Happy Monster Monday! Since this is the last Monday of Pride Month, I’d like to celebrate with the unlikely queer monster icon the Babadook. If you’re not familiar with the story, Netflix accidentally had the horror film The Babadook listed as a recommended LGBTQIA+ film a few years back. (Obviously the two can overlap, but at the time it was seen as a hilarious non sequitur.) The Internet being the Internet, a million memes were born, and the Babadook is now a Pride staple.

But back to the horror. In the film, a creepy pop-up book called The Babadook appears in a family’s house out of nowhere. Once the family reads the book, the terrifying title character comes to life and terrorizes them. It’s scary as hell, but it’s also a beautiful film about grief and motherhood. Essie Davis gives a wonderful performance as lonely widow Amelia Vanek, one of our most memorable horror moms, and Noah Wiseman also gives a great performance as her son Samuel.

Now, enjoy some photos of the scariest pop-up book ever made, and have a happy rest of Pride Month!

This is true of pretty much all horror movies, but The Babadook is best enjoyed alone at night with all the lights out. It really is a great horror flick, and this is the perfect time to see it, so get your horror on and go watch it. Have a good week, fiends.

• Horror
• Monster Monday