âBody Horror,â as an official designation, is a term that comes from horror cinema but its literary origins can be traced back as far as Frankenstein. It is a trope that springs from primal fearsâfrom the knowledge of oneself as a physical object and the consciousness of painâand its roots wind through the Gothic, to the fin de siècle and the birth of science fiction. As a sub-genre, it broadly encompasses the concept of bodily violation, whether that be via mutilation, zombification, possession, or disease, but arguably one of its most pervasive themes is that of transformation. From Ovid to Cronenberg, transformation occupies an anxious corner in so much of film and literature that it more or less forms a tradition all its own. Folklore and myth are littered with metamorphosisâDaphne twisting into a bay tree, Alice in Wonderland with her Eat Meâs and Drink Meâsâand its impact is frequently an unsettling one. It is a fairy-tale punishment, a warning to naughty children, a reminder of the bodyâs unreliability.
[âŚ] I think that writing about women goes hand in hand with horror writing. The female body is a nexus of pain almost by design, but it is also potentially monstrousâan object traditionally subjugated, both for its presumed weakness and its perceived threat. The mutations and transformations of horror writing are uniquely qualified to evoke this: the difficulty and unreliability of the female body, its duality as an object both to be feared for and to fear.
When Daphne transforms into a bay tree, the moment is one of both horror and deliverance. She is no longer what she once was, but the metamorphosis frees her from the unwanted attention of Apollo. This duality of horror and emancipation sits, I think, at the core of female transformation. Within the horror genre (and arguably everywhere else), bodies read as female are always subject to pain, and to the threat of violation. Becoming something elseâa tree, a freak, a monsterâpreempts this pain and reduces the risk of harm. It may even, if the transformation is the right one, allow you to cause harm in return.
â Julia Armfield, âOn Body Horror and the Female Bodyâ
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