15 of the most interesting female monsters in fiction

9. Shapeshifters

Janice Starling, for all that we might feel bad for her, was ultimately the cause of her own downfall. Yes, the societal pressures that pushed her into that situation were considerable. Janice deserves some sympathy, even though she turned into an insectoid monster with a penchant for murdering. At the end of the day, though, she could have done some soul-searching and decided that she was more than her culture’s expectations.

What about monsters that can’t help themselves? That’s where the real tragedy lies. If you’re born with your monstrousness as part of you, then there’s little you can do to help it. And if the people around you are scared of you? If they are viscerally unnerved and disgusted by the entire truth of you? Then, what could be worse?

Reserve your greatest pity, then, for Irena Dubrovna. In 1942’s Cat People, she is a Serbian fashion designer with a handsome, loving husband and a terrible secret. Long ago, the people from her home village supposedly turned to witchcraft and devil worship after being enslaved. When a king comes to liberate them, he is disgusted by their practices and tries to kill them all. A few — “the wisest and the most wicked” — escape.

Irena’s husband laughs at the legend. However, Irena really believes that she is descended from these evil shapeshifters. Even worse, it’s all tied up in her sexuality. Irena believes that anything more than the most innocent contact with her husband will turn her into a dangerous beast.

Her husband still laughs, but maybe he shouldn’t be so sure of himself. As much as horror movies and even real-life people like to dismiss “hysterical” women, it soon becomes clear that Irena has more animalistic power than he would like to admit.