It’s no mystery that, for many transgender people, horror can occupy a special place in our hearts. Growing up in a body or social role that feels wrong, we’re the ones that relate to the monsters and the “other” in horror fiction; the people who probably watched The Shape of Water with a big old grin as the monster got the girl. Being trans can be an incredibly alienating experience; families may reject us, lovers may turn away, and indeed society itself seems poised sometimes with a guillotine ready to drop. In an increasingly stressful world, with governmental bodies trying to strip trans rights, we assembled our World Beyond the Veil anthology to explore transmasculine perseverence through the lens of the horror genre. This zine seeks to shine a light on our power and strength, even in a world where the light may seem fleeting. This isn’t meant to be a sad story, though—we aren’t fated to succumb to the allegorical “good guy” at the end. Imagine a story in which the monster wins, and what form that may take for you—do they befriend the good guys, come to an understanding, and happily coexist? Do they take vengeance on those who have wronged them and learn to live on past them? Were the good guys ever good to begin with, or were they just closer to what society views as normal?
The World Beyond zine story started in 2021, with a goal to fill a gap in the zine scene: there were a number of trans-focused projects, but very few with a specifically transmasculine focus. After the successful completion of our first preorder campaign for our science fiction zine The World Beyond our Station in 2022, we came back in 2024 with our horror-themed followup: The World Beyond the Veil, a 100 page anthology featuring art and writing from over 50 different transmasculine creatives, The World Beyond the Veil was funded and shipped out by early 2025, but we still have plenty of physical (and digital!) stock to pick up today! As a charity zine group, proceeds from our first sales period have been donated to Gazan families in need; additional proceeds earned through the Queer Zest Zine Fest will be donated to more families at the end of the sale.
