Fifth Annual Women in Horror Month - Forerunners

A year ago I learned that February was the month dedicated to celebrate women in the horror genre, particularly in literature horror writers (don't want to lose my readership to the old argument of horror not being considered "Literature"). I was thrilled with the idea, but too late to participate in any meaningful way. This year, however, I managed to get my act together and submit a flash fiction that The Sirens Call accepted and published as part of their issue #13, which features only women. I'll leave here a link to download the eZine, free of charge. You're welcome.

But back to the subject. I've also been reading related articles everywhere they pop and I have to say, it's a mixed bag. At best I found innumerable lists that pretend to highlight the best of the best, only to repeat the same well-known names. At worst these articles/blogs are downright patronizing. Men trying their best to be humble and bring recognition to the many contributions talented female writers have made to the genre; instead they come off sounding like: "C'mon guys, these gals deserve it. They may not understand horror like we do--because women can't do horrible things--but they kinda bring other cool scary stuff you haven't read before. I swear!"

It's sad really. Another sad trope is how often Mary Shelly is called "The Mother of Horror." While I love the romantic appeal of calling us Shelly's Daughters, what these people are doing in fact is erasing a century of female names from history. I'm here to correct that.

In other posts I've talked about Gothic literature being the origin of what would eventually be known as Horror. "The Castle of Oranto" by Horace Walpole was the first novel ever published that dealt with ghosts and the supernatural in a plot that aimed at terrifying the reader. Soon the critics deemed these kind of stories unworthy of educated minds. And then came Clara Reeve, whose novel "The Old English Baron" (1778) attempted to legitimize the genre by modernizing the style, eliminating the over temperamental characters and bringing rational thinking to the plot.

But my favorite of the True Mothers of Horror is Ann Radcliffe. She managed the impossible: To make the critics recognize that creepy plots could turn into Literary master pieces when apt writers were given the task. She introduced the brooding Gothic villain before Lord Byron (and the Byronic hero) was even born! She was so widely popular that imitators rose from every corner of the world. Better yet, she created a technique known as "The Explained Supernatural" where every apparent preternatural event in the story is finally explained by natural, man-made, or scientific events. Sounds familiar? All Scooby Doo lovers out there owe a big debt to a female horror writer born in 1764.

Mary Shelly wrote the most influential novel to modern lovers of the genre, that much is true, but she would've never achieved fame had there not been a Clara Reeve or an Ann Radcliffe. So the next time you hear someone going on about how the women of today are building on top of Shelly's shoulders, or how the horror genre is an "Old Boy's Club," I trust you will you tell them right.

Celebrate Women in Horror this February!
The Sirens Call Issue #13 - Women in Horror - Second Annual Edition.

Frankenstein, My Review

I finished reading this book a few months ago but hadn't been able to post my review before, caught up in work and all.

The first thing that comes to my mind is:  What a let down! I know, I'm sorry if you are a fan of the story but for me, it was hard to finish it. We all know the story:  Brilliant scientist gets obsessed with leaving his mark on the world and what bigger mark than eliminating death from scratch, right? He then dedicates half his life to mix and match body parts with liquids and electricity until he finally manages to accomplish his goal.

So far, so good. The style is a bit heavy on the rhetoric side but, hey, it's an 1818 book, so it kind of goes with the territory. The story is interesting and the characters relatable. Given that much of this section is told using the memories of a man who longs for the past tranquility and happiness, Shelly fails to convey that foggy, magical feeling memories tend to have. Instead, she gives way too much attention to the philosophy and morals behind Victor's actions. Gothic novels rely heavily on ambiance, and though the novel has clear traces of Gothic Style, it falls short from other great examples like Dracula, or Poe's work.

The second portion of the book I read out of sheer will power. There's no horror in this novel, at least not in the way every other Frankenstein lore and movies make you think. Most of the horror comes Victor Frankenstein himself in the form of cowardice that costs many lives.

When his monster wakes, the scientist feels horrified by his creation. Now he discovers how gross it is to have made it out of corpses. He has three options, either educate and study his monster to ensure humanity will only receive good from his creation, kill him in that same spot before the horrifying spawn becomes stronger, or run like a girl and try to forget this ever happened. Yeah, you guessed it. He runs.

Really, who can expect that running from your problems will make them vanish? What was Shelly thinking?! Anyways, the monster is forced to learn of his appearance by the reaction of others, is forced to feed himself, and becomes sad and angry against his father for abandoning him, and humanity for shunning him.

Shelly is clear in this section about the good naturedness of the creature when he first awakes, it is only after months of receiving bad treatment from others that he turns. So the monster is clearly for whom you feel and, at this point, is Victor who is the real monster.

I won't go on with details and ruin the novel for you but I'll go on to say that the other thing that didn't work for me is how, on the final section of the book, Shelly tries to revive our good feeling for Victor and make out of the creature the villain. You have to be very clear on how you want your readers to feel about your characters, or you have to be extremely skillful to change our minds midway. Mary Shelly is neither. The end I received with a celebratory sigh and swore never to open this book again.

If you enjoy classic literature, I wouldn't say skip it at all. It is a must read for those hard core fans of the horror genre, but don't expect it to be a horror in the modern sense. If you get easily annoyed by characters doing stupid illogical things, this might not be your cup of tea.