A new online horror/sci fi story wants to put LGBTQ people and people of color at the forefront.
For decades, people of color have been the jokes of the horror genre. Black people specifically have been depicted so poorly that there are ongoing jokes and tropes about them in the horror genre. For Asian people, Latinx people, and LGBTQ people, representation was barely visible. But now with works by Jordan Peele like Us and the more thriller based Get Out, a door has opened for new faces in the genre. And, a new web series is walking right on through.
Filmmaker Che Grayson is releasing a new series called Magic Hour. The anthology horror series will depict horror and thriller stories with LGBTQ people and people of color at the forefront. (Because we all want to get scared together).
For the pilot episode, titled “Soul-Search,” model, activist, and Pose actor Indya Moore stars as a sort of Frankenstein’s monster looking for a soul and purpose in life.
“How do you claim your humanity when others try to strip you of it?” asks the description. “Bella was ‘created’ with no clear motive or objective. The man who made her has condemned her a monster. Trapped in a hotel room, Bella decides to break free and brave the outside world in search of meaning. As she roams the bustling streets of Tokyo, she has life-changing encounters with the people she meets. And when she stumbles upon a karaoke bar and meets the owner Eiko, Bella soon discovers a life and love she could have never imagined. But will Bella successfully break free from her creator and find a sense of humanity or will she fall prey to his deadly prophecy?”
But, the series isn’t a confirmed reality just yet. Grayson is currently struggling to pay for post-production costs, so she’s created a Kickstarter to help fund the back end of the show’s creation.
That said, Che Grayson is still hopeful in the promise of the series.
“The thing that connects all of the episodes together is the occurrence of ‘magic hour,’ a time of day when everything looks freaking gorgeous or, in the show’s case, a time when parallel dimensions and realities overlap and collide with each other to create remarkable stories that stretch the imagination and shock the senses,” Grayson explains for the Kickstarter page. “Each episode will explore themes like love, belonging, humanity and sacrifice. Stories that will keep you up at night, will make you think, or just creep you the hell out. Tales of robots exploring the gender binary, girls curing addictions, bigots turning into animals and femmes giving birth to celestial beings (to name a few).”
So far, the Kickstarter has made $16,588 of its $30,000 goal with around 16 days left to go in its campaign. Will the fundraiser succeed? We’ll see in a few weeks.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chegrayson/magic-hours-pilot-episode-starring-indya-moore?ref=project_link
