Hands

Abstract

Hands physically express the body’s intelligence and creativity, enacting the wishes of the mind. In Gothic fiction, hands become independent, unable to be controlled, or possessed by a previous owner. This chapter explores the film adaptations of a group of stories: Maurice Renard’s novel Les Mains d’Orlac (The Hands of Orlac, 1920) W.F. Harvey’s short story ‘The Beast with Five Fingers’ (1919) and Marc Brandel’s novel The Lizard’s Tail (1979). Replacement hands are considered through the hook-hand of Candyman, the blades of Edward Scissorhands and the synthetic flesh of Doctor X (1932). The discussion also explores the hand of the mummy, dismembered, exchanged and revived in Gothic stories by authors such as Bram Stoker, Louisa May Alcott and Jane Webb.