The good folks over at The Horror Collective have announced the North American theatrical and TVOD release of their LGBTQ horror comedy Summoning Sylvia, the directorial debut of Broadway actor and writer Wesley Taylor (Smash, The Spongebob Musical) and Alex Wyse (Marvel’s Iron Fist, Masters of Sex).
Summoning Sylvia, which follows a gay bachelor party turned seance, stars Travis Coles (Superstore), Michael Urie (Younger, Ugly Betty), Frankie Grande (Spree), Nicholas Logan (I Care a Lot), Troy Iwata (Dash & Lily), Noah Ricketts (American Gods), Sean Grandillo (Scream: The TV Series), Camden Garcia (Station 19), and Veanne Cox (You’ve Got Mail) as Miss Sylvia herself.
The full plot synopsis reads as follows:
Summoning Sylvia tells the tale of Larry, who has been kidnapped by his three best friends for a bachelor weekend getaway at a haunted house. As they sashay through the dusty corridors, the comrades recount the house’s legend from a hundred years ago: a murderous woman named Sylvia slaughtered her son and buried him beneath the house’s floorboards. But then Larry remembers that he was supposed to spend the weekend bonding with Harrison, his mysterious future brother-in-law. Horrified at his oversight, Larry invites the army-uniformed, hetero Harrison to join his gaggle’s gaycation, neglecting to run it by his friends. Later, as they hold a high-spirited séance to summon the sinister Sylvia, the group ends up welcoming more houseguests than they bargained for.
2023 is shaping up to be a really fantastic year for queer horror cinema, with Summoning Sylvia joining Carter Smith’s Swallowed, Gabriel Bier Gislason’s Attachment and Don Mancini’s Chucky (to name but a few) as LGBT+ focused horrors that are making waves for representation within the community. In an interview with Get Out! Magazine, star Grande spoke about Summoning Sylvia and the importance of horror to LGBTQ+ folks (and vice versa):
LGBTQ+ people have always been drawn to horror because it’s very often about an outcast or someone who has been really cut off from society, whether that’s the victim or the victor. It is something that we can just always relate to, the characters that are in horror. And queer horror has been around for a long time […] We filmed this during Pride of 2021, so we spent our Pride month making this film. I think when the world sees it, it will be a beautiful representation of the LGBT+ community for the entire world to see. I think it’s a huge step forward in representation for the LGBT+ community. We just need more queer characters and films.
We agree, Frankie, and can’t wait to catch Summoning Sylvia when it hits theaters nationwide March 31, 2023 and on Cable VOD and Digital HD April 7, 2023. Check out the hilarious trailer and poster below:
