SunkenPlace Blog #5

 Ramone Wagner 

01/17/2022

Blog Assignment #5

In this blog, I wish to address the classes discussion on wet pain as it poses as a primary example of what our short story final assignment would somewhat look like, as they approach us. Wet Pain, in which the title alone is a thoughtful metaphoric play on the phrase wet paint, is a great short piece written by Terreance Taylor, that is an intersectional approach to the horror genre as it was black horror as well as queer horror. Understood to be a part of what was known as The Dark Dream Anthology back more or less in the 90’s; A brief synopsis of the story is, as it is told through a narrator spectating point of view, he is the protagonist, a Black, queer man with a best friend character named Dean. And so, despite being amongst a biracial nucleus home, Dean, after moving back to the south where his roots lie, unearths a collection of racist memorabilia (Klan photos), and this ultimately and gradually influences counterproductive racist behavior, perhaps even possession, to override Deans original expression. One aspect of significance is how in the story, Taylor depicts racism as an infection and how the pains and trauma of historical black violence and disenfranchising could be viewed as “fresh wet paint”, that meaning fresh wounds, something many of us are very weary of touching/addressing. Powerful!!