Aaron Romano
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alromano.bsky.social
Aaron Romano
@alromano.bsky.social
190 followers 360 following 190 posts
They/Them. 30 something queer cat parent and horror obsessive. I sometimes write spooky things: WE CAN ALWAYS TELL and WYRD WEREWOLF WRANGLER. Featured in Grim & Gilded and the Headwaters Creative Arts Magazine.
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alromano.bsky.social
Just cried all the way through Guillermo del Toro's Pinnochio. Particularly liked that the carnival barker and the Podestà were treated as villains of equal weight with arcs that paralleled each other throughout the film. A reminder that capitalism and fascism are two sides of the same coin.
The carnival barker voiced by Christoph Waltz, a balding man with red hair and a green waistcoat, sips tea with his pet monkey while sizing up Pinnochio, a small wooden boy. The Podestà voiced by Ron Perlman, a fascist blackshirt in a fedora and red arm band, attempts to brainwash a group of children, Pinnochio among them.
November 14, 2025 at 4:09 AM
alromano.bsky.social
What movie villain is a horrible "person," but an absolute joy to watch on screen?
Glenn Close in character as the Marquise de Merteuil reclining in a gilded brocade chair while reading a letter in the film Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
November 11, 2025 at 7:25 PM
alromano.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 6:35 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Once you get a chance to see Nightmare Alley (2021) in black and white it's honestly kinda astonishing how ass it looks in color.
Black and white image of Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchette in and art deco psychiatrist office, Blanchette reclines on a chaise lounge. The same image as the previous but in color. Black and white image of Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchette facing one another as Blanchette raises a lit match to light Cooper's cigarette. The same image as the previous but in color.
November 9, 2025 at 3:33 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Probably my favorite little detail in del Toro's Frankenstein is Victor's cunty little red gloves. A great visual metaphor for the blood on his hands.
Victor Frankenstein, portrayed by Oscar Isaac, sawing through the leg of a white male corpse while wearing red leather gloves.
November 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Michael Mann's The Keep will never be the movie I want it to be by damn does it look cool. Anyway, happy Halloween 🖤
A silhouetted figure runs through a glowing portal An officer of the Wehrmacht enters a strange, foreboding castle Wehrmacht jeeps loaded with troops pulling into a picturesque village nestled in the Carpathian mountains Close-up of a bizarre fleshless creature with glowing red eyes
October 31, 2025 at 4:38 PM
alromano.bsky.social
You know Microsoft Word and Google Docs both come with spell checkers? You don't need to murder the planet with AI for this. Also there's this amazing thing known as a dictionary - believe it or not, they do still exist.
October 30, 2025 at 4:44 PM
alromano.bsky.social
If you see this, post 4 female characters you love
Close-up of Little Nell wearing heavy makeup and a gold sequined top hat in character as Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Black and white still of Bette Davis in a frilly white dress, arms spread, eyes full of madness in character as Baby Jane Hudson from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Meiko Kaji standing in the snow holding a sword and an umbrella in character as Yuki from Lady Snowblood (1973) Still of Pam Poovey holding a 40 ounce bottle of beer and a stack of files from the adult animated spy comedy, Archer (2009 - 2023)
October 29, 2025 at 4:59 AM
alromano.bsky.social
Four books to get to know me
50th anniversary edition of Watership Down by Richard Adams depicting illustrated brown and white rabbits frolicking over a green floral background that disguises the hidden dangers of multiple rabbit traps. Vintage paperback of Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. Cover is gold with title in red and white font. Penguin classics edition of Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. Cover depicts a still from the film adaptation featuring a collection of ladies and girls picnicking on a lovely day while in Victorian era clothing Vintage cover of Pet Semetary by Stephen King. Cover features a painted image of a hissing cat with green eyes in the foreground with a silhouette of a man holding a dead child in a cemetery in the background.
October 27, 2025 at 7:42 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Good God the brainwashing sequence in The Parallax View is one of the all-time disturbing sequences in cinema. Truly a chilling and insightful look into twisted mindset and convoluted politics of the average assassin.
Warren Beatty, a white man in jeans, a white button-up and a brown jacket, sits in an armchair in a vacant black and white room preparing to be subjected to a bizarre psychological test. A selection of stills from a brainwashing video featuring the words: Love, Mother, Me and Happiness respectively arranged next to to images of a loving couple, a woman and her baby, the comic book hero Thor and a Klan rally. A blurry black and white image of a screaming white woman A still of an illustrated red demonic figure snarling and baring its teeth.
October 27, 2025 at 1:56 AM
alromano.bsky.social
My haul from VoidCon 3! Really this is only a fraction of what I would have walked away with if I had the cash - there were so many amazing artists and vendors there! I'll just have to start saving for VoidCon 4 🖤
Photograph of an assortment of indie/punk horror books and merchandise arranged over a floral background. Books include Reef Mind by Hazel Zorn, Torture Works by Porpentine, Wax and Wane by Saoirse ni Chiaragain, Pacifier by Ira Rat, and The Winnowing Draw and Wound of the West by Michael Tichy. Merch includes the 2025 October horror issuse of The Southwest Review, a VoidCon tote bag, a VoidCon coozy, stickers from the publishers Apocalypse Party, Merigold, Filthy Loot and others, a VIP pass for the convention and a Ring Pop.
October 12, 2025 at 11:49 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Checking out VoidCon with @praiseshadows.bsky.social. So excited to visit the vendors and meet all the cool people!
Promotional poster for the event VoidCon. The poster reads: "VoidCon 3, October 9th - 11th, Gettysburg College, Void Collective"
October 10, 2025 at 2:48 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Re-watched Cabaret (1972) and suddenly realized that Joel Grey's performance as the Emcee seriously delivered one of the most terrifying characters of 70s cinema.
A still of Joel Grey in character as The Emcee from the 1972 film adaptation of Cabaret. He is unnaturaly pale, wide eyed and grinning, dressed in a black suit and standing in front of red curtains.
September 8, 2025 at 10:59 PM
alromano.bsky.social
It's serving 1984 in this Carrabbas....
A photograph of a creepy sign in the entrance to a Carrabba's Italian Grill which reads: "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold...service is joy."
September 1, 2025 at 11:38 PM
alromano.bsky.social
A perfect fairy ring outside my apartment 💙
A photograph of a naturally occurring perfect circle of white mushrooms on a green lawn...like a clumsy van Eyck, the shadow of the photographer appears in the bottom left hand corner.
August 28, 2025 at 7:10 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Post one of the most haunting shots in movie history from a film made before the year 2000
Still from Miloš Forman's 1984 classic Amadeus depicting Tom Hulce in character as Mozart on his death bed unwittingly apologizing and proclaiming eternal friendship to the man who destroyed him.
August 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
alromano.bsky.social
Playing through Witcher 3 for the first time and I just love that this wicked little fucker is named after not one, but TWO Stephen King villains. Gaunter O'Dimm: a portmanteau of Mr. Gaunt, the demonic merchant of Needful Things, and Walter O'Dim, the alias used by Randall Flagg in The Dark Tower.
A bald white man in a yellow tunic sitting on a rock and playing a flute while surrounded by silhouetted spirits floating in the mist.
June 21, 2025 at 12:02 AM
alromano.bsky.social
The used book store gods literally never miss
Photograph of a collection of eight used paperbacks arranged in three rows over a floral backdrop. The top row features three mass market paperback books by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, respectively Firecode, Tempting Fate and To The High Redoubt. The second row features two standard sized paperback anthologies, respectively Swords and Dark Magic edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders and The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu edited by Paula Guaran. The third, and bottom, row features three more mass market paperbacks, respectively Night Cruise by Billie Sue Mosiman, The Night of the Ripper by Robert Bloch and the high fantasy short story anthology Sword and Sorceress edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
May 30, 2025 at 6:30 PM
alromano.bsky.social
What actor's expression in a movie will stay with you for the rest of your life?

Truly among the most devastating...
A sinister John Huston in character as the villainous Noah Cross covers the eyes of a screaming Belinda Carlisle in character as his granddaughter Katherine Cross as he drags her from a stopped car in the 1974 classic film, Chinatown.
May 21, 2025 at 1:59 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Just reread "The House That Knew No Hate" by queer all-timer Jessica Amanda Salmonson as preparation for a story I'm working on and I can't stop thinking about it. I wish her work was easier to acquire because it's always first rate. The story can be found in the 1997 anthology Architecture of Fear.
Black and white author photograph of Jessica Amanda Salmonson, a white trans woman with light colored hair parted down the middle resting her chin on her hand. Cover of the mass market paperback release of the 1997 horror anthology which published Salmonson's "The House That Knew No Hate," Architecture of Fear edited by Kathryn Cramer and Peter D. Pautz. Painted cover depicts a large hand hovering over a spooky dark Victorian house. Cover of mass market paperback release of Tomoe Gozen by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Cover art is painted image of a woman in a colorful kimono brandishing twin katana. Cover of the mass market paperback release of Amazons II edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson which featured the work of Tanith Lee and George R. R. Martin. Painted cover image depicts to two scantily clad warrior women riding into battle.
May 21, 2025 at 2:25 AM
alromano.bsky.social
The used book store gods were especially kind today...
Photograph of two rows of five vintage horror and mystery mass market paperback books complete with painted cover art and titles printed in colorful foil. 1st row: Tempter by Nancy A. Collins, The Orchard by Charles L. Grant, Love in Vein: Twenty Original Tales of Vampire Erotica edited by Poppy Z. Brite, Blood Games by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and L. A. Confidential by James Ellroy. 2nd Row: Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins, Charmed Life by Bernard Taylor, Nightlife by Brian Hodge, Path of the Eclipse by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy.
May 12, 2025 at 10:00 PM
alromano.bsky.social
Just signed a contract with Cosmic Horror Monthly! My story, "It Moves When You're Not Looking" should see print sometime in the next 6 months. Can't believe this is happening! 🖤
Collection of Cosmic Horror Monthly Magazine covers from 2022 through 2023. Cover art on the 12 issues depicted features strange cosmic beings, unusual structures and Cthulhu himself - along with advertisements for work by Eric LaRocca, Gwendolyn Kiste, Livia Llewellyn and more.
May 9, 2025 at 6:59 PM
alromano.bsky.social
So it's officially publication week for We Can Always Tell: Trans Erotic Horror. I am so honored to be included in this collection 🖤 If you want to support an indie queer horror press, pick up a copy from The Laughing Man House Publishers at www.lmhpub.com tomorrow, April 29th!
Advertisement for We Can Always Tell: Trans Erotic Horror for the Laughing Man House Publishers. Cover art depicts three witches standing in a circle in the palm of a giant hand all done in shades of red and black.
April 28, 2025 at 10:12 PM
alromano.bsky.social
The thing I can't stand about the "Banana Fish isn't BL" claim is that the argument always seems to boil down to "B-But straight guys like it, too." As if the value of queer stories hinges on hetero-male acceptance.
Eiji and Ash from the manga, Banana Fish drawn by the artist to resemble Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix respectively based on a production still from the classic queer film, My Own Private Idaho.
April 26, 2025 at 2:17 PM
alromano.bsky.social
So it's officially publication week for Wyrd Werewolf Wrangler from Ps and Qs Publishing! So excited, it's my first time appearing in an anthology! It'll be available on Amazon in multiple formats this Friday the 25th. Grab it and check out my grisly snow western, "Winter Moon."
Cover of horror anthology Wyrd Werewolf Wrangler from Ps and Qs Publishing. Cover art depicts a gunslinger wearing a Man with No Name style pancho with glowing yellow eyes and a wolf tail.
April 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM