The Monstrous Feminine

Our last pick for the doppelgängers theme is the 2019 film ‘Metamorphosis’, directed by Kim Hong-Sun. ✝️ There’s a lot to unpack here. We talk about the strange absence of Korean cultural signifiers in this film, and unpick some inconsistencies in the narrative. We then move on to discuss how this film uses doubles to explore the crisis of the family and to what effect. Finally, we praise the film...

Next up for our doppelgängers theme is Jordan Peele’s 2019 film ‘Us’. ✂️🐇🤝 We ask a lot of questions. Firstly, is Peele making a comment on charity in America with the ‘Hands Across America’ reference? Secondly, in what ways do wealth and class affect the Black American experience? Finally, how does this film work as an abolitionist narrative? The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music a...

NEW MONTH NEW THEME. This time it’s doppelgängers. To kick off one of our favourite horror themes, we're talking about Black Swan (2010), directed by Darren Aronofsky. 🩰🖤🦢 I won’t lie to you, a lot of this episode is us thirsting, but that’s only fitting for the Mila/Natalie sex scene that threw a whole generation into gay panic. But never fear, there is some critical analyses of the body horro...

BE MY VICTIM! This is our last episode of the month tackling lore in horror and we’ve chosen the much anticipated Candyman sequel. 🍬🐝 How does this sequel engage with the original film’s lore? Are some of the reviews being unfair? Is it possible for Black artists to exploit Black pain for white audiences? And finally, should this have just been a remake rather than a sequel? The Coven: Mila, Lou...

Welcome back to the podcast where horrible humans talk about horror. This week we are continuing our analysis of horror lore! 📚 Last week we talked about 'The Babadook', so we had to talk about his boyfriend Pennywise and the 'It' movie (2017). 🤡🎈 We start by confessing our love for Pennywise as a comedic agent of chaos. We then debate whether or not there is a place for children in horror - do...

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. We are now releasing weekly episodes under a monthly theme, and our theme for October is...horror lore! 📚 Of course we have to start with ‘The Babadook’ (2014) 🎩🏳️‍🌈, tackling the great ‘Is Babadook gay?’ debate. We then move on to discuss how this film works as an excellent metaphor for motherhood, depression and grief, as well as what lore means...

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. This month, our theme is found footage! 🎥 📺 We have questions. Firstly, how has found footage evolved over the years with different technology? What is it about the subgenre that people find so frightening? Are found footage protagonists always dislikable because they just won’t stop filming? What’s next for this genre? To prepare go find this foot...

Welcome back, coven! It’s hot girl summer, which means we gotta talk about summer horror! ☀️ 😎 In this episode, we focus on the brand new summer release on Netflix: the Fear Street Trilogy (2021) 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 ✩🦴. We talk about the queer representation and portrayal of female relationships, the gendered treatment and stigmatisation of magic throughout history, and the metaphorical exploration of d...

IT’S SHARK WEEK, BABY! To celebrate this cherished holiday, we discuss the epitome of true cinema: shark horror! 🦈 I won’t lie to you, this episode is chaos. First we regale you with some shark facts because we are first and foremost, academics. Next, we establish why shark movies get a sexism pass from us. We then examine shark horror in relation to castration anxiety and crises of masculinity....

Welcome to Season 2 of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast! To celebrate Pride month, we look at depictions of queerness in horror! 🏳️‍🌈 We cover a lot of ground in this episode. To start it off, we theorise why horror is appealing to queer audiences, and descend into ✨discourse✨ about pink-washing. We then move on to discuss why there is so much doppel-banging in queer horror. We also explore why t...

Welcome to the season finale of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast! In this episode, we reminisce about our first year as a coven, and discuss one of our foundational themes: the witch! 🧹 But we have a lot of questions. First of all, how do aesthetics affect depictions of magic and horror? What is the relationship between body horror and witchcraft? Why do witches in films always seem to centre their...

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. For this episode, we delve into one of the most classic horror subgenres: ZOMBIES! 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️ We start by spilling some piping hot tea about new-wave feminism. 🐸☕️ We then move on to discuss how the zombie genre works as a mode of capitalist critique. Finally, we debate the politics of immunity when race is involved. Prepare your brainz by watching...

Greetings, loved ones. Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. This episode is our Valentine’s Day special so we’re going to be talking all about love and romance in horror. 💋 We were equal parts amused and horrified by our selections this week. To begin with, does Mila need therapy for suggesting we watch glorified tentacle porn? Can bad wigs be responsible for a film’s failure? Why don’...

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. In this episode, we explore how virginity and female sexuality are manifested through body horror. Do your homework and watch 'Teeth' (2007) 🦈🌮, 'It Follows' (2014) 💦💀 and 'Raw' (2016) 🍖❤️. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Discu...

Happy Holidays! Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. In this Holiday special, we tackle some films set around Christmastime! 🎄🎁 We have a lot of thoughts. Firstly, is it scarier when the killer’s backstory remains unknown to the audience? Are we too harsh on films directed by women? And finally, what happens to horror when children become the villains? To prepare yourself, go watch th...

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. In this episode, the coven delves into teen horror — and boy, does it get messy. 💋 As we reflect on this subgenre, we find ourselves pondering: are the depictions of teenage girls ever realistic in these movies? Is the horror genre just an excuse to explore young queer fantasies? Has anyone else noticed that the “not like other girl” girl is…exactly...

Welcome to the Halloween special of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast! 🧙🏾‍♀️ To celebrate the spookiest day of the year, we have broken down the classic horror trope: Scream Queens 👑. Where did this trope come from? How does it change when it’s applied to a man? Or a deaf and nonverbal Scream Queen? Check out this episode to hear what we have to say! Before you listen, go watch the iconic ‘Hallowe...

Hello, my little lamb 🐑. Welcome back to ‘The Monstrous Feminine’ - the podcast where horrible humans talk about horror. This week, we’re delving into Tyia’s personal favourite brand of horror: cult horror. To begin with, what defines a cult? Next, is period blood the secret ingredient to any successful love potion? Finally, how does a matriarchal cult compare to a patriarchal one? Find out in th...

This week, The Monstrous Feminine Podcast is discussing a new subgenre of horror: desktop horror. Born from media horror and found-footage horror, these films take place on the computer screen via webcam and social media. 🖥 ⌨️ The witches have a lot of questions about this new horror category. For example, how accurate are the depictions of cyberbullying? Does the representation of women change in...

In this episode, we tackle the last of Barbara Creed’s female horror tropes: the monstrous womb. We want to know why the canon of womb-related horror is so white; why the image of a fertile woman is so limited; and why men are so concerned with regulating our bodies. We also descend into a full-blown argument about one of the films mentioned, so stay til the end for some tea. ☕️ To get clued up,...

In the latest episode of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast, the witches take a little break from the teachings of Barbara Creed to school us all on the history of Black representation in horror. ✊🏽 ✊🏾 ✊🏿 Black horror, or ‘Horror Noire’ as dubbed by Dr Robin R. Means Coleman, has evolved tremendously over the last century. But the journey has not been easy. From being portrayed as irredeemable m...

If you thought lockdown would stop us, you were sorely mistaken. The Monstrous Feminine Podcast is back (over Zoom) and better than ever! 😈 As May is the month for celebrating mothers, in Episode 2, the coven decided to explore the theme of "monstrous motherhood". Continuing with our countdown of Barbara Creed’s female horror tropes, we discussed her two classifications of malicious mums: the arc...

Congratulations — you’ve stumbled across our coven. 🧙‍♀️ Welcome. In this pilot episode, we discuss what exactly makes the women we see in horror films so "monstrous". Are the women actually the victim? If they are, how do they become the monster? Can they be both? We answer these questions using three tropes explored in the 1993 text of the same title by feminist film critic, Barbara Creed: the...