Though the term was coined in 1986, ‘body horror’ dates back to the beginnings of Gothic literature—Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818); Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)—and extends into contemporary fiction, film, and new media. From seminal works including David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986) to contemporary zombie films and portrayals of the digital-corporeal connection, as in the Unfriended franchise and Jane Schoenbrun’s recent I Saw the TV Glow, embodiment remains central to the horror genre. Mirroring the porousness of the body itself, the category evades compartmentalization and definition.
This special issue will contend with horror’s bodies in all their transgressive fluidity. We are open to essays exploring any texts that could broadly be considered ‘body horror,’ including fiction, film, and new media. We also welcome a variety of theoretical approaches and disciplinary methods. Lastly, since body horror is a global phenomenon, we hope to put together an issue that makes international connections.
Potential topics include (but are not limited to):
- medical experimentation
- shape-shifting/transformation
- cannibalism
- identity and embodiment
- disease
- biopolitics and necropolitics
- digital bodies
- posthumanism
- key directors (Cronenberg, Ducournau, Soska sisters, etc.)
- body horror and pornography
- New Extremity films
- pregnancy/reproduction
- environmental impacts on the body
- the role of camp and humor
- torture porn
Please send an abstract of no more than 500 words along with a brief bio to Elizabeth Erwin (ele210@lehigh.edu), Lauren Gilmore (ltg221@lehigh.edu), and Dawn Keetley (dek7@lehigh.edu) by August 18, 2024. We will select essays to include in the special issue within two-three weeks and notify everyone who submitted an abstract. Completed essays, which will be limited to 2,500 words, will be due by October 14, 2024, and should be written for a general audience. We welcome all questions and inquiries!
Horror Homeroom’s special issues consist of relatively short (2,500 word) well-researched articles that are written for general and academic audiences. They are carefully reviewed by the editors.
Check out our special issue archive here – and explore past issues!
Proposed timeline:
Abstracts due: August 18, 2024
Acceptances out: September 2, 2024
Essays due: October 14, 2024
Selected Bibliography:
Aldana Reyes, Xavier. 2014. Body Gothic: Corporeal Transgression in Contemporary Literature and Horror Film, University of Wales Press.
– – – . 2024. Contemporary Body Horror, forthcoming from Cambridge Elements.
Anderson, Jill E. 2023. “Her Body and Other Ghosts: Embodied Horror in the Works of Shirley Jackson and Carmen Maria Machado.” Monstrum 6 (2): 31-50.
Arnold, Sarah. 2013. Maternal Horror Film: Melodrama and Motherhood, Springer.
Brophy, Philip. 1986. “Horrality: The Textuality of the Contemporary Horror Film.” Screen 27 (1): 2–13.
Cruz, Ronald Allan Lopez. 2012. “Mutations and Metamorphoses: Body Horror is Biological Horror.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 40: 160–8.
Diffrient, David Scott. 2023. Body Genre: Anatomy of the Horror Film, University Press of Mississippi.
Folio, Jessica and Holly Luhnig, eds. 2014. Body Horror and Shapeshifting: A Multidisciplinary Exploration, Inter-Disciplinary Press.
Harrington, Erin. 2018. Women, Monstrosity, and Horror Film Gynaehorror, Routledge.
Huckvale, David. 2020. Terrors of the Flesh: The Philosophy of Body Horror in Film, McFarland.
Wasson, Sara. 2020. Transplantation Gothic: Tissue Transfers in Literature, Film, and Medicine, Manchester University Press.
Wald, Priscilla. 2008. Contagious: Cultures, Carriers and the Outbreak Narrative, Duke University Press.
Williams, Linda. 1991. “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess.” Film Quarterly 44 (4): 2–13.
