CLASS DESCRIPTION

Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror, is a sub-genre that blends seamlessly science fiction and horror. It is a style and type of storytelling distinct from gothic horror and supernatural fiction that has an emphasis on fears of the unknowable, the foreign other, and the incomprehensible rather than gore, blood, and guts. While Lovecraft's works lack positive and/or consistent female representation, and should be heavily criticised and approached with caution, the genre in his name does not always and has drifted away from its namesake figure to form its own identity. There are books, graphic novels, and films that have broken open the doors to include more female characters while embracing his horror characteristics to scare the pants off us all. One such example of this is the film Alien (1979). This film is Lovecraftian horror embracing not only a strong female protagonist who brilliantly survives to the end but a lot of elements of queerness and gender-bending are key aspects of its visuals including its legendary metamorphosizing creature, the Xenomorph. And these aspects were intentional, expressed by film writer, Dan O'Bannon, and subsequently by the artist of the Xenomorph and all its phases, H. R. Giger. These two, along with an amazing director and cast, offered up a film that actually scared the pants off the patriarchy! The evidence for this is how many of the feminist, queer, and gender-bending elements were erased in subsequent movies and replaced with very familiar stereotypes and constructions.

Monster movies like Alien are incredibly revealing about cultural fears and anxieties, and they often reflect clearly what patriarchal structures of power are unsettled by or do not want to talk about. Alien is very much apart of these discourses, it is a culturally significant film in several ways, and yet the aspects of its queerness and gender-bending do not get discussed nearly enough. Given that the genres of science fiction and horror (separate or combined) are sadly still very much male-dominated, highlighting how Lovecraftian horror can be feminist and queer hopefully is one step forward to changing things for the better by revealing all the possibilities that exist for writers, characters, and gooey monsters that lurk around our universe.

ABOUT OUR LECTURER

Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray (she/they) is a lecturer at King's University College for the Social Justice & Peace Studies department, the primary lecturer for the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies courses that are nested within this dept. She is also a longtime fan of Alien (and countless other horror and science fiction films and books and art), and has been immersed in research pertaining to it for nearly 2 decades.
 
INSTAGRAM: @iluvphilosophy
WEBSITE: https://www.kings.uwo.ca/academics/social-justice-and-peace-studies/faculty/

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This is a recording of a live session hosted by The Feminist Lecture Program in June 2025. The reading list for the class can be found alongside this rental.

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Happy watching!
FLP x