You know who we're talking about. If you've ever seen anything that leans even a little into the horror genre, you've seen her. She's the sweet girl next door , who eschews teenage experimentation - no alcohol, no sex, definitely no drugs - desperately trying to outrun the serial killer at the end of a slasher flick. Her moral superiority might just be the thing that saves her. But she'll suffer first. Oh yes. Sound familiar? There have been lots of deconstructions of this trope and some excellent subversions, but you know how the dragons like to dissect things! This week, Jules and Madeleine take a stroll this this particular trope's path, tracing it from horror to thriller to crime to SFF. Like most tropes, it's not all bad although there's definitely some less savoury aspects to this one. Under the microscope this week - Alien, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and many more. Join us for a look at the gory origins of the Final Girl.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 392: An Awful Lot of Walking - Mastering Pacing in Speculative Fiction
Episode 391: Lost in the Woods - Tracing the Origins of Hansel and Gretel
Episode 390: Let the Games Begin - Why the Competition Trope is so Popular in Speculative Fiction
Episode 389: Beautiful Misery - The Hunger for the Afflicted Woman in Fiction
Episode 388: A Conflagration of Authors - AI, Audiobooks and Infringement
Episode 387: Complicated Runes and Ineffable Power - Hard Versus Soft Magic Systems in Speculative Fiction
Episode 386: The Art of Not Fitting In - A collection of Not Like the Other Girls Trope Observations
Episode 385: Both is Good - Examining Bisexual Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 384: Appearances Can be Deceiving - The Hidden Power of Modern Fairytales
Episode 383: Gaslit Magic and Immortal Monsters Hunters - Incorporating Strong Historical Elements in UF
Episode 382: Part of Your World - Tracing the Origins of The Little Mermaid
Episode 381: Hard Times in Magic & Logic - Examining the Parameters of Hard Scifi and fantasy
Episode 380: Will He Escape those Dastardedly Clutches - Why Cliffhangers Are a Bad Idea
Episode 379: Exuding Menace 101 - How to Create Menacing Villains
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
Episode 375: The Batcherlorette - Bookish Edition
Ep 374: Her Fatal Curiosity - Tracing the Origins of Bluebeard
Ep 373: Circe Morgana and Rosaline - The Problem with Feminist Retellings
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Voice of Mushfik
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
The Story of Mankind
Frankenstein
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends