The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has included
The Call Is Coming From Inside the House for the Preliminary Ballot for the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards®
in the Superior Achievement in Long Non-Fiction category. Formal Nominations will be announced in late February.
From Allyson McOuat, author of the popular 2020 New York Times Modern Love essay “The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems,” comes her debut essay collection
In a series of intimate and humorous dispatches, McOuat examines her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the ’80s and ’90s that m
From Allyson McOuat, author of the popular 2020 New York Times Modern Love essay “The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems,” comes her debut essay collection
In a series of intimate and humorous dispatches, McOuat examines her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the ’80s and ’90s that molded her identity. McOuat stirs the ingredients required to conjure an unsettled spirit: the horrors of pregnancy and motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, near-miss experiences, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.
Through her own life experiences, various tall tales, urban legends, analysis of horror and thriller films, and spine-chilling true crime incidents, McOuat uncovers how cultural gatekeeping has forced her, as a mother and queer femme woman, to persistently question her own reality. Through this charming and humorous exploration of what moments have made her who she is, McOuat demonstrates for readers a way through by forgiving herself and exorcising her stubborn attachment to a phantom, heteronormative, nuclear family structure.
ECW Press | A Canadian Indie Book Publisher | Publishing Curiously Compelling Books Since 1974
Allyson McOuat (she/her) is a queer writer from Toronto who has been published in the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, Broadview Magazine, and Plenitude Magazine. McOuat’s Modern Love essay was adapted for television by Modern Love Amsterdam on Amazon Prime. She is a mom of two amazing daughters.
Published on Halloween 2020 in the Sunday Style section of the New York Times Modern Love column Allyson McOuat's popular Queer Ghost Love Story was highlighted on CBC Radio, the New York Times Books and went on to become the inspiration for S1 Ep 5 of Modern Love Amsterdam.
The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
https://www.autostraddle.com/the-best-queer-books-of-2024/
In my review for Autostraddle, I raved about how The Call Is Coming From Inside the House “is a dream for any reader looking for queer feminist essays that will intellectually thrill you, scare you, and make you laugh.” Effortlessly moving from personal narrative to (pop) culture criticism throughout each essay, Allyson McOuat touches on themes of motherhood, pregnancy, queer / bisexual identity, anxiety, true crime, and horror movies and fiction to truly revelatory effect. McOuat’s feminist insights are reminiscent of Melissa Febos and her horror film analysis is on par with Carmen Maria Machado. What more could you want?
https://www.pride.com/books/10-of-the-best-lgbtq-books-of-2024#rebelltitem1 T
he Call is Coming from Inside the House: Essays by Allyson McOuat is a brutally honest reflection on motherhood and queer womanhood told through the context of '80s and '90s pop culture. An excellent read if you loved Francesca T. Royster's Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance, and a real god-send of a book for anyone with a complex relationship to being a queer person and a parent.
The Call is Coming from Inside the House: Essays is available for purchase here.
You might not remember her name, but you surely remember McOuat’s popular 2020 New York Times Modern Love essay “The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems.” She’s out with her debut essay collection that promises humour and intimacy, told through “her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the ’80s and ’90s that moulded her identity.”
Hello spring! Here are the new and forthcoming titles we’re really excited to pick up on these longer, warmer, more beautiful days.
Toronto writer Allyson McOuat shares her experience growing up as a queer femme woman in the ’80s and ’90s. She details the major pop culture that made her who she is today and what her life is like now as a mom just trying to make it all work. Full of humor and heart, the essays will capture your attention from the first page.
McOuat’s prose is exceptional: I highlighted several passages in my copy purely because I loved the writing. And it’s funny, too! Despite handling such difficult topics — postnatal anxiety, lost love, gender-based discrimination, victim complexes, trauma, pregnancy — Allyson McOuat is just so funny. I’d love to buy her a coffee and pick her mind.
REVIEW: The Call is Coming from Inside the House – six of queens reads (wordpress.com)
"Like horror films themselves, the essays in this collection are filled with suspense and a foreboding tone and they were truly addicting."
"I’d recommend this to everyone, really! Especially if you are queer and love 90s horror movies."
"It offered a fresh perspective on topics that are covered in so many essay books these days, and made for an unusual and engaging read."
"I really enjoyed this one.
I devoured this in a day and would not hesitate to revisit again later nor to pick up further titles by this author in future."
...when I tell you that Allyson McOuat’s debut essay collection The Call Is Coming From Inside The House is one of the best books I’ve read in years, it means a lot.
Queer Feminist Essay Collection Explores Horrors of Motherhood (autostraddle.com)
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