The Horror of Having a Body

Living in a body can be sort of horrifying, on its own: the disgust of its natural processes, the terror of its unknown malfunctions, our lack of control over what is going to happen to it, often despite our best efforts, the fright of blood and viscera. And this is just normal life, to say nothing of the fantastical horror of metamorphosis, the grotesque transformations that can occur in fiction. In this seminar, we'll explore delicious examples of literary body horror, from the mundane to the outlandish, and learn how to incorporate this quintessentially human fear into our characters and our work.