It Came from the Closet

Through the lens of horror—from Halloween to Hereditary—queer and trans writers consider the films that deepened, amplified, and illuminated their own experiences.

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. Common tropes—such as the circumspect and resilient “final girl,” body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, and things that lurk in the closet—spark moments of eerie familiarity and affective connection. Still, viewers often remain tasked with reading themselves into beloved films, seeking out characters and set pieces that speak to, mirror, and parallel the unique ways queerness encounters the world.

It Came from the Closet features twenty-five essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

“A critical text on the intersections of film, queer studies, and pop culture.” —Booklist, starred review

“Wonderful off-road pieces that twist and turn with skeletal precision.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

“An essential look at how spooky movies so often offer solace through subversiveness.” —Electric Literature

“Unique and insightful.” —The Daily Dead

“A really terrific collection of essays by a great selection and variety of different authors — both fiction authors, poets, and essayists — about the intersection between queer studies and queer identity and horror movies.” —Gothamist

“An impressively diverse array of queer voices contributes their opinions on how and why particular horror movies made a personal and indelible impression on them.” —The Bay Area Reporter

“Whip-smart, honest, and hilarious… gore aficionados and reads-the-Wiki-plot-summary scaredy-cats alike will find something haunting to love within its pages.” —Maggie Chirdo, Trope This Finds You Well

“In this wonderful and only somewhat disturbing book (the subject is horror, after all), queer and trans writers explore the horror films that have shaped them and most reflected their own experiences. Horror, the anthology argues, while often full of misogyny and anti-trans, homophobic tropes, is also uniquely subversive and queer.” —Shondaland

“This book is perfect for exploring the queerness of horror through a kaleidoscopic lens.” —them.

“Weaving elegantly between passages on theory to first sexual encounters and wrenching experiences with a surrogate, the essays take surprising turns and don't look for easy answers.” —BOMB Magazine

“Revolutionary work.” —Monster Camp

“These essays are tender and funny, vulnerable and courageous.” —The Southern Bookseller Review

“There’s a moment in this book that’ll resonate with every single reader: undead, queer, or otherwise.” —Fangoria

“Killers, monsters, and demons are frequently metaphors for what we don’t understand about our own humanity; they’re an attempt to externalize the “monstrousness” so many of us suppress within ourselves — or that others project onto unchangeable aspects of who we are… I finished [the anthology] with a new appreciation for the horror genre.” —Autostraddle

“A fantastic anthology of writing about horror, all from deliciously queer perspectives.” —Ms. Magazine

“A diverse collection of thoughtful and incisive essays that show that queerness and horror are natural (or occasionally, supernatural) bedfellows.” —Ghouls Magazine

“A must-read for horror fans who may gain a whole new outlook on some of the all-time classics and cult favorites covered in its pages.” —He Said

"Why do queers love horror? What a gift to read writers I love and admire offer so many different answers. It Came From the Closet is at times beautiful, at times funny, at times gorgeously weird and baroque, and always as off-kilter brilliant as the genre, and queerness, itself. Horror teaches us about ourselves in all our thrilling extremes. Plus it’s just plain fun. Both of which are true of this deeply necessary collection." —Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir

"What is the monstrous and what does it mean to us? It Came from the Closet collects twenty-five takes on twenty-five horror films that make us cringe, crack up, turn away and turn back again—each piece lavishly queer in its intelligence, vulnerability, and wit.” —Paul Lisicky, author of Later: My Life at the Edge of the World

"Finally: a smart and serious yet playful book that interrogates the complex queerness of horror and the films that make a horror of queerness. These clear, insightful, and deeply personal essays reveal the real reasons why we've all been so scared." —Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men

"It Came from the Closet is a fantastic collection of diverse queer perspectives—an accessible, provocative, and much-welcomed addition to the growing body of queer horror analysis of our favorite films, new and old. This is a must-read for horror fans wanting to find connection and community in challenging the heteronormative and patriarchal narratives that can still dominate the genre." —Jessica Parant, cocreator of Spinsters of Horror

"As someone who grew up with posters of Freddy Krueger and Frank N. Furter over my bed, It Came from the Closet is the perfect gay bible for me. The navigations and dissections of some of my favorite slashers through various queer lenses are akin to any great horror film: mind-blowing, eye-popping, and heart-ripping. This book will see you and destroy you!" —Drew Droege, actor, writer, and comedian

"It Came From The Closet reminded me why I fell in love with horror. Each essay connects queerness with the fear, connection, and blur of horror movies. Writers question whether horror is meant to punish those deemed sinful or create a new pathway of being. As Legacy Russell discusses in Glitch Feminism, what cannot be defined can contain power, and horror movies have allowed queer people to see themselves in blobs, the unseen Blair Witch, and mysterious monsters. Covering class, race, and ability, this collection carefully untangles the threads of why we can’t look away, even when we desperately want to turn off the TV." —Nikita Imafidon, Raven Book Store

Interior Illustrations by Bishakh Som

Softcover book, 300 pages.