Who’s excited for Comic-Con? The pop culture, the games, movies, and of course comic books, that span the collective tastes of the world. Well, a new announcement has us positively screaming with excitement.
HorrorBuzz contributor and horror iconMichael Varrati, is returning to Comic-Con this year with another year of Queer Fear!
Horror films, TV shows, books, and comics have always attempted to bring us to the threshold of our fears and force us to come face-to-face with the “otherness” that exists outside of the mainstream.
For those in the LGBTQ+ community, this sense of otherness is not only terrifying and titillating, it’s quite often also relatable. The LGBTQ+ community has had a long history of intersection with the horror genre – from the Gothic literature of yesteryear to the modern cinema of today. With that history in mind, one must ask: Does a gay horror genre exist, and if so, what makes it different from mainstream horror? How does the current political climate alter the lens through which we celebrate and connect to the macabre?
Says Varrati, “I’m thrilled to once again be bringing this panel and discussion back to Comic-Con, as the need for LGBTQ+ representation in media is more important than ever. In the years that I’ve been hosting this panel, I’ve been humbled and honored to be joined by an array of significant creators in the queer genre space, and this year is no different. With panelists ranging across a variety of mediums, we’re going to get the perspective of artists from the worlds of film, comics, audio, and beyond. My only regret, as ever, is that we only get an hour. Each of the individuals on the panel this year brings so much insight to the world of creativity, I could talk to them all for days. Needless to say, it’s going to be good discussion. I can’t wait.”
Join Prism Comics and moderator/screenwriter Michael Varrati (Tales of Poe, host of Dead for Filth) and panelists Marc Andreyko (Eisner Award-Winning writer & editor, Love is Love, Manhunter), Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen (Rift, Child Eater), John C. Clark (A Closer Walk With Thee, Bloody Lesbian Melodrama), Brie Williams (A Closer Walk With Thee, Welcome to Night Vale), Viktor Kerney (StrangeLore, co-host of MEGASheen), and Jaclyn Chessen (Shock Attack)!
The panel will take place in room 28DE
at 7pm on Friday, July 20th, 2018
Marc Andreyko is an Eisner Award-Winning writer, editor, and celebrated voice in the world of comic books. He’s known for his work on the hit series Manhunter, Torso (created with Brian Michael Bendis), and will soon serve as the writer for Supergirl. Andreyko was the organizing force behind the Love is Love anthology, which raised money for victims of the Pulse nightclub shootings.
Erlingur Thoroddsen is the filmmaker behind Child Eater and the acclaimed festival hit Rift, which has been a multiple award winning feature on the circuit.
John C. Clark and Brie Williams are the creative team behind A Closer Walk With Thee, the shocking evangelical exorcism horror tale. Clark has also served as filmmaker behind Bloody Lesbian Melodrama, while Williams is a contributing writer to celebrated cult podcast Welcome to Night Vale.
Viktor Kerney is the co-host of MEGASheen, a podcast devoted to geek culture from perspective of queer people of color. Kerney is also the author of the forthcoming StrangeLore, and is serving the moderator of SDCC’s “Black & Queer in Popular Culture” panel.
Jaclyn Chessen is a celebrated photographer and the filmmaker behind the feature film Shock Attack and the forthcoming Deprivation. She’s making her third return to Queer Fear as a panelist!
