Queer horror

Queer Horror is a subgenre of horror that focuses on characters relating to those that are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (collectively known as LGBT or GLBT). It may deal with characters who are coded as or who are openly LGBT, or it may deal with themes or plots that are specific to queer people. Depending on when it was made, it may contain open statements of sexuality, same-sex sexual imagery, or same-sex love or affection, or it may just include a sensibility or campiness that has special meaning to GLBT people, as well as key aspects of horror. ["Queer Horror - Why We Like it!", http://www.queerhorror.com/articles/why.html]

Overview

Queer Horror grew out of a combination of the horror fiction and romantic fiction. In turn, both of these areas developed from the Gothic Novel. [ See Gothic Novel]

Many of the earliest examples of Gothic literature were either created by queer authors or had same-sex attraction as subtext within them. One of the earliest works by Sheridan le Fanu is the vampire novella "Carmilla" printed in the collection "In a Glass Darkly" in 1872 [ See Gothic Novel] ["Carmilla." In a Glass Darkly. Ed. LeFanu, J [oseph] Sheridan. London: R. Bentley & son, 1872.] . However, the lesbian vampire in "Carmilla" was adapted from an even earlier narrative poem entitled "Christabel" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in 1797 (and 1800). [LeFanu, J [oseph] Sheridan. "Carmilla." Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampire Stories. Ed. Keesey, Pam. Pittsburgh, PA: Cleis Press, 1993.]

The first gay vampire story was published by one of the first modern gay rights pioneers, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. In Matrosengeschichten (Sailor Stories) the story "Manor" describes a relationship between two young boys, one of whom is a vampire. [Ulrichs, Karl Heinrich. "Manor." Sailors' Tales (Matrosengeschichten). Ed. Ulrichs, Karl Heinrich, 1884.] [Ulrichs, Karl Heinrich. "Manor." Embracing the Dark. Ed. Garber, Eric. Boston, Mass.: Alyson Publications, 1991.]

Other early pioneers of the queer horror genre include John Polidori, Lord Byron, Henry James, Algernon Blackwood, Matthew Gregory Lewis and Oscar Wilde.

Books were generally controlled by larger publishers and this made it very difficult for gay authors to get their message out. Queer Horror got a boost with the advent of the pulp novel, a cheap way to manufacture paperback novels that became popularized during WWII. The war also provided another unanticipated side effect, many gay or lesbian military personnel were discharged when their same-sex desires were discovered. They were dropped off in the nearest port, and generally chose to stay there rather than go back home. This gave rise to gay ghettos, where GLBT folks began to learn that they weren't alone and began to reach out. The pulp novel gave them a good way to start. "Three on a Broomstick" by Don Holliday is the earliest example of the gay horror pulp ["Three on a Broomstick" by Don Holliday, http://www.queerhorror.com/misc/items/245.html] .

The advent of the movie provided a new way to start reaching out to people and exploring new subject matter, and brought forth another wave of queers making horror, such as F.W. Murnau and James Whale. Unfortunately, the fear of the times caused society to enforce morality and censorship. In Hollywood this was seen with the start of the Production Code, which limited what was allowed to be seen onscreen. Amongst many other things, this included onscreen portrayals of homosexuality. While this prevented overt displays of homosexuality from being shown, films like "Dracula's Daughter" and "The Haunting" pushed the envelope by showing what they could, coding it so that other gays and lesbians could see it, but those that wanted to ignore it still could.Fact|date=May 2008

But the gay community had started to find its voice, and in 1969, the Stonewall Riots occurred, forcing America to accept that the modern queer was visible, and was not going to be ignored. This change in morality, along with declining movie sales due to the popularization of the television, began to loosen the Production Code, allowing gays to be seen on screen and eventually to tell their stories.

Bibliography

*Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
**"Christabel" 1819 (lesbian vampire poem)

*LeFanu, J. Sheridan
**"Carmilla" 1872 (lesbian vampire story)

*Ulrichs, Karl Heinrich
**"Manor" 1884 (gay vampire story)

*Wilde, Oscar
**"The Picture of Dorian Gray" 1890 (gay horror novel)

*Viereck, George Sylvester
**"" 1907 (gay,bi male vampire novel)

*Jackson, Shirley
**"The Haunting of Hill House" 1959 (lesbian horror novel)

*Holliday, Don
**"Three on a Broomstick" 1967 (gay,bi male,trans vampire pulp)

*Lambert, William J.
**"Valley of the Damned" 1971 (gay werewolf pulp)

*Rice, Anne
**"Interview with the Vampire" 1976 (gay vampire novel)

*Strieber, Whitley
**"The Hunger" 1981 (bi female vampire novel)

*Rice, Anne
**"The Vampire Lestat" 1985 (gay vampire novel)

*König, Ralf
**"Killer Condom (aka Kondom des Grauens)" 1988 (gay monster graphic novel)

*Karol, Michael
**"Kiss Me, Kill Me" (2003 gay vampire novel, set in New York)

*Karol, Michael
**"Sleeps Well With Others" (2006 gay vampire novel, set in upper New York state; prequel to "Kiss Me, Kill Me")

*McMahan, Jeffrey
**"Somewhere in the Night" 1989 (gay horror collection)

*Garber, Eric, Paleo, Lyn
**"Uranian Worlds" 1990 (GLBT horror/scifi bibliography)

*Emerson, Roger
**"Silverwolf" 1990 (gay werewolf pulp)

*Laws, Jay B.
**"Steam" 1991 (gay horror novel)

*McMahan, Jeffrey
**"Vampires Anonymous" 1991 (gay vampire novel)

*Cooke, John Peyton
**"Out for Blood" 1991 (gay vampire novel)

*Garber, Eric
**"Embracing the Dark" 1991 (gay,lesbian horror stories)

*Gomez, Jewelle
**"The Gilda Stories" 1991 (lesbian vampire novel)

*Keesey, Pam
**"Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampire Stories" 1993 (lesbian vampire stories)

*Brite, Poppy Z.
**"Lost Souls" 1993 (gay,bi vampire novel)

*Keesey, Pam
**"Dark Angels: Lesbian Vampire Stories" 1995 (lesbian vampire stories)

*Keesey, Pam
**"Women Who Run with the Werewolves" 1996 (lesbian werewolf stories)

*Rowe, Michael, Roche, Thomas S.
**"Sons of Darkness" 1996 (gay vampire stories)

*Rowe, Michael, Roche, Thomas S.
**"Brothers of the Night, Gay Vampire Stories" 1997 (gay vampire stories)

*Rowe, Michael
**"Queer Fear" 2000 (gay horror stories)

*Griffith, Nicola, Pagel, Stephen
**"Bending The Landscape : Horror" 2001 (GLB horror stories)

*Jensen, Michael
**"Firelands" 2004 (gay monster novel)
* [http://www.veinglory.com/ Veinglory, Emily]
**"Eclipse of the Heart" 2004 (gay werewolf pulp)

Lewallen, Marc"To The Grave" (2005) (erotic gay vampire thriller)

* [http://www.pattyghenderson.com Henderson, Patty G] - editor
**" [http://www.pdpublishing.com/chillingendpage.html Chilling Tales of Terror and the Supernatural] (2008) (lgbt flash fiction horror anthology)

Filmography

*Hillyer, Lambert
**"Dracula's Daughter" 1936 (lesbian vampire movie)

*Hitchcock, Alfred
**"Rope" 1948 (gay psycho-thriller movie)

*Hitchcock, Alfred
**"Psycho" 1960 (trans psycho-thriller movie)

*Vadim, Roger
**"Blood and Roses" 1961 (lesbian vampire movie)

*Wise, Robert
**"The Haunting" 1963 (lesbian ghost/horror movie)

*Polanski, Roman
**"The Fearless Vampire Killers" 1967 (gay vampire movie)

*Kümel, Harry
**"Daughters of Darkness" 1970 (lesbian/gay vampire movie)

*Baker, Roy Ward
**"Vampire Lovers" 1970 (lesbian vampire movie)

*Franco, Jesus
**"Vampyros Lesbos" 1971 (lesbian vampire movie)

*DeSimone, Tom
**"Sons of Satan" 1973 (gay vampire porn)

*Sharman, Jim
**"Rocky Horror Picture Show" 1975 (GLBT horror movie)

*Scott, Tony
**"The Hunger" 1983 (lesbian,bi female vampire movie)

*Hiltzik,Robert
**"Sleepaway Camp" 1983 (Trans,gay horror movie)

*Sholder, Jack
**"" 1985 (gay horror movie)

*Dahlin, Bob
**"Monster in the Closet" 1986 (gay horror movie)

*Pirro, Mark
**"Curse of the Queerwolf" 1988 (gay, trans werewolf movie)

*Jones, Marvin
**"Love Bites" 1988 (gay vampire soft-core porn)

*"Kids in the Hall"
** (various) 1989 (gay vampire TV episodes)

*""
**"Night Prey" 1989 (bi female vampire episode)

*Beaumont, Gabrielle
**"Carmilla" 1990 (lesbian vampire movie)

*Demme, Jonathan
**"The Silence of the Lambs" 1991 (gay, trans psycho-thriller movie)

*Verhoeven, Paul
**"Basic Instinct" 1992 (bi thriller movie)

*Jordan, Neil
**"Interview with the Vampire" 1994 (gay vampire movie)

*Cannon, Ross
**"Ultimate Reality" 1996 (gay horror porn)

*Walz, Martin
**"Killer Condom" 1996 (gay horror movie)

*Coppel, Ann
**"Crocodile Tears" 1996 (gay demon movie)

*Whedon, Joss
**"Buffy - the Vampire Slayer (the Series)" 1997-2003 (GLBT vampire TV show)

*Huckert, John
**"Hard" 1998 (gay,bi thriller movie)

*Gould, Will
**"The Wolves of Kromer" 1999 (gay werewolf movie)

*Poirier, Bob
**"Traditional Family Vampires" 2000 (gay vampire short)

*Grannell, Joshua ( Peaches Christ )
**Peaches Christ & her Tran-ilogy of Terror (Drag Horror Trilogy)
**"Season of the Troll" 2001 (drag horror short)
**"A Nightmare On Castro Street" 2002 (drag horror short)
**"Whatever Happened To Peaches Christ?" 2004 (drag horror short)

*Aja, Alexandre
**"Haute tension" 2003 (lesbian horror movie)

*West, Wash
**"The Hole" 2003 (gay horror porn)

*Liebenberg,Wilhelm
**"Eternal" 2004 (lesbian, bi vampire)

*Etheredge-Ouzts, Paul
**"Hellbent" 2004 (gay, bi horror movie)

*Irvin, Sam
**"Dante's Cove" 2005 (GLB horror TV series)

*Gildark, Daniel
**"Cthulhu" 2007

*Slaughter, T.S.
**" [http://www.skullandbonesthemovie.com Skull & Bones] " 2007

*LaBruce, Bruce
**" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1151384/ Otto; or Up with Dead People] " 2008 (Gay-themed zombie film)

Awards

*The [http://www.queerhorror.com/awards/ Queer Horror Awards] were created to honor works that involve significant, and generally positive, portrayal of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender characters, issues or themes within the area of horror.
*The Lambda Literary Award includes an award for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
*The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards honor works in science fiction, fantasy and horror which include positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues.

References

See also

* Gay science fiction
* Gaylaxicon
* Gay pulp fiction
* Lesbian pulp fiction
* LGBT literature
* LGBT culture
* LGBT-related films
* LGBT-related television programs
* Lesbian vampire

External links

* [http://www.queerhorror.com/ QueerHorror] - a website exploring GLBT folks and the horror genre
* [http://www.unspeakablehorror.com/ Unspeakable Horror] - an online community devoted to Queer Horror
* [http://www.gaylaxicon.org/ Gaylaxicon] - an annual Science Fiction convention
* [http://www.duskdarkling.org/sflinks/ GLBT Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature - A Web Directory]
* [http://www.glbtfantasy.com/ GLBT Science Fiction and Fantasy Resources]
* [http://www.wavelengthsonline.com/ Wavelengths Online] - a review journal for science fiction, fantasy, and horror of special interest to gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered people and their friends