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Hell is a Teenage Girl: Yellowjackets and the Monstrous Feminine

Yellowjackets is a smart, layered show in which a team of elite high school soccer players survives a plane crash in the deep woods of Ontario in 1996, then follows them today, twenty-five years later, as they continue to piece their lives back together. It plays with a number of genres, including horror, teen dramas…

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Horror Movies for Feminists: Candyman (1992)

Synopsis: A pair of grad students, Helen and Bernadette, are writing a paper on urban legends. Thanks to a tip, they explore the famed Cabrini-Green public housing development in Chicago on a hunt to find out more about “Candyman”, the ghost of an artist and son of a slave who was murdered on that land…

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Horror Movies for Feminists: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Synopsis: Ana misses an emergency news bulletin one night, and wakes up the next morning to discover her world has been eclipsed by the zombie apocalypse. She and a scrappy band of survivors retreat to a suburban shopping mall where they battle zombies – and each other – in their quest to resist the zombie…

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Horror Movies for Feminists: Day of the Dead (1985)

This series on “horror for feminists” looks at the horror movie canon and argues for the need for contemporary feminist storytelling in the horror genre.

Horror Movies for Feminists: The Shining (1980)

This grand haunted hotel is an extended metaphor for the writer’s own alcoholism and domestic violence.

Horror Movies for Feminists: Alien (1979)

This series on “horror for feminists” looks at the horror movie canon and argues for the need for contemporary feminist storytelling in the horror genre.

Horror Movies for Feminists: Halloween (1978)

Only “good girls” like smart, chaste Laurie prevail.

Horror Movies for Feminists: Carrie (1976)

Fear of the teenage girl is expressed over and over again in horror movies, fear of their unruly bodies, their explosive anger, insatiable appetites for consumption, resistance (or adherence) to control, and their perceived power over parents and strangers.