Dispatch 004
It’s been a rough week in Mae Land. My cold turned into bronchitis so severe that the blood vessels in my throat ruptured from cough. A separate problem presented itself at the same time; a reaction to the progesterone treatment for my suspected endometriosis. Severe uterine bleeding that left me anemic and tired. When I’m so ill, I can’t take my lupus medications (which are all immunosuppressants), so the pain associated with lupus can flare.
It’s pretty clear why I love body horror. The uncontrollable takeover of a body, by illness or curse or alien—the helplessness of it is something I can relate to intimately. My Brave New Weird Award-winning story The Imperfection addressed some of my own experiences with body horror quite viscerally.
Running in the indie horror world can sometimes feel like a never-ending hamster wheel, where if you stop running or get off, you’ll be left behind, and it will be all the more difficult to rejoin the race. When you’re dealing with a chronic illness (or illnesses), it can consume your life, set you back on your projects, make you feel guilty and pressured to keep going.
But then I think to the body horror stories and films I love. How the body horror is the central player in the story; all else in that person’s life falls away as they contend with the changes and illness they’re going through.
And I shit you not, thinking about it, I don’t feel so bad anymore.
xo,
Mae
Medusa Publishing Haus
The Book of Queer Saints Volume II Indiegogo campaign was officially funded on Saturday, April 8. There are 3 days remaining to get orders in to access exclusive queer stories, merch, and production updates.
Submission Calls
Why Didn’t You Just Leave, an anthology about people who stay in haunted houses, is set to be released by Cursed Morsels Press and edited by Nadia Bulkin and Julia Rios. They announced submission dates and guidelines today. The open call begins accepting submissions August 1, 2023. More information here.
Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror from Ghoulish Books, edited by Sofia Ajram, opens submissions on May 1. Submission guidelines can be found here.
The Pleasure in Pain, a collection of queer erotic horror edited by Roxie Voorhees, will accept submissions from June 1 to July 1. Submission guidelines found here.
George A. Romero’s elusive vampire flick Martin (1976) is now streaming for free on Tubi.
Contracted (2013) is the patient zero zombie flick you didn’t know you needed. What if the zombie outbreak was caused by an STD? We’d be fucked. Contracted Phase I & 2 are now streaming on Tubi.
Thank you for reading this week’s Dispatch From Heck.
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Have a great week!
Mae