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Currently it's 'Women In Horror Month' so I'm going to delve into some of my favourite horror fiction that I've read recently.
Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste
Equal parts body horror and 'coming of age' story, Maidens follows protagonist Phoebe as the bodies of her best friend and other young girls begin to change. Fingernails turn to broken glass and exposed bones become like corroded metal.
The transformations soon become public knowledge luring tourists, onlookers and government agencies to Cleveland, Ohio. Kiste sets all of this against the summer of 1980 as Cleveland struggles to keep up in the name of progress. Derelict, decaying factories litter the landscape and the industry workforce exists on knife's edge. Into this maelstrom come the maidens and all of the problems they present.
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Sady Doyle
Doyle takes a look at depictions of women as 'monsters' throughout pop culture history from Lucy Westerna (Dracula) to the teen witches of The Craft.
It's an excellent cultural deep dive and analysis that also picks up on the way in which society is all too quick to frame women in a negative light, even blaming them for the actions of male monsters.
All the Fabulous Beats by Priya Sharma
The rest of this list is all short story collections. This first set by Sharma is one firmly entrenched in the horror genre but bringing in elements of fantasy, folklore and the fairy tale.
Sharma has a distinct terse style that nonetheless manages to give her stories emotional weight and even a slight air of sensuality. All of the stories here use horror to pry open the flaws in us all and peer into the resulting darkness.
Also, you will never look at a sunflower in the same way again, I promise you.
Sing your Sadness Deep by Laura Mauro
Go ahead and read the award nominated Sun Dogs. I'll wait.
Reader, every story in this collection is that good.
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez
Enriquez marries traditional gothic horror with elements of weird fiction and the very real horror of modern Argentina. Enriquez does not shy away from veering into the surreal, the fantastical or meeting the terrors of Argentina's military junta past head on. The result is a heady mix, a superb collection and something wholly unique.
She Said Destroy by Nadia Bulkin
Like Enriquez's collection, She Said Destroy takes elements of the weird and horrific and expertly welds it to recent history and geopolitics, this time with an emphasis on local myth, Indonesia and the brutality of colonisation.
Links
Think facial recognition systems designed by wholly commercial enterprises are terrifying as fuck? Then boy, do I got news for you. Meet Clearview AI.
"But without public scrutiny, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using Clearview in the past year, according to the company, which declined to provide a list. The computer code underlying its app, analyzed by The New York Times, includes programming language to pair it with augmented-reality glasses; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw. The tool could identify activists at a protest or an attractive stranger on the subway, revealing not just their names but where they lived, what they did and whom they knew."
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Vice confirms all you think you know about SUV owners.
"Car companies managed this remarkable feat because they ran—and continue to run—quite possibly the most sophisticated marketing operations on the planet. They knew what people really wanted: to project an image of selfish superiority. And then they sold it to them at a markup."
"Who has been buying SUVs since automakers turned them into family vehicles? They tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors or communities."
Amen.
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Mary Beth McAndrews has started a new column over at Bloody Disgusting entitled 'Through Her Eyes', covering the female gaze in modern horror.
The sophomore article on the hugely excellent Revenge is very worthy of your time.
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A short one this week. I'm off to get carried away by the loving arms of Storm Ciara, currently kicking seven shades of shit out of our already battered isle. See you in two!