Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese

18 reviews

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Ableism, Biphobia, Self harm, Outing, Transphobia, Body horror, Violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria

Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

The affinity that a number of queer people have with the monstrous is one that is explored in depth in this essay collection. I was invested in what each contributor had to say about their thoughts on their queer identity in relation to a horror film of their choice, which ranged from classic slashers to non-US horror films. Furthermore, this is an incredibly diverse collection of essays, not only in terms of how queerness is defined, but many of these authors also consider their race and/or disability. The contributors’ respective reflections really revealed the complexities of how the monster has been defined by culture and society, some taking a more academic tone when discussing this, while others had a more conversational tone.

Like any edited collection, I found some essays stronger than others. Overall, though, I’d say that it’s rather difficult to call any of them weak. Well worth picking up if you’re interested in horror (and a number of these essays don’t shy away from it, fair warning) and queerness. Relatedly, I recommend picking up Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry edited by David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli, if you’re looking for more queer monstrosity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Ableism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Racism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, and Suicide

emzhay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Ableism, Child abuse, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Gore, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Biphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

megnut's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

These essays make me want to reread and watch these films to connect what the writers said about each one and ask myself what I see. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Sexism, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Body horror, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Ableism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

This was such a great collection that covered not only a good range of sexualities and genders, but dove into some intersectionality of race and disabilities as well. It has encouraged me to interact with horror in new ways, inspecting its facets from all angles. After all, there usually isn't one right answer.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Biphobia, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Transphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Gore, and Grief

cassmensah5's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.75

I LOVED this collection. The authors told such vulnerable stories about their identities and expertly connected them to plots from some of my favorite movies. Some of these essays will stick with me for a long time. This book was so close to being an all time fav,  but the essay, “child’s play” made me deeply uncomfortable. I obviously don’t have all the context, but I couldn’t help but wonder as I read it how the author’s adopted child felt about the essay. At one point the author jokes that their child may be possessed like the character from The Exorcist. The comparison felt inherently dehumanizing and not nuanced. Overall, the collection is amazing and I hope more books commenting on the horror genre get made in the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Transphobia, Ableism, and Racism

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.0

Approaching this as a queer reader (which I am) rather than a horror fan (which I am not), I found this an excellent book. The audiobook is very good, readers specifically chosen for each essay, and the physical version has cool art pieces, so either edition has something special.

The essays read easily as narrative and/or memoir rather than dry academic papers. There is film analysis (good, relevant interpretations of subject matter) but always in conversation with personal (and often highly specific) voice and experience. A couple essays flopped for me, but the collection is edited and composed very well.

Favorites (5⭐️)

• Both Ways (Jennifer’s Body) by Carmen Maria Machado
• Imprint (Grace) by Joe Vallese
• Three Men on a Boat (Jaws) by Jen Corrigan
• Loving Annie Hayworth (The Birds) by Laura Maw
• The Same Kind of Monster (The Leech Woman) by Jonathan Robbins Leon
• The Trail of His Flames (Nightmare on Elm Street) by Tucker Lieberman
• Bad Hombre (Is That You?/Eres tu Papa?) by Sarah Fonseca
• The Healed Body (In My Skin/Dans ma peau) by Jude Ellison S. Doyle

Honorable Mentions (4⭐️)

• The Wolf in the Room (Good Manners/As Boas Manieras) by Prince Shakur
• The Wolf-Man’s Daughter (The Wolf Man) by Tosha R. Taylor
• Centered and Seen (Candyman) by Sumiko Saulson
• The Me in the Screen (Us) by Steffan Triplett

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Violence, Murder, Gore, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Grief, Racism, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Homophobia

Minor: Biphobia and Sexual violence

Most content warnings are from descriptions of film scenes, but many essays narrate similar personal experiences to the films they're about, so be mindful going into each essay of which film it's discussing.

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Transphobia, Ableism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault

taelights's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

While I did like some of the essays in this book and found some of the topics in it fascinating, this wasn't what I expected. I pictured more of a focus on horror through a queer eye and why the authors believe certain horror movies portray queer experiences. While some of the essays focused on this I found a lot of the essays were mainly focused on the writer's personal lives with some vague connections back to the horror movies. I did enjoy this a bit but wouldn't really recommend it because of some weak essays and a lot of them being more just memoirs than queer looks at horror. 

My favorite essays (in order of book) were:

- The Girl, the Well, the Ring 

- Imprint 

- The Wolf Man's Daughter 

- Loving Annie Hayworth 

- Blood, Actually 

- Sight Unseen 

- Bad Hombre 

- Black Body Snatchers 

- Long Nights in the Dark 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, Biphobia, Blood, Homophobia, Medical content, Chronic illness, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Gore, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

overbooked207's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.75

📖 It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror edited by Joe Vallese Book Review 📖

6th book of January 2023 and 6th of the year:

I love the fact that I’m getting really into nonfiction books over the past few years! Being a queer person who loves the horror genre, this immediately caught my attention, with it being a nonfiction book by queer authors that talks about the queerness, whether seen explicitly in the text, in subtext, and/or through the audience’s interpretation, in horror media throughout the years and how the representation affects and is affected by the world around it! I enjoyed some of the stories a lot more than others, with some of my favorites being ‘The Girl, the Well, the Ring,’ ‘Three Men on a Boat,’ ‘Loving Annie Hayworth,’ ‘Centered and Seen,’ Sight Unseen,’ and ‘Black Body Snatchers,’ but I recommend it as a whole and want to read more things like it! I also love the cover and the title! TWs for ableism, abortion, abuse, bigotry, blood, body horror, death, drugs, gore, grief, homophobia, medical content/trauma, mental illness, miscarriage, murder, pedophilia, pregnancy, racism, rape, self-harm, sexual content, transphobia, violence, and vomit.📚🧟‍♂️🎃☠️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Drug use, Transphobia, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Medical content, Violence, Ableism, Pregnancy, Murder, Abortion, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Sexual content