Silence of the Lambs

“And When She Was Bad” is up at Nossa Morte!

This story was inspired by my A Cultural History of Japanese Monsters class and our constant discussions about the archetype of the monster, and the cultural role it plays.  As a horror movie fanatic and a feminist, the “final girl” – as I’ve written about before – is a character that’s always intrigued me.  I actually wrote an essay for the class about the strange bond between the monster and the final girl.  This story’s sort of the fictional culmination of that essay.  It’s also personal.  I’ve always felt a real sympathy, or at least empathy, for those final girls.  Have I mentioned that Clarice Starling is my personal heroine?  Well, now I have.

So though I hesitate to say that the final girl in “And When She Was Bad” is me… she may be an alternate universe version of me.

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen‘s “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” was the original prompt.  It comes highly recommended as not only insightful, but a good read.

Also, the fact that the nursery rhyme of the story’s title was my favorite nursery rhyme from a very early age probably says something about me:

there was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead

and when she was good, she was very, very good

and when she was bad, she was horrid.