Description

The Monster Issue

There is a lot to fear in our current world, including a consequential presidential election running up against rampant voter suppression, a growing current of white supremacist violence, a never-ending pandemic, and a climate change crisis that could soon bring our entire existence to a screeching halt. Yet, our horror canon rarely considers these real-life monsters that are always lurking, always waiting to pounce and upend our lives. This issue brings these monstrous systems to the forefront, illuminating the prison-industrial complex, colorism, surveillance, and a range of other factors that invade our daily lives and require more than garlic to ward off. Monsters are real and we must confront them in order to eventually vanquish them.

FIRST OF ALL

Letter from the Editor | Evette Dionne
Snaps or Scraps
Manifesting with Rose Quartz
7 on Monster | Rachel Charlene Lewis
Feminist Fill-In: Lindsay Adams
Bitch List

DISPATCHES

Joke to Trope: On the Pop Culture Villainization of Aunties | Shailee Koranne
White and Whimsical: The Reformation of Fashion’s History | Nandi Howard
Witching Hour: Divine Sisterhood Has Always Come in Threes | Rebecca Long

FEATURES

Uncaging Humanity: Rethinking Accountability in the Age of Abolition | Mariame Kaba, Josie Duffy Rice, and Reina Sultan
Sobering Realities: Women Writer Their Way into the Addiction Canon | Britni de la Cretaz
Wake-Up Call: The Red Pill Is Radicalizing Without Substance | s.e. smith
Avenging Eve: The Death of Eden and the Birth of Patriarchy | McKenzie Schwark
Phantom Pain: U.S Imperialism Haunts Korea’s Cosmetic-Surgery Boom | Hannah Amaris Roh

FROM THE HQ

Letter from the HQ
Fellowship Frequency: Sacred Writes
Community Focus
Rage Report
Staff Sound Off

CULTURE

Paper Bag Test: Colorism Is the Monster We Can’t Shed | Taylor Crumpton
Netflix and Kill: 5 Horror Monsters on the Hunt for Love | Marina Watanabe

BOOKS

We the Harvested: Online, We Lurk and Are Lurked Upon | Rachel Charlene Lewis
BitchReads
What We’re Reading: “Honey Girl”

SCREEN

Milicent Patrick Designed Hollywood’s First Monsters | Cate Young
White Fright: Haunted Houses Disrupt the American Dream | Shireen Rose Shakouri
The Teen Temptress Has Always Been an Adult Fantasy
What We’re Watching: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

MUSIC

Comrade Britney, Our Patron Saint of Millennial Woes | Vanessa Willoughby
What We’re Listening To: Evil | Rachel Charlene Lewis
3 Podcasts Rebuking the Whiteness of Book Reviews | Rachel Charlene Lewis
BitchTapes: A Playlist by Drew Dixon
Adventures in Feministory: Mary Shelley