Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

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

11 reviews

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.

scarroll178's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.0

As a queer fan of horror, I’m SO happy this book exists 🥰 The Healed Body, by Jude Ellison S Doyle especially meant a lot to me, as a transmasc person 💗 

On the other hand, I was not a fan of Good Guys, Dolls, wherein the writer, Will Stockton, shares personal details about his foster son’s worst, most embarrassing moments. I probably would’ve given the book a 5 if it weren’t for this particular story. I’d recommend skipping Stockton’s chapter altogether. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, and Violence

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

mallory10100's review

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

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical content, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, Biphobia, Racism, Blood, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia and Alcoholism

jessthanthree's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Forced institutionalization

milesjmoran's review

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Self harm, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Transphobia

mihrreader's review

dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

3.75

It was pretty eye opening to re-experience horror movies through other queer lenses and see how one piece of media can mean many different things to many different people. I understood before that the queer community tends to have a deeper and more personal affinity for horror, and the extent of that understanding was limited to camp and gender-bending villains, but now I see there are more (and sadder) reasons for it. Many essays touch on the theme of young queer and trans people, especially those who came of age during the AIDS crisis, feeling monstrous in some way and thus relating to horror movie monsters. Reading about that opened my eyes to how lucky I am to not have that same relation to monsters, murderers, and horror. This book is definitely in some ways a queer history book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Sexual violence, Gore, and Violence

bryelle's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Such a fun mix of short essays about being queer and horror movies. It is so fun to look at these movies through a queer lens and how they had an affect on different people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Ableism, and Biphobia

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Sexual violence

toffishay's review

challenging emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

An awesome collection. I learned a lot and felt a lot with all of these essays. As someone who isn't big on horror, I've come out on the other side with a new appreciation and a new lens. I enjoyed all of the essays, but my favorites were "Both Ways" by Carmen Maria Machado, "Indescribable" by Carrow Narby, and "The Trail of His Flames" by Tucker Lieberman.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Death, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Ableism, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Medical content, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Excrement, Murder, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders