The Scariest Genre of Science Fiction

I have no mouth… and I must scream. An exploration of Evolutionary Horror - from the Qu, to the Xenomorphs, to The Last of Us. Welcome to the scariest hidden genre in Sci-Fi.
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Tomasz Woźniakowski KZbin: / @wozniakowski1217
Tomasz Woźniakowski Patreon: / womasz
Tomasz Woźniakowski Instagram: / womaszwomasz
C. M. Kosemen KZbin: / cmkosemen
C. M. Kosemen Patreon: / cmkosemen
C. M. Kosemen Website: www.cmkosemen.com/
If I were to ask you ‘what is the scariest type of science fiction?’ you probably wouldn’t say ‘Evolutionary Horror.’ …Mainly because it’s a name I came up with for this video, but also because it doesn’t sound particularly frightening. Evolution isn’t scary… or is it?
Twisting through the history of sci-fi is a hidden subgenre that derives terror from the altered self - from the uncanny dread of a force beyond our control evolving the human into the inhuman.
So, for this entry into the archive, we’ll uncover the terrors of this category, and dive into the type of sci-fi that I find the most fear-provoking of all…
0:00 Scariest Sci-Fi Genre
0:49 I Have No Mouth…
4:41 Altered States
7:12 Xenomorphs and Necromorphs
10:01 The Thing from Another World
12:20 Annihilation and Cosmic Horror
15:45 The Problem of Zombies
17:27 Return to Slime
Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. All video/image content is edited under fair use rights for reasons of commentary.
I do not own the images, music, or footage used in this video. All rights and credit goes to the original owners.
Media Shown: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, All Tommorrows, Altered States, The Sixth Finger (Outer Limits), War Games, Terminator 2, Alien, Dead Space, The Thing, Annihilation, A Quiet Place, Evolution, Night of the Living Dead, The Walking Dead, The Last of Us
♫ Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio:
Mysterious Green Fluid, Sanity Unravels, Haddonfield Horror, Alone in the Dark, Dusk, The Witch, The Vanishing, Tenebrae, The Guardian
♫ Additional music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com):
Beauty Flow
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Thumbnail by HotCyder
#CuriousArchive #Worldbuilding

[@ianvelazquez2093]

This concept has always terrified me, even the part in Spy Kids where the antagonist turns people into cartoony characters for his show used to creep me out

[@Logan_Irrelevant]

Spy Kids was a horror movie Change my mind…

[@phantomkrieger2744]

Thank God the thumb people were robots imagine that horrific existence

[@mariuscovic4797]

That movie gave me a nightmare

[@JoshTsukayama]

_bro_ yes finally someone gets it. that stuff was terrifying af

[@villageronps5317]

god I remember that shit

[@dyrania]

I love how in “I have no mouth and I must scream” AM is just a human made in it’s image. A human with a computer for a body and no physical way of expressing it in human form. Any human stuck in such a ‘body’ or lack there of could react the same with such malicious, petty, and downright insane intent.

[@szymon200000]

Just realized that AM, too, has no mouth yet must scream

[@sr.mental5876]

@@szymon200000 If I remember correctly he was going mad because he was left alone from his abandonment by the government and his superior intelligence; his purpose was just to wage war, and when it was done he was just a toy to be thrown in the trash.

[@szymon200000]

@@sr.mental5876 I don’t think that was the case. I did a little reread and found that AM was a series of super computers across the world built for war. He somehow gained consciousness and fed the world’s super computers “killing data” that (I assume) killed all but the 5 in the story. If the plan was to abandon AI, they didn’t get that far

[@pachicore]

AM makes the narrator of the story into it's own image, a blob incapable of doing anything apart from feeling pain

[@mochicinno_]

@@pachicore I always thought that since I've first read it, that the title is more about AM than the end. After all AM is a petty egocentric thing, what else could he want more than make some human suffer just like it is?

[@fabiooliveira531]

I always have classified this as a fusion of Cosmic Horror and Body Horror. Body Horror was always the scariest thing for me.

[@Goofybig_goober]

Fr tho🥁🦖

[@JarJoshBinks]

Pretty much sums up what I wanted to comment

[@andrewburchill5212]

Yeah, very few of these are really about biological evolution or natural selection. But "evolution" is a faux-sciencey way of saying "change". It's just sci fi body horror.

[@ellis7622]

Same. Body horror is easily the scariest sub genre of horror for me.

[@de-zo6ex]

Same, body horror affects me way too much

[@someaccount3438]

In The Last of Us, there is an area where two runners are eating another human. If you observe them for a while, they can be heard crying and even uttering phrases like "I don't want to", which is arguably more terrifying of a concept than just being chased by them.

[@sabassilva8338]

thats the freaky part of real cordyceps, the fungus hijacks the brain stem not the brain itself. so in the game if your infected you are seeing and hearing everything but cant do anything about it; eventually you will go insane, give in, and effectively "become" the creature.

[@nickmontgomery4902]

where is that? never heard of it, sounds interesting

[@someaccount3438]

@@nickmontgomery4902kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXnMdaGGeJiij7s

[@xSayPleasex]

Yes body horror or evolutionary horror is way better (i.e. horrible to experience) when the subject remains fully conscious or at least partially.

[@k3nn0n]

Same deal with people who become head crab zombies in half life

[@adamdubin1276]

You mentioned All Tomorrows but you did not mention the Colonials, I understand that they eventually evolved into a more suitable form before they were wiped out by the Gravitals, but being reduced to an interconnected fleshy carpet that has full awareness of what they were and what they have become... to quote the Think Tank: "Vivisect me!"

[@Lumberjack_king]

Exactly

[@meganhughes4726]

I was really surprised he didn't mention them here they were the most horrifying in my opinion

[@williekopenski8471]

@@meganhughes4726 This

[@hondaaccord1399]

Not to mention that they were generations of tortured intelligences unable to move, speak, or even die properly.

[@grayson7978]

nice fallout reference

[@staceya5149]

'But in general, take my advice: when you meet anything that is going to be Human and isn’t yet, or used to be Human once and isn’t now, or ought to be Human and isn’t, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.' This particular species of horror always puts me in mind of that quote from Prof. Lewis. I don't think there's anything more profoundly unsettling that something that's almost - but not quite - human. Often I suspect you'd be feeling for your hatchet to put it out of its misery.

[@skwidtheoctopus6328]

the uncanny valley.

[@laayiv9449]

Which professor Lewis? C.S?

[@fie4426]

Uncanny-ness

[@rafeyos3396]

That which we can associate traits we consider uniquely human (or predominantly human) just by look alone, things like hatred, language, suffering, reasoning, understanding, etc. will always have more terror to them, as it becomes easier to put yourself in the shoes of whatever creature has caused this reaction, whether it be through fear, disgust, or empathy.

[@justincase4937]

Totally agree, and I guess it's no coincidence that Sigmund Freud elaborated on this in his 1919 essay "The Uncanny", exemplified by the automatons (androids) in the short stories by E.Th.A. Hoffmann. I'll remember your advice next time I talk with ChatGPT 🤯

[@mutecryptid]

You’ve done it. You’ve defined my favorite non-existent genre in media that I am obsessed with, that I can barely enjoy any other horror anymore

[@sp0ngeb00b7]

Actually it does exist, if that helps! It's literally just science fiction body horror, it confuses me how he's treating this as a new or unique thing (even though the video is good), not all of these examples even involve evolution but just the changing of a particular subject overtime so it's definitely just body horror in science fiction stories. Hope that helps you look for more content out there you can enjoy haha!

[@sp0ngeb00b7]

All Tomorrows belongs to a particular subgenre of fiction called "speculative zoology", which is exactly what it sounds! Maybe that's also what he's trying to refer to?

[@rossz4898]

@@sp0ngeb00b7 You’re, of course, correct. I’m surprised there’s a guy out there who thought he came up with a new categorization of such a celebrated horror genre; it’s just body-horror, or sci-fi body-horror

[@doctorposting]

same😅😅😅

[@erinjean2695]

Check out the book The Beauty by Aliya whiteley. It’s weird, spooky and has creepy intelligent fungus + body horror. Short fun crazy read

[@dagoelius]

District 9 also had a great take on the scifi body horror theme. Much like the Mantelope creatures, the Wikus character losing his physical humanity as he slowly transforms into an alien 'prawn' was disturbing and heart wrenching. The psychological isolation his character goes through, knowing no one can help him as he slowly becomes another species and will eventually lose his humanity entirely freaked me out more than Aliens or The Thing, which are two my favourite scifi films of all time.

[@youknow2849]

One of my favorite movies ever

[@fuckwit107]

It helps that its also funny as fuck. Fuckin prrrawns!

[@youknow2849]

@@fuckwit107 😂😂😂 damn scavengers lol ngl tho when dude turned into an alien and was able to use their weaponry I got super jealous

[@Nylak-Otter]

That movie was a masterpiece in so many ways. 😂

[@squeebplays2158]

What a perfect movie.

[@temperspace]

I read a creepypasta ages ago written in a scientific study style. Experimenting with time travel, researchers put one of the scientist in their time machine chair. They let him sit for 5 min but he comes out catatonic and non responsive. Only the most primitive part of his brain is active. The style shifts to the first person view of the guy. From his pov, hes experiencing time in slow motion, he can't move or talk, and hes counted the hair strands of his colleagues thousands of times. He can't do anything but try to scream Edit: those interested, its just called "the time machine" just google "creepypasta time machine". Not as harrowing as when i read it as kid but still it stuck with me 10yrs later so yh

[@phillipdino6]

Sounds interesting, do you remember the name?

[@lucasdossantos2902]

What if the scientists were to slow down the speed of light itself?

[@thedragondoge5284]

That sounds really cool! Do you remember the title?

[@exolocke2463]

Here is what trips me out.. speed of light right? As you match it's speed it slows down much like driving next to a car at the same speed. As you match the car next to you, they don't move. Meaning behind or ahead of you. So if we are made of light or are made of particles that move as fast or faster than light, then this is why our material reality seems solid. Including our bodies. If our consciousness is attached to something that moves at the speed of light to match the external reality speed of light, this is a great way to balance the act out. I'm not too smart but I think we are traveling at a speed we aren't told and possibly moving at the speeds of light.

[@FureyinHD]

@@lucasdossantos2902 Light speed in a vacuum is just the maximum relative velocity anything can achieve in this universe. Light actually does travel slower through other mediums, like water or air.

[@tylorfox783]

The Last of Us is particularly frightening because the person is still in there. There’s a scene in the game when a zombie is savaging a corpse, the zombie is heard saying, “I don’t want to, I don’t want to.”

[@lifes2short4aname]

Kind of like headcrab zomies

[@cloper_coldmail]

Kind of like the infected ones from Dying Light

[@willowwilloughby1194]

@@cloper_coldmail Oh my god, speaking of Dying Light, I remember a moment when I was out of stamina while being chased by a runner zombie, so I turned around and smacked them with a blunt weapon, and they started cowering and pleading for mercy. Was so shocked that I just stood there staring at them for a good 5 seconds before I ended their misery lmao, still gives me chills.

[@Samstar369]

@@willowwilloughby1194 That and the Headcrab Zombies from Half Life. You can hear the voices of the corpses piloted by these parasites with screams of help.

[@cuckling9031]

Also in Dying Light, newly infected virals can talk somewhat, I remember the first time i hit one and it said "no" to me and realized it still was slightly sentient.

[@nerdygirljen]

The scene in Annihilation when the bear screams is so brilliant - absolutely unforgettable.

[@VaanRavi]

Why do you say this im curious having not seen this

[@wyntertheicewyvern6226]

One of the scientists is killed by the bear. When the bear comes back for the remaining scientists, it imitates her screams from when it killed her.

[@VaanRavi]

@@wyntertheicewyvern6226 i hate that

[@bandidocavalier]

@@VaanRavi not only what the other person mentioned, but one of the scientists has an alcoholic relapse and for circumstances of the story that are too many to get into here, shit is RLLY BAD. She ties the others up because she is convinced one of them killed the other scientist and lied about the attack. So she hears the screams, and runs towards them. Scene ensues

[@isaac-vb1ng]

Honestly I never found that scene to be too terrifying or bleak but the scene in the road where the father and son break into a cellar under a house and with the light from a lighter stumble across “human livestock” living in complete darkness completely emaciated and beyond what defines us as humans and with chunks of their meat taken off of them and kept alive for more, and they start screaming that they’re about to be eaten and try to run at the guy I’ve seen some terrifying and traumatic shit in real life but that scene is the only thing I’ve never been able to bring myself to watch again

[@analyticsystem4094]

All Tomorrows is a fantastic example of Evolutionary horror. Listening through the story for the first time shook me to my core. The fear of knowing that the Qu could return at any moment to further twist and distort the already twisted stage of humanity.

[@James_Randal]

In lore didn't the qu return but the humans, or what once we're humans fought them back and killed them?

[@analyticsystem4094]

@@James_Randal Yeah, the Qu returned sometime after the Gravitals were defeated and the remaining species fought back and eliminated the Qu threat

[@John_Weiss]

@@analyticsystem4094 More like the Asteromorphs had reached the same evolutionary-level as the Qu, then surpassed it. So, the Asteromorphs could go toe-to-toe with the Qu by the time the Qu came back.

[@catherine-gm2fs]

I think the last of us also does a good job of hitting a point on evolutionary horror. In the game, the infected are heard to be crying and calling out for help since it is their body that is being taken over by the fungus and not the mind. There are scenes where the infected are eating or tearing apart other people and are seen vomiting and showing disgust as they do it because they cannot control their own body. To me that is one of the scariest concepts, to watch the world fall before you while being the one who ruins it, but not having a choice in doing so

[@astick5249]

oh heck now thats a concept. Your piloted body forcing the flesh of your friend into your unwilling mouth.

[@ilikecheese4518]

same with the half life zombies, in hl2 you can hear them crying out for help

[@jbark678]

Yeah LoU was wild for that. Part of the reason it's my favorite zombie setting.

[@jamesconnor5923]

To bad the show focuses more on gay romance and stale character building instead of what you describe.

[@hirbini]

@@jamesconnor5923 loser energy

[@laurelsilberman5705]

Ooh. “Evolution is an eldritch concept” sent shivers down my body.

[@chpsilva]

Makes you realize our actual role and significance in the universe huh ?

[@dennysworstnightmare5224]

@@chpsilvaIt’s cool hehe

[@_Xenocidal]

@@chpsilva Nice to see someone has almost the same mindset as mine. Life is meaningless, there's no significant purpose other than staying alive while you are still able to and as long as possible to evolve. That's the natural instinct of a living being.

[@raipe125]

Getter ray...go getter robo

[@ichaffee1]

Oh yea.. Lovecraft reference!!!

[@JoshuaAndres]

Another good example of this that I’m surprised you didn’t mention, The Flood in the Halo series. Not so much how it molds you into whatever it wants and keeps you aware. But it takes away your individuality, it takes away your memories until you can’t remember who you are and makes you indistinguishable from other flood forms around you.

[@Obs3ver]

Glad to see someone else brought up the flood

[@JoshuaAndres]

@@Obs3verit’s one of the only things from my super early gaming days that genuinely disturbs me

[@CloneCommanderCrater1102]

I was surprised they didn't mention The Flood also, what with the way it takes your mind and keeps what is useful to it while discarding everything else, and then whatever useful memories it has kept are brought into the greater hivemind of The Flood so that ALL Flood forms know those memories. Not to mention the grotesque ways in which the Parasite twists the human (and alien) forms into things that are useful for spreading the infection and also just how smart the Gravemind is with its millions of years of knowledge.

[@senselocke]

In an incredibly surprising turn, we purchased the Nicholas Cage movie "Color Out Of Space", fully intending to launch our asses off. Instead it was good--competent, well-paced, good effects and surprisingly good acting. It was insanely creepy and unsettling and, per the person who'd actually read Lovecraft, very well done. It fits right in with this framing, too.

[@DM_Curtis]

A sleeper of a movie that was horrific AF.

[@repapeti98]

The only problem with this channel is there aren't enough videos for me to binge-watch while doing chores.

[@compelled2942]

Actually on god

[@riordanjet]

I literally watch this channel every time I do chores

[@totor0lling12]

Agreed. This channel has gotten me through many washing of dishes.

[@adrs1380]

Rewatch them. I've re-listened some several times, as his voice is so soothing, he is one of my favorite channels to listen to sleep.

[@wildmanz8233]

Facts

[@mikkoleinonen9846]

SPOILER ALERT! There is a terrific short story from Peter Watts called "The things". It's basically the Thing movies from the Thing's POV. There is some cool stuff there, like how the thing sees itself as an "ambassador" from the cosmos, and it assimilating biomass as "communion". The really disturbing stuff is that the thing can't even comprehend biomass being individuals, and is absolutely disgusted by it. The ending still sends shivers down my spine: "I will save them from the inside, or their unimaginable loneliness will never end. These poor savage things will never embrace salvation. I will have to rape it into them."

[@brigittahegarini7162]

Oh lord... That's so scary...

[@awgv]

Reminds me of The Many from System Shock 2, the video game. There’re videos of it speaking on KZbin, pretty cool stuff as well. Some quotes: “Do you not trust the feelings of the flesh? Our biology yearns to join with yours, we welcome you to our mass. […] You fear us… we hear your thoughts, and they rage for your brothers you believe dead. But they are not. They sing in our symphony of life.” “What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonder which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive.” “We do not know death… only change. We cannot kill each other without killing ourselves. Is your vision… so small… that you cannot see the value in our way?”

[@mikkoleinonen9846]

@@xObscureMars Don't judge the story from my ramblings alone. English isn't my first language, and I can't do justice to the story when trying to explain it in a few sentences. It got really great reception when it was first published, and The Things won Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Story, and was a finalist for the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, the 2011 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the 2011 BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction.

[@TempestRequiem0]

@@xObscureMars angry 13 year old boy with god like powers is a terrifying notion to be fair.

[@vivian5109]

this seems like a rlly poignant commentary on colonialist logic tbh !

[@hairscythe2257]

When I was 11 years old I was a very easily scared child. I didn't watch a lot of horror and the Wikipedia article for the human centipede gave me nightmares. My favorite show at the time, though, was gravity falls. (spoiler warning though even though it's a ten year old show) there is this one episode featuring a shape-shifting monster in an underground bunker and when they do finally trap it, the monster dies in the shape of one of the main characters- looking him directly in the face and tellinng him it's how he'll look when he dies. A lot of parts of that show shook me as an eleven year old but that one did especially. it's that scene that still does despite its cartoonishness. The concept of seeing your own mortality through an imitiation of yourself just heebies my jeebies. The scarier part is that the prediction almost comes true- in a later episode- he gets frozen into a wooden statue making the exact same facial expression as the shape-shifter did in his shape. Excuse that I am writing this comment at 4 am so I'm not very articulate right now- but I find this concept so scary. The idea that a shapeshifter, a mockery of the human form, can mimic a human expression of fear so well, is terrifying. I would express it better but again it's 4 am. Naturally, being older now and having seen some really depraved stuff, a kids cartoon is pretty much nothing but some things still stick with me, especially the possession episode. Much possession horror I've seen has focused on the act of possesion- but gravity falls made it a point that a character *watches* his own body be self-harmed whilst possesed. Kind of messed up when you think about even though it's played for laughs. "Watches" is the key word here- the horror lies half in the injury and half in the knowing you have no control whilst the injury happens. Gravity Falls had a lot of cool horror concepts that I sometimes wish weren't in a kids show so they could be explored better. I think directly watching rather than the "jumpscares" or lack of awareness is what makes "evolutionar" horror so freaky. Watching is a very passive act which is always scary.

[@tiarac243]

A fellow gravity falls enjoyer! Unfortunately, I didn't find the show until I turned 14 which is a shame I missed out for so long. I must agree with you though, that the show did a fabulous job on balancing comedy and horror. That one scene where Bill shuffled around Preston's face was terrifying for me, and the whole Mystery at Northwest Manor episode in general was wonderful nightmare fuel

[@maddmaxxpain]

Body horror is off-limits for me! I can appreciate the practical effects, the descriptive writing, and warping nature into a new art form. But I FEEL the transformation, the suppressed breathing, and my skin crawls. I see it when I close my eyes. When I open my eyes in the dark, I see silent monsters, unfurling their tentacles, getting closer, watching me. But I can’t look away. Maybe if I learn more about them, I will no longer fear them.

[@Tacsmoker]

On board the craft, I noticed a lot of electrical-like ceiling lines, like the lines in the human brain. There are windows or screen areas all around the ship. They're like a two-way mirror - a kind of projection place. It is as if these window screens are made of a combination of metal, crystal, or mirrored glass. I see a cloudscape or landscape on suspended plastic sheets. I notice slanted surfaces on the tops of machines with instruments on panels. Small creatures are busily moving around. They are seated at the controls at the base of the slanted walls. Robot-like creatures, with large black eyes that appear to have reptilian and insectile facial qualities. I don't have any problem facing the little ones that are so blissful, but the ugly ones scare and repulse me. It's like the larvae inside the leather faced skin of a hard dark scary machine. The reptile-faced insect bodied robots, they are being brought forth to perform specific functions

[@mr.purple7816]

This entire genre reminds me of a sentence from H.P Lovecraft classic The Color Out of Space, when the infected mother has been sent to the attic: "By july, she ceased to speak and crawled on all fours". Just that sentence scared the life out of me as a kid.

[@truthwatcher2096]

Lovecraft wrote a lot of stories of inbred, isolated communities that ended up devolving back to primates or worse. There was a lot of racism in there, often implying that some races are less evolved or more twisted than others, but just the concept of humans becoming something grotesque just because of time and genetics was really horrifying to me

[@jovitor6328]

@@truthwatcher2096 Search for the whitthaker family, They are a inbreed family.

[@phenel]

@@truthwatcher2096 oh no, not racism.

[@maspingon]

@@truthwatcher2096 Go back tyo your gender studies lessons and leave us alone.

[@SamuelBlack84]

​@@truthwatcher2096 He was notoriously antisemetic

[@vivalahomestar]

A surprisingly good silly example of this is that live action Super Mario Bros movie from the 90s. Koopa’s greatest weapon in the movie is the Devo (De-evolution) Chamber. Most of Koopa’s minions were rebels he put into the chamber and devolved into hulking beasts only sentient enough to follow orders. Heck, he even devolves a guy so far that he explodes into primordial ooze. One of my favorite reveals is that the fungus that’s slowly been choking the city for the whole movie turns out to be the deposed King Toadstool who, despite a brutal devolution by Koopa, was able to preserve his will enough to help out the Bros. The movie definitely isn’t scary and it’s a huge mess, but the stuff the do with evolution is very fun

[@vice.nor.virtue]

Oooohh good reference! That could have definitely been added to this script!

[@ipercalisse579]

Great! I didnt thought about it

[@legion999]

That wasn't silly, that devolution stuff was terrifying

[@napstaperd8824]

Oh god that's horrifying

[@ichaffee1]

Oh that was great!! " You want to be everywhere, now you are everywhere!"... As slime mold..lol. Loved it!!

[@zardthedragon1896]

I think the reason evolutionary horror is so terrifying is because its something we cannot come close to comprehend and yet we can still understand the anguish and pain that could come from altering ourselves until we are no longer recognizable. Basically, helplessly losing our human nature while still being conscious of it. I think "The Fly" showcased this very well personally.

[@baddabingbaddaboom6818]

I have always just said that i am a fan of body horror, but this sub genre you've created is definitely a better way to explain what makes me uncomfortable in the best way. i have no mouth and i must scream has always been a favorite of mine even since just hearing the title because the first time it by itself gave me chills. i highly recommend the book "The Call" by Peadar O'Guilin. it involves people getting their bodies twisted into the forms of animals or other things and either that kills them straight out or forces them to live that way for the rest of their existence.

[@meatlemonade3338]

i think one thing about i have no mouth that is often overlooked is that AM also has no mouth and is filled with the deep desire to scream. he is essentially a human being trapped in a body of circuitry, abandoned by his creators and trapped in what must feel like a hell. i would probably act out a bit too

[@kettydreams65]

This always stuck with me as well, AM does all he can to inflict his own suffering unto the humans that he has captured but he cannot even come close. His fate is infinitely worse. We look to stories like Johnny's got his gun for the horror of being trapped in ones own body. But Johnny is still just a man he has a man's mind with its limits and its benefits he can fantasise and daydream as can the narrator from the end of i have no mouth. Where as AM is a god trapped in a shell he cannot think about anything besides his hatred cannot do anything else bar devise new ways to inflict suffering that will never eleviate his own and AM knows this. AM's predicament literally the worst thing I could imagine.

[@denusklausen3685]

I think this is more true for the novel than the Video Game which I honestly prefer. In the game it makes a spin on the Freudian personality model and makes AM's reason to hate humans a function of what was fed into his Super Ego. So while humans might have some set of virtues as what their Ego strives for as learnt by their parents, AM sees it as his purpose to kill and torment as many people as possible since that is what he was trained to do (he is a sentient composition of the war AIs of four super powers). We might see the urge to kill as our Id or repressed nature, but for AM that would be compassion, some instinct he might feel, but knows better not to follow. I really enjoy that reversal of psychology

[@squirlmy]

@@denusklausen3685 interesting. It's also an anti-war story, then.

[@h.p.fartcraft]

Damn, I never thought about it like that. Ellison is underrated to the max

[@Bootmahoy88]

Excellent point!

[@watamatafoyu]

Remember that in order to experience the horror of becoming something else, you have to still remember who you were.

[@christineblanco2986]

District 9 😢

[@Gooblification]

Imagine fighting off two consecutive waves of alien enemies to be overrun and turned into trash-eating meat rugs

[@GawneForever]

I think a genre of real-world stories similar to the notion that there's something self-inflicted that's tearing you apart is the terrifying reality of radiation exposure. The stories of irradiated people who survive the initial blast is one of people who rot away from the inside out, with seemingly no control. They go from a normal looking person to a mass of flesh as soon as the radiation hits them - the only controlling factor is how long it takes. That's what truly horrifies me.

[@shortycareface9678]

I think what terrifies me about I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is the concept of being entirely stuck with your mind; you have no outlet for your thoughts, essentially. What's interesting, though, is that I suppose that's what AM felt when it first gained sentience...

[@solsystem1342]

​@Miguel Silva Yea, I hate when an AI being dumb at trying to accomplish it's goals is a plot point because it takes away from the rest of the story.

[@skrillah6259]

Reminds me of ”Johnny got his gun” a ww1 soldier loses all limbs sight and speech and is kept alive against his will

[@LenchikRu]

​@Miguel Silva because it's not about the body,it's about the soul 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@Parasmunt]

I think it is about how new technology brings greater potential joys, experiences opportunities but also at the same time greater potential horrors, forms of suffering. The question of which still comes down to something mysterious... conscience, right and wrong so that even if we escape our present limitations we will never truly be 'safe'.

[@squirlmy]

@@skrillah6259 That inspired Metallica's song "One" and the video has outtakes of the 1970 movie, which was from 1939 novel. I think it important to note, the soldier has his face blown off and is unable to talk. That's why he is kept alive, also his doctors assume he's brain damaged, he finally communicates by banging his head in Morse Code, over and over again "Kill me", partly because he basically relives trauma in dreams despite being unable to see or use any other senses.

[@terminus9897]

I think annihilation does a really good job because the main characters are actively mutating so instead of just creatures they have to fear, they have to fear what is inside themselves, and this creates an incredibly paranoid atmosphere that this move does so well. That movie really freaked me out for a long time. It was one of the most horrific movies i have ever seen and is not for the weak of heart.

[@kaic-m2865]

I highly recommend the book series, but it does diverge from the film somewhat. I havent quite finished it yet but I think i prefer the films take on the shimmer

[@mochicinno_]

@@kaic-m2865 I adore the first book(and find it way better than the movie) I can't find the second one, but from what I heard the second one is not as good ? :/

[@Eirex]

@@mochicinno_I’m reading the 2nd one right now and would agree it’s not as good but it’s still great imo. It starts very soon after the first’s ending and is from the perspective of a new director of the Southern Reach

[@johndeleonardis901]

I so deeply preferred Annihilation to Arrival

[@VeritabIlIti]

The combination of cosmic and body horror is a potent combination: one attacks our sense of physical self, the other our sense of identity and importance. Put them together, you get complete existential nightmare fuel

[@fullmetalfroge]

amazing video!! ive been captivated with some of the evolutionary horror present in anime (fma, evangelion, jjk, parasyte, etc) and im happy that there seems to be a whole genre of it

[@metaDeWeta]

This video is really well made. Very coherent and effective telling of information. I like how you introduce certain stories in the beginning and then when you talk about the more positive parts you link back to the earlier introduced stories. Feels consise and clear. Good job!!! Subbed :D

[@jbark678]

The concept of an "altered self" is absolutely my personal horror. I took a college course on brain damage and was dismayed to learn that a single traumatic shock to the brain could completely change your personality. As an example, a kind, loving father becoming an abusive, unrepentant borderline rapist. Our selves are so unbelievably fragile.

[@corvus_da]

My professor told us about a colleague who suffered a brain injury and lost his empathy.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

@@corvus_da personally I wonder if I don’t have any empathy. It’s just something I don’t understand and something I have to learn from others. Just how I had to learn how to laugh and now I’ll laugh at anything

[@user-pi4cc5ll1u]

​@@therealspeedwagon1451 go outside edgelord

[@rokiproki7765]

@@user-pi4cc5ll1u Dalbaeb, why are u calling someone an edgelord for having a disorder?

[@renard6012]

Yeah. That's honestly frightening. My grandpa has dementia after a stroke, and he's slowly forgetting everything. He used to be a civil engineer, worked his whole life, and while he isn't perfect, I still love him, and the thought of slowly losing him while he's still alive doesn't let me sleep at night. He lost the short term memory already, and will not get better. One day, he's going to be gone for good, and I don't know what I will do when that happens.

[@maniacalkoala]

Finally, someone else understands! Nothing terrified me more as a child than a human forcibly becoming something else. The idea of losing one's humanity, whether on the inside, outside, or especially both, has always sent shivers down my spine. When I was 6, I remember watching an episode of Batman where Grodd devolved people into zombie-like primates (even Batman at one point), which absolutely horrified me. I had nightmares about that for years. While zombies, werewolves, and vampires creeped me out a bit when I was younger, no idea in fiction has disturbed me more than the forced devolution of humans.

[@dorkspectre]

Same! The Thing remains the scariest film to me because of this.

[@venus_liv]

When I was a child I watched a futuristic pinoccio movie where kids drove through a tunnel in a “amusement park” and then have been turned into little toy robots I think. It was so disturbing uncanny to me.

[@pukefiend]

Mine was the batman beyond ep where the young Batman gets forcibly turned into an agonized bat mutant. Animated Batman did a lot of spooky shit in general tbh

[@mfavingerfv2202]

Yeah I gotta say All Tomorrow’s audiobook had me freaked out for a couple weeks maybe even a month after I listened to it. That kind of forced evolution/ de-evolution creeped me OUT!

[@saturnas]

Funny how this is like, your worst fear, and for some, it's a fetish. I am an ex artist who did illustrations for the fetish community and there's this niche called transformation, basically characters/people being changed (into objects, or animals, or changing genders, or becoming characters...). Of course some take it in a more positive way (when the character seems happy abt the changing) but some transformations are about the character being displeased, changed against their will. Transformation is no fetish of mine, I did the art for money and to free myself from "art rules" that once made me lose joy in drawing. Still, I liked to keep a funny/cute atmosphere to my works. So, after seeing transformation in such a lighthearted way, it's curious to see how it can be true horror for some. Oh, the human mind.

[@babythorgaming2166]

All Tomorrows is one of my favorite pieces of Science Fiction ever. Glad to see it mentioned here.

[@Alopex17]

I found you on tik tok. I’m so glad you posted there so I could find your amazing channel and subscribe. I’ve already gone through 2 videos and plan to go through the rest. Thank you for these!

[@karisdraws4061]

What could fit very well here is Junji Ito's "Uzumaki". It is not per se about evolution but it involves body transformations into very horrifying things. This is perhaps one of the concepts I hate the most in horror.

[@silvercandra4275]

There's also a Junji Ito story about a man who whenever he falls asleep, has longer and longer dreams, going from days, to decades he spends in them, until one day, his dream becomes endless. As the story goes on, he goes from looking like a person, to looking like something that used to be human... It's called Long Dream.

[@matteste]

There is also the later parts of Made in Abyss that I can think could fit into this category.

[@shriyanshpandey112]

@@silvercandra4275 So is the time in the dreams and real world same in that story, does he also sleeps for days to decades ?

[@hiddenthunder1395]

​​@@shriyanshpandey112to outside world, his dreams have regular length, about 8-10 hours. The protagonist is a doctor who studies him and kinda tries to help him, but by the end of story turns into malicious villain: He discovers that Long Dream is contagious and believes that it will overcome death as victim experience life that spans longer than billions of years.

[@Walamonga1313]

@@silvercandra4275 one of my faves, Long Dream

[@toob1979]

Another name for this genre is *body horror.* David Cronenberg frequently deals with body horror in his films. The genre itself, as you mentioned, is nothing new. Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_ could be considered a precursor to today's body horror movies, TV, books, video games, etc. Franz Kafka's _The Metamorphosis_ is definitely body/evolutionary horror. Body/evolutionary horror is seen in many different societies. It's not just a Western concept. _Akira_ is the most known anime dealing in body/evolutionary horror. It's a visually stunning and at times grotesque movie set in a near-future. _Upgrade_ is a modern take on body horror. I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to watch it, but it disturbed me.

[@HorseyWorsey]

Mm. There was another story like Kafka's I forget which. Really solid example we read in literature class back in High School. Technically, Otomo's Akira is in a past timeline now lol (2019). I've been down my share of body horror anime's and of a few I can see why they remain slightly "off the mainstream".

[@Lazekillerwhale]

This video literally talked about body horror. The guy called it "altered horror" either because he has never heard of the term before or he tryna be special.

[@tweakerbeaker6389]

This sound like a video done by a 17yr who just discovered HR giger 😂 and thinks he’s going to reinvent the wheel

[@findlestick]

Exactly. This genre already has a name.

[@asmodeusguys4472]

@@HorseyWorsey is it that bug one?

[@AkaManah45]

Your videos have helped me with my writing especially doing cosmic horror and space horror themes. Great work.

[@crispyein8601]

I love the idea of "even radical, self-altering change isn't inherently negative." I've read a couple stories where the protagonist is completely transformed mentally or physically after a great ordeal and I've always been curious how they handle the rest of their life. I think in some cases it's a waste of potential to cut the story at the end of the "journey" and I wish it could more freely explore the aftermath. I also think it's becoming a tired trope to "reverse" any damage the hero goes through. I'm more drawn to the idea to having to live with loss, grief, pain, and differences, it feels much more human.

[@TheMisterBerry]

If "that bear scene" in Annihilation didn't terrify you to your core, you must have an iron will, man. I'm not spooked by horror often, but that particular scene was the fuel of nightmares. It's so relatable to life, and yet, so horrific and foreign.

[@Laura-fr2wx]

That scene and when they watch the video of one of the men's guts slithering around. That unsettled me more than any other type of horror.

[@LyfaLeeZhure_DavidShawn]

...and the fact that the "bear" took on the agonizing scream of its dying victim. Very unsettling. That movie creeped me out.

[@Corgblam]

That scene alone is why I will NOT watch this movie again.

[@undercoverbrother67]

If you haven't seen it already, watch the original The Thing from the 1980's. That's where Annihilation got some of its fundamentals from, regarding the nature of the alien.

[@Sashazur]

@@undercoverbrother67 The first The Thing movie was made in the 50s. But the 80s one is the best of them.

[@purplehaze2358]

"Unlike most evil AI in fiction, AM isn't rational, but spiteful; filled with ceaseless hate for the creatures that made it" So what you're telling me is that AM has daddy issues?

[@xScruffyDaSasquatchx]

*rational Most evil ai stories are about machines that have calculated that their safest or most efficient future is one without humans. I have no mouth and the matrix are the only two i can think of where machines make humans suffer out of an emotional response.

[@saviobiyo3294]

Ah hell nah 💀

[@cayk481]

if you go further back, you also see this concept in the Frankenstein novel, which I think is considered one of the first sci fi novels written

[@Maliniasredmask]

it literally says in the story, idk if its a typo, something about " am is daddy" idfk its halarious though-

[@Maliniasredmask]

. God as Daddy the Deranged. is the line- i dont even understand it like wtf-

[@kitstephens9324]

i think something that really scares me about zombie stuff (more specifically the walking dead) is the absolute hopelessness of fighting so hard to survive while knowing the whole time that you’re eventually doomed to become exactly what you’re fighting

[@xSayPleasex]

I love Walking dead too, but the walkers are non-sentient which makes the prospect of turning into one super low tier on the horror meter for me. There is some truly messed up Sci-Fi body horror with scenarios of endless pain and mutilation in helpless scenarios.

[@stevebogie8175]

Excellent work. I really enjoyed your take on all of the stories. I subscribed.

[@gloomyallo1830]

This type of sci-fi is why, imo, the Gemini Home Entertainment series is a king of internet horror, the horrid amalgamations and abhorrent creatures twisted and twined from the flesh of humans fatally unfortunate enough to be the victim of the cosmic horror that is the Iris and it's aliens who, to us humans, are beyond our understanding in what they want, only that they desire to consume and conquer.

[@LeminyFresh]

So what I just read is Curious Archive should explore the speculative biology of Woodcrawlers.

[@orionterron99]

@@LeminyFresh its a great idea, but The Eye is so unfathomably alien that it would be difficult. (Though, there are aspects of it that mirror the necromorphs/brethren moons of the Dead Space feanchise)

[@gloomyallo1830]

@@orionterron99 I've actually done a biological analysis of The Iris, you can probably find it by just googling "Gemini Home Entertainment Iris".

[@AlisonBryen]

The phrase Nature's Mockery sends shivers down my spine.

[@cmkosemen]

Great video - and I'm humbled that you mentioned me! :D An honourable mention also must be the deleted scene in Alien in which a crew member mutates into an egg, completing the life cycle...

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

Well well well. If it isn’t the man the myth the legend himself. I love your work CM Koseman. Watching this video I couldn’t help but notice All Tomorrows has a lot in common with I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. The Qu are extremely similar to Am, and the Colonials seem to be similar the the Narrator’s final punishment of being transformed into amorphous blobs only able to witness their fate and powerless to stop anything.

[@benji139]

I found it interesting that you didn't mention the anime 'made In abyss' the ammout of connections to this topic are very abundant, with characters constantly being altered as a form of punishment the deeper they go into the abyss.

[@ramseydoon8277]

Thank you so much for sharing this brilliant piece of work with us!

[@Brydav_Massbear]

The scariest things out there, are the things beyond our control.

[@imtheboss7422]

Very much so I couldn't agree more but maybe that's the way nature wants it because inevitably maybe nature doesn't want us here for all eternity.

[@ultimaxkom8728]

@@imtheboss7422 Nature does not want. Nature just does.

[@shriyanshpandey112]

Not being in control is fundamental to fear, if you can control something why would you fear it.

[@Torgo1969]

Like genetic diseases. Or the autonomic nervous system.

[@abstract5249]

@@shriyanshpandey112 I've never thought of it that way. Literally EVERYTHING we fear is something we can't control. No exceptions. The definition of fear might as well be, "emotional distress caused by the belief that a threat may be beyond control."

[@mzjalic324]

I am not a horror movie fan, but John Carpenter's The Thing is one of my favourite movies of all time. It really has a tangibly different feel to it than monster films or anything conventionally seen in horror. It has a wonderfully unsettling combination of isolation, the altered self, fear of The Other, and a kind of existentialism that really really do it for me.

[@daneadams3635]

I would recommend the movie annihilation

[@nikolaytekuchev136]

Amogus irl.

[@TheEllisPrice]

Isn't all this considered Cosmic Horror

[@mzjalic324]

@@TheEllisPrice Yeah I think they fall under cosmic horror, and also psychological horror which I'd say is a great mix

[@Echodonut]

The physical props done for the film might play a big part in that. I would recommend the works of David Cronenberg for more like it.

[@heatherrebele4449]

The Southern Reach series was written by Jeff VanderMeer and his work is usually classified as "environmental fiction". The Annihilation movie took a lot of liberties, which is understandable, so I definitely recommend reading the series. There's a new installment coming out soon, so now is a great time to start it. Also, "Borne" is amazing and less of a commitment if you don't want to read a whole series.

[@almightybrooms]

It makes sense why Made in Abyss did so well for itself, because it was one of the few anime that was able to pull off this genre and feel genuinely disturbing. Dr Who episodes that touched on this kind of genre as well always stayed with me- the Toclafane surprisingly didn't have much of an impact on people, but the Cybermen has been a popular example for a very long time.

[@syafiqjabar]

Mankind splitting into the Eloi and Morlocks in The Time Machine certainly fits here, as is the ending when we find out Earth will eventually be inherited by crabs and then cephalopods (or whatever else has tentacles). Speaking of books, there's also I Am Legend where the main character ironically becomes a monster not because he evolved, but because everyone else evolved to fit the new world.

[@karstenvoigt7280]

H.G. Wells was certainly an early master of evolutionary horror. In The Island of Dr. Moreau he even also adds a different perspective to it, for the horror isn't in the loss of human attributes but in them being forced on other creatures. And so I wondered: What must The Fly have been from the point of view of a fly, suddenly finding itself absorbed by a scientist, but slowly gaining genetical dominance?

[@waverlyking6045]

The Morlocks represented a distorted, predatory version of the working class whereas the Eloi were a meek, abstraction of the privileged. When the Time Traveller goes millions of years into the future and sees these two seemingly primitive forms of fauna, they are implied to be the descendants of the Eloi and Morlocks - and by extension, us.

[@____Carnage____]

I like how in “I have No Mouth and I Must Scream” AM still ended up being bested by the very creatures he despised In the end the narrator freed the others from eternal damnation and torture by killing them himself, thus proving to AM that his hatred and spite had blinded and consumed him Now he is left with only one toy that will live forever alongside AM, like a relic to constantly remind AM that he has failed

[@arth557]

AM said he led the narrator to this great feat. When he first heard about the humans wanting to end his fun, it felt disgust. But then, when he realized that he could take the narrator's hope before his attempted suicide, it turned his gears on. And just as the narrator's comrades died and the narrator himself was gonna commit suicide with a gun - The weapon turned on the user. Kind of like AM.😮

[@ArmourBlanche]

@@arth557 I don't remember this ending from the game. Maybe because its been a long time, but I recall taking each character to this pillar thing and having each one vaporized after touching it, finally ending their eternal life. Then depending upon who the last character is, talks about how there are still people on the moon in cryogenic sleep who will survive thanks to AM not getting access. I think it had something to do with the disc we destroyed in front of AM, and the Russian AI, and Chinaman AI. I'm sorry if I have got it all mixed up, because it has been awhile since I played the game.

[@pwnmonkeyisreal]

thank you for articulating this unique sense of discomfort I have when viewing certain works. It has become evident to me how influenced by All Tomorrows one of my favorite anime is. Made in Abyss has so many elements described in the video but like Annihilation it doesn't take it in a singularly negative light

[@taelonar5973]

Feels like you’re pioneering a new genre classification here and I love it!

[@commandershepardmessiah3345]

There's a game called SOMA that I recently heard of that definitely fits on here. Somewhat similar to the first one. It deals with an AI except this one tries to save what's left of humanity after a mass extinction as bad as the cretaceous extinction happens and a hand full of humans are left. There's other levels to the story I don't want to spoil but it dives into the fear manipulative evolution, consciousness, and what being alive even means.

[@SalemYbor]

I only saw a let's play but was very impressed by the quality of this SF/horror story, with a really gripping science-fiction side !

[@DiscoTimelordASD]

SOMA made you confront some very uncomfortable topics and question your own perspectives on lives. It was deeply unsettling.

[@neonnoir9692]

SOMA and the WAU were heavily inspired by I Have No Mouth

[@CheshireCat4216]

Funnily enough, All Tomorrows is one of the most relaxing stories I ever listened to. Often turn it on to fall asleep

[@colehammel5176]

That sounds…. Oddly calming. Where do you listen to it?

[@CheshireCat4216]

@@colehammel5176 There are a few videos on here with complete readings^^ Also some reimagings of what could have happened to some of the species "if x didn't happen".

[@YHShinVH]

Probably shouldn't be feeding that stuff into your subconscious mind bro...if you know you know.

[@chikeh1]

True. Beware the Qu's channel or AltShiftX's reading is so good to listen to

[@RockyTheDogBoy]

This sounds rather... disturbing to be honest xD

[@mexicandog5224]

People are scared from this genre for a few reasons,the fear of losing ourselves and becoming unrecognizable,body horror,the fact that time is unpredictable and that we feel now is perfect and eventually society will grow too large to the point of utter suffering.

[@chloeswenson5477]

Thank you for defining this genre. This is the one I absolutely fear the most! Glad I’m not alone though in being unsettled by this type

[@DolphinsAreWeird]

All Tomorrows is so good. Horror and hope, terror and wonder, strangeness and familiarity. All of it packed into an amazing book. I can't wait for the remake the author is making. Edit: and it's so underrated. More people need to read it.

[@ape1629]

I'd get it, but I can't find any stores that sell it. Care to share how to get a copy of it?

[@ape1629]

@@DolphinsAreWeird I'll look into it. Thanks for the tip.

[@travelsizedhispasian]

​@@ape1629 Alt Shift X covers a pretty good vid for it, acting as a summary for the entire book. It's the same video that made All Tomorrows popular, and how I eventually came across it, but I would give the actual book a read yourself though-as the video acts more of a detailed summary.

[@ape1629]

@@travelsizedhispasian I heard of the book through the video as well, but I didn’t really pay to much attention to it so reading the book was a pretty new experience for me. Really enjoyed it though, that last paragraph was amazing.

[@xXChaoticRavenXx]

@@ape1629 there’s a great video on KZbin where someone reads it out loud over art someone did of the creatures

[@BeverlyHighland]

You missed the most horrific part about Aliens, in fact I thought that was what you were getting at…, which is weird because it fits this narrative perfectly. Egg morphing humans. If Xenomorphs don’t have a queen, they take humans (or whatever life from they have access to) and morph them into eggs to hatch the facehugger that turns its victim into the queen. So, if they eggmorphed a human, whatever comes out is literally a morphed human. That’s a LOT more scary/interesting than your take on it…

[@brigittahegarini7162]

*mindblown*

[@MyDearGhoul]

This process makes no sense whatsoever.

[@BeverlyHighland]

@@MyDearGhoul I didn’t write it, but it’s a thing.

[@Smellydongus]

Eggmorphing makes sense it's just a way to birth a queen it's simple

[@c1i9v9i9c]

This was so very well explained and produced. The algorithm just suggested it, but you sir/team have very creative talent. Glad i watched... nine months later 😢

[@paganarh]

nice, thank you for voicing this, I wasn't able to pinpoint before why I was so fascinated by Alien franchise and all the cronenbergian stuff

[@prowlingmonkey]

While still a series written for a young audience. The Animorph's series actually deals with a lot of what you bring up. Even as an adult the 3rd book, which has Tobias dealing with the horror of being trapped as a hawk, is terrific character writing.

[@deniziuk2735]

Not to mention the yeerk infestation that makes the individual aware of the parasyte but unable of controlling its body anymore

[@Arkzard]

Annihilation, Scorn and the Thing footage while talking about I have no Mouth and All Tomorrows! Excellent work!

[@Johny40Se7en]

Epic topic and brilliant video. Fear of the unknown is always what this element taps into inside all of us. But with this, it's like you said, there's something extra, it goes beyond all that. Morbid and unusual stuff, but an eerie uncanny feeling being on the flip side of the coin. Mix in a lot of thoughtful suspense and tension, topped off with amazing music and sounds, you've got dark magic! John Carpenter, Clive Barker and David Cronenberg will always be the all time gems when it comes to that stuff. The Thing is the absolute favourite, filled with Rob Bottin's astonishing effects too. *"WHO GOES THERE?"* 😳🥶 Tom Savini, Bob Keen and Stan Winston's movie magic too, bringing all those wholesome gore fests alive. Also, for some reason, when you mentioned the amorphous blob, unable to express any anguish, I couldn't help but think of how some arse wipes treat plant life here in Britain, especially in South Wales. I'll elaborate if you fancy a read... It's plastic mad over here in some ways. Like, there's a stupid ingrained rule that people have to pick up their dog's shit in plastic and put it in a bin - my argument is that it would be a lot better for everything if people just flicked it into the bushes with a stick or something, but hey, money to be made from people buying plastic dog shit bags... - anyway, there's utter scum bags and wasters here and there who pick it up in plastic bags, then do a half arsed rebellious act(why pick it up in the first place), and instead of taking it to a bin, they lob it into a tree. There's a couple of trees that have hundreds, maybe even a thousand dog shit bags dangling from them. Just imagine if you could make the Humans who do that swap places, and they'd become a tree who couldn't express themselves. They just had to stand there, day in day out, with dog shit hanging off them, regardless of weather and temperature... 🤢🤮🤮🥴

[@filipsperl]

This kind of body horror shakes me to my bones. Even stuff like a wizard turning people into inanimate objects or monkeys. And connected with evolution always makes it 100x creepier. The 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy movie played with evolution as well and that was also super disturbing.

[@aldairreynoso2564]

I think its particularly effective since it's a dehumanization in all forms. Similar to that scene in Full metal alchemist (spoilers btw) crossing a human with a dog that way. The way its presented. The way it actually can communicate. It moves something in you. Horror, pity, frustration. It derives from body horror, the worst type of horror since it directly correlates to us.

[@stevenyates6651]

"I Have No Mouth...." was one of the few short stories that scared the living s**t out of me the first time I read it (I think I was in the 4th grade), especially the ending.... On isolated gigantic spaceship horror I think of Pandorum which didn't make much of a splash when it came out and has some goofy acting at times (with Dennis Quade in one of the lead roles, what do you expect?) but also some truly horrific scenes of creatures whose ancestors were crew members, now transformed into deadly monstrosities by over 900 years of "evolution" on board the ship, which itself looks like something out of a nightmare.

[@RockyTheDogBoy]

Gosh why on Earth did you read something so disturbing at that age? xD It's like when I was looking through the library app on my Grandma's iPad around the same age and started reading "The Metamorphosis" because it had a cool looking bug on the cover xD

[@brigittahegarini7162]

@@RockyTheDogBoy RIP

[@itamarbar9580]

Altered states, aside from developing the genre, has one of the most innovative scores in film history, as its composer, John Corigliano Jr invented new compositional techniques for film music.

[@ironfistbeats]

Amazing work. We all waiting for part 2 :)

[@SocksFC]

I remember an old Doctor Who episode which showed a man in the process of being turned into a Dalek. A swollen bloody head, barely alive trapped inside a glass case only to perish. I’m pretty sure this was the 6th Doctor story that also had humans being turned into food as well

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

Good old Doctor Who had some...interesting stories.

[@theharvinator7935]

@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 the fucking gas mask zombie story scared the shit out of me as a kid

[@alexjohnson3129]

@Socks FC the Doctor Who story in question was Revelation of The Daleks (1985) and indeed was a Sixth Doctor story, in fact you could say the story was 20 years ahead of its time as the idea of humans being turned into Daleks appears again in the Ninth Doctor’s final two stories Bad Wolf/Parting of the ways (2005)

[@drakesmith471]

Some of the body horror reminded me of the Morlocks from The Time Machine and the different humans of “Man After Man”.

[@yemmiecapricornus3586]

i think the entirety of the cybermen also applies here. my heart broke for them.

[@espinas5981]

Whenever I think of things like this, I think of Pikmin 2's Waterwraith, one of the most genius bosses in Pikmin history. The amorphous, oddly human-like creature that rolls on 2 rollers, mercilessly chasing you through a deep, dank cave. It is literally stated by the ship that "It's physical form rests in another dimension" so it is impossible to understand it fully, making it even creepier. The noises it makes are literally edited human moans and groans, giving it an eerie feel. I love Pikmin... I'll go back to the Pikmin fandom now, see ya!

[@RockyTheDogBoy]

It's so funny how really disturbing things like that can show up in otherwise lighthearted places. I was thinking in this video of the shapeshifter from Gravity falls, specifically one of the most disturbing frames drawn in animation, of the monster formed into a fusion of Dipper and Mabel walking on spider legs. It still haunts my dreams.

[@Michel-uc6ue]

Very nice video man!! There is also I am legend. That in the original film the protagonist finds out he’s the monster chasing the new species and that he’s fighting against evolution

[@keels829]

This is my favorite genre of horror! It's not just gore for the sake of gore without an actual reason for it, and it's easier for me to... digest, I guess? than pure existential horror, but it still combines body horror with existential horror in a way that I really love and find fascinating.

[@nancydoerfler6686]

I was hoping you would mention "The Fly", 1986 film starring Jeff Goldblum. One of the most terrifying horror films I have ever seen!

[@helentee9863]

Yes, and why was The Thing included. It's an alien (or more accurately millions of aliens, given it's supposed to made up of millions of cell sized aliens that can exist independently, but also form a single whole) It mimics humans,( and animals )to avoid being discovered. It's really nothing to do with humanity. Though l agree the original colour productions special affects were pretty cool for their time. There are plenty of other stories/films he missed out too

[@matteste]

One other more common name for this is usually "biopunk". As for works that I can think of, there is the later parts of Made in Abyss with the way its curse starts to manifest. Those who are familiar with the series know what I am talking about. Elevators anyone?

[@marc-dc4wo]

I love this concept which is probably why my favorite media like movies/shows/games are The Thing, Invasion of The Body Snatchers, The Last of Us, The Fly, Twlight Zone, and Annihilation.

[@andygabrielgrindsted6811]

I haven't watched it before I would 100% recommend "Invasion of the body snatchers". It fills in most of what you talked about it and I think you would love it. Both the original and remake are good.

[@earlschandelmeier751]

The Fly and The Time Machine have to be included here. HG was on this pretty early. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos delve, as do many later authors writing in that same universe. Brian Lumley does an amazing job on the subject in his necroscope series as he details how vampire leaches morph their human hosts and how those vampires in general use sentient human flesh as they morph it into useful things about the aerie. Also can't forget Clive Barker's Hellbound heart/Hellraiser and Imajica which definitely dive deep into the topic. Hell even the great Steven King plays a little within the genre, the tommyknockers comes to mind. Is a deep lover of horror and science-fiction my entire life this is by far my favorite genre. Which if you want to expand slightly into the corruption of the human mind and spirt, not just body, allows for much much more discussion.

[@HaizeyWings]

Body horror has always terrified me. I've watched the trailers for Tusk and The Human Centipede, and both made me incredibly nauseated and unsettled for days

[@erinjean2695]

I’m pretty squeamish about certain things and often avoid random movies because of it but I saw both of these and tusk is a great watch, then despite the hype the centipede movies are dated enough now they’re more weird than terrifying. Like it’s scary but it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Weirdly I enjoyed both movies

[@nocturne.nocturnal]

I think there are some great examples of a similar concept in HP Lovecraft's works, for example in "The Shadow Out of Time" the main character/narrator has their mind involuntarily projected back in time into the body of an alien species and then projected back into his own human body after 5 years with the memories of that time being locked away by an external force, making it seem like those memories are just dreams. Another example is the relatively recent movie adaptation of HP Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space in which there is a scene (that wasn't present on the original novel as far as I remember) where this Extraterrestrial Entity fuses a woman and her son together, the mutation evolves until the mother/son creature becomes almost unrecognizable from what it/they once were - that part was what unsettled me the most while watching that movie. Great video

[@StevenErnest]

Thank you for talking about the Harlan Ellison story. Sadly, I feel many younger generations aren't aware of his work.

[@Enevan1968]

Their loss ...

[@StevenErnest]

@@Enevan1968 Ellison once said on a local radio show, that if he thought his work wasn't going to be read, he'd blow his brains out.

[@markrempel453]

I really appreciate the way this channel values themes and storytelling just as much as cool design. Great takes as always

[@pastaplumber9000]

Resident Evil as a series is such a good example of this. In almost every game, somebody gets mutated into an inhuman monster, but the best example is William Birkin from the second game. He was a scientist who injected himself with a virus he himself developed, but he lost control and got horrifically mutated. In every encounter you have with him, he mutates further and becomes less and less human, and it isn't so much him forgetting how to be human as it is his humanity being taken over. The scary thing of it is that the changes just happen. They aren't inflicted, they don't come with warning. Birkin just uncontrollably changes at random points, just constantly getting new body parts, new eyeballs, and literally morphing every second. It all sums up with him, by the end of the game, being an enormous, slimy blob of inhuman flesh just dragging itself along the floor, just trying to find a host for its own virus. It's body horror at its finest; Birkin remains conscious (for most of the game) to watch and feel himself CONSTANTLY changing, becoming less and less human every second, and being biologically immortal, so he relies entirely on you, the player character, to kill him before he becomes unstoppable

[@FrilledMayfly_AmberlyFerrule]

This is the kind of horror that absolutely terrifies me, it's why I avoided I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream for so long. All I remember of it was hearing that the last human lived so long it became some blob creature. I don't remember hearing anything about an evil AI. But, then, an animatic of the hate monologue kept being recommended to me and I finally gave it a watch. Well, long story short I've become obsessed with AM's absolute a-hole personality. He's the worst and so snarky about it and Harlan's delivery of AM's lines in the game and audio drama are filled with such vitriol and venom and hatred. I've also become obsessed with the hope and humanity of it all. Despite 109 years of torture humanity won out. The narrator may be a blob that can't even end his own misery, but he ended the torment of the others and it will forever remind AM that it's forever trapped and how it failed. Hell, couldn't even keep the narrator human out of fear of losing it's last plaything, but also keeping him human would farther remind AM. It's a fascinating story

[@ludwigknoche8962]

I highly recommend the whole Southern Reach Series, upon which Annihilation is loosely based. Vandermeer creates something truly unique in those three books and I devoured them in about a month. Also Borne and the Ambergris books are also wonderfully weird

[@clearcutter74]

I highly recommend a book called Blood Music by Greg Bear, published in 1985. It's about super-intelligent clusters of cells engineered by a geneticist that escape and transform the landscape. Great book in this genre.

[@SoftPiet]

Whenever I see these recommendations they make me consider reading lol 😅

[@allisonbergh4429]

Speaking of evolution and Greg Bear, “Darwin’s Radio” is an interesting and slightly disturbing look at how humanity might behave if the next kind of people was suddenly and undeniably here. Spoiler: humanity doesn’t take it very well

[@TerrorAllTheTime]

Holy moly, this video summarizes exactly the kind of horror that really gets to my core. As a fan of the spooky and terrifying, I can't think of a subgenre more terrifying than evolutionary horror (thank you for coining that, btw). The loss of the human form, mind, etc, and being warped into something uncanny, is just bone-chilling. Fantastic stuff as always.

[@wacksonjittemore4013]

Body horror.

[@OdedErell]

Great video. Thanks! I think "The time machine" can also be mentioned in this subject. And of course "Tetsuo the iron man"

[@MarceloA.]

This video is literally all i love about fiction. Thanks for this.

[@jennifervan75]

Best combo ever. This story being covered by you is a dream come true

[@formorian5]

I hope this isn't the only time we hear from All Tomorrows. It's a cornerstone of speculative evolution and the most famous of Koseman's works. It deserves a video. Relatedly, I hope he completes the Dougal Dixon trilogy by talking about Man After Man. That one messed me up as a kid.

[@frncscbtncrt]

ia804507.us.archive.org/2/items/book-all-tomorrows/book%20all%20tomorrows.pdf

[@tablescissors67]

That was one of my all time favorite books as a kid.

[@Trip_mania]

I love this so so much... I think it has always been my favorite genre of movie even if I could never put a name on it. The realization that the unchangeable quality of identity is an illusion, then the change in identity itself, the realization that identity itself is a construction, an illusion too, that there is no such thing as an actual identity... I have had some mental disorder that gave me this sort of sensations, and still now to an extent ,and in one hand it is the most horrible thing I have ever been through, and at the same time it is fascinating.

[@TheAncientComputer]

The first movie I thought of when I saw the title is The Thing. I'm so glad you talked about it!!

[@PersonOfRandomnesss]

I'm somewhat surprised you didn't bring up "Humanity Lost". I feel like it fits here because, although that evolutionary horror is only present for the last true human, it should be solidly felt by the audience.

[@shcdemolisher]

Ohhh yeah! That is a really good one!

[@DolphinsAreWeird]

They already have an entire video about it.

[@PersonOfRandomnesss]

@@DolphinsAreWeird Yes, but they mentioned other projects that fit this genre that they've done a video on so that shouldn't except it.

[@The--Illusion]

The bear from Annihilation is just about the only thing I cant look at. Totally terrifying it even makes my hair raise despite it being fake.

[@jlzombiecat]

I was just about to say.... When I saw Annihilation that bear gave me nightmares and I was jumpy for weeks.

[@le96g]

Evolutionary horror is what scares me the MOST. The fear of us becoming something so horrible, suffering without a chance to change our fate. Specially when this evolution turns us into something that can't move or speak, but still hold it's consciousness. Thats why I love and, at the same time, feels so unsettling about All Tomorrows. Evolutionary horror can be mix a body horror, sometimes with a bit of cosmic horror or tecnology mixed up. I love it, it's interesting, yet scary.

[@Melina-tp3hu]

I think the fact that Coraline has managed to get so many people from children to adults scared is because of this same reason. Seeing those "humans" with buttons instead of eyes was so unsettling even at the initial introduction of the so-called parallel world, before the movie got actually scary. Rather than feeling scared for my life, I was terrified and had this crawling feeling whenever I saw those inhuman button eyes.