Discontinue If Death Ensues by Carol Gyzander and Anna Taborska

Book Review

Melody Bowles

This collection of feminist horror stories is beautifully presented in a metallic hardback with pink sprayed edges that makes it a stunning addition to the bookshelf. But this book is more than just its looks – the stories inside deliver spectacularly on the promise of feminist horror. The stories go to some dark places – rape, abuse, mutilation. So be prepared for that going in, if those topics are likely to be upsetting. There is a thoughtful warning about this in the front too.

Five award-winning authors contribute to the anthology – Cindy O’Quinn, Kyla Lee Ward, Anna Taborska and Carol Gyzander. Each section opens with a poem expressing frustration with the way society treats women. The stories vary from dark to comic to both. Being a feminist anthology, a couple of themes repeat, with the most common being, ‘What if women evolved biological defenses to fight back against rape?’ My favourite story in this vein is Glow: An Oral History. This is presented as a series of interviews which document a sudden onset of glowing in rich, powerful men. At first, this is seen as evidence of their superiority – until the truth is revealed. The format of this story and the central journalist character make for a very compelling read. That said, the pufferfish venom of Maleficium and toothed vaginas offered up in the brilliantly titled A(n)nus Horribilis also seem like they’d be pretty effective rape deterrents.

The other standout story for me, due to sheer wackiness and humour, is Wearing White Out of Season. Ada Lovelace invents time travel and takes Cleopatra and Marilyn Monroe to the future to see what’s in store for womankind. One section of this story takes place at an event in 2020 attended by one Kamala Harris, which felt strange to read given she is at time of writing running for president. A topical story reflecting on the past, present and future of feminism makes for a nice change of pace.

Read this if you’d like unique, exciting feminist horror. There is enough variation among the stories in format, length and tone that I think every horror fan will find something that speaks to them.