{"id":143,"date":"2026-10-07T11:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T11:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/?p=143"},"modified":"2026-10-27T12:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T12:10:59","slug":"body-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/2026\/10\/07\/body-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"Body-horror"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Outside of Week 2&#8217;s scaffolding focused on intention and experience, I would also like to research the <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">body-horror<\/mark> genre. I am set on using that as a framework for the player experience and it is my intention for the game to do something unique within this genre &#8211; I want to try achieving the same <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">emotional response<\/mark> body-horror tries to elicit through <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">non-organic material<\/mark>. It is at the heart of my idea and no matter how it is executed I would like that to be preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-slow-burn-horror wp-block-embed-slow-burn-horror\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"y2mmrasbWn\"><a href=\"https:\/\/slowburnhorror.com\/2023\/02\/17\/what-is-body-horror\/\">What is Body&nbsp;Horror?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cWhat is Body\u00a0Horror?\u201d \u2014 Slow Burn Horror\" src=\"https:\/\/slowburnhorror.com\/2023\/02\/17\/what-is-body-horror\/embed\/#?secret=nmtlprNKgV#?secret=y2mmrasbWn\" data-secret=\"y2mmrasbWn\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The above article was really great at giving me a variety of perspectives on how body horror can be used, what makes it tick and what it can represent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Generally, article author Shannon Lewis boils body horror down to two things: <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">change and relatability<\/mark>. Its essence is about transformation, and the emotional response people have comes from the thing being transformed. As she says, <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&#8220;<em>I<\/em> have a body and <em>I<\/em> know what it means to be afraid.&#8221;<\/mark> This combination of two core human experiences is what the genre hinges on to create impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">While there is plenty of discussion of how gore is so effective at doing this, there are also other factors that make body horror so compelling as a useful tool\/subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">I find the quote from scriptwriter Freddie Van Der Velde to be very relevant to my game idea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-border-color has-contrast-border-color has-accent-5-background-color has-background has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-width:2px\">\u201c[Body horror] finds its roots in our primal fear of the uncanny and from an internal, not external threat. This leads to an alienation of our own physical self&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s a very clear link here to my game&#8217;s core theme of <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">loss of self<\/mark>. There&#8217;s also plenty of <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">uncanny valley<\/mark>-based robot designs out there (most famously from the FNaF franchise but Scott Cawthon&#8217;s other works and other media in general can also provide me some good aesthetic inspiration) that I could draw from later down the line to elicit similar feelings of discomfort that would usually be achieved through organic material in this genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This article briefly touches on how body horror can sometimes veer into ableism. I had a similar concern with mine that with the <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">wrong execution<\/mark>, this game could very easily be interpreted as transphobic &#8211; I had toyed with the idea of playing as the mechanic rather than the robot, but having a character you created change themselves to do what makes them happy and for it to be presented as grotesque&#8230; you can see how it could be interpreted horribly. This thought was why I decided the robot should be the protagonist. This makes it easier to explicitly show that the robot <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">does not want<\/mark> to transform themselves, and explore the complex <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">dilemma<\/mark> of whether they really want to be accepted into the program if it means having to meet all these requirements. I think this should help dispel most of that potential misinterpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gender, body horror and robots<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yLxNN3_0Rxc?si=UA2VOJslWStOzafb\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/yLxNN3_0Rxc?si=UA2VOJslWStOzafb<\/a> (&#8220;I Saw the TV Glow and Gender as Body Horror&#8221;)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Robots as Trans Allegory\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zq3Ws-Zf26I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">I already spoke about avoiding misinterpretation. The first video I watched talked about how body-horror as an allegory for the trans experience is often used to represent puberty and the dysphoria it can cause for trans people. It is a forced, imposed transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">My game&#8217;s idea hinges on the fact that the <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">transformation<\/mark> of the main character&#8217;s body is a <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">choice<\/mark> they feel they have <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">no other choice<\/mark> but to make. It is a <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">price they feel they have to pay<\/mark>, not the thing they want. I want to make this distinction clear through the visual novel segments to avoid misinterpretation and support the horror of the transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The second video helped me understand why I gravitated to using a robot as an <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">allegory for gender identity<\/mark> (as a genderfluid individual myself). Robots are seen as artificial\/less than human and are reliant on others to appear real\/legitimate &#8211; both in the sense of gender affirming care (surgeries, binding, etc) and the need for validation from others to feel secure that others see you the way you do (use of desired pronouns and name).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Robots are often &#8220;othered&#8221; in media in a way which resonates with me, and there are plenty of examples of media where robots act with the goal of wanting to be taken seriously\/seen as equal. I feel this links to my game and the main character &#8211; the transformation of their body fundamentally changes who they are, as the desire to be seriously considered for the program (taken seriously, seen as equal to others) takes precedent over preserving their true self. It is a metaphor of the pain and horror of <mark style=\"background-color:#FFEE58\" class=\"has-inline-color\">changing oneself to conform and appease others<\/mark>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Outside of Week 2&#8217;s scaffolding focused on intention and experience, I would also like to research the body-horror genre. I am set on using that as a framework for the player experience and it is my intention for the game to do something unique within this genre &#8211; I want to try achieving the same [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yft1g25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}