Queer Horror
Queers and horror have always gone hand in manicured hand. We know what it means to be made into a monster, all while navigating the true life terrors of conversion therapy and gender reveal parties. This list contains the titles previously read by our Skeletons In the Closet book club. Check the calendar for upcoming dates and book picks!
Earthy and dreamlike, "Root Rot" by Saskia Nislow traverses the mycelial webs within a family, poking discomfitingly at the sticky allures of belonging to a 'we.'
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member
White is for Witching is a haunted house story, a loose retelling of the infamous lesbian vampire novel, Carmilla, and a sharp exploration of the nationalism and white-supremacy that seep through generations of white women, hungry for the blood of the 'other.' Read this in tandem with Model Home by Rivers Solomon for an extra deep mind-fuck!
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member
On the first page we learn that Mi'kmaq artist Rita Francis has vanished during her artist residency in a remote cabin in the wetlands, leaving behind only her most inspired work yet. Each chapter begins with a gallery's description of her vivid mixed medium creations depicting unsettling images of dark figures embedded in scenes of ecological collapse. Green Fuse Burning reflects on, and is itself an example of, the ways we document global horrors such as climate change and grieve personal and cultural loss.
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member
Setting is everything in this slow-building nightmare on the high-seas. A whaling ship suggests chilling imagery right off the bat, but it is Nahil's mastery of atmosphere that cements the feeling of inescapable doom. You'll taste the salt on your lips and feel the dread in your own belly in this perfect marriage of ecological and queer horror.
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member
Is corporate participation in pride a metric of a shift towards progress or are the blink-and-you-miss-it rainbow logos hiding something more sinister? The Z Word tackles this debate with a cast of lovable and deeply familiar queer characters who must wrestle with the pressure to consume… or be consumed.
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member
Contrary to its name, this intrepid debut has marked Hache Pueyo as an author to watch. Using lush imagery, lyrical prose, and a lot of creepy crawlies, Pueyo comments on the lengths to which we will go to avoid being truly seen for who we are.
—Esmé, Firestorm Collective member