* 2021 Foreword INDIES, Finalist
* 2022 IPPY MEDALISTS for Essay, bronze
"A Best Book of 2021" --NPR
"A Most Anticipated Book of 2021" --Refinery29, Thrillist, Book Riot,
Lit Hub
"In a horror movie, an infected character may hide a bite or rash, an
urge, an unwellness. She might withdraw or act out, or behave as if
nothing is the matter, nothing has happened. Any course of action
opposite saying how she feels suggests suffering privately is preferable
to the anticipated betrayal of being cast out."
Night Rooms is a poetic, intimate collection of personal essays that
weaves together fragmented images from horror films and cultural tropes
to meditate on anxiety and depression, suicide, body image, identity,
grief, and survival.
Whether competing in shopping mall beauty pageants, reflecting on
childhood monsters and ballet lessons, or recounting dark cultural
ephemera while facing grief and authenticity in the digital age, Gina
Nutt's shifting style echoes the sub-genres that Night Rooms
highlights--spirit-haunted slow burns, possession tales, slashers, and
revenge films with a feminist bent.
Refracting life through the lens of horror films, Night Rooms
masterfully leaps between reality and movies, past and present--because
the "final girl's" story is ultimately a survival story told another
way.
The audiobook of Night Rooms is now available, narrated by the
author.
