Crowdfund via Milaap: https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-gaysi-family
Rewards:
All donations above INR 700 will be shipped a copy of the Gaysi Horror Zine [Within India].
All donation above INR 1500 will be shipped a copy of the Gaysi Horror Zine [International].
What is Normal: Desi Queer Horror Anthology?
With Normal, Gaysi takes a leap into a genre that is largely unexplored in India: queer horror. The idea was to not just pay homage to the horror genre – by going beyond the usual paranormal or ghost stories – but also to tell these stories from a queer perspective – either through queer characters or from the minds of queer writers and artists.
Horror is everything that doesn’t quite ‘fit in’ with societal norms; it is a celebration of our biggest fears, an acknowledgement of our realities with the volume slightly turned up. And as a genre that imbibes nonconformity and countless manifestations of extremities and everything in the middle, it is surprising that we still only see heteronormative characters and their stories in almost every iteration of a horror narrative in India. Normal is an attempt towards changing that ‘norm’ and encouraging diversity even in the kinds of stories we tell and the stories we read.
The zine is an anthology of about twenty different explorations of horror. The pieces range from long-form traditional horror stories rooted in Indian folklore to poems that bring the pain and literal horror of living with discrimination as a queer person to life as well as purely graphic pieces and photo-essays along with a sprinkle of humour every now and then across sub-genres of psychological horror, slasher, satire, erotica, and urban horror to name a few. Add that to the range of characters you will meet across these pieces, Normal is bound to leave you asking for more by the end of it.
How will these funds be used?
Gaysi has always believed in giving a platform to artists and their work through various media – online or offline – whatever may be the cost. However, when it comes to producing a zine, there are costs beyond just artists’ fees: printing and other logistical costs. With your help, we can work towards creating a quality product that does justice in print to the hard work and commitment of each of the artists featured in the zine as well as cover the shipping and handling costs to our donors and contributors, while keeping the retail price of the zine minimal and accessible to all.
