Some of the themes explored include: the intersection of horror, monstrosity and sexual difference the relationships between normative female (hetero)sexuality and the twin figures of the chaste virgin and the voracious vagina dentata embodiment and subjectivity in horror films about pregnancy and abortion reproductive technologies, monstrosity and 'mad science' the discursive construction and interrogation of monstrous motherhood and the relationships between menopause, menstruation, hagsploitation and 'abject barren' bodies in horror. This book offers an in-depth analysis of women in horror films through an exploration of 'gynaehorror': films concerned with all aspects of female reproductive horror, from reproductive and sexual organs, to virginity, pregnancy, birth, motherhood and finally to menopause. It is also a site of expression and exploration that leverages the narrative and aesthetic horrors of the reproductive, the maternal and the sexual to expose the underpinnings of the social, political and philosophical othering of women.

Horror is a space of entertainment and excitement, of terror and dread, and one that relishes the complexities that arise when boundaries-of taste, of bodies, of reason-are blurred and dismantled. It is presented here in its first-ever translation into English.Women, Monstrosity and Horror Film Women occupy a privileged place in horror film. Revolutionary at the time for its treatment of sexual harassment, abortion, single motherhood, and the 'New Woman,' 'Gilgi' remains a perceptive and beautifully constructed novel about one woman's path to maturity. But then she falls in love with Martin, a charming drifter, and leaves her job for domestic bliss-which turns out not to be all that blissful- and Gilgi finds herself pregnant and facing a number of moral dilemmas. Gilgi is a secretary in a hosiery firm, but she doesn't intend to stay there for long: she's disciplined and ambitious, taking language classes, saving up money to go abroad, and carefully avoiding both the pawing of her boss and any other prolonged romantic entanglements.

The story of a young woman trying to establish her independence in a society being overtaken by fascism, 'Gilgi' was not only a brave story, but revolutionary in its depiction of women's issues, at the same time that it was, simply, an absorbing and stirring tale of a dauntless spirit.

Irmgard Keun's first novel 'Gilgi 'was an overnight sensation upon its initial publication in Germany, selling thousands of copies, inspiring numerous imitators, and making Keun a household name-a reputation that was only heightened when, a few years later, Keun sued the Gestapo for blocking her royalties. The stirring, never-before-translated story of a single, pregnant, and wickedly nervy young secretary making her way through a Germany succumbing to the Nazis.

Gilgi, eine von uns by Irmgard Keun