The Forbidden Body: Sex, Horror, and the Religious Imagination

by Douglas E. Cowan

From creature features to indie horror flicks, find out what happens when sex, horror, and the religious imagination come together.

Throughout history, religion has attempted to control nothing so much as our bodies: what they are and what they mean; what we do with them, with whom, and under what circumstances; how they may be displayed―or, more commonly, how they must be hidden. Yet, we remain fascinated, obsessed even, by bodies that have left, or been forced out of, their “proper” place. The Forbidden Body examines how horror culture treats these bodies, exploring the dark spaces where sex and the sexual body come together with religious belief and tales of terror.

Taking a broad approach not limited to horror cinema or popular fiction, but embracing also literary horror, weird fiction, graphic storytelling, visual arts, and participative culture, Douglas E. Cowan explores how fears of bodies that are tainted, impure, or sexually deviant are made visible and reinforced through popular horror tropes. The volume challenges the reader to move beyond preconceived notions of religion in order to decipher the “religious imagination” at play in the scary stories we tell over and over again.

Cowan argues that stories of religious bodies “out of place” are so compelling because they force us to consider questions that religious belief cannot comfortably answer: Who are we? Where do we come from? Why do we suffer? And above all, do we matter? As illuminating as it is unsettling, The Forbidden Body offers a fascinating look at how and why we imagine bodies in all the wrong places.

Genres: Nonfiction, Horror

328 pages, Hardcover

Published May 17, 2022

Reviews

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Douglas Cowan is a name well known to those who study religion and horror. His most recent book (at the time of this writing), The Forbidden Body: Sex, Horror, and the Religious Imagination, is a fascinating journey through a cross-section of the horror genre, demonstrating how bodies both fuel this unusual connection and also become the victims of it. It’s not possible to cover all of horror in one book and much of horror doesn’t exist at the crossroads of sex and religion. But a lot of it does.

There’s so much in this book that it’s difficult to know where to begin. As my blog post on it (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) notes, the primary focus is on bodies, generally bodies out of place. This will take you from the Florida everglades of the late fifties through contemporary queer authors of weird fiction. There are stops with witches, with Lovecraft, and on Summerisle. There’s much to see at each stop.

Admittedly horror’s not everyone’s thing. One thing that Cowan demonstrates without a doubt is that it is an adult topic. The use of sex in horror isn’t always only prurient. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to articulate how all of this fits in its entirety, but The Forbidden Body is the best attempt at it I’ve ever read.

[Sofi Seuxf · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was very scared of horror stories and the like and i am slowly overcoming that after being stunnted by the catholic church during my upbringing (no, tea) and seeing all the themes come up whether through our own sexual lens, the church's, which informed a lot of the mania in thinking things (mostly women) are evil and should be contained (no, tea). i really liked this book, and even learned about lovecraft who i was warned about before but now i know.

[Coby Friesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly accessible scholarly work. Definitely enjoyed some chapters and bits over others. I do think he’s really onto something, I just found some of the references to be too obscure and arguments too drawn out. I do appreciate that there was a wide spread of references from very recent to far in the past. For someone who is interested in sex, horror and the religious imagination, there are definitely passages worth underlying and investigating.

[Marisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always a rare a delight to try a new author and find that they are someone with whom I find personal resonance, who I can trust to take me on a ride. In this case the ride is through the cultural landscape of fear, religion, and the arts. Cowan approaches popular culture with a refreshing amount of thoughtfulness and respect. Even as he deconstructs some of the weaknesses and incompleteness of religious (and academic) dogmas, he does not disparage or dismiss the thoughts, questions, and experiences that give rise to religious feelings and pursuits. Rather he invites us to think of them in wholeness with other aspects of our self-formation: the impulses of our bodies, and the pressures of our cultural influences. While I did lose the book's thread on occasion when Cowan devotes some chapters to responding to other academics whose work I have not read, I was always picked back up again effortlessly and folded into his flowing current of ideas and information. Reading this book felt so much like "coming home" that I very much look forward to investigating other examples of his work. From this book I have also compiled a huge list of supplemental reading, both fiction and nonfiction, that I also can't wait to explore. I highly recommend this read to anyone who feels they would find interest in the convergence of these particular topics, and who feel prepared to look at them with no small amount of unashamed directness.

[Kheya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listen. Maybe I’m just dense. The author is super passionate about this topic. If you want to take a (non-fiction) deep dive into the themes of theology and s*x in horror films/novels then this is certainly for you. I can accept that not all great works are for me and my tastes, and that doesn’t negate any hard work and brilliant analysis from the author. I think if I were more interested in this topic I’d like it more but it was mostly lost on me. I’m trying to branch out into different genres this year so I’m still happy I gave this one a shot!!!