Throughout history, "queerness" has been ultimately associated with an opposition to binary descriptions and proscriptions of patriarchal heterosexism. Basically, queerness equates to the defiance of standard norms.
The genre of horror, since its inception, has run parallel to these concepts, portraying beings and ways of living that reject society's typical ideas of natural life and society.
In Monsters in the Closet, Harry Benshoff analyzes horror films throughout the decades, arguing that "For many in our shared English-language culture, homosexuality is a monstrous condition.. Both movie monsters and homosexuals have existed chiefly in shadowy closets, and when they do emerge from these proscribed places into the sunlit world, they cause panic and fear.” (12)
This website serves as a brief timeline for viewing horror movies from the 30s up until today through a queer lens, exploring queer subtexts as well as overt LGBT representations throughout the genre, in order to understand:
- How is the genre of horror used in correlation with queerness?
- How have queer experiences onscreen developed throughout the years?
- How are these representations influenced by societal attitudes towards queerness?
the 30s - 40s
Birth of the "Hollywood Horror Film"
From 1930 to 1936, Hollywood birthed their first foundational horror movies, creating the movie monsters that are recognizable across the globe. During this period of time, the Great Depression was impacting the population, as well as the repeal of prohibition. In media and society, homosexuality was viewed as a medical issue.
James Whale was an openly gay director, dubbed the "Queen of Hollywood," who employed openly gay or gay-affecting actors. He was also hugely influential in the creation of horror movies, like...
Frankenstein (1931)
In Some-ness in No-When, Queer Temporalities in the Horror Genre, Melody Hope Cooper argues that Melody Hope Cooper argues that “For the mad scientist, the desire to create life does not stem from a place of parental desire, but from a homoerotic-homosocial desire. He needs to create a life that he feels is comparable to his own, creating a monstrous mate for the monstrous self.” (5) With James Whale directing Frankenstein, the queer subtext is visible, and even more so for the sequel.
Old Dark House (1932)
"One of the director's most flamboyantly gay and least seen horror films," according to Harry Benshoff, this movie involves a group of travelers seeking shelter from a storm inside a house filled with zany and queer characters. Through these characters, there are subversions of gender and sexuality roles. It's one of the inspirations for Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Famously considered a gay allegory, in the film, Dr. Pretorious is played by the queer actor Ernest Thesiger. According to Rafael Alves Azevedo in "A Homosexual Reading of James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein," “Dr. Pretorius, a character that was not part of Mary Shelley’s original novel, seems to have been introduced by James Whale to trigger all these homosexual interpretations... He also acts as the voice against society and religion. In some way, he stands for a homosexual pride that in some cases converts into arrogance. He knows that society does not tolerate gay behaviour and notes that he was banished from university 'for knowing too much'. Thus, by presenting his being different as being superior to the rest, he shows his dislike for society, and therefore for conventional love.”
Continuing into the 30s & 40s... Vampires
Creatures of the Night
Vampires have long been seen as queer-coded, as they reject the terms of heteronormativity and live as creatures of the night--echoing the queer experience. As Cooper says, “The vampire represents an option that is previously unknown to the heteronormative audience. The vampire does not have to marry someone of the opposite sex or get married at all. Because vampires cannot die there is no need to continue producing offspring; the vampire will never need to pass anything on due to the fact that they will still be there.” (17)
Dracula (1931)
In this film, the act of seducing both men and women through biting and sucking blood portrays a rejection of typical heteroromance. Cooper views Dracula's portrayal as a threat to heteronormative society and reproduction, with the point that "The only time that children are depicted with the brides is when Dracula brings them a baby to eat, which is a direct threat to heterosexual reproduction, as any production will be consumed, disallowing any further generations." (23) Additionally, although very minor, this film shows a lesbian couple.
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
This is widely seen as the first lesbian vampire film and perhaps the first example of the predatory lesbian trope. Marya, Dracula’s daughter, is very queer coded in her interactions with women. According to Sara Clements in "Re-Examining the Lesbian Vampire and Dracula's Daughter During a Movement Against Discrimination," "her thirst for blood—her homosexuality—is not a part of her identity she can choose to get rid of. Throughout Dracula's Daughter, we see Marya struggle with what she sees as an infliction, so desperately wanting release."
The 50s
Cold War Era
“In many ways, the 1950s might be thought of as the darkest decade of the twentieth century both for monsters and for homosexuals, as well as for anyone else who might have considered him/herself somehow outside the hegemonic construction of normality,” (122) according to Benshoff.
Due to the Cold War, there was a reinvigorated wariness of outsiders, leading to an "Us vs. Them" ideology, both in media and society. Through horror films, this queer sexual threat manifested itself through the monster invasion film.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
In this film, the lagoon monster is overtly phallic, with a high interest in females. “The threat of bestiality exists in a semantic blur with other forms of queer sexuality,” (133) Benshoff says, at the same time as the “male-male erotic tension contained within the homosocial triangle” between the men who go on a trip within the film occurs.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Humans are taken over by aliens in this film, and converted into emotionless duplicates. Benshoff says, "These human-looking monsters have been thought to reflect a paranoid fear of both mindless US conformity and communist infiltration, wherein a poisonous ideology spreads trough small-town USA like a virus, silently turning one's friends and relatives into monsters." (128) Queer sexuality was seen as one of these poisonous ideologies.
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
In this film, a boy visits a doctor in hopes of finding a cure for his violent, beastly urges. The physician suggests regressive hypnotherapy to find the root of his impulses within his subconscious so it can be neutralized (similar to regressive treatments at the time that were recommended for weeding out and eliminating homosexual desire). Instead, accessing those early-stage memories just unleashes the boy’s inner beast. Like many films of this era, an older man is preying upon teenage boys.
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
This movie encapsulates the trope of the "invisible homosexual." Involving a newlywed couple, the husband is secretly a monster, who prefers to meet with other men rather than spend time with his wife. "The alien is figured quite clearly as a threat to heterosexual union," (131) as Benshoff says. The fear of homosexuality is represented through the abnormality of alien invasion.
the 60s
Hays Code No More
Feminist and civil rights activism are on the rise. The Hays Code, a set of guidelines required for all movies, prohibited profanity, suggestive nudity, graphic violence, sexual persuasions and rape--queer sexual representation was prohibited. This Code is scrapped for the ratings system, allowing more flexibility on screen.
The sexual revolution is on the horizon with the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, and the image of the "monster" in films has undergone a radical change into two sections: the continuation as a threat to the moral order of society vs. an increasingly domesticated depiction.
Psycho (1960)
In this film, Norman Bates is driven mad by an alternative personality in his mind, that of his mother. In the words of Jordan Crucchiola in his exploration of horror films, "An effeminate, cross-dressing serial killer who murders women staying at his hotel — and gets into arguments with the skeleton of his dead mother — Norman Bates may have been in the closet, but the walls were definitely made of glass."
The Haunting (1963)
This movie features a lesbian who isn't plagued by predatory stereotypes or fetishization. Two women are invited to a mansion by a scientist investigating suspicious activity, with Theodora being a gay woman. According to Sara Century in "The lasting importance of Haunting Hill House's Theodora," "In her many forms, The Haunting of Hill House's Theo is valuable to queer audiences specifically because she has never been turned into a morality tale or a tragedy. Alongside so many negative portrayals of queer women, Theo’s nearly unflappable bravery, her excellent personal style, and her impressive intellect, memory, and intuition make her one of the most enduring queer characters of genre."
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
In this film, Dr. Frankenstein transfers the soul of a dead man into the body of his dead girlfriend, "effectively turning her/him into a sort of trans character — the spirit of a man contained within a female body," according to Crucchiola. However, the film falls flat in its explorations of gender. Benshoff says of this film, "as usual, queerness is used to titillate the audience, but nothing more." (189)
the 70s
Lesbian Vampires Galore
In this era of film, queer visibility is now more apparent than ever, but also the hypersexualization of the monster in film also rises, ushered along by the destruction of the Hays Code. Crucchiola says of this period, "Of course, queer characters were every bit as monstrous as they had ever been — but at least they were stepping out of the shadows."
Hammer Film Productions produced over 100 horror films, many of them queer-coded, and in this era, the trope of the lesbian vampire began to emerge not only in their productions, but in films across the globe. However, as Benshoff says, "Despite the abundance in these films of female nudity and woman-to-woman vampire sex, the films are steeped not in a lesbian sensibility, but rather a heterosexual male one. Hammer's lesbian vampire films were all written and directed by men, and are in many ways much more indicative of a straight man's fear of women's sexuality than they are representative of any expression of lesbian desire." (195)
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
This was Hammer's first overtly lesbian vampire film. The vampire Mircalla terrorizes the town and seduces young women in this film, with "the quasi-lesbian/vampire relationship..between predator and prey, wherein the younger, more innocent girl is drained of her life-force and/or blood by an older, but still feminine woman," according to Benshoff. (193)
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
Like Frankenstein Created Woman, this movie plays with gender roles and identities. Another Hammer production, Dr. Jekyll experiments on himself by injecting female hormones, leading to him becoming a woman, Sister Hyde. Benshoff says, "The film picks up on its queerer undercurrents, and tries to expand upon them. Dr. Jekyll is perhaps homosexual as the story opens." (189)
The Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Although a French-Belgian film, Daughters of Darkness was created in English and distributed widely in the US. As Benshoff says, "it was one of the first of these films to be written about from a lesbian feminist perspective," (191) involving a newlywed honeymooning couple encountering an attractive countess. However, from a modern standpoint, critics have viewed it as a male heterocentric portrayal.
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
An iconic moment in not only the genre of queer horror, but queer film in general, this film features Dr Frank N. Furter, a transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania, who seduces all genders. Although some of the phrases and representations are problematic by today's standards, it's undeniable the impact this film has made on LGBT representation in mainstream media. Rocky Horror "laid bare the queerer implications of the [horror] genre for all to see," (221) Benshoff says. In the words of Larry Biezel, president of the Rocky Horror Fan Club, “I know of a lot of people whose lives were saved by this movie. Especially for those in the LGBT community, it’s a place where they could be themselves and find people who were their family. I don’t want to give that up. I want people to still have a place to be.”
the 80s
Aids Crisis and the Mainstream of Queerness
Although LGBT identities are becoming more mainstream onscreen, there is also a rise in conservative Christianity as well as the AIDs epidemic. Benshoff says, "horror movies returned to the tactics of earlier decades and continued to use gay and lesbian signifiers to color their monstrous and minorities characterizations." (230)
Also in this era is the rise of the slasher film, which Benshoff claims "can be easily read as AIDs-era warnings about the dangers of unsanctioned sex and sexuality." (231)
However, Carol Clover argues a different interpretation of 80s slasher films in a groundbreaking essay, "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film," saying "the slasher does, in its own perverse way and for better or worse, constitute a visible adjustment in the terms of gender representation." (221)
Fear No Evil (1981)
In this film, the forces of good are pitted against the forces of evil, in the form of an effeminate high schooler, Andrew, the Antichrist. According to Benshoff, "this outsider figure, is a pale intellectual loner, and easily read as an unhappy, young gay man." (238) Lucifer himself, in this movie, is played by gay actor Richard Jay. In the film, Andrew kisses his bully, and promptly gains female breasts, to which Benshoff says, "the implication here is unmistakeable and in line with traditional notions of gender and sexuality: Devil = homosexuality = gender inversion." (239)
The Hunger (1983)
This film features Miriam, a vampire who is losing her partner, John, and wants to replace him with a young scientist named Sarah. However, although one of the most famous lesbian vampire films of this era, "the major seduction scene.. is an excellent example of how the culture industry subtly constructs homosexuality as monstrous.. The blood flows, and what had begun as a beautiful scene of making love ends as yet another monstrous horror: the 'foul disease of the vampire' has been passed on once again," Benshoff details. (244)
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
A pair of cousins experience a night of slaughter in a summer camp in this formative slasher film, and as Crucchiola says, "the psycho killer’s impulses stem from a strangely rooted case of gender dysphoria, playing into the stereotype of the monstrous queer." This trope, of the slasher killer experiencing a kind of gender or sexual confusion, is what Clover explores, and argues, as a subversion of heteronormative gender roles and expectations.
Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
"This sequel follows one of the slasher genre’s few final guys, Jesse, as he fights off a possession by Freddy Krueger. A critically panned film that underwhelmed many franchise fans at the time, Freddy’s Revenge has since gained a cult following due to its queer subtext. Although the director denies this interpretation of the film, many saw Jesse’s battles with Freddy as an allegory for coming to terms with his sexuality," says Jaime Hartless in "Horror as a Pedagogical Tool for Teaching Sexualities."
Fright Night (1985)
This film follows Jerry, a vampire in hiding, who moves into the neighborhood. His neighbor, Charlie, becomes fixated on him, even beginning to ignore his girlfriend. Besides these overtly gay undertones, Jerry and his manservant actually pose as a gay couple. However, in the words of Benshoff, "despite its fairly realistic representation of what a gay male couple in the suburbs might look like, and its rather sympathetic take on queer outsider figures, the film nonetheless still partakes of the same demonizing tropes as do less sophisticated horror films: queerness is monstrous." (252)
the 90s
New Queer Cinema
B. Ruby Rich dubbed this era of film the New Queer Cinema, a movement that "centered queer experiences on film while refraining from glamorizing its LGBTQ protagonists," Crucchiola says.
Benshoff reminds us of the importance of the history, however, saying, "Yet if this decade is a new 'Gay Nineties,' it has not been made so without terrible struggle and loss. While considerable gains have been made for gay and lesbian civil rights within various professional groups and in the repeal of many states' anti-sodomy laws, anti-gay forces are more active than ever." (237)
Nightbreed (1990)
This overtly queer movie is created courtesy of Clive Barker, a gay horror author who also generated iconic films of the genre like Hellraiser and Candyman. Benshoff says, "of all of Barker's films to date, Nightbreed is the one which deconstructs the trope of the monster queer with the highest degree of political efficacy." (262) This campy movie is effectively a coming-out story, with protagonist Boone slowly coming to terms with the fact that he is a monster of the night. Benshoff describes it as a "barely veiled metaphor of the need for queer people to come out and fight back against the forces of society who would define difference as monstrous." (264)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Although this film is widely iconic and infamous for one of the most frightening queer antagonists in film history, it was actually protested in the 1992 Oscars by queer activist groups like Queer Nation for its transmisogynistic portrayal of Buffalo Bill. Following FBI student Clarice interviewing Hannibal Lecter, "with Lecter’s guidance, Clarice tracks down Jame 'Buffalo Bill' Gumb (Ted Levine) who, *spoiler alert*, has chosen their victims in order to make a ‘woman suit’ out of their skin. Jame’s gender-crossing becomes linked to their sociopathic and murderous tendencies," Paul Webb criticizes in "Trans (mis)representation in The Silence of the Lambs".
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
In the words of Crucchiola, this film involves "undead soul mates who also start co-parenting a little girl they spoil into being a total princess." Headed by David Geffen, an openly gay film producer and executive, the movie "works the queer monster tropes in usual (as well as unusual ways - 'fearlessly' presenting its male vampires with loads of homosexual connotation and bloody gore." (272) However, the idea of a male couple is still characterized with abnormality and violence onscreen.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
This film depicts a queer coming-of-age tale through a murderous lesbian pair. Pauline and Juliet become obsessed with each other, leading to a romantic and sexual relationship, which ends with their murder of Pauline's mother after she attempts to divide them. Crucchiola says, "This model of angry LGBTQ killer is controversial in that it plays into the stereotype of the criminal queer, but also explores a rage that might be viewed as righteously manifested in the face of oppression."
2000s - now
Out and Proud
The 21st century brings strides in LGBT representation and the mainstreaming of queer identities and humanization, accelerated by the developments made in the past era. Now, shows like Will & Grace and the Ellen Degeneres Show are welcomed and even celebrated, bringing queer faces and experiences into conventional society.
As the years advance into the 2010s, according to Crucchiola, "Queerness has appeared more and more often as a simple character detail instead of a monstrous affect, and queer sex has even been rendered with more intention than just salacious voyeurism." Representations onscreen throughout the horror genre are more nuanced, more sympathetic, and more open than ever. But they're not perfect.
Make a Wish (2002)
In this slasher-inspired film, a group of gay women on a birthday camping bash slowly get slashed one by one as they navigate their own personal drama: everyone on the trip has dated the birthday girl at some point. Although low-budget and less sophisticated in the grand scheme of the genre, the film's purpose isn't to attack the characters' lesbianism, a component that is out of character for horror.
Seed of Chucky (2004)
This film explores gender identity and nonconformance, involving Chucky and Tiffany, dolls controlled by the souls of snarky serial killers, who had a nonbinary child in the previous film, Bride of Chucky. In this continuation, "a surprising secondary plot is the doll child sorting out his/her gender identity," says Crucchiola.
In a 2021 revival of the Chucky franchise, Chucky outspokenly says, "I have a queer kid. Genderfluid." Check it out.
Jennifer's Body (2009)
In this iconic, overtly queer coded film, Jennifer Check is unsuccessfully sacrificed by a group of misogynistic men, to which she becomes a demon, forced to survive off of eating men. Her best friend, Needy, is forced to address her antics. Becoming a cult classic to queer fans, the film brings female experiences to the forefront, rejecting patriarchal norms of film. Although lacking in today's standards of LGBT representation due to undertones rather than overtones of bisexual representation, this movie's impact on queer audiences is undeniable.
All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
Named a "rape-revenge story" by Crucchiola, this film follows Maddy, a gay high schooler, who befriends the cheerleading team in order to take down the star football player, Terry. She seduces the head cheerleader, Terry's girlfriend, to which he responds by murdering her and her new friends. However, they're resurrected by Maddy's ex-girlfriend, and Crucchiola says, "but once you get past the hot make-outs and walking-dead cheerleaders fighting football players, this is just a movie about two girls in love — and how men are trash."
What Keeps You Alive (2018)
Dubbed a lesbian thriller for the modern era, this film follows a lesbian couple, Jules and Sarah, on their wedding anniversary in a cabin faraway in the forest, where one of them is exposed as a potential serial killer. Crucchiola applauds these portrayals, saying, "The two leads are sexual without being overtly sexualized. The antagonist conforms to the archetype of the lethal lesbian but in a fully gay context — she isn’t being assessed against heterosexual norms. She is simply an antagonist in a horrifying context, as opposed to a monstrous queer."
As the years have evolved, it's clear that queerness has evolved as well, both societally and representationally. Through the progression of the horror film, one can see society's morphing values and attitudes towards the queer identity, and come to an understanding about queer receptions and responses, as well, especially in the ways that representations of queerness in horror can reflect, and lead to, alienation and division in real life. However, queerness in horror also exists as a tactic, and outlet, for queer identities to be represented onscreen, despite being repressed and watered down.
Although there's still a long way to go, as the threat of the "monster queer" still looms in unnuanced and stereotyped representations of LGBT identities on film, it's safe to say that the horror genre has made great strides in their depictions of queerness, going from vague, hidden undertones in pieces like Frankenstein, to outspoken presentations of queer identity and love, such as What Keeps You Alive.
However, what is missing is blatantly clear: people of color, along with trans people. Despite the advancements made in LGBT representation in horror and media in general, there's still a long way to go in making sure narratives that aren't just white and cisgender are included onscreen.
This timeline is in no way comprehensive of the intertwined nature of queerness and the genre of horror, but through this exploration, I hope I've made it clear that queer experiences and perspectives are undeniable in the genre's history, no matter the audience's relationship to the LGBT umbrella, or lack thereof. In the words of B.J. Colangelo, a horror film journalist and theorist:
"It’s impossible to push a gay agenda in a horror film, because horror films have always been queer."
Works Cited
B.J. Colangelo. 8 June 2021. “The history of horror is gay.” Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath.
Carol J. Clover. 1987. “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film.” Representations, no. 20, pp 187–228.
Harry M. Benshoff. 1997. Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film. Manchester University Press.
Jaime Hartless. 13 July 2021. “Horror as a Pedagogical Tool for Teaching Sexualities.” Teaching Sociology, vol. 49, pp 233–44.
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. 19 June 2020. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The film that’s saved lives." Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200618-the-rocky-horror-picture-show-the-film-thats-saved-lives.
Melody Hope Cooper. May 2018. "Some-ness in No-When: Queer Temporalities in the Horror Genre" (2018). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. Marshall University.
Paul Webb. 2016. "Trans (mis)representation in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’." Retrieved from http://cubmagazine.co.uk/2016/06/trans-misrepresentation-in-the-silence-of-the-lambs/.
Rafael Alves Azevedo. 21 April 2015. "A Homosexual Reading of James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein." Retrieved from http://sequart.org/magazine/56511/a-homosexual-reading-of-james-whale-bride-of-frankenstein/.
Sara Century. 27 January 2019. "The lasting importance of Haunting of Hill House's Theodora." Retrieved from https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-lasting-importance-of-haunting-of-hill-houses-theodora.
Sara Clements. 6 August 2020. "Re-Examining the Lesbian Vampire and Dracula's Daughter During a Movement Against Discrimination." Retrieved from https://dailydead.com/re-examining-the-lesbian-vampire-and-draculas-daughter-during-a-movement-against-discrimination/.
Contact Info
- Wyatt Fields
- Media Studies major with Film Studies minor
- wfields@dons.usfca.edu
Written for Media History class