Hair Horror with L. Marie Wood

Romancing the Gothic is an independent online education project run by Dr Sam Hirst which offers a range of classes, courses and groups

Romancing the Gothic

Romancing the Gothic is run entirely on donations so if you can support the speaker and do not already support the project through patreon or ko-fi, please choose the 'pay what you can' ticket option. The recommended donation is £1-10.If you attend regularly, you can support the project on patreon here (and get all the links monthly!) - https://www.patreon.com/romancingthegothic The body horror subgenre deals with the terrors of the body. Often this imagery is shown in the form of mutation and deformation and usually leans toward the extreme, as I am sure your memory of late-night B-movie watching can attest. But there is a truth that the physical brings to the subgenre that cannot be ignored, something that makes the audience cringe and move away while their eyes remain trained on the thing that is pulsating, the thing that is morphing, the thing that is ripping through sinews and muscle fibers, pressing, cutting, tearing at smooth skin from within to get at the outside air. It is here where the concept of hair and what it means to women and men alike can be investigated, put on display, and challenged.Hair adorning and their respective histories can be found in many cultures as can the perceptions and rules surrounding what is deemed as proper. Consider that many Asian cultures favor straight, neat hair; that Muslim women are expected to cover their hair to show modesty; that African American women wearing natural hairstyles to work is still a topic of discussion.Think about the Japanese onryō whose long, unkempt hair hangs loose in front of her face, a stringy web of dark strands, until her ghostly countenance is revealed. Think about the meaning here, the truth that is perpetuated in this visual. The onryō is a ghost out for revenge—but for what? Made popular in mainstream cinema by heart-stilling characters like Sadako from The Ring and Kayako from Juon, the hair that covered their faces became as frightening as their crawling approach and the sounds that spilled from their ruined throats, but only a cursory address was given to why these souls remained in a state of unrest. These women were feared even though their backstories spoke of abuse, torment, and murder. These images-the ones where something terrifying lives behind dirty strands-they are the ones that stick with us, not the plight that set her appearance in motion. The tradition of terrifying hair is continued with Exte: Hair Extensions which has the stolen hair of murdered women act as a homing beacon, calling the ghost who is in search of its retrieval, and the later release Ekusute, which explores the idea of hair as parasite, the hair growing wild inside a human husk: the body of a slain woman. In these examples can be seen the patriarchal importance of hair by making much of the horror of the converse.But what about when the hair is coveted?

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Hair Horror with L. Marie Wood

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