Subversive Horror, Patriarchal Poison, and Progressive Apocalypse in Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Blood Quantum

Abstract

In the ongoing First Nations and otherwise Indigenous apocalypse in Canada and abroad, the colonial footprint continues to remain firmly stamped on cultures and peoples relegated to the socio-political margins. One recent response occurs in Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) and in his follow-up Blood Quantum (2019). Following a combination of Indigenous theoretical analyses combined with traditional cultural studies, this article demonstrates how these films simultaneously expose the horrific crimes of colonialism in a relatively recent contemporary setting while ironically using the cinematic conventions of horror and apocalypse to critique a stultifying patriarchal ideology both from within and surrounding the Indigenous community.