Cronenbergian horror fiction

[cjfenwick]

Being a fan of the ' body horror ' type work served up by the films of David Cronenberg, in particular his earlier works, I'd gotten to wondering whether or not anyone out there could possibly point me in the direction of similarly-themed horror fiction. The only book I've managed to find ( outside of simple Cronenberg novelisations ) is Kathe Koja's ' Skin ' but outside of this, I can't really find anything else that maps such specific grounds.

 

[Circus Cranium]

Are you talking psychological thriller, as in Videodrome, DNA type science thriller as in The Fly? Not sure what 'body horror' is.

If you liked Night Breed, might try reading the novel by Clive Barker 'Cabal' on which it's based.

 

[cjfenwick]

Just the kind of work where the human body erupts/attacks from within and necessitates a usually grotesque series of organic changes that alters the individual into some horrific new entity. Shinya Tsukamoto twin films map such territory ( Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo 2:Body Hammer ) as do the earlier Cronenbergs such as Shivers, The Brood and Videodrome to name but a few but what I'm really after now are works of fiction that deal with this sub-genre, that of ' Body Horror '. Have read ' Cabal'; good book but the main thrust of the narrative doesn't revolve as deeply around the BH as it does around racism and acceptance of others.

 

[polymorphikos]

The Shadow Over Innsmouth? It has mutants...

Is this of any use to you -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_horror
?

 

[Circus Cranium]

Mmmmmm, mutants.


I happen to be writing such a book right now. Huh, thought it was scifi, but maybe it's BODY HORROR!

 

[Foxbat]

Not exactly horror but (to me) it is 'Body Horror' - Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Well worth reading

 

[GOLLUM]

Not exactly horror but (to me) it is 'Body Horror' - Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Well worth reading

WOW now there's a classic tale. I too would like to recommend this book...

 

[ravenus]

Not likely this fits your need but I recall reading a story called A Mother of Monsters (Guy de Maupassant) about a woman who keeps giving birth to horribly deformed kids because she constantly reins in her belly during the pregnancies. Then she sells the deformed kids to freakshows, providing herself with a source of income.

A Mother of Monsters

 

[fungi from Yuggoth]

Arthur Machen's 'Novel of the White Powder' is a good candidate, I think. Pretty much the first of its type.