Alive Author Chandler Baker explores examples of organ transplantation used as a horror trope in fiction in this guest post.
‘Sick in the head: Scary medicine in pop culture’ by Chandler Baker
We all know that organ transplants save lives, but is it our fault if the concept still kind of gives us the heebie-jeebies? Since before the first organ transplant in 1954, the idea that we could be saved by people’s spare parts has had the potential to frighten the pants off us and for good reason. From the possibility that personality traits are passed on through organ tissue to the urban legend about the guy that wakes in a bath tub missing a kidney, no wonder we get uneasy at the thought of being sliced open and put back together like a human jigsaw puzzle.
My book, Alive, is the newest addition to the ‘scary medicine’ tradition and explores — like many great works before it — transplantation and chronic illness as a horror trope by asking the question: What would you do if the thing that was trying to kill you was also the thing that was keeping you alive?
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So while in the real world we continue to be amazed by the growing benefits of modern medicine, if there’s one thing pop culture has taught us, it’s that you can’t take your eye off scientific progress for a second…or else it will try to eat humanity’s soul.
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Scared yet? Consider these seven tales of transplant terror next time you think about going under the knife:
1. ‘Frankenstein’
The original take on science-gone-wrong in which Mary Shelley taught us that just because science can make it, doesn’t mean it should. (Unless everyone’s cool with having their loved ones murdered by a creature of their own design, that is.)
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2. ‘Repo Men’
Oh, did you think that organ was yours to keep? Not so fast. If you fall behind on those payments, prepare for something way worse than a hit to your credit score. This one mixes good old fashion capitalism, shady ethics, and, of course, Jude Law, to spin a not-so-hard-to-believe tale about the commercialization of transplantation.
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3. ‘Unwind’
It’s tough to be a teenager in Neal Shusterman’s young adult novel Unwind, in which teens can be taken to “harvest camps” and mined for body parts. Don’t worry, apparently the United States of the future has decided that it’s not really killing people if all their organs are used. I, for one, would beg to differ…
4. ‘The Island’
Turns out we have some real concerns over a dystopian future in which there aren’t enough organs to go around. Here, ScarJo and Ewan McGregor quickly realize that they’re just clones of rich people being raised for spare parts. Spoiler alert: They’re not too happy about it.
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5. ‘Never Let Me Go’
In which we learn that the hardest class in primary school is the one where your teacher informs you that you’re destined to die via repeat organ donations — what a way to go. But wait! There’s hope in the form of a loophole if you can prove that you’re in love. Maybe…
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6. ‘Face Off’
Ah, Face Off, the iconic battle royale of John Travolta versus Nicolas Cage, proving that it’s not enough to walk a mile in another guy’s shoes when you can get a crazy, experimental surgery and live with another dude’s face. After all, the fate of the country depends on it…
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7. ‘The Man with Two Brains’
What, you didn’t know that Steve Martin was in a horror/comedy film about organ transplantation? Weird. In his role as the ridiculously named Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, Steve Martin plays a mad scientist who has perfected brain transplantation. Don’t try this one at home, folks.
Alive by Chandler Baker is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local independent bookstore.
