Reviews tagging 'Gore'

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

21 reviews

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

obscurepages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

Can you believe I've been reading this for 7 months?! 😭😂 This started out as a Libby loan for me, and now I have a physical copy! And I've finally finished it!!

This book was so good 😭 I love watching horror, reading horror stories. I think as a genre, horror is so flexible and versatile and transcendent. 

This anthology does an amazing job of showing just how versatile and profound horror movies can be, especially when viewed in a queer lens. Reading this, I think I gained a better understanding of how horror functions and what it can serve to the viewers. I learned about gender and sexuality from personal accounts and stories from the authors. I also learned how gender, sexuality, race, religion, and geographic locations can intersect and how that unique experience can be shown in a genre like horror. And as a queer person, reading this book also gave me more insights about the relationship that the queer community has with horror—why we relate to it, why it gives a safe place, how we can shape it to tell our stories. I loved it and it just reinforced to me how horror is such an excellent genre.

There were a few of essays that seemed dull/drawling, but there were also some that were so well-written and poignant. Some essays that stood out for me are:

• Three Men on a Boat by JEN CORRIGAN (Jaws)
• The Me in the Screen by STEFFAN TRIPLETT (Us)
• Black Body Snatchers by SAMUEL AUTMAN (Get Out)
• The Healed Body by JUDE ELLISON S. DOYLE (In My Skin)

I also just wish every essay came with specific content warnings. Some of these can be really triggering. It's also why I had to stop every now and then because some essays are harder to digest and process compared to others.

Still, this was an excellent read overall. I can see myself going back to specific essays and reading them all over again.

Exact rating: 4.5 ⭐️ (Might post a detailed review on the blog!)

Find me elsewhere: <a href="http://www.instagram.com/obscure.pages/">Instagram</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lxndrnae">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://enthralledbookworm.wordpress.com/">Blog</a>

Marking this book as part of my reading challenge: <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/fcf9e7dc-39a5-49e2-9f7d-a243f5073985">#ReadQueerly2024</a>.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Blood, Racism, Transphobia, Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Gore

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

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.

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Death of parent, Gore, Addiction, Bullying, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, and Transphobia

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

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I considered giving this one 5 stars, but there were a few essays that didn’t fit right within this anthology and so points off for being imperfect. But this was transcendent! 

I love horror and it hasn’t been until recently that I realized horror is inherently gay just by being horror. I love seeing the cross-section of identities and films and sexualities. I was a bit surprised Godzilla’s essay didn’t bring up their ambiguous gender, and that Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy’s Revenge was not mentioned once, but I have a bunch of new horror movies to add to my list now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Body horror, Transphobia, and Gore

An exploration of dark themes and the way LGBTQ+ culture is intertwined with the horror genre.

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

mallory10100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Deportation, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Pedophilia, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Biphobia, Gore, Sexual content, Body horror, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis