Tag: death

Hurricane Aaron is Howelling Through

CW: Incest, assault, abuse.

Hurricane Aaron is a film about brothers in tragedy. J.R. Howell’s first feature film takes viewers on a series of twists and turns that may leave some queasy, but thoroughly intrigued about the psyche, and rage, of its main characters, Aaron and Cory. There is more than just horror that lurks under the skin of this film. GenderTerror had a chance to interview the director, writer, and score creator, J.R. Howell about his psychosexual thriller and other upcoming projects.

GenderTerror: Why horror, especially queer horror?

J.R. Howell: My first horror movie ever was A Nightmare On Elm Street, which I saw when I was five years old. I love the thrill that horror movies provide. As I grew older, I similarly fell in love with the science fiction genre. One of the things so attractive about science fiction is the social commentary it provides through allegory or speculation. Truly great science fiction can be mind-blowing in that way. Lately, mainstream science fiction feels like it’s lost its soul and offers up action movies in space with tacky tech without really having any deeper meaning. Films like this seem to be evolving cinema to a medium without narrative. Yet, at the same time, horror is picking up the slack. Over the last few years, we’re seeing films marketing as “high concept horror.” Of course the truth is almost all horror is in some way “high concept.” Nevertheless, some horror films have taken a more overt approach to directly assert their attempt at social commentary, which is an astonishing effort when you think about it. Many criticisms of mega budget films that go on to tremendous financial success is that they’re too devoid of meaning so as to appeal to the widest audience as possible across countries and cultures. Yet, there’s a subgenre of horror that’s openly asserting that its making social critiques, come what may. I absolutely love that courage. So for these reasons I wanted to take on the social issues referred to in the film using horror.

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Circe’s Boars

“Odysseus is mad.”

Eurylochus leaned in on his bow until only Elpenor could hear him. They hovered near a lighted torch on the furthest side of their beach camp. From where they were, Elpenor saw the great blue eyes of their ship peaking out from the water, which looked oily so deep into the night. On their other side, he only saw dim shadows in the dark wood.

“He misses home,” said Elpenor, himself leaning in, although he kept his back straight. “And he’s kept us alive.”

“By fighting a giant we had no business bothering?” Eurylochus challenged. He looked back at Elpenor from under a headband and dark-brown curls. “Now we’re stranded on this island, and more of us go missing every day. He swears there’s a witch.”

Elpenor’s brows arched downwards, his fine mouth settling into a frown. The woods beyond stayed quiet, and far enough away not to hide listening ears. “You don’t believe him.”

Eurylochus checked behind them to confirm that the men at the bonfire were still distracted. They did. Men sat languidly around the fire, telling tales and cooking meat until their watch. The boat remained quiet, the soft waves rocking it peacefully. “I don’t believe one way or another. I know I took a small group of men into the woods, and we found nothing but vines and wild sows.”

“No boars?”

“Well,” Eurylochus began, “As far as I can tell, there’s not a stag, bull, or stud among them.”

“Odysseus came back with a stag not long ago,” Elpenor added.

“But have you seen any? In the wild?” Continue reading “Circe’s Boars”

The Birth of a Dream (Part 4/4)

Why should we be allowed only one birth? Or one death? There is magic in multiples. Go the extra end… Let yourself become what it is meant to be.

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Hey, stc019 one last time. Please do not commit any murder, this is not the intent of that comic ok? But more seriously, this is a dear story to me. Sleep terror is something I still struggled with, being afraid to go to sleep, to dream… I’m trying to accept that it is what it is, it is part of who I am. After all, I lived hundred of lives through dreams and nightmares already…

Thank you for reading.

You can find me on instagram, twitter or commission me.

Our posts are 100% Patreon funded! If you want to see early posts, full resolution art, and WIPs, please consider supporting us on Patreon!

The Birth of a Dream (Part 3/4)

What advice can you give to someone who is afraid of dreaming?

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Hello again, stc019 speaking. I’ve been in love with the visual entity of skeletons for some time, now. There are in us, yet they can exist on their own when we don’t anymore… And you can buy so much of decorations of them on Halloween!

You can find me on instagram, twitter or commission me.

Our posts are 100% Patreon funded! If you want to see early posts, full resolution art, and WIPs, please consider supporting us on Patreon!

The Birth of a Dream (Part 2/4)

Death wraps themselves around us and awaits, quiet. There is both something gentle and terrifying in the gesture.

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Hi, it’s stc019 again. I hope you continue to enjoy this story. I really liked working on a balance between two selves with no faces, as to find how to convey emotions in another way.

You can find me on instagram, twitter or commission me.

Our posts are 100% Patreon funded! If you want to see early posts, full resolution art, and WIPs, please consider supporting us on Patreon!

The Birth of a Dream (Part 1/4)

 


What differentiates a dream from a nightmare is maybe simply the difference in a point of view.

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Hi, I’m stc019 (but you can call me Scotty). I like horror stories with my whole heart, and I’m so glad and honored I was able to work with GenderTerror on that story.

You can find me on instagram, twitter or commission me.

Our posts are 100% Patreon funded! If you want to see early posts, full resolution art, and WIPs, please consider supporting us on Patreon!

Men as Prey: Under The Skin’s Connection to Gay Victimization

CW:  So, just as a heads-up, this analysis is going to talk about sexual assault, rape, and murder involving hetero and homosexual individuals.

It is extremely hard to deny the feminist underpinnings that are at the heart of the film adaptation of Under the Skin. Scarlett Johansson’s otherworldly predator of a protagonist takes on the body of a woman in order to lure and then harvest the young men of Scotland, secure in their belief that nothing terrible could happen to them. As the movie progresses, though, she starts to take on a slow understanding and identification with that new form, to the point where she begins to be objectified and victimized herself. This character is ripe for analysis, but I feel that from a bisexual perspective, something begins to show itself by analyzing the film’s alien together with the men she chooses to lure to their deaths. The upheaval of the narrative of the woman victim and the male sexual predator, the flipping of this all-too-familiar story, is a compelling hook to hang the narrative on. It is also reminiscent of something that is also all-too-familiar to the queer male community and has hung over it like a dark cloud. Under The Skin can be interpreted as a look into how the gay community has to deal with opening itself to a dangerous world of predatory and sometimes fatal behavior when dating.

Continue reading “Men as Prey: Under The Skin’s Connection to Gay Victimization”

Two Dead Queers Presents: GUILLOZINE the Interview

Shock. Gore. Sacrilege. And more! GUILLOZINE contains art and stories that dare to push the boundaries. Available both for free online and for physical purchase on Amazon, GUILLOZINE is really a no boundaries zine.

GenderTerror had the good fortune of being able to interview both parts of Two Dead Queers, K.M. Claude and R.E. Hellinger, about not only the zine and the future, but also about their creative process.

GenderTerror: Let’s start off with the obvious, what is Two Dead Queers?

K. M. Claude: You’ve got Two Dead Queers the brand or institution or whatever you want to call this overarching beast and then the zine series Two Dead Queers Present which’re two separate but interrelated, symbiotic entities. Two Dead Queers as a whole is about creating art and stories without shame, without silence, and without censorship, and strives to deliver works by queer horror creatives for anyone and everyone who’s interested — or at least who dares.

R.E. Hellinger: With Two Dead Queers Present, we wanted to be able to offer something we made and enjoyed making for free. It’s a sort of love letter to those who already love Claude’s art and to those who love weird horror. We want people to find our zine and go “hey! This is neat!” and not only get excited for our next zine release or other projects we may be separately working on, but also encourage them to put their own wonderful weirdness out into the world.

Continue reading “Two Dead Queers Presents: GUILLOZINE the Interview”

Manifestation

In the forest where mushrooms grow, you leave something behind each day.

You hear a rustling in the woods, and you know you aren’t supposed to go there, but you steal away at dusk and give the forest what it wants. Or at least, what you think it wants. A gift, or an offering. To help something, to appease something. You aren’t sure which it is, but you are afraid everything might turn grey if you stop. You’re afraid it might come knocking at your door, demanding, if you don’t visit it first.

You return home as quickly and quietly as possible. Every fall since you can remember, your town isolates itself. No one leaves their home. Everyone has spent the months leading up to the season preparing, stockpiling food and supplies, to make sure they won’t have to leave for anything. Even on good days, there is an undercurrent of fear and unease, and everything is tinted grey.

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The Perfect Cut

“Do you want to add a mystery key?” The screen on the key machine asked.

Anita brushed a lock of jet black hair behind her ear and shrugged. It never hurt to have too many spare keys. The machine whirled back to life depositing another heavily against the rest. Anita reached down shoving the others into her pocket, and paused at the mystery key. It didn’t look like any key she’d ever seen before. The blade extended out twice the length and ended in a set of teeth on either side. Three loops entwined around the bronze bow and along its base a name had been engraved: Wainwright.

“Well, I guess they weren’t kidding about the mystery part.”

Just then, the buzz of her phone reminded her why she needed keys in the first place.

“Hey baby. Yeah, I got the keys. Be home soon,” she answered.

The gravel driveway crunched underneath the car as Anita pulled up. Sasha sat on the porch steps with an exasperated expression on her face. Before Anita could get out of the car, Sasha was already mid explanation.

Continue reading “The Perfect Cut”