One of my favorite things about the horror genre is how it’s able to distill core themes about our everyday lives – good vs. evil, inclusion vs. exclusion, emotion vs. reason — into scenarios so terrifying that it doesn’t feel like a lesson being preached at you from a pulpit on high. Instead, important messages are skillfully wrapped inside entertaining, thought-provoking nightmare scenarios, typically complete with a scarred-for-life-flavored cherry on top. (What more could you want in a book?) Never is that sentiment more apparent (for me, at least) than in one of my favorite and most-read horror sub-genres: queer horror.
For a long time in both books and film, LGBTQ+ characters were relegated to the background of stories, often forced to dwell in the subtext or take on the villain role in order to make it into the mainstream. By embracing those stereotypes and twisting them in new and subversive ways, artists were able to use the horror genre as an outlet for queer stories, exploring sexuality, identity, and gender. Or, sometimes, the genre acts as a conduit for just a little bit of fun. (Sexy, freaky, risky, maybe ill-advised fun, but fun nonetheless.)
From one of literature’s earliest vampire stories, to a technology-infused take on the real-life terror of gay conversion camps, these are some of the best queer horror novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading over the years.
