Gina and Joe Talk About: a zine series between friends about Horror
In Gina and Joe Talk About:, I connect with my friend Gina Brandolino, a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. In addition to courses on early English literature, comics, and working class literature, she teaches a variety of courses on horror, including Classic Horror, Contemporary Horror, Creepy Kids, and Ghost Stories. Through personal and academic essays, Gina and I relate our lives to the things that scare us, make recommendations of our favorite pieces of media within the genre, and dive deeply into the historical context, modern relevance, and/or personal meaning behind our favorite horror movies and books.
In the inaugural issue of Gina and Joe Talk About: Queer Horror, Gina and I explore the intersection of horror and queerness. This zine holds a special relevance to me as I used it as the vehicle to come out as queer during an essay about always relating to the disbelieved woman trope in horror movies. Click on the photo above to purchase a copy of the zine.
In the third issue of Gina and Joe Talk About: Wintry Horrors, Gina and I discuss the terror of a winter snow, being stuck inside against your will, the physics of vampires freezing, and I take a deep dive into The Thing from original serial novelization through each of its movies. Click on the photo above to purchase a copy of the zine.
In the fifth issue of our series, Gina examines the ripple effect that The Exorcist sent throughout the horror genre, spills the tea on her thoughts about the book that started the series, and tells a chilling story of a serial killer in her town growing up and how The Exorcist made her rethink what evil really could be. I have a riot watching every movie in The Exorcist franchise and writing about them, including both sequels from 1977 and 1990, I dissect the fascinating story of the two prequels that came out less than a year apart, give my thoughts on the popular-but-short-lived Exorcist TV series from 2016, and dig through a few other franchises you'll love if you enjoyed The Exorcist. As usual, this isn't a one-and-done zine, you'll likely have to sit with this one for awhile! Click on the photo above to purchase a copy of the zine.
In the second issue of Gina and Joe Talk About: Halloween Horror, Gina and I dive into our favorite Halloween horror movies, while also taking a deep dive into nostalgia, revisiting costumes and childhood drawings. Also includes movie recommendations, personal essays, and more. Click on the photo above to purchase a copy of the zine.
In the fourth issue of Gina and Joe Talk About: Queer Horror #2, Gina and I revisit our love of queer horror media, this time spending more time talking about community, bisexuality, lesbianism and horror, and making off-the-beaten-path recommendations for queer horror that’s often passed over. Click the photo above to purchase a copy of the zine.