How bitches, trainwrecks, shrews, and crazy women have taken over pop culture and liberated women from having to be nice. Female characters throughout history have been burdened by the moral trap that is likeability. Any woman who dares to reveal her messy side has been treated as a cautionary tale. Today, unlikeable female characters are everywhere in film, TV, and wider pop culture. For the first time ever, they are being accepted by audiences and even showered with industry awards. We are finally accepting that women are-gasp-fully fledged human beings. How did we get to this point? Unlikeable Female Characters traces the evolution of highly memorable female characters, from Samantha Jones as "The Slut" in Sex and the City to the iconic Mean Girl, Regina George, examining what exactly makes them popular, how audiences have reacted to them, and the ways in which pop culture is finally allowing us to celebrate the complexities of being a woman. Anna Bogutskaya, film programmer, broadcaster, and co-founder of the horror film collective and podcast The Final Girls, takes us on a journey through popular film, TV, and music, looking at the nuances of womanhood on and off-screen to reveal whether pop culture-and society-is finally ready to embrace complicated women.

Taking a theoretical, historical and critical approach to horror directed by women, Bloody Women considers how the gender landscape of horror filmmaking is changing. It unearths the long and rich history of female-fronted horror films that predate the better-known The Babadook. It explores whether the genre provides a perennial springboard for rising stars behind the camera and if the malleability of horror makes it a genre of choice for visionary film-makers eager to stretch their wings. Is there a way in which female-helmed horror films are distinct from male-led projects or do the unique experiences of womanhood of different directors lead them to create unique work? Are there defining qualities and characteristics that can be attributed to the horror of women directors and how are such unique voices shaping horror and influencing the industry? Women directors of horror are becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore. As Canadian horror filmmaker Jen Soska cautions, "A revolution has started."