My husband and I were at MoMA PS1 in 2021. It was a small model of her huge Tarot Garden installation that is located just outside Rome. Death was a skull-faced woman riding a horse made of the midnight sky. I was stunned by the joy of it, the life of it, the bursting beauty of its colors and the dynamic nature of the posture. It reminded me of when I met the Death card in the Day of the Dead Tarot deck. The figures of that deck were represented by skeletons. She was a pregnant woman.
In Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death, violence and birth, death and pregnancy, and above all transformation, there is a vivid color of a Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture.
The main character of Okorafor is a child of violence who was raped by a Nuru soldier of her Okeke mother. The book takes its title from the fact that one of her shapes is that of a vulture. After the murder of her lover and the conception of their child, Onye works a great magic: killing all the fertile men in its vicinity and impregnated all the women. She is stoned to death for this.
Is she? In re-writing the world, Onye re- writes her own death, and then transforms into a fire-spitting Kponyungo, a dragon-like creature of the desert. Okorafor stated that she used the Kponyungo's shape from a funeral mask. Onye is not an obvious personification of Death, but she does seem to embody many of the contrasting complexities of the ancient fertility/death goddesses found at Okorafor.
One of the most well-known depictions of a female Death is Neil Gaiman's Death of the Endless, a recurring character in his Sandman graphic novels. Her unique look makes it easy for fans to cosplay as Death. Death is voiced in the audiobook by an actor named Kat Dennings. Neil Gaiman's fans reminded me of Lady on the Grey, Death in the Carnegie Medal and The Graveyard Book.
The New York City subway system is named after great women in history. I think that a subway map of all the female-presenting Death figures of the fantasy genre would be a good idea. Susan Death is the adopted granddaughter of Death, who takes up Death's own mantle. On our Map of Ladies Death, Death of the Endless and Susan Death were both skinny, pale areas with a gravitas beyond their years.
Calliope Reaper-Jones, the daughter of Death, the CEO of Death, Inc., is the next stop after Susan Death. If she is Mister Death's daughter, the necromancer character of my own novel, Saint Death's Daughter, might be the next stop on our imaginary subway line.
I turned to social media because there are more Ladies Death and Death-adjacent female figures in fantasy than I know. Friends reminded me to mention the 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846
There are plenty of deadly females in fantasy films and TV, but not many who are Death personified. The Mago in Hotel del Luna was on the show.
If we're looking personify Death in a certain kind of female form, the 80's gives us plenty of wiggle room. The Crystal Spider is controlled by the Widow of the Web in Krull. The Sorceress-Queen Bavmorda in willow has a gaunt frame, skeletons, and spiked iron crown, and has no compunction sacrificing babies. Mombi in Return to Oz is a woman who takes heads for her collection and wears them according to her mood. The Force-witch Charal in the Battle for Endor, who can shape- change into a raven, or Disney's own Maleficent, who takes, should not be forgotten.
We should mention a few of the eldritch female figures in fable, myth, and urban legend. They remind us of the tattered veil between our world and the Land of the Dead. There are people who lure people to their deaths. Many people 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- There are people who appear at roadsides or in the woods, reminding us of our own mortality.
The stops on the subway map are: Rusalka, Pichal Peri, La Llorona, Lamia, Empusai, Succubi, La Dame Belle Sans Merci. If you fear that we are running out, we can always turn to the Death Goddesses of religion and myth, who have their own alphabetical listing on Wikipedia, from Akka to Tuonetar: a whole rabbit warren I am always eager to explore.
C.S.E. Cooney is the author of several books. You can find out more at csecooney.com or on social media.
You can order a copy of Saint Death's Daughter here.
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