Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

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

38 reviews

cardaisy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

This was a bit of a mixed bag, like a lot of anthologies and collections are, but overall I really enjoyed it. What I find interesting is reading reviews where people felt annoyed that it was a bit repetitive and that everyone's essays had the same couple of themes, or focused too much on their personal lives, when really that's what I expected. When it comes to the horror genre and queer identity, I feel like there are really only a limited number of ways that someone can feel represented or seen, but I found it interesting to see how that came through in all these different movies for each author

Some of my favourites were:
*The Wolf Man's Daughter (The Wolf Man) - I just loved this one. It really poignantly, imo, touched on the emotional estrangement some queer people have from their families, and parents in particular, and how many of us compartmentalize different aspects of our life and relationships. Also I think that it's the only one that made me cry 
*Loving Annie Hayworth (The Birds) - The author gives a great analysis of the sapphic subtext that appears in this movie, and parallels that relationship with her own experiences of an ambiguous relationship she had as a teen and how neither situation ever got closure  
*The Healed Body (In My Skin/Dans ma peau) - Just so good. The analysis that the author presents of the intense body horror in this movie relating to how some people experience dysphoria was incredibly well done 
*A Demon-Girl's Guide to Life (The Exorcist) - I thought this was a great opener that really set the stage for the rest of the book and what to expect from it. I loved how the author described her experience watching the movie at three different times in her life and how she related to it differently each time 
*Three Men on a Boat (Jaws) - A fun queer analysis of Jaws, and an emotional reflection on the invisibility of bi/pansexuality. What makes this one even better is the angry 1 star review I saw where someone was so affronted at people "making up same sex narratives that never even happened" that they gave their copy away because they couldn't stand to see it on their bookshelf

And two honourable mentions, one for The Girl, the Well, the Ring (The Ring; Pet Semetary), which was one of the few entries to really touch on the anger at seeing yourself in the people demonized by some horror movies, and The Trail of His Flames (Nightmare on Elm Street), which, in addition to being a reflective piece, was also just an excellent breakdown of the movie 

Also, I just wanted to say that strangely there seems to be another edition of this book that features a forward and additional story by Kirsty Logan? It's odd because I can't really find any promotion of the newer edition including a new story, but the page count is longer and the index includes reference to these added sections. I was using a preview of an ebook to follow along as I listened and was so confused when one story was completely skipped

---

*A Demon-Girl's Guide to Life (The Exorcist) - 4.5
Both Ways (Jennifer's Body) - 4
My Hand on the Glass (Hereditary) - 2.5
*The Girl, the Well, the Ring (The Ring; Pet Semetary) - 4
Imprint (Grace) - 4
Indescribable (The Blob; Society) - 3.5
A Working Definition of the Monstrous (Godzilla) - 3.5
The Wolf in the Room (Good Manners/As boas maneira) - 3.5, really enjoyed this but it ended so abruptly! Wish there was more 
*Three Men on a Boat (Jaws) - 4.5
*The Wolf Man's Daughter (The Wolf Man) - 5
Twin/Skin (Dead Ringers) - 3
*Loving Annie Hayworth (The Birds) - 4.5
The Same Kind of Monster (The Leech Woman) - 3 
Centered and Seen (Candyman) - 3.5
Blood, Actually (Friday the 13th, Part II) - 3
*The Trail of His Flames (Nightmare on Elm Street) - 4.5
The Me in the Screen (Us) - 4
*Sight Unseen (The Blair Witch Project) - 4.5
Bad Hombre (Is That You?/¿Eres tú, papa?) - 4
*Black Body Snatchers (Get Out) - 4.5
Long Nights in the Dark (Halloween) - 4
On Beauty and Necrosis (Eyes Without a Face) - 4.5
Good Guys, Dolls (Child's Play) - 1.5
*The Healed Body (In My Skin/Dans ma peau) - 4.5
Notes on Sleepaway Camp (Sleepaway Camp) - 2

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

gdulecki's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

2.5

Frankly, I don’t care about horror!! There were certainly essays that I really enjoyed, including Imprint and Centered and Seen. Many of the essays had bits and pieces that I enjoyed, but outside of the few that I loved I wasn’t very moved. I was not the target audience, seeing as I’ve seen literally one of the movies mentioned and don’t really care about horror movies, but I do appreciate reading queer experiences on something that I don’t know much about. I do not think I would have finished this if it weren’t for book club 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

madscientistcat's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

The quality is a little up and down, but overall a very moving collection of essays examining the authors’ experiences with their own queerness in the context of horror movies.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime

mandathebiblio's review against another edition

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Transphobia

Moderate: Body horror, Infertility, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia

melissaamy7's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, Grief, and Medical trauma

torismazarine's review

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

driedmintleaves's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

A good variety of essays, some more academic some more personal, all enjoyable!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Racism, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

elysianbud's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

embattler's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative inspiring sad medium-paced

3.0

The anthology starts off strong and I particularly found the analysis and treatment of Jennifer’s Body with a bisexual lens interesting and profound, however I think my interest faltered due to a lack of horror film knowledge and also reading some stories from gay men that I couldn’t quite relate to as a lesbian. Not to say they weren’t important but it didn’t strike the same chord within me. Overall though it was a unique read and it did inspire me to want to watch some more horror and find other queer theory anthologies. I would recommend some of these chapters but not all of them, more so for a dedicated essay/nonfiction/memoir reader whose special interests align with horror and queer studies.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Blood, and Dysphoria

jasbeingjas's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

Despite being someone who actively avoid horror/thriller/suspense genres, this was a really cool collection of essays. The concept is cool to explore the connection between the horror genre and queer experiences/identities, but the execution did not disappoint! I would check content warnings, as certain essays included some triggering topics. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence