Queer Horror Cinema: Heroic Outsiders and Beautiful Freaks
Panel Discussion with Evan J Peterson (moderator), Amanda Downum, Garrett Cook, Rose O'Keefe
Horror has always meant something a bit different to the LGBTQ fans and creators. From Medusa and Carmilla to the Cenobites and Buffalo Bill, monsters and "perverts" can be the heroes and/or the victims with a little change in perspective. Let's get our hands dirty and talk about this.
In the Classroom.
Evan J. Peterson is a game writer, novelist, and poet. His first novel is Better Living Through Alchemy (Broken Eye Books), and other works include METAFLESH: Poems In the Voices of the Monster (ARUS), Drag Star! (Choice of Games), the world’s first drag performer RPG, and The Road to Innsmouth: Arkham Horror (Asmodee). His writing has appeared in Weird Tales, PseudoPod, Queers Destroy Horror, and Nightmare Magazine. POSTHUMAN, his next RPG, is coming in late 2025 from Choice of Games. Evanjpeterson.com can tell you more.
Amanda Downum is the author of the Necromancer Chronicles, Dreams of Shreds & Tatters, and The Poison Court. Her short fiction has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, and Weird Tales, and in the anthologies Lovecraft Unbound and Dreams From the Witch House. Unsatisfied with only writing about necromancy, she recently began a new career as a mortician. She lives in Austin, Texas for the time being.
Garrett Cook is a Wonderland Award winning author as well as an editor, mentor and Twitch streamer. His work has been translated into several languages and published in multiple countries. He streams games and documents his writing process on his channel DocFaustus82 on Twitch. His latest book is Kennel from Madnesss Heart Press.
Rose O'Keefe is the owner/ publisher of Eraserhead Press, the leading publishing house of Bizarro Fiction since 1999. Eraserhead Press is comprised of one main line of books and four imprints: Deadite Press, Fungasm Press, Lazy Fascist Press and The New Bizarro Author Series. Under O’Keefe’s direction, Eraserhead Press has released over three hundred titles and developed an international cult following for its cutting-edge weird fiction which has been praised by The Guardian, Chuck Palahniuk, Jack Ketchum, Boing Boing, and Cracked.com, among others. As a leader in the Bizarro Fiction community, she hosts monthly writer's gatherings, writer's retreats on the Oregon Coast, and the annual convention/art event, BizarroCon. In addition to being a full-time publisher and editor, she’s also an avid homebrewer and Argentine tango dancer. She lives in Portland, OR.