Overview

From Allyson McOuat, author of the popular 2020 New York Times Modern Love essay “The Ghost Was the Least of Our Problems,” comes her debut essay collection

In a series of intimate and humorous dispatches, McOuat examines her identity as a queer woman, and as a mother, through the lens of the pop culture moments in the ’80s and ’90s that molded her identity. McOuat stirs the ingredients required to conjure an unsettled spirit: the horrors of pregnancy and motherhood, love and loss, the supernatural, kaleidoscopic sexuality, near-miss experiences, and the unexplained moments in life that leave you haunted.

Through her own life experiences, various tall tales, urban legends, analysis of horror and thriller films, and spine-chilling true crime incidents, McOuat uncovers how cultural gatekeeping has forced her, as a mother and queer femme woman, to persistently question her own reality. Through this charming and humorous exploration of what moments have made her who she is, McOuat demonstrates for readers a way through by forgiving herself and exorcising her stubborn attachment to a phantom, heteronormative, nuclear family structure.

“ The Call Is Coming from Inside the House is at once tender and surprising, smart and funny. It is the life of the party: each essay sings for its supper in a most engaging and touching way. Smart Stories for Queer Girls is a possible subtitle for this lovely wonder of a book.” ― Laurie Petrou, author of the bestselling book Stargazing

Allyson McOuat (she/her) is a queer writer from Toronto who has been published in the New York Times , the Globe and Mail , Broadview Magazine , and Plenitude Magazine. McOuat’s Modern Love essay was adapted for television by Modern Love Amsterdam on Amazon Prime. She is a mom of two amazing daughters.