As of last month, I am a staff writer at Dread Central. Not only is being a paid horror critic a dream of mine, but it is also kind of awesome because there are not nearly enough Black women horror critics working at any of the horror outlets. Even if I take a few steps back and search for BIPOC femme critics, the numbers are still embarrassingly low and explain why so many articles I want to see never materialize. These alarmingly low numbers of people who share just those two identities as me and get paid for their work in this field make this a bittersweet moment. I am fucking ecstatic about this job! I also knew most of the people I work with via Twitter already, and they knew who they hired, so we are not experiencing any of the nonsense I have encountered at some of my previous gigs. However, I am also sad because I know so many BIPOC horror content creators that should also be working in all of these spaces that we are following to stay up to date on horror news.
In the piece I wrote last month, Why Horror Needs More POC Critics, I gave an overview of issues I have with the current state of horror criticism. I want more underrepresented voices at these places because I am tired of seeing missed opportunities to evaluate what is wrong with the horror community or celebrate artists that get things right. There are so many pieces that I would pay to read this year alone that have yet to materialize.
I NEEDED an article discussing the importance of Sam Richardson stepping into the role of a uniformed Forest Ranger who makes it to the end of Werewolves Within. His character gets saved by Catherine Curtin’s character showing up with a shotgun at the end of the film. As far as I know, no one has unpacked the significance of this on the internet. I have yet to see an article comparing this ending to the final moments of Night of the Living Dead, or addressing why so many people refuse to see Dead's ending for the commentary that it is. No one even whispered this in the interviews I read/heard with the cast and director. It was a missed opportunity to start a dialogue that the horror community should be having. Talking about the social commentary found within Werewolves Within does not negate it being a fun movie. It just means the film has additional layers outside of it simply being funny, and that is what good art is supposed to do. It is a compliment and a conversation that would probably lead to even more horror blerds checking it out sooner and weighing in on the conversation that should be happening.
I want to know how other BIPOC people are processing Rob Savage casting Annie Hardy and then defending her right to be problematic. Instead of owning his decision and understanding why some of us might not want to support someone who is sometimes anti-BLM, always anti-vax, and happily problematic, he has chosen to make flimsy excuses for her. These excuses disregard BIPOC, who shares her struggles, but not her toxic behaviors. Where are the articles from neurodivergent Black and Brown writers who know even better than the rest of us that blaming her mental health for her awfulness is harmful and gross in ways that no one seems to want to talk about yet.
I want someone to unpack the complicated legacy of Stephen King’s obsession with magical Brown people and his usage of the n-word. He is a problematic favorite, and because people who look like me keep getting left out of the conversation, the favorite part keeps overshadowing the problematic part of his legacy. I am worried that if we cannot talk about what makes our favorites problematic, then we become problematic.
I also really want an honest conversation about this Blumhouse project with Tyler Perry. There are a lot of conversations to be had about that and not nearly enough Black horror critics to have them.
I wrote a piece last month, and that led me to be fucking sad about how few Latinx horror movies were streaming during Hispanic Heritage Month. I was disappointed, and I would have loved to read pieces on that, but there are so few Latinx writers working in these spaces that I was lucky for the one I did find. Meanwhile, I can think of three horror podcasts off the top of my head that has Latinx creators who would probably produce pieces if someone would pay them for their time and talent.
Lately, I keep thinking about my quick Tribeca interview with the writer and director, Tucker Morgan and Delmar Washington, about their film No Running. I thanked them for their sci-fi movie centered on Black teens because that is something we never get to see. I also think about how we laughed when I pointed out it would be the only movie in the festival that celebrated edges on Black women. I would have LOVED to have seen this movie when I was a teen, and this interview added five years to my life. How often does a DIY podcast get to talk to Black horror creators and tell them that their inner-child is having a good day because of something they created? I will also point out that this was the only interview of the festival that did not fall through for me.
So, yeah, I am having a good month. However, I cannot stop thinking about how much further we still have to go because that is how my Gemini energy works for (and against) me. I had to go to FedEx a few weeks ago, and the two employees at the store were also blerds. I ended up staying longer than I needed to so we could exchange horror recommendations, and I could encourage them to do a Shudder trial and check out a few choice movies. We were three different generations of Black horror fans uninterrupted, and it was glorious! I am going back again in a couple of weeks after one of them finally checks out the new Candyman (she is waiting to rent it until she has the nailset she wants), and we can further get into how this one corrects issues with the original three. It made me less irritable about having to put on clothes and leave my room. It also reminded me why this is such an important bone to keep picking in the horror community. I want that feeling every day for every BIPOC horror fan, and that should not be such a huge request.
For my other articles on this subject and similar topics, you can check out:
Full Stop: I’m Yelling Fire So That You’ll Pay Attention
Full Stop: Tropes We Need to Leave Behind
Full Stop: What We’re Not Going To Do
Full Stop: Casually Anti-Black Behaviors I’ve Observed This Month
Full Stop: Casually Anti-Black Behaviors You Need to Quit NOW