Benjamin Larned 🍉

@rotbacchus

A gay bog witch who writes fucked-up surreal fables. Shortlisted for Brave New Weird Vol. 4. Link to work below he/they ben.larned(at)gmail(dot)com www.curiousafflictions.com

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Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jun 29

JULY 17th - I LOST SOMETHING IN THE HILLS will premiere online! excited to share this lil nightmare with you all. starring @tylergaca.bsky.social #queerhorror #indiefilm

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Feb 8

leathered up to see PILLION! really enjoyed it, some of the best "sex scene as storytelling" stuff I've watched in ages

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jan 14

unspeakably honored to be included on the Brave New Weird Vol. 4 shortlist, alongside some seriously great writers!! thanks to @tenebrouspress.bsky.social and @cold-signal.com for giving That Red Hot Beat a home ❤️🖤 tenebrouspress.com/blog/2026/1/...

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jan 13

got to rewatch LA LLORONA at the Academy Museum last night - one of the most elegant and powerful horror films of the century, a brilliant and satisfying vision of cosmic retribution

Image from La Llorona - a Maya woman wears a traditional veil while giving her testimony

Image from La Llorona - a woman's long hair drifts like tendrils in the water

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Dec 25

best Xmas movies (hon mention to Muppet Christmas Carol)

A group of masked cultists from Eyes Wide Shut

Olivia Hussey next to a red wreath in Black Christmas

Mya Taylor standing on an LA street in Tangerine

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Dec 16

All of my work published in 2025! Huge thanks to all these editors for giving these stories and essay a home 🖤@margotatwell.bsky.social @cold-signal.com @thenosleeppodcast.bsky.social @bowerygothic.bsky.social @tundraswanpress.bsky.social

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Dec 16

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is the scariest movie I've seen this year

Rose Byrne looking horrified in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Dec 15

watched IT ENDS last night - a terrifying and thoughtful extrapolation on how it feels to exist in a dead-end world, where nothing seems to matter but moving forward. criminal that it hasn't been properly distributed yet

Cast and crew for IT ENDS at a SXSW promo shoot

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Nov 27

colonial meat day moodboard

Kiowa Gordon confronting a zombie soldier in Blood Quantum

Beatrice Dalle covered in blood, from Trouble Every Day

Doomed family prays over dinner in The Witch

Michael Gambon eats a corpse in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Nov 27

Can you sum up your gender in 4 fictional characters?

Gump, a wide-eyed grinning elf boy, from Legend

Irina from Cat People, posing in front of a mural of a jaguar

Llewyn Davis, a bearded man sleeping against a subway car window

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Nov 16

rewatched Pan's Labyrinth for the first time in 10+ years and it's even more exquisite than I remembered. perfect viewing for the times, and the faun is a top 5 creature design

A still from Pan's Labyrinth. In an underground cavern with a carven monolith, a tree-like faun stands across from a girl in a nightgown.

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Oct 31

Happy Halloween to all the gremlins and goblins out there!

A trifecta image of a bearded man wearing beads, sequins, and jester makeup, carrying a sparkly staff

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Oct 7

Official poster for I LOST SOMETHING IN THE HILLS, which screens at the Philisophical Research Society this Sunday as part of their program The Unseen!

A bearded man screams beneath an ominous mountain ridge, surrounded by darkness

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Sep 24

My contributor copies of ABSOLUTE PLEASURE arrived today from @margotatwell.bsky.social l and @feministpress.bsky.social ress - a dream come true!! Can't wait to read all these wonderful takes on one of my favorite movies

Me, a bearded white man, holding a copy of Absolute Pleasure

The title page to my essay "Who Lives in the Old Dark House?"

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Sep 2

watched Disappear Completely (2022) this weekend and have been thinking about it since - lovely combo of Se7en, Nightcrawler and Drag Me to Hell with a grim flavor all its own

Still from Disappear Completely, showing a man in a leather jacket with a large digital camera obscuring his face

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jul 16

watched Misericordia, which starts out as a good but standard demon twink drama and then twists into a fascinating conundrum - highly recommended

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jun 27

I HATE THE SUPREME COURT

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jun 2

more queer horror!! MORE!! @daviddemchuk.com @ericlarocca.bsky.social @pauladashe.bsky.social @horrorsong.blog

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke book cover

We Are Here To Hurt Each Other book cover

The Wingspan of Severed Hands book cover

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jun 1

some favorite queer horror novels to celebrate 🥰 there's many more too

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jun 1

skipping Pride Month and going straight to Rage Month this year ☺️

Divine makes a disgusted face in Female Trouble

The main character from Funeral Parade of Roses in an elaborate wig

The killer from Der Samurai holds a severed head in front of raging flames

Jean Hill says "bitch at the air, bitch at the trees" in Desperate Living

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· May 10

Ugly Stepsister is the closest thing I've seen to a Bava movie in years and ALSO made me feel physical pain, big win for the body horror girlies

still from "The Ugly Stepsister," a richly-dressed teenage girl ponders some kind of... pearl? ;)

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Apr 14

watched The Boxer's Omen again and my god is it wonderful. gooiest, most elaborate depiction of magic I've ever seen?

Still from The Boxer's Omen: man with white hair in a grotesque pink-eyed mask, lit bright green

Still from The Boxer's Omen: black magic temple with large white hand sculptures and a red glowing demon statue

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Mar 24

how things feel lately

Black cat looking bewildered and derpy in a bright light

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Feb 25

Spent the weekend bringing a dream project to life with a fantastically talented and wonderful crew. Incredibly grateful for their hard work and generosity. Now we develop the film and get to cutting! Cannot WAIT to share this lovely nightmare with the world ❤️🏔🖤

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Feb 21

IT IS HAPPENING

Title page of a script reading "I Lost Something in the Hills Written by Ben Larned"

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Feb 14

happy valentine's day to the freaks ONLY

Still from Stranger by the Lake, two men silhouetted against the water doing something sexual

Still from Possession, a tentacled creature thrusts into a woman

Still from The Duke of Burgundy, two women lie in bed together

Still from In the Realm of the Senses, a woman holds a butcher knife in her teeth

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Feb 4

Last chance to be part of this mountainous nightmare!

Hazy grayscale image of a ghoulish thing, a small part of a famous painting

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Feb 1

3 DAYS LEFT! Some concept art from Elizabeth Schuch 😈👁

Grayscale illustration of an eye spotted with black ink

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jan 28

too much fun, gotta join in!! post four great horror performances that didn't get nominated for an Oscar (i cheated with TV Glow haha)

Justice Smith and Jack Haven in I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

Benjamin Larned 🍉@rotbacchus· Jan 28

ONE WEEK left to contribute to I Lost Something in the Hills! We've had some very generous donations so far, but we need over $2500 more to reach our goal. Share and spread the word! This project is more important to us than ever, and we can't wait to bring it to you in its best form!