Gail Simone’s chilling comic seris Clean Room is a must-read for horror fans. Body horror is a very specific subgenre that focuses on the human body being shaped or mutated in terrifying ways. The work of David Cronenberg often comes to mind when the term is brought up, with much of early films like Shivers, Rabid, and Videodrome all featuring sequences designed to make viewers squirm. The Fly from 1986 remains his most popular work, which features Jeff Goldblum’s scientist slowly morphing into a hybrid creature after his DNA is accidentally fused with a fly during an experiment.
Another famous example of body horror is John Carpenter’s The Thing, which involves an alien shapeshifter that is able to assume the form of any human or animal it attacks, leading to some incredible effects sequences. Given the disturbing nature of the genre, it tends to be more of a niche for horror fans, though 2018’s Venom and Blumhouse’s Upgrade both feature elements of body horror too. Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 also features the main character being infected with an alien virus that turns him into an alien.
Fans of body horror will have a great time with Gail Simone’s Clean Room comic, which arrived in 2015. Simone has written on titles like Batgirl and Wonder Woman, but Clean Room is something very different. The comic’s jumping-off point involves a journalist named Chloe who, following the suicide of her fiancee Philip, decides to investigate the self-help organization he joined. Chloe looks into the cult’s leader Astrid Mueller and seeks the truth behind the comic’s titular room, where members are apparently confronted with their own worst fears.
The true nature of Clean Room is something that’s best experienced by reading the comic, but needless to say, things get bloody and twisted - something literally twisted. While there are gore and creatures, Clean Room is more about psychological horror. Simone stated her reason for making the book was to craft something that would truly get under readers’ skin, and she succeeded in that goal - two words, Pony Man.
Clean Room also features stellar artwork by Jon Davis-Hunt, who’s worked on 2000 AD’s Judge Dredd comic, who brings the horrors of the story vividly to life. It’s not necessary a comic designed for everyone, but for genre fans who like a bit of body horror mixed in with their psychological nightmares, Clean Room is easy to recommend. In a just world, David Cronenberg himself would have directed an adaptation of the comic by now.
Next: The Thing: Who Got To The Blood?
