Isa is a micro-celebrity who rarely shows her face, and can’t wait to have it expertly ripped off and rearranged to look more feminine. When a successful fundraiser makes her gender affirming surgery possible, she’s overjoyed—until she has to give up all her money to save her dying father.
Crushed by gender dysphoria and the pressure of disappointing her fans who paid for a new face, she answers a sketchy ad seeking transgender women for a free, experimental feminization treatment. The grotesquely flawless Dr. Skurm has gruesome methods, but he gets unbelievable results, and Isa is finally feeling comfortable in her skin. She even gains the courage to ask out her crush: an alluring and disfigured alchemy-obsessed artist named Rayna.
But Isa’s body won’t stop changing, and she’s going from super model to super mutant. She has to discover the secret behind her metamorphosis—before the changes are irreversible, and she’s an unwanted freak forever.
TRANSMUTED is an outrageous and unapologetically queer body horror tale that will leave you gasping, giggling, and gagging for more.
Poor Isa! somebody should have warned her that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. After giving away her plastic surgery fund to pay for an experimental treatment for her father who is in the end stages of cancer she is depressed and desperate. When she sees an ad for a free feminization treatment she decides to take the plunge. But this is no board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Skurm is more mad scientist than doctor, and his treatments are horrifying and traumatic.
Still, it appears to have worked. Isa begins to see dramatic results beyond her wildest dreams. The changes are not limited to her face or to ridding her of masculine features. She is downright beautiful! Unfortunately the changes don't stop, and Dr. Skurm has evil plans as mad scientists tend to do.
Transmuted is number 30 in the Rewind or Die series, and although it is a quick read with some bizarro body horror it may also be a clever and exaggerated look at the reality of what it may feel like for trans people who are stuck in the "wrong" body as Isa is transformed into something she does not recognize.
4 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.
About the author
Eve Harms is a writer of freaky fun dark fiction. Her work has appeared in publications such as Vastarien Literary Journal (under Rayna Waxhead), Creepy Catalog (under Kendra Temples), and her story "The Glow at Home" was featured on Ellen Datlow's recommended list in the anthology Best Horror of the Year Vol. 11. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her children's book illustrator spouse and two cats.
You can find her on the web at eveharms.com
Eve Harms is a writer of freaky fun dark fiction. Her work has appeared in publications such as Vastarien Literary Journal (under Rayna Waxhead), Creepy Catalog (under Kendra Temples), and her story "The Glow at Home" was featured on Ellen Datlow's recommended list in the anthology Best Horror of the Year Vol. 11. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her children's book illustrator spouse and two cats.
You can find her on the web at eveharms.com
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