Women in Horror Month: Bad Girls of Horror

Heck yeah, it’s Women in Horror Month! I love women and I love horror so this month I’m going to be more excited than the time I thought I saw Charlie from Casualty in Sainsburys. And, to make things even more exciting, gentleman hero, The Mike, a fellow champion of the ladies, particularly the ladies who make horror great, is rallying his Midnight Warriors to share their Women in Horror Month posts and celebrations at his den of coolness From Midnight, With Love.

Yup, this is a good month, and to kick off the festivities here I’d like to pay tribute to a group of ladies I feel a special affinity for; those devilishly delectable dames we all know and love, The Bad Girls of Horror.


Baby Firefly, (Sheri Moon Zombie), House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Devil's Rejects (2005)

With her blonde hair and angelic face you may be forgiven for thinking that butter wouldn’t melt in this baby’s mouth, but you’d briefly live long enough to regret that abysmally bad call. Beneath that candy sweet exterior beats the heart of a cold, unrelenting killer who will giggle maniacally as she performs unspeakable acts of torture. She kills with the gleeful innocence of a child experimenting with the limits of her favourite Barbie’s plastic limbs and never for a second do thoughts of mercy or remorse occur to her. Demented, childishly psychotic and divinely white trash this hillbilly hellraiser is a brutal, beautiful addition to the bad girls of horror.


Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) Bride of Chucky (1998) and Seed of Chucky (2004)

*Whether in doll or human form don’t mess with Tiffany because Tiffany will take you down. Obsessive, single-minded, completely crazy, nothing is going to stop Tiffany getting what she wants. The lady may look blonde, curvy, sultry and cute, but under that immaculate made up façade Tiffany is taking no prisoners. As a woman I’m always supportive of women determinedly striving to get what they want, whether it’s education, a career or the love of a serial killer trapped in a doll’s body. Tiffany not only keeps up with Chucky every bloody step of the way, she also dresses better, is more creative, is unquestionably smarter than her male counterpart and has the voice of an angel.

*My abject apologies for shamefully just blatantly copying this bit from a recent post I did for The Mike for his '12 Days of Christmas' feature. It’s ghastly and lazy and I’m very sorry, but I love Tiff and wanted her in again and it seemed silly to rehash it. Please forgive me I’m horrid.

Julie Walker (Melinda Clarke) Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)

Like all the best stories Julie’s real bad girl story begins after she dies. Attempting to initiate sex on the back of a moving motorcycle is a bloody stupid thing to do and young Julie finds this out quite abruptly when she hits a tree at speed and dies on a grass verge. But, luckily for Julie her boyfriend Curt has access to Trioxin gas and is able to use it to re-animate her. Unfortunately it isn’t too long before Julie begins exhibiting the symptoms of her newly zombified state. As the pain of rigor mortis kicks in and the agonising desire for human flesh becomes apparent, Julie tackles the situation by becoming punk rock to the max. She discovers that the only way she can assuage her hunger is by scarifying her flesh and while Curt sleeps sweet Julie indulges in some DIY body modification carving up and piercing her flesh with glass, nails, blades and needles. It also turns out that driving a shard of glass through your hand and threading a leather strap weighted down by rock through the other can be very useful as it provides you with instant weaponry for hand to hand combat.

Julie Walker (deceased) is a hardcore ass kicking babe; she’s also a gorgeous redhead which definitely qualifies her for a place as one of horror’s baddest girls in my book.


Julia Cotton (Clare Higgins), Hellraiser (1987) and Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Although initially seemingly seduced and manipulated by Frank, Julia was always her own woman and her bloody journey sees her progress from beautiful dissatisfied housewife to vicious predator and ultimately queen of hell (not a hundred percent sure how that last bit happened though, admin error maybe).

In order to resurrect her foolhardy lover Frank, Julia embarks on a mission of seduction and murder luring lonely middle aged men with the promise of wild, uncomplicated sex only to beat their brains in with a hammer. Seriously not a lady to cross, or try and have sex with. Julia Cotton is one bad, bad girl, and later even skinless and sticky fresh from hell her sexual charms are still as potent

Like any self-respecting bad girl Julia Cotton is a slave to her id, her desire for forbidden physical pleasure sees her become a cold blooded killer and her lust for revenge sustains through hell and sees her rebirthed through the same bloody mattress that began the whole mess to begin with. Beautiful, deranged and deadly Julia Cotton is one hell of a killer dame.


Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) Lair of the White Worm (1988)

Mysterious, seductive and beautiful, Lady Sylvia Marsh is a skull stealing, Boy Scout bothering, snake worshipping, virgin sacrificing ball of hot, fanged bad assery.

When she’s not stalking about her rambling mansion sporting an array of fabulous outfits and exotic lingerie, smart, sassy noblewoman Lady S. is otherwise occupied in being the reincarnation of ancient snake god, Dionin’s high priestess, and plotting to bring about Dionin’s return by sacrificing Catherine Oxenberg of of Dynasty.

This lady is enigmatic, eccentric, sensuous, and a resplendent vision in thigh high boots, the fact that she’s also reptilian and can spit venom ten plus feet just adds to her bad charm.


Oh, yes, ladies, you are some wicked, wonderful, wild women who play by no one's rules but your own and I love you for that, however deranged and mental you may be.