Hell Followed With Us -- Apocalyptic Awesomeness

Hell Followed With Us

Author; Andrew Joseph White. Date: 2022.

ISBN: 9781682633243.

Publisher: Peachtree Teens.

Genre: Fantasy.

Reading Level: Grades 9-12.

Awards: 2023 Morris Award.

Trailer: If they all want to make trans people out like they are monsters why not give them what they want? Let's see how they like the monster they created.

Benji is not your typical teenage boy. To be fair, though, nothing is typical anymore. Since an insane, white, evangelical cult brought about a violent apocalypse that killed most of the world it's all been a little weird. Between the Flood sickness killing everyone, the giant monsters the Flood created, and the Christian cult hunting survivors down to murder them the post apocalyptical world is hard to navigate. Benji was just about ready to give up completely until he found the Acheson LGBTQ+ Center. Or, that is, until they found him. Benji never anticipated that he, a trans boy who was not only in the cult but the child of one its leaders, would find anyone who would accept him. It is a big ask considering not only is he a former member of the cult, but they also infected him with the Flood so he is turning into one of the monsters. Not just one of the monsters, the monster. The end all be all of Flood monsters. The monster that can control all the others. With his new crew of Queer compadres, Benji must find the balance between saving himself and saving the world.

Via https://andrewjosephwhite.com/about

Created by: Andrew Joseph White describes himself as a, "queer, trans author from Virginia," who "writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back" (Goodreads, Andrew Joseph White). Basing his work off of his own lived experience White delivers authentic and poignant glimpses into the lives of trans people. On his Twitter (@AJWhiteAuthor), White interacts with fans and other writers frequently. He is releasing another book in the coming year about about a semi-non-verbal autistic trans man who is pregnant with a monster (White, 2023)!

Ready for a reading break? Enjoy this Hell Followed With Us playlist!

Analysis: I wrote and performed in a horror movie that included gore so intense people had to leave the set and even I found this book's horror descriptions to be absolutely sickening and visceral in the best way possible. I got about one page in before immediately telling all my spooky and Queer friends to put this on their read list. The violence that occurs in this book is deliberate and haunting. Nothing is done randomly for the shock value, it all has deeper meanings attached to the real-life horrors that Queer people experience. Using body horror, White explores the challenges to autonomy and safety that trans people experience.

Hell Followed With Us throws readers into a terrifying world in which white, evangelical eco-terrorists have violently taken over the world. Framing the story with bible verses and evangelical rhetoric White offers valuable analysis of the harm that religion can perpetrate when weaponized. Throughout the story the reader is pulled back and forth between the horrors the cult are causing and the humanity that the main characters articulate about themselves and their violent enemies. The dichotomy between fierce anger and soft empathy is sort of the quintessential young adult experience, isn't it? Periods of feeling so victimized by the world interrupted by brief moments of recognition when you understand hurt people hurt people and you yourself have probably hurt people before, too.

This is one of the first books I've read that used neo-pronouns. One of the characters uses xe / xem / xyrs pronouns because xe are gender non-binary. This thoughtful inclusion of a gender non-binary character speaks to the acceptance and positivity that White is projecting. It might be a little hard to recognize at first under all the blood and guts, but this is a story of hope. Hope for a future in which Queer people support each other and create a world where they are safe. There are a lot of movies and books and shows that feature Queer stories throughout history. They explore the experience of being Queer in times that have already passed. I think it is profoundly valuable to discuss the future, even when it is framed in horrific fantasy. While White presents violence against Queer people in this future the ending still implies a victory in the fight for freedom and safety.

Here is an interview with the author!

In the Library: This would be a great book to run a book club and conduct art projects with. I would challenge participants to come up with an interpretation of the future. It could be apocalyptic or idyllic-- really anything they want. I would encourage participants to use AI generators with phrases about their imagined future. Participants who don't want to use AI could come up with a physical representation like a piece of art, spoken word poem, or writing piece. During the book club meeting they could share their constructed futures with each other and discuss.

Potential Issues: This is a story that heavily promotes acceptance of everyone who is not actively causing harm, and some people (the most harmful folks, usually) take issue with that. Any person who took an issue with the trans, non-binary, and/or Queer characters would be referred to the collection development policy.

Reason for Inclusion: I've said it before and I'll say it again: representation matters. I wanted to include a story with gender non conforming characters in it for all of the gender non conforming homies out there! Also, we love a horror book. I really wanted to include something absolutely horrifying, I was just lucky that this one is also completely heartwarming and representative!!!

Sources:

Andrew Joseph White. (n.d.). Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19719767.Andrew_Joseph_White

Bashbot! (2023, March 4). Hell followed with US playlist. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL-zGHTePVQ

Hell followed with us. (n.d.). Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57911600

Nolan Dean. (2019, April 3). A conversation about: LGBTQ+ fiction (with AJ White). Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5iTdkWM4j0

White, A. J. [@AJWhiteAuthor]. (2023, February 8). DEAL ANNOUNCEMENT My adult debut - about a semi-speaking autistic trans man trapped in an isolated West Virginia town while pregnant with a terrible monster-fetus - is ACTUALLY HAPPENING I CANT BELIEVE IM GETTING AWAY WITH THIS LMAO!!! WHAT!!![Tweet]. https://twitter.com/AJWhiteAuthor/status/1623421980069314563?cxt=HHwWhoC-qZHsxoctAAAA

#horror #transstories #LGBTQIA