Reviewed by Christy
I love horror. Well, most horror. I'm generally not into body
horror, extreme gore, or most slashers (though I do have a soft spot for the Scream franchise and the original Halloween). This kind of leaves me out
of step with a lot of horror fans. But regardless, I still enjoy hearing
differing viewpoints and experiences when it comes to horror, which is why I
picked up It Came from the Closet.
Although I'm not a member of the
LGBT community myself, I think it's important to listen to perspectives from
people different than me. And what a more interesting way than through scary
movies! As with any collection of essays or short stories, there are hits and
misses. The ones that stood out to me most were Carmen Maria Machado's
"Both Ways" (Jennifer's Body),
Jen Corrigan's "Three Men on a Boat" (Jaws), Sumiko Saulson's "Centered and Seen" (Candyman), and Tucker Lieberman's
"The Trail of His Flames" (The
Nightmare on Elm Street). I enjoyed quite a few others but these were
particularly engrossing to me. The one that made the most impact, however, was
Joe Vallese's "Imprint". Vallese details his and his husband's
journey to parenthood through surrogacy. A close friend had such easy
pregnancies with her own children that she was delighted to be a surrogate for
her friends. Unfortunately, she would go on to have more than one miscarriage.
Each time was devastating but the second one was particularly heart breaking.
Amanda, the surrogate, got pretty far long in this pregnancy - well past the
point that was considered tenuous. They knew it was a girl due around Easter,
and everyone called her Chickie. But the baby didn't make it. To say this essay
packs a punch would be an understatement; I had to take a break after listening
to it. Surrogacy is a controversial topic but I think many people will feel deep
sympathy as Vallese mourns a child that will never be. (Vallese and his husband
are now proud parents to a little boy.)
As with the essay mentioned above, a
lot of these are emotionally heavy. But I do think they're worth checking out!
The authors tell their personal stories while also giving readers a new way to
think about their favorite scary movie. I feel like I learned a lot.
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