It Came from the Closet Queer Reflections on Horror

Joe Vallese, Aven Shore, Aida Reluzco, Mark Sanderlin, Tori Barron, Krystal Hammond, Daniel Henning, Ron Butler, Hope Newhouse, Lindsey Dorcus, André Santana, various authors, Joel Froomkin, Mike Cooper, Em Grosland, Vikas Adam, Carmen Maria Machado, Bruce Owens Grimm, Zefyr Lisowski, Richard Scott Larson, Sarah Fonseca, various narrators, Graham Halstead

eAudio - 2022

Through the lens of horror—from Halloween to Hereditary—queer and trans writers consider the films that deepened, amplified, and illuminated their own experiences.Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. Common tropes—such as the circumspect and resilient "final girl," body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, and things that lurk in the closet—spark moments of eerie familiarity and affective connection. Still, viewers often remain tasked with reading themselves into beloved films, seeking out characters and set pieces that speak to, mirro...r, and parallel the unique ways queerness encounters the world.It Came from the Closet features twenty-five original essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From... more