Embracing the Monster: How Horror Movies Empower

This zine serves as a smart and savvy "cinematic toolbox" for exploring the horror genre's bold approaches to political and cultural ideas and diverse identities. Ranging widely across movies and television (with recipes and activities in between), Riana Slyter offers her own candid memories of first being captured by horror, along with a rich overview of horror history and context, before she dives in to examine marginalization through the "monster versus human" trope, the demonizing of women in The Witch, Jordan Peele's critique of animal (and human) exploitation in Nope, portrayals of empowerment and queer identity in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and beyond. By keenly explicating how each film and show treats culturally taboo questions of race, gender, disability, and more, this zine demonstrates the power of horror to help us to embrace our fears, differences, and shared fate.