Abhuman is a term used to distinguish a separation from normal human existence. This is different from ''
inhuman
Inhuman may refer to:
Comics
*Inhumans, a fictional race in Marvel Comics
** ''Inhuman'' (comics), a comic book series focusing on Inhumans
** ''Inhumans'' (TV series), a television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
*Kristoff Vernard, ...
'', which typically connotes an ethical or moral separation from others.
The term was used by
William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction, and scie ...
in his novel ''
The Night Land
''The Night Land'' is a horror/fantasy novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. As a work of fantasy it belongs to the Dying Earth subgenre. Hodgson also published a much shorter version of the novel, entitled '' ...
'' and his
Carnacki
Thomas Carnacki is a fictional occult detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912 in '' The Idler'' magazine and ''The New Maga ...
stories. Similar concepts, although not the term itself, also appear in the works of
Arthur Conan Doyle,
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
, and
Bram Stoker among other notable American and British authors.
[Jerrold E. Hogle]
''The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction''
page 190 (Cambridge University Press, 2002). The term is also used within the fictional universe of
Warhammer 40,000
''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, ...
to refer to populations of humans who have mutated, naturally or otherwise, to adapt to extreme environmental conditions.
In literary studies of
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of e ...
, abhuman refers to a "Gothic body" or something that is only vestigially human and possibly in the process of becoming something monstrous,
such as a vampire or werewolf. Kelly Hurley writes that the "abhuman subject is a not-quite-human subject, characterized by its morphic variability, continually in danger of becoming not-itself, becoming other."
Allan Lloyd Smith writes that among "the sources of abhuman Gothic horror for many writers at this time were the
urban squalor and misery of overcrowded cities..."
[Allan Lloyd Smith]
''American Gothic Fiction: An Introduction''
page 114 (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004).
References
{{reflist, 2
Human-derived fictional species
Fictional mutants