The Altered Self

By Xoic · Feb 3, 2024 · ·

  1. I hadn't heard of a sci-fi genre called The Altered Self before, or of Evolutionary Horror. And yet some of the most powerful books and movies I know of fit into one or both. I guess it's because I never really looked into sub-genres. But honestly, I don't think truly evolutionary horror would be frightening at all, since evolution takes like millions of years and affects, not you directly, but your very distant descendents. The reason these movies and stories are so intense is because it happens to the character him-or-her-self, not to their descendents. So technically it isn't evolution, but it is based on ideas about evolution. Sorry, I woudn't even nitpick about that, except that I needed a certain number of words to be able to post this.

Comments

  1. HemlockCordial
    I was hoping he'd bring up Altered States! Evolution is a guilty pleasure, too.

    Why hasn't this been considered a genre before? It is similar to body horror, but more specific. I'd also submit one of my favorites, The Day of Triffids, as including evolutionary horror elements, though the life form that is modified is not human-like or related to humans (it also inspired 28 Days Later). What is interesting is how the "evolutionary changes" affect social bonds (destroying trust, creating chaos when societal rules no longer apply, violating boundaries where people become 'hosts' or 'prey' or 'parasites' etc). That seems to be a thread through all of these films, as well.
      Xoic likes this.
  2. Xoic
    Lol, I posted this when I was only about halfway through watching the video, and didn't realize yet that the guy who made the video invented the genre. No wonder I had never heard of it!
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