Home » Posts tagged "Women in Horror Month" (Page 8)

Women in Horror Month: Not Just Plot Devices

The cast of Wayward Sisters

 

Considering that Supernatural is a show that’s basically drenched in white toxic masculinity, it actually has some really awesome, kick-butt female characters, and because the fans demanded it, it looks like they’re getting their own spinoff show, Wayward Sisters . The recent backdoor pilot, though, apparently brought along its share of tired tropes centering men, especially the ever popular one of using a woman’s death, mutilation, or violation as a plot device and motivation for a male character to do his (usually violent and heroic) thing, according to The Mary Sue . This trope actually is common enough that it has a name: “Women in Refrigerators”. Before I even knew what it was called, I LOATHED this trope, which is the basis for pretty much everything that happens in The Crow. In this case, the women who were “fridged” also got to embody another trope: that of the black woman willing to carry on to support the talents of a white main character. On a show that’s supposed to celebrate women, and even had some diversity in its casting, a woman of color was killed off to advance the plot, for the Winchester brothers. In addition to representation in casting, I’m thinking some diversity in screenwriters is in order.

This trope is so tired and so vomit-inducing that someone has finally created an award to be given to a thriller that manages to get through its plot to the end without a women getting beaten, stalked, killed, raped, or sexually exploited, called the Staunch Prize. I can’t think of too many candidates that will qualify. Even my favorite tough-woman detective, V.I. Warshawski (yes, I’m old), gets beaten and stalked. You go after the bad guys, you fight injustice, and chances are there’s going to be some kind of violence or threat in your future. These days, all you have to do is tweet something someone doesn’t like to have death threats shower down on you. So I don’t know how many entrants the sponsor of the prize will actually find, but it says a lot that she is so damn tired of reading about violence against women used as a plot device that she would actually shell out hard, cold, cash to read a suspenseful book that doesn’t have it. We are not plot devices, and those of you writing horror who don’t already know this should know that leaning on women in refrigerators to drive your plot is lazy and disrespectful.

As you are thinking about and reading about women in horror this month (or writing about women in your own horror fiction) consider this: there are many, many, women writers and women writers of color who are writing horror fiction and poetry, from Linda Addison to Nnedi Okorafor, and including many who are unknown. I challenge you to seek them out this month and see what women, and especially women of color, are creating to scare the hell out of us.

 

Book Review: Pretty Deadly

Pretty Deadly, Volume 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by Emma Rios

Image Comics, 2014

ISBN: 9781607069621

Available: Paperback, Kindle & comixology ebook

The story begins with the skeletal Bunny and Butterfly introducing us to an unusual little girl named Sissy the Vulture Girl, and her guardian, old man Fox. Sissy and Fox travel to different towns reciting the “The Song of Deathface Ginny”. which tells the story of The Mason, the love for his wife Beauty, and the tragedy that awaits her due to his carelessness with her. We learn through the tale that Deathface Ginny’s skills as gunslinger and sabre wielder are legendary, and that if she is set free, death awaits those who cross her path. As the book progresses, Sissy discovers there is much more to the story.

The artwork in this volume is absolutely gorgeous. The backgrounds are vast landscapes with the colours changing to illustrate where the action is taking place. The characters are uniquely rendered.

The storytelling is disjointed and there is a lot of information the reader gets in this first volume, but this method of storytelling it fits the material well. If you like Preacher or gritty westerns with supernatural elements, this may be a good title for you to check out. In addition, if you are looking to read or highlight something for the next Women in Horror Month, February 2018, this is definitely a title you need to pick up. Deconnick and Rios are an amazing team of women creators in the comic horror genre. Highly recommended.

Volume 1 collects Pretty Deadly issues #1-5.

 

Contains: a little bit of blood, a little bit of sexual content, nudity

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Book Review: Yesternight by Cat Winters

Yesternight by Cat Winters

William Morrow Books, 2016

ISBN-13: 978-0062440860

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, Audible, Audio CD

 

In this age of instant gratification, the slow burn novel can be a tough sell for commercial audiences. Horror and suspense readers generally expect the action to move along, but fans of historical novels thankfully are used to this more measured pace, allowing the beauty of the setting to wash over them, building up and surrounding them.  Cat Winters strikes gold with Yesternight, a gem of a novel that straddles genres, and has emerged as one of 2016’s strongest efforts in all three genres.

 

Winters hit the scene running with the impressive Uninvited and Shadow of Blackbirds, writing for both adult and YA audiences. Yesternight leans more towards the adult crowd, fitting easily in the “new adult” genre, but could easily find favor with the high school crowd. It’s the perfect choice for a chilly day when you are trapped at home, looking for a good read.

 

Set in 1925 Oregon, Yesternight introduces us to Alice Lind, who has the unlikely role of being a female school psychologist, tasked with administering IQ tests to school children. At that time, a woman holding such a job was rare, and succeeding as a professional for the state which depended on providing services for needy students would have been definitely uncommon. Alice arrives and immediately finds a strange task– a seven year old girl who appears to be a mathematical genius, and may be the reincarnation of a woman who was murdered several years prior. Alice, caught between the opposing wishes of the girl’s separated parents, must find a way to solve the mystery of who little Janie O’Daire really is, opening up a dark secret within herself that may destroy who she is. Janie and Alice steal the show as they both struggle to find who they really are, both literally and figuratively, in a world that would rather keep women under the surface.

 

Gothic in nature, but simmering in its building of the characters, Yesternight is a complex tale with a serpentine plot. The many layers of the characters peel away, leaving the reader to delve into something much deeper, and more enjoyable, than expected. Recommended.

 

Contains: violence and gore.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms.