One of the sad facts about growing up is growing away from what you once knew, perhaps even loved. That especially includes friendships, Where you once thought that your best friend would be a part of your life forever, now you find you both have drifted away from each other. The truly sad thing is that the blame does not rest on the shoulders of one person. People, as they grow, get new interests, gain new ways to think about the world, or they might even decide what they once appeared as wasn’t really them. This conflict between drifting apart and staying together, along with a strange cult, is what turns the bachelor party in Mattie Lubchansky’s Boys’ Weekend a literal bachelor party from Hell (or at least Hell adjacent).
Newly-out trans art assistant Sammie is living their best life in New York until their best friend Adam asks Sammie to be the “best man” for his wedding. Sammie meets up with Adam’s groomsmen at El Campo, a bizarre mix of Las Vegas and Atlantis that has few rules since they are in international waters. Not only does Samme have to endure the awkward situations that the other men subject them to, but there’s apparently a cult that has no compunctions about human sacrifice or summoning their god to this realm.
Lubchansky’s artstyle, and the book’s overall tone, isn’t for those looking for a straight-laced Lovecraftian nightmare; those that are would be missing the point. Many of the book’s terrors come from Sammie trying their best to fit in and be subsequently rejected, all while supposed “nice guy” Adam lets it happen. The conflict with the cult is actually secondary to Sammie’s conflict with Adam’s passive-aggressive friends and Sammie’s own desire to live as they want. The book even ends on a touching note that no amount of sea water could drown and should resonate for those, trans and not trans, who are not allowed to live as their authentic selves.
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