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What Ever Happened to Jo Rose?
Once renowned for her villainous performance as Lady Macbeth, Ms. Josephine "Jo" Rose is an eccentric recluse aging alone in a decaying Victorian.
As a favor for her best friend, Haley Fields visits with Ms. Rose. Haley is a librarian and writer, and Ms. Rose wants her to write What Ever Happened to Helga the Hag?, a play that will return her to theatrical fame.
When Haley shares her own writings, thinly veiled fictions of personal trauma, Ms. Rose ensnares her in a sinister plot of vengeance, violence, and blood.
There's a toxic male inside every man, Ms. Rose says.
But what’s inside a woman can be much more frightening.
And deadly.
As a favor for her best friend, Haley Fields visits with Ms. Rose. Haley is a librarian and writer, and Ms. Rose wants her to write What Ever Happened to Helga the Hag?, a play that will return her to theatrical fame.
When Haley shares her own writings, thinly veiled fictions of personal trauma, Ms. Rose ensnares her in a sinister plot of vengeance, violence, and blood.
There's a toxic male inside every man, Ms. Rose says.
But what’s inside a woman can be much more frightening.
And deadly.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2024
41 people want to read
About the author
Chris DiLeo
15 books68 followersDiLeo is a high school English teacher in New York's Hudson Valley, and a horror/thriller novelist—he also has two coffins in his office. You know, for decoration . . . (Check out his photos to see a picture.)
Amazon reviewers are saying, “DiLeo’s horror skills are undeniable. He’s a master of suspense and understands the parameters and power of the monsters he’s created . . . [DiLeo’s] prose is first-rate and engaging . . . [It’s] like reading a horror movie . . . [With] deftly blend[ed] suspense, action . . . Dark, dramatic, and thoroughly chilling . . . [You’ll be] grabbed by the first page until the very last word . . . Disturbing and perturbing, and rampantly unsettling . . . [There will be] nightmares for a lot of us . . . DiLeo is definitely on the very dark and disturbing side of the scale.”
Amazon reviewers are saying, “DiLeo’s horror skills are undeniable. He’s a master of suspense and understands the parameters and power of the monsters he’s created . . . [DiLeo’s] prose is first-rate and engaging . . . [It’s] like reading a horror movie . . . [With] deftly blend[ed] suspense, action . . . Dark, dramatic, and thoroughly chilling . . . [You’ll be] grabbed by the first page until the very last word . . . Disturbing and perturbing, and rampantly unsettling . . . [There will be] nightmares for a lot of us . . . DiLeo is definitely on the very dark and disturbing side of the scale.”
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 27, 2024
This a quick read, and a nasty little corker with a surprising amount of heart.
Haley Fields is asked by her friend Emma to spend an afternoon with the Ms. Rose of the title, an actress past her prime who haunts her own house in full Sunset Blvd fashion, quoting Shakespeare and speaking ill of the men who used her up and spat her out.
The story reads, at first, like an old school noir, with snappy dialogue and brisk pace. However, if you're reading a book published by Grindhouse Press than you know full well you are being set up for something much more Grand Guignol. So buckle in because if you think you know where the book is going, well...it's worse than that. That is DiLeo's best move--the first twist is, I would say, fairly easy to see coming....but then...as I said...it gets nastier. Much much nastier. The story builds to a final image that had me gagging in disbelief. My stomach is churning even as I write this. Dear God.
Still, for all its pulp set up and grindhouse thrills, the relationship between Haley and her widowed father is the emotional core of the book, as are the female friendships that become twisted and perverted. I found these quite moving. Without them, the book would just be an exercise in empty thrills.
Another interesting choice is Dileo's use of the screenplay format and Haley's own fiction--stories with stories that lean into the Meta nature of the text as a whole.
DiLeo seems as though he's just getting started, even though he's published a number of books already. I look forward to reading more by him, as his imagination seems to reside the darker corners of the American literary landscape--a corner everyone should visit after they are done reading the polite short fiction in The New Yorker.
Haley Fields is asked by her friend Emma to spend an afternoon with the Ms. Rose of the title, an actress past her prime who haunts her own house in full Sunset Blvd fashion, quoting Shakespeare and speaking ill of the men who used her up and spat her out.
The story reads, at first, like an old school noir, with snappy dialogue and brisk pace. However, if you're reading a book published by Grindhouse Press than you know full well you are being set up for something much more Grand Guignol. So buckle in because if you think you know where the book is going, well...it's worse than that. That is DiLeo's best move--the first twist is, I would say, fairly easy to see coming....but then...as I said...it gets nastier. Much much nastier. The story builds to a final image that had me gagging in disbelief. My stomach is churning even as I write this. Dear God.
Still, for all its pulp set up and grindhouse thrills, the relationship between Haley and her widowed father is the emotional core of the book, as are the female friendships that become twisted and perverted. I found these quite moving. Without them, the book would just be an exercise in empty thrills.
Another interesting choice is Dileo's use of the screenplay format and Haley's own fiction--stories with stories that lean into the Meta nature of the text as a whole.
DiLeo seems as though he's just getting started, even though he's published a number of books already. I look forward to reading more by him, as his imagination seems to reside the darker corners of the American literary landscape--a corner everyone should visit after they are done reading the polite short fiction in The New Yorker.
July 8, 2024
What a book. Familiar components, but how DiLeo manages to blend everything effortlessly is nothing less than impressive. Witty and thrilling, with the perfect splash of meta. It also manages to be a love letter to theater and a reflection on the act of writing.
My favorite DiLeo thus far that I’ve read.
My favorite DiLeo thus far that I’ve read.
June 3, 2024
A white-knuckle ride down a weird, bumpy road. You’ll be clutching the armrest and bracing for impact, keeping your knees glued together the entire time as the story builds to its insane conclusion. Tense, deranged, and bloody - but not without an emotional core. I loved this.
May 23, 2024
What Ever Happened to Joe Rose? By Chris DiLeo
I didn't know there was a niche subgenre out there called hagsploitation before I read this. It's just what it sounds like, a grimy, bloody tale involving an old hag, maybe a witch? I went into this one without reading the synopsis (as I have found myself doing lately), but went in excited to see DiLeo's follow up to The Hands of Onan, one of my favorite reads in 2023.
We follow Haley, a young aspiring writer and librarian, who is in the middle of personal feminist research when she is coaxed into visiting Ms.Rose every night for a week by her seductive friend, Emma. Emma promises that Ms.Rose, a retired actress, is the perfect wellspring of inspiration for Haley's writing.
Haley is immediately scared of the house that has a 'witches' hat' and of Ms.Rose, who has retained every bit of her theatrical past and is set on revitalizing her fame with her very own play. She just needs Haley's help to write it. Oh yeah, and at the same time, the town's purported sexual predators are being hunted by The Gelder, who castrates them with gardening shears.
What follows is a tale laced with horrifying reveals and sadistic vengeance all framed within a thespian aura. The pace is blood pumping quick and there were points where my nerves felt exposed, and I swear I could feel the cold metal blades on my manhood. A most regrettable sensation. "This is just a book!" I told myself. "It's just a book!"
I appreciated DiLeo's passion for Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth's character in particular, and he found a brilliant way to weave that thread of inspiration into his story. This was also an important cautionary tale for men and women alike. I thought the heavy subject matter of sexual abuse was handled deftly, and without hindrance to the story, which was entertaining all the way through. And I have to add that I laughed a bunch of times, too. Out June 7th!
I didn't know there was a niche subgenre out there called hagsploitation before I read this. It's just what it sounds like, a grimy, bloody tale involving an old hag, maybe a witch? I went into this one without reading the synopsis (as I have found myself doing lately), but went in excited to see DiLeo's follow up to The Hands of Onan, one of my favorite reads in 2023.
We follow Haley, a young aspiring writer and librarian, who is in the middle of personal feminist research when she is coaxed into visiting Ms.Rose every night for a week by her seductive friend, Emma. Emma promises that Ms.Rose, a retired actress, is the perfect wellspring of inspiration for Haley's writing.
Haley is immediately scared of the house that has a 'witches' hat' and of Ms.Rose, who has retained every bit of her theatrical past and is set on revitalizing her fame with her very own play. She just needs Haley's help to write it. Oh yeah, and at the same time, the town's purported sexual predators are being hunted by The Gelder, who castrates them with gardening shears.
What follows is a tale laced with horrifying reveals and sadistic vengeance all framed within a thespian aura. The pace is blood pumping quick and there were points where my nerves felt exposed, and I swear I could feel the cold metal blades on my manhood. A most regrettable sensation. "This is just a book!" I told myself. "It's just a book!"
I appreciated DiLeo's passion for Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth's character in particular, and he found a brilliant way to weave that thread of inspiration into his story. This was also an important cautionary tale for men and women alike. I thought the heavy subject matter of sexual abuse was handled deftly, and without hindrance to the story, which was entertaining all the way through. And I have to add that I laughed a bunch of times, too. Out June 7th!
Read
February 22, 2026I’m not going to put a rating on this book. When I first started reading this story, I almost DNF’ed the book bc it was just page after page of sexism against man. It was so over redundant. But I decided to push through bc this was the first book I’ve read by this author. By the halfway mark of this book, the story became more clear for all the sexism against man and that’s when I really started to really enjoy this book……and it was bc men’s scrotums were being cut off by some red garden shears from doing really bad things to the woman characters in this book.
Would I recommend this book?..probably not. But will I be talking about this book to my friends, HELL YES!
Would I recommend this book?..probably not. But will I be talking about this book to my friends, HELL YES!
February 25, 2024
“I was a quiet girl who read books and wrote stories in glittery pink journals, and then one night I was the young woman with her boyfriend’s scrotum in one hand and a pair of red-handled garden shears in the other.”
What Ever Happened to Jo Rose is a chilling and gloriously uncomfortable and righteously angry account of Haley, a young writer, and her journey from a nice girl, shy and self-protective, to a final girl confronting her demons, both emotional and real.
DiLeo honors 90’s final girl horror movies and hagsploitation movies like Sunset Boulevard and What Ever Happened to Mary Jane. But DiLeo makes Haleys story new and modern and heart-breaking by using these pop culture references to expose all women’s lifelong battle with toxic predatory men.
Best friends, Haley and Emma share new part-time job helping out the elderly Jo. Jo is an actor, and Hayley is thrown off by her over the top personality. But Jo encourages Haley to read to her. DiLeo uses Haley’s short stories to reveal Haley’s trauma.
How Jo and Emma want Haley to deal with her trauma is gratifyingly disgusting.
DiLeo dabbles in extreme violence, a sentence there, a paragraph here, gruesome yet bearable, the exact level of extreme horror that I appreciate.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Haley’s journey. She is a GREAT CHARACTER, an approachable Every Girl with depth and empathy.
This book was fun and ABSOLUTELY FEROCIOUS. There were scenes that I read where I was both squirming and cackling. Like, “Omg, is she going to do it omgomgomg…SHE DID IT YEAHHHHHH!”
What Ever Happened to Jo Rose is a chilling and gloriously uncomfortable and righteously angry account of Haley, a young writer, and her journey from a nice girl, shy and self-protective, to a final girl confronting her demons, both emotional and real.
DiLeo honors 90’s final girl horror movies and hagsploitation movies like Sunset Boulevard and What Ever Happened to Mary Jane. But DiLeo makes Haleys story new and modern and heart-breaking by using these pop culture references to expose all women’s lifelong battle with toxic predatory men.
Best friends, Haley and Emma share new part-time job helping out the elderly Jo. Jo is an actor, and Hayley is thrown off by her over the top personality. But Jo encourages Haley to read to her. DiLeo uses Haley’s short stories to reveal Haley’s trauma.
How Jo and Emma want Haley to deal with her trauma is gratifyingly disgusting.
DiLeo dabbles in extreme violence, a sentence there, a paragraph here, gruesome yet bearable, the exact level of extreme horror that I appreciate.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Haley’s journey. She is a GREAT CHARACTER, an approachable Every Girl with depth and empathy.
This book was fun and ABSOLUTELY FEROCIOUS. There were scenes that I read where I was both squirming and cackling. Like, “Omg, is she going to do it omgomgomg…SHE DID IT YEAHHHHHH!”
June 8, 2024
Chris DiLeo has woven horrifying magic with What Ever Happened to Jo Rose!
What Ever Happened to Jo Rose starts so unassuming, but becomes the biggest shudder-inducing thrill ride. This book starts in such a seemingly normal place. But then slowly but surely this book becomes more and more deranged. I loved it. I enjoyed the path that all of the characters took and then the end took me by surprise. Honestly, this book was such a breath of fresh air!
I think that it has such a surprise twist ending as well. Characters came out of the woodwork, and the connectivity of all the details blew my mind. When the upstairs room was explored, my jaw was on the floor. I didn't close my mouth until I had read the last page, and shocking is an understatement!
Add this book to your TBR and read it as soon as you can because it is truly spectacular!
What Ever Happened to Jo Rose starts so unassuming, but becomes the biggest shudder-inducing thrill ride. This book starts in such a seemingly normal place. But then slowly but surely this book becomes more and more deranged. I loved it. I enjoyed the path that all of the characters took and then the end took me by surprise. Honestly, this book was such a breath of fresh air!
I think that it has such a surprise twist ending as well. Characters came out of the woodwork, and the connectivity of all the details blew my mind. When the upstairs room was explored, my jaw was on the floor. I didn't close my mouth until I had read the last page, and shocking is an understatement!
Add this book to your TBR and read it as soon as you can because it is truly spectacular!
January 17, 2024
You know you're in good hands when an opening chapter is short but makes your eyes go wide. That's the case with this book and the rest lives up to the expectations.
Hagsploitation is the term used to describe this book and that's about as good a descriptor as any. It's unnerving, unsettling, and points a finger at male toxicity with horror and a pair of garden shears. Jo Rose is an old woman with a more than subtle flair for the dramatic. She wass an actor of both stage and screen but now spends her time inside of her home which is filled with various antiques, theatrical supplies, and other things.
When our virgin protagonist is asked to visit her every night for a week by her best friend, she's in for a shock. Jo is either crazy or merely eccentric but she's blunt and speaks about cryptic things. Their relationship slowly becomes a bond of sorts. Until...
Jo has secrets and she has very outspoken opinions about men in general, none of them painting a good light. Soon, our protagonist will discover something horrific and shocking and she will never be the same again.
This doesn't even begin to describe the situation in this book. It's brutal and it's going to go places that any man will involuntarily wince at once it's revealed. The author has blended part revenge tale, part body horror, and a very unflinching look at toxic masculinity into a "can't put down" horror book that keeps getting darker and more sinister as it goes along. This one is going to sneak up on you when you least expect it and it should definitely be on your must read list in 2024.
I received an ARC of this book from the author with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
Hagsploitation is the term used to describe this book and that's about as good a descriptor as any. It's unnerving, unsettling, and points a finger at male toxicity with horror and a pair of garden shears. Jo Rose is an old woman with a more than subtle flair for the dramatic. She wass an actor of both stage and screen but now spends her time inside of her home which is filled with various antiques, theatrical supplies, and other things.
When our virgin protagonist is asked to visit her every night for a week by her best friend, she's in for a shock. Jo is either crazy or merely eccentric but she's blunt and speaks about cryptic things. Their relationship slowly becomes a bond of sorts. Until...
Jo has secrets and she has very outspoken opinions about men in general, none of them painting a good light. Soon, our protagonist will discover something horrific and shocking and she will never be the same again.
This doesn't even begin to describe the situation in this book. It's brutal and it's going to go places that any man will involuntarily wince at once it's revealed. The author has blended part revenge tale, part body horror, and a very unflinching look at toxic masculinity into a "can't put down" horror book that keeps getting darker and more sinister as it goes along. This one is going to sneak up on you when you least expect it and it should definitely be on your must read list in 2024.
I received an ARC of this book from the author with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
June 12, 2024
I like the way Chris DiLeo thinks. I really do.
He has no qualms about going from pure prose narrative to a main character's short fiction publishings to excerpts from a stage play. All done seamlessly and with nary an eyeroll. He displayed some of this in his previous Grindhouse Press release THE HANDS OF ONAN, which is a perfect companion piece to JO ROSE. In fact, if you haven't read ONAN yet, go read that first and come back to JO ROSE afterward. She'll wait. Your enjoyment of this book will be enhanced after reading ONAN. Trust me on this one.
If you've been feeling like there isn't enough hagsploitation out there right now, well let me tell you that this right here will satisfy that jagged sweet tooth of yours in spades. The mystery and intrigue flows as freely as the blood and viscera in this moody and impactful gallop through the arts, gender expectations, the mind's interpretation of past trauma, and a crash course in lower anatomy.
If you're like me, you expect nothing less than quality when it comes to the depraved tastes of Grindhouse Press. I'm happy to report that their track record remains intact with Chris DiLeo in their stable of creative creeps. I love Grindhouse Press, I love Chris DiLeo's writing, and I love WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JO ROSE!
He has no qualms about going from pure prose narrative to a main character's short fiction publishings to excerpts from a stage play. All done seamlessly and with nary an eyeroll. He displayed some of this in his previous Grindhouse Press release THE HANDS OF ONAN, which is a perfect companion piece to JO ROSE. In fact, if you haven't read ONAN yet, go read that first and come back to JO ROSE afterward. She'll wait. Your enjoyment of this book will be enhanced after reading ONAN. Trust me on this one.
If you've been feeling like there isn't enough hagsploitation out there right now, well let me tell you that this right here will satisfy that jagged sweet tooth of yours in spades. The mystery and intrigue flows as freely as the blood and viscera in this moody and impactful gallop through the arts, gender expectations, the mind's interpretation of past trauma, and a crash course in lower anatomy.
If you're like me, you expect nothing less than quality when it comes to the depraved tastes of Grindhouse Press. I'm happy to report that their track record remains intact with Chris DiLeo in their stable of creative creeps. I love Grindhouse Press, I love Chris DiLeo's writing, and I love WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JO ROSE!
June 7, 2024
One heck of a wild ride. I loved this book. I wasn't sure what to expect. At the start I wasn't sure but a few chapters in wham, I was on the rollercoaster until the end. Call me crazy but Ms. Rose kinda grew on me and I very much enjoyed the relationship of Haley and her dad. There is blood and violence and can be too much for some, even me at times but overall I thought it a good, fun way to spend an evening or two. I will surely read more by this author.
Thank you to Hidden Gems and the author for allowing me to read and voluntarily review this crazy book!
Thank you to Hidden Gems and the author for allowing me to read and voluntarily review this crazy book!
June 13, 2024
DiLeo does an amazing job at writing an oddly erotic brutally violent and heartbreaking story.
Have you ever wondered what splatterpunk would read like if it had just a little touch of spice in it? Well this is the book for you if you have!!!
I thought this was a super fun book and DiLeo gave a lot to this story. The only reason I put it at 4 stars is because after the first page teaser it started a bit slow and I would have loved to have seen it go 0-100 in 2 pages or less to keep up with that amazing teaser!!!
If you are a fan of splatterpunk then this book is definitely for you!!!!
Have you ever wondered what splatterpunk would read like if it had just a little touch of spice in it? Well this is the book for you if you have!!!
I thought this was a super fun book and DiLeo gave a lot to this story. The only reason I put it at 4 stars is because after the first page teaser it started a bit slow and I would have loved to have seen it go 0-100 in 2 pages or less to keep up with that amazing teaser!!!
If you are a fan of splatterpunk then this book is definitely for you!!!!
June 11, 2024
This is very readable and can be devoured quickly - testament to the author’s skills. However, it may not be ideal for all squeamish male readers. Even so, a book to be recommended. It is somewhat of a gothic/horror tale but with a definite and worthwhile morality basis - read and learn, mankind. Some lovely references to Shakespeare, as well as to cinema classics. I enjoyed immersing myself in this book - a great escapism. Well done the author.
June 1, 2024
They were a star but now they are a recluse. She will go to interview them and she will learn all about them. What will she learn? How will it all go? Will it all go well? See what she will learn
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I want to review
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I want to review
May 31, 2024
…..toxic doesnt even begin to describe it…. Fantastic on the edge grotesque horror masterpiece. Loved it :)
June 14, 2024
Amazing Book, Well Crafted. Must Read
December 24, 2024
Dang. Everyone loves this one and it just didn't completely gel for me for some reason.
Want to read
July 6, 2025Haven't read yet, but how did this fly under my radar?
July 16, 2025
Started this after midnight and couldn’t put it down until I finished. I’m disgusted, horrified, and unfortunately feel very seen.
April 21, 2025
I wrote this book, so instead of giving it the obvious 5-star rating I think it deserves, here's an excerpt from the "Author's Note and Acknowledgements," which helps explain why I wrote this book:
I never considered writing a hagsploitation book until just these past couple years.
I’m a high school English teacher, and I have the great joy (and burden) of trying to inspire my students through literature. Some- times it actually works. One story that never fails is Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
It’s a work of terrifying magnitude with an ending that burrows deeper and deeper into the subconscious upon further reads. Reading it is a thrilling, unsettling, glorious experience, but reading it aloud to my students and actually teaching it has become equally unsettlingand profoundly meaningful.
My female students, in particular, connect with teenager Connie’s plight. Connie is a pretty girl and a pretty girl will sooner or later catch the attention of an unwanted male eye. That eye belongs to Arnold Friend. He is perhaps a sociopath, a rapist, a serial killer, even a de- mon, or merely a hallucination, but from the moment he says, “Gonna get you, baby,” to the final paragraph where Connie opens the screen door of her house and steps out into all that vast land, the story is a white-knuckled read that keeps my students enraptured, making them both terrified for and infuriated by Connie.
Afterward when we discuss the story, my female students always share personal experiences that are so common and pervasive the class sometimes turns into something resembling a support group.
I’m glad. The girls need to share, and the boys need to hear it. Consider: These are 17-year-olds who have for years already en-
dured leering, sexual jokes, catcalling, taunts, come-ons, propositions, stalking, unwelcome touching, sexual abuse, and even assault. In most cases, they have suffered this behavior since puberty.
Occasionally a boy will defend the behavior with the old go-to: We’re just complimenting them or the accusatory, If they didn’t want the attention they shouldn’t dress like that.
That often gets us into a discussion about school dress code, which is distinctly biased against the female body. No shoulders, no midriffs, no backs, no thighs. The most popular rationales for such keep-your-body-covered codes are exactly what you’d expect: We need to teach girls self-respect, and it’s not fair to boys who just can’t control themselves. Ah, boys will be boys. How nice for them to get an excuse while girls get the shame.
It’s just skin, a female student once said. She argued she should be able to show her skin and boys should be able to control themselves. If that’s too liberal-minded for you, maybe there’s a Puritan village somewhere in the New England woods where you can live.
All of that isn’t beside the point, or even secondary, because as Ms. Rose says, “We make excuses for men so they don’t even have to.”
Some stories I’ll never forget: the student who said a 60-year-old man approached her at a gas station to ask if she was married and when she said no, I’m 17, he replied, “If you were my wife, I’d keep you locked in the basement.” Then there’s the students (yes, students, plural) who were followed by men through department or grocerystores or who worked in retail and had to endure the unwanted comments about their beauty and the even more unwanted casual touch when handing over a receipt or coffee.
And then there’s the student who was propositioned by a family friend. This person offered to pay for the student’s college, so long as she didn’t tell her parents. The unsaid yet implied repayment was disguised as a comment about her goddess-like beauty. This situation inspired Haley Fields’s “Graduation Party.” I only wish my student had been able to smash a bottle over the head of that family friend as the character in Haley’s story does.
Are all men monsters? No. Is there a toxic male inside every man? Well, that’s like the proverb about the two wolves that live inside every person—the evil one and the good one. Which one wins? The one you feed, of course.
Connie’s story confirms for many of my students that they are seen, that their experiences are validated. This is good, except the downside is so obvious it’s almost too depressing: Oates’s story is from 1966, almost sixty years ago; this problem with men is nothing new.
I never considered writing a hagsploitation book until just these past couple years.
I’m a high school English teacher, and I have the great joy (and burden) of trying to inspire my students through literature. Some- times it actually works. One story that never fails is Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
It’s a work of terrifying magnitude with an ending that burrows deeper and deeper into the subconscious upon further reads. Reading it is a thrilling, unsettling, glorious experience, but reading it aloud to my students and actually teaching it has become equally unsettlingand profoundly meaningful.
My female students, in particular, connect with teenager Connie’s plight. Connie is a pretty girl and a pretty girl will sooner or later catch the attention of an unwanted male eye. That eye belongs to Arnold Friend. He is perhaps a sociopath, a rapist, a serial killer, even a de- mon, or merely a hallucination, but from the moment he says, “Gonna get you, baby,” to the final paragraph where Connie opens the screen door of her house and steps out into all that vast land, the story is a white-knuckled read that keeps my students enraptured, making them both terrified for and infuriated by Connie.
Afterward when we discuss the story, my female students always share personal experiences that are so common and pervasive the class sometimes turns into something resembling a support group.
I’m glad. The girls need to share, and the boys need to hear it. Consider: These are 17-year-olds who have for years already en-
dured leering, sexual jokes, catcalling, taunts, come-ons, propositions, stalking, unwelcome touching, sexual abuse, and even assault. In most cases, they have suffered this behavior since puberty.
Occasionally a boy will defend the behavior with the old go-to: We’re just complimenting them or the accusatory, If they didn’t want the attention they shouldn’t dress like that.
That often gets us into a discussion about school dress code, which is distinctly biased against the female body. No shoulders, no midriffs, no backs, no thighs. The most popular rationales for such keep-your-body-covered codes are exactly what you’d expect: We need to teach girls self-respect, and it’s not fair to boys who just can’t control themselves. Ah, boys will be boys. How nice for them to get an excuse while girls get the shame.
It’s just skin, a female student once said. She argued she should be able to show her skin and boys should be able to control themselves. If that’s too liberal-minded for you, maybe there’s a Puritan village somewhere in the New England woods where you can live.
All of that isn’t beside the point, or even secondary, because as Ms. Rose says, “We make excuses for men so they don’t even have to.”
Some stories I’ll never forget: the student who said a 60-year-old man approached her at a gas station to ask if she was married and when she said no, I’m 17, he replied, “If you were my wife, I’d keep you locked in the basement.” Then there’s the students (yes, students, plural) who were followed by men through department or grocerystores or who worked in retail and had to endure the unwanted comments about their beauty and the even more unwanted casual touch when handing over a receipt or coffee.
And then there’s the student who was propositioned by a family friend. This person offered to pay for the student’s college, so long as she didn’t tell her parents. The unsaid yet implied repayment was disguised as a comment about her goddess-like beauty. This situation inspired Haley Fields’s “Graduation Party.” I only wish my student had been able to smash a bottle over the head of that family friend as the character in Haley’s story does.
Are all men monsters? No. Is there a toxic male inside every man? Well, that’s like the proverb about the two wolves that live inside every person—the evil one and the good one. Which one wins? The one you feed, of course.
Connie’s story confirms for many of my students that they are seen, that their experiences are validated. This is good, except the downside is so obvious it’s almost too depressing: Oates’s story is from 1966, almost sixty years ago; this problem with men is nothing new.
July 9, 2024
I find DiLeo’s writing incredibly smart and his story delightfully surprising!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the Shakespeare references, his examining female empowerment, and the toxicity of not only masculinity but revenge. I was quite impressed with DiLeo’s ability to build a narrative with such a unique style —the book begins with a startling first page, followed by surprising turns, a smooth buildup, stories within stories, and a shocking twist that’ll leave you horrified and laughing at the same time. JO ROSE is serious, witty, funny, and horrifying and I loved it! I am not a huge horror fan and this is fantastic. It’s dark and violent and intense and I highly recommend!
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