Absolute Pleasure: Queer Perspectives on Rocky Horror (Feminist Press, 2025)
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 theaters 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.
Events & Tour
Margot and the other writers will be doing events around the US Fall 2025. Sign up here to express interest in events and get notified about tour and event plans!
Praise for Absolute Pleasure
"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
"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
