Danielle Rae's Midnight Matinee #2: The Double Creature Feature!
Two icons, one post
Welcome back to Danielle Rae’s Midnight Matinee! This week is a special double feature to make up for the missed post last week. I unexpectedly worked late Monday – which led to working late all week. Our first monster this week came onto the scene 10 years ago and became quite the icon. It’s the Babadook, who when I first saw an illustration of him I thought “How fun” but once I googled what he really looks like I thought “Oh God what is that!”
A metaphor for grief and loss, the Babadook originally appears in the movie “The Babadook” by showing up in a book that mysteriously appears in the house of Amelia and her six year old son Samuel, who live by themselves after the death of Amelia’s husband and Samuel’s dad, Oskar. Once they read a poem within the book out loud, the Babadook begins to torment them.
The movie goes through the five stages of grief, forcing Amelia to acknowledge her losses while her anger and resentment of the Babadook grows. Amelia eventually comes to accept her loss and the Babadook’s power over her goes away. At the end of the movie, the Babadook is living in Amelia and Samuel’s basement, where she brings him bowls of food that he eats in the darkness. It’s worms, by the way. His food is worms. Which is also money for skeletons in case you didn’t know!
Overall, the movie shows the journey of grief and how it is a part of our daily life once we experience it.
Now for where I explain my love for the Babadook, and it can be summed up in one sentence: the Babadook is a gay icon. Sure, this was “an accident” because Netflix accidentally listed The Babadook under the LGBT category after it came out, but the Babadook became an overnight queen thanks to this mishap.
The next monster is one I am much more familiar with as I have followed a couple fandoms around it for several years. It’s Slenderman! I think you can see why I decided to do these two together, they share a similar fashion aesthetic. Slenderman is a figure born from Creepypasta shared online, which grew into a Youtube series called Marble Hornets, a video game, and a movie. He is tall, thin (some might say slender), and wears a black suit and shoes.
According to lore, Slenderman (or Slendy as he has been affectionately called) likes to stalk children and adults who are aware of his existence, torturing them more with his presence, not unlike the Babadook. Mostly sticking to forests and wooded areas, Slenderman also likes to peek into windows and step in front of lone motorists at night.
Now, why do I love Slenderman? Within days of his Creepypasta being created on the SomethingAwful forums, Marble Hornets was created and posted on YouTube. Over five years and 133 episodes, the story of Alex, Jay, and Tim was engrossing. Episodes were released one at a time in an unpredictable schedule. I even contributed to their Kickstarter for the DVD set (which I have, signed). Marble Hornets added a lot to Slenderman lore with their series, and I loved how they used their medium to tell the story.
Unfortunately, I haven’t found anything saying Slenderman is a gay icon. However, I would argue he could be. He has a good sense of style, he knows what he likes, he’s unbothered, moisturized, happy, in his lane, focused, flourishing. Icon confirmed!
Come back next week for another stream-of-consciousness mini-essay about my favorite horror monsters!
Gary is currently on hiatus while he edits his novel. So please enjoy Danielle Rae’s Midnight Matinee, where she discuss her favorite horror monsters during the month of October! If you’d like to support me, please consider subscribing — it’s free.