Faith Freshwater

Blood belongs in horror movies

My printmaking project satirically aligns menstruation with visual motifs from the horror film genre. This series consists of four A3 prints bookending a large A1 poster, made from a mix of etching and risograph printing.

These prints aim to shock and entertain. I challenge why menstrual blood remains a taboo, whilst blood caused by violence is becoming increasingly accepted in the entertainment industry.

My work features recognisable female characters from 1960s to 1990s horror films – the titular Carrie, Sidney Prescott from Scream, Marion Crane from Psycho, Wendy Torrance from The Shining, and Laurie Strode from Halloween. For me, these films are fun classics with strong ties to gender. Women are the main targets of violence, but they’re also main characters. Whether as villains or as “final girls” or “survival girls”, women are an intrinsic part of the genre.

This artwork provokes a dialogue on how menstruation is presented (if it is at all) as shameful and horrifying and shows that women in pain are much more than wide-eyed hysterics.