Queer writers reflect on the complicated legacy ofThe Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Since its earliest midnight showings at the Waverly Theater in New York City, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been an underground sensation. For five decades, people around the world have dressed up and gathered in dark theatres to dance, yell, mime obscene acts, and forge connections with other queer people and weirdos.
The film shattered expectations and social norms at the time of its release. But how does its presentation of queerness
not to mention its portrayals of murder, manipulation, consent violation, and cannibalism
hold up today? The essays in Absolute Pleasure
by queer writers including Sarah Gailey, Grace Lavery, and Magdalene Visaggio
explore the film's complicated legacy, along with queer and trans joy, sexuality, family, generational understandings of queerness, and what we do with our problematic faves.
Foreword by:
Carmen Maria Machado
Contributions by:
Magdalene Visaggio,
Grace Lavery,
Sarah Gailey
Edited by:
Margot Atwell
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 215mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781558613508
ISBN 10: 1558613501
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 February 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
“Brief Encounters with Dr. Frank-N-Furter” by A. Ng Pavel “To Absent Friends: AIDS and the Rocky Horror Community” by Akira Albar-Kluck “A Wild & Untamed Thing: How Performing in a RHPS Shadow Cast Helped Me Discover My Bodily Autonomy” by Aliya Bree Hall “Who Lives in the Old Dark House?” by Ben Larned “A Personal History of Magenta and Columbia” by Birch Rosen “Three Ways” by Dave Madden TK by Flloyd* TK by Genevieve Hammang TK by Grace Lavery* “Midnight Picture Show” by Heather Oriana Petrocelli “On the Queer Morality of Rocky Horror, or How A Teenager Found Out Her Mom Was in the Original Shadow Cast” by Holly Wertman TK by Jane Claire Bradley “A Light in the Darkness Coming Home” by Juniper Fitzgerald “Give Yourself Over” by Khale McHurst* TK by Lindsay Katt TK by Magdalene Visaggio “Finding Family through the Rocky Horror Picture Show” by Margot Atwell “With a Bit of a Mind Flip, I’m Into a Time Slip: Rocky Horror Revisited” by Mel King “This Town is Neutered: Queer Longing in the Far North” by MK Thekkumkattil “One from the Vaults” by Nino McQuown “Rocky’s Rocky Horror Picture Show” by Rocky Halpern “Tinted” by Rosie Long Decter TK by Roxy Ruedas TK by Sarah Gailey “Double Feature” by Tanya/Tómash Marquardt “A Rather Tender Subject” by Trey Burnette TK by Victoria Provost
Margot Atwell (she/her/hers) is a writer, editor, publisher, speaker, and community funding expert. She is the former executive director and publisher of Feminist Press. Previously, she was head of publishing and director of community outreach at Kickstarter, PBC, and publisher of Beaufort Books. In 2019, she was selected as aPublishers WeeklyStar Watch Honoree and received the Digital Book World Outstanding Achievement Award. She's the coauthor ofThe Insider's Guide to Book Publishing Success and author ofDerby Life. You can find her onTwitterorInstagramat @MargotAtwell, and read her writing in herOn the Books newsletter.
Reviews for Absolute Pleasure: Queer Perspectives on Rocky Horror
""Virgins and veterans alike will find something to contemplate in this wide-ranging collection, which is not afraid to interrogate a beloved classic while also celebrating its profound impact on weirdos and misfits across generations. As one of those weirdos, I’m so glad it exists."" —Jess Zimmerman, author of Women and Other Monsters""A collection as colorful, subversive, and comforting as the film it celebrates, Absolute Pleasure immortalizes in print The Rocky Horror Picture Show's still-unrivaled capacity for building queer connection and community in ways both wistful and wicked."" —Joe Vallese, editor of It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror “As someone with a Tim Curry tattoo on my arm, Absolute Pleasure sent glorious shockwaves of recognition through my body with each and every soul-baring essay. I felt validated, fascinated and ‘toucha toucha’ touched by every joyous, bittersweet, libidinous, liberating, mascara-smeared confession from fellow Transylvanians.” —Darren Stein, director of Jawbreaker “Absolute Pleasure delivers exactly that! Knowing that so many fellow, lonely young outsiders were guided to the light over at the Frankenstein place and found where they truly belonged reaffirms my lifelong passion and fandom for all things Rocky Horror. I smiled so much while reading this that my face began to ache.” —Peaches Christ, filmmaker and cult leader
