go run under the full moon!!!

Hey y’all!

So I just finished Deacon King Kong and was reading the print and listening to the audio. The last few days I’ve been reading via print and have been tracking my pages, but when I check my stats the pages are empty but the minutes aren’t. How do I update this to reflect PAGES read and not minutes listened?

P.S. and yes I did indicate while updating my reading that I was reading PAGES and not hh:mm. Thank you!

Ezri, Eve, and Emmanuelle are so heartbreakingly relatable it’s shaking me to my core. I’m so used to white maybe queer characters in horror and I think that’s part of why I never flinch in those stories, but seeing these characters who grew up under the pressure of ‘black excellence’? Who have struggled with their mental health and gender identity? man. It is really getting me

I'm struggling with this. It's such a behemoth of a book that I don't know that I want to slog through it. Something will catch my interest every now and then but it's fleeting. 🫠 I hate being indecisive and especially hate when I am not crazy about highly rated books.