Episode 14: Queer Horror

This episode was recorded on October 17, 2023 and posted on December 2, 2023.

Content Warning: Light vulgarity.

Introduction

• Welcome to No Bodies Episode 14
• Introductions to your Ghosts Hosts with the Most - Lonely of Lonely Horror Club and Projectile Varmint aka Suzie
• Introductions to our guests Chris Vecchio of Queer Horror High & Alix Moad, co-director of Field of Screams
• Today’s Topic: Queer Horror

Discussion of Queer Horror

• Defining queer horror
• Why is this subgenre integral to highlight when we talk about the horror community?
• Brief History of Queer Horror
• Major themes of queer horror including queer subtext, vampires, queer femininity, body horror vs. bodily autonomy 

Worst & Best Representations of Queer Horror

Spoilers ahead!

Worst

• Dressed to Kill (1980) - Chris
• Hide and Go Shriek (1988) - Chris
• Sleepaway Camp (1983) - Alix

Best

• The Fear Street Trilogy (2021) - Alix
• Freaky (2020) - Alix
• Knife+Heart (2018) - Chris
• Hellbent (2004) - Chris
• Stranger by the Lake (2014) - Chris
• The Haunting (1963) - Chris
• Thelma (2017) - Chris

Suzie’s Deep Cuts

Includes films with under 5k ratings on IMDB. 

• Make a Wish (2002)
• Bad Things (2023)
• The Boulet Brothers Dragula

Closing Thoughts

• Where do you hope the horror genre takes the future of queer films?

Thank you to our guest! 

• Check out Chris & Nickey on Queer Horror High and on Instagram @queerhorrorhigh
• Follow Alix on Instagram @modestmug and her film Field of Screams on Instagram @fieldofscreamsfilm. Support the film on Kickstarter!

Keep Up with Your Hosts

• Check out our instagram antics and drop a follow @nobodieshorrorpodcast. 
• Projectile Varmint - keep up with Suzie's film musings on Instagram @projectile_varmint
• Lonely - read more from Lonely and keep up with her filmstagram chaos @lonelyhorrorclub on Instagram and www.lonelyhorrorclub.com.

Original No Bodies Theme music by Jacob Pini. Need music? Find Jacob on Instagram at @jacob.pini for rates and tell him No Bodies sent you! 

Leave us a message at (617) 431-4322‬ and we just might answer you on the show!

Sources & Additional Reading

Archer Magazine. (2023, March 7). Queer horror films: Our traumas deserve to be explored. https://archermagazine.com.au/2022/09/queer-horror-film-trauma/

Coates, T. (2015, November 1). “A nightmare on elm street 2” is the gayest horror movie ever made. Decider. https://decider.com/2015/11/01/nightmare-on-elm-street-gay/

Collis, C. (2022, June 30). Get out: The rise and rise of queer horror. EW.com. https://ew.com/movies/rise-of-queer-horror-hannibal-chucky-shudder/

Crucchiola, J. (2022). 33 essential LGBTQ+ horror movies. Rotten Tomatoes 33 Essential LGBTQ+ Horror Movies Comments. https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/lgbtq-horror-movies/

Hernandez, J. A. (2021, October 18). A beginner’s Guide to Queer Horror. Gayming Magazine. https://gaymingmag.com/2021/10/a-beginners-guide-to-queer-horror/

Holmes, L. (2022, February 23). LGBT History month: Queerness and Horror. University of Aberdeen. https://www.abdn.ac.uk/students/student-channel/blog/lgbt-history-month-queerness-and-horror/

Hubbard, T. (2022, October 7). What is queer subtext?. San Diego Gay & Lesbian News (SDGLN). https://www.sdlgbtn.com/what-is-queer-subtext/

Kaiser, V. (2019, September 26). Let the right one in is a queer vampire love story. Fashionable Tinfoil Accessories. https://vraikaiser.com/2019/09/26/let-the-right-one-in-is-a-queer-vampire-love-story/

Kelleher, P. (2021, December 13). Anne Rice’s legendary interview with the vampire is a queer-coded masterpiece. PinkNews. https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/12/13/anne-rice-interview-with-the-vampire-lgbt/

Lodge, G. (2022, October 31). Visibly horrified: The coming out of queer terror cinema. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/31/queer-horror-cinema-babadook-frankenstein

Northeast Regional Library. (2022, April 11). How a teenage girl became the mother of Horror. https://nereg.lib.ms.us/how-a-teenage-girl-became-the-mother-of-horror/#:~:text=Mary%20Shelley%20combined%20science%20and,grew%20into%20a%20worldwide%20phenomenon.

Rude, M. (2023, October 24). 25 Gay Horror Films & TV shows to stream this Halloween. Out Magazine. https://www.out.com/film/2022/10/28/gay-lgbtq-queer-horror-films-and-tv-shows-streaming-halloween-season#rebelltitem21

Swinburne News Team. (2023, June 1). Out of the coffin and the closet: Gay vampires are no longer sub-text, they’re just text. Swinburne University of Technology. https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2022/11/out-of-the-coffin-and-the-closet-gay-vampires-are-no-longer-sub-text-theyre-just-text/

Wallace, L. L. (2022, September 30). Queer for fear explores the history of LGBTQ horror. Time. https://time.com/6218901/queer-for-fear-horror-documentary/