Pride: A Retrospective
Hello, dreamers. This is your loyal host, William A. Wellman.
If you’re listening to this, you’re likely anxious to hear what happens next to our Hallowoods residents, in their various crises and perils. And we will return to them soon. But before we take our next plunge into the latter half of Hello From The Hallowoods Season 3, a Pride Month message from behind the scenes of the show.
When I first began writing Hello From The Hallowoods, it was June of 2020, three years ago. I’d been dreaming up a story about being nonbinary through the guise of a frankenstein’s monster, and an invisible man who wants to be seen, and a ghost tied to a painful past.
At the time of writing those first episodes, I was newly queer myself. I had no queer friends, no LGTBQ+ community to speak of, and no idea whether anyone would relate to the stories I was sending out into the world. I only felt that they were important to get out of my heart and onto the page, and I hoped that anyone else in the world would possibly relate to them.
I have been so thankful that this story has resonated with people in the three years since. That our listeners see themselves in these characters and think this story matters. More than anything, this is a story I wish I’d had growing up. I wish I’d been able to see that other people felt the same as I did; that their existence in the world wasn’t wrong.
And I would have been amazed to hear that three years later from those first episode drafts, I’d be able to spend my days writing stories that do that.
Thank you, dreamer, for listening in to these darkening woods, and for following along with this story as it explores and grows deeper each week.
Thank you especially to the patrons who keep the lights on and ink in my pen. The Hallowoods, and the projects tied to it like the upcoming One Hundred Eyes In The Dark novel, would not continue to exist without them. Especially because we remain, as ever, committed not to sell socks or mattresses or online therapy platforms on this show. Thank you for not only listening in, but for helping this story to exist every week.
This is supposed to be Pride Month, a celebration of queer joy. But it feels harder to celebrate this year when queer communities across the United States are under attack. We generally are. But the violence in our present time is shocking, and heavy. Hate is powerful, and it wants to see queer people erased from public life. It begins with erasing queer stories. And a world without queer stories looks like the environment I grew up in, where the very existence of queer people was a mystery. We use stories and art to identify our place in the world.
So this month, be strong. Do whatever it takes to outlive the violence we see today. Don’t let the hope disappear completely that there will be a brighter day on the other side of this. It won’t be easily won, but it will be.
Make queer art.
Tell queer stories.
Live a life that inspires others to love themselves unconditionally.
Rest if you need it. Fight when you can. And try to keep this a world worth living in, until the very end of it.
Thank you for enabling me to tell this story. It has been my deep honor and joy to share it over the last few years, and there is so much more to come. This third season will end on Halloween this year, and Season Four to come in the new year.
This is your loyal host, wishing you a happy Pride Month from the Hallowoods, and a hasty return to Season Three.
See you around the bend.