Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

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

50 reviews

atuin's review against another edition

3.5

A collection of essays connecting horror films to queer peoples personal experiences. Some are better than others, but all have interesting points and most have compelling stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Racism

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.

zany25's review against another edition

informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Child abuse, Body horror, Transphobia, and Sexual harassment

savvylit's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

As a horror film enjoyer, I really appreciated the analyses in this collection. The writers helped me to recognize the specific appeal of a horror film for someone who, like me, is anxious and constantly thinks about mortality. As Grant Sutton says in his essay on Friday the 13th Part 2, "Slasher films gave me a way to order the violence and death that occupied most of my attention." Sutton grew up during the AIDS crisis and spent his days assuming it was a matter of time before he succumbed to the disease. Needing the order of a horror film (or story) is something that I felt to my core, even if my anxiety is rooted in a different place than Sutton's.

Another theme that ran through these essays is the idea that when a queer person is villainized in horror, it's a reflection of the Othering occurring in our culture at large. I stopped in my tracks during Zefyr Lisowski's essay on ableism and The Ring when she said, "If there isn't a supremacist culture to view things through, does monstrosity even exist?" Though the version of ourselves that we see reflected on the screen is monstrous, it still feels important to have ourselves portrayed and our rage be recognized.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Homophobia, Violence, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Racism

kairhone's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia

Moderate: Child death and Violence

amandaboyer's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, and Homophobia

danimacuk's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Body horror, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Bullying

caidyn's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

4.25

Such a fun read. The older I get, the more I realize how many queer people love horror and relate to it. And this is all about how queer people have interpreted different horror films.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Transphobia, and Homophobia

mfrisk's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is such a great read on the intersections of horror movies and queerness. There are a variety of stories and I look forward to the authors continuing to beach out more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Dysphoria

library_goth's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Self harm, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Biphobia, Racism, Dysphoria, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, and Adult/minor relationship