The spookiest, and gayest, time of year is here!
Rogue Pictures; 20th Century Fox; A24
It's October, and that means it's officially Gay Christmas, a.k.a., Halloween! Just like we all have at some point, it's now time for the ghouls and goblins to come out and live their best lives. If you're in the mood for something spooky and scary this year, we've got some great — and gay AF — horror films for you.
This list has monsters, murderers, aliens, demons, pyschopaths, ghosts, stalkers, werewolfs, vampires, and just about any other type of horror you like, and all of them feature queer characters.
From classics to brand-new installments, this list will get you through the most horrifying time of the year!
1. I Saw the TV Glow
This existential, body, and psychological horror film comes from writer/director Jane Schoenbrun, and stars Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine as two childhood best friends who realize their favorite TV show may be something far more real and far more sinister than they thought.
2. Freaky
Not only is the concept of body-swapping inherently queer, but Freaky also features Josh, the main character's gay best friend as a refreshing take on what is often an old archetype.
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
New Line CinemaMark Patton played the first "male scream queen" in this horror sequel. As Jesse, a shy teen boy, he's haunted by Freddy Krueger and with the help of his friend Lisa, tries to survive his murderous rampage.
4. Saint Maud
This film from Love Lies Bleeding director Rose Glass follows a young, very religious nurse who develops an obsession with the retired famous dancer she is taking care of.
5. Ginger Snaps
This 2000 werewolf movie follows a pair of codependent sisters who are obsessed with death, and a little too obsessed with each other. As one of the girls gets her period, she also gets bitten by a werewolf, leading her to become violent, erratic, and possessive of her sister.
6. Raw
Wild Bunch/Focus Features
This French movie follows Justine, a vegetarian veterinary school student who develops a taste for human flesh after a hazing ritual at her school. She has a gay roommate, Adrien, who eventually becomes a major part of the story.
7. Black Swan
Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her performance as a young ballerina who wants to be cast as the White Swan/Black Swan in her company's production of Swan Lake. She starts to descend into madness as she becomes more obsessed with becoming the role, and as she becomes more obsessed with the woman who is her rival for the roles.
8. Hellbent
Regent Releasing
The first film in the "gay slasher" genre, Hellbent follows several gay men trying to evade a killer during Halloween in West Hollywood.
9. Sleepaway Camp
This classic slasher from 1983 has caused a lot of discourse over the years about trans representation. It's about a killer who is taking out campers at a summer camp, and features one of the most famous twist endings of any horror movie.
10. The Taking of Deborah Logan
This found footage film from 2014 focuses on a team of students who are making a documentary about a woman with Alzheimer's who is living with her lesbian daughter. However, as the students film, they notice supernatural occurances, and realize that something evil is living in the house.
11. Knock at the Cabin
Universal Pictures
In M. Night Shyamalan's thriller, Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge play a couple of gay dads who's idyllic trip to a cabin with their daughter soon turns into a nightmare.
12. Closet Monster
Elevation Pictures
In Stephen Dunn's directorial debut, body horror makes for an analogy for the fear of coming out. When he was a young boy, Oscar witnessed a violent homophobic attack involving a man being impaled with a metal pipe. When he's older and starts having feelings for other boys, he soon feels and sees the pipe emerging from his own body.
13. Rocky Horror Picture Show
20th Century Fox
The ultimate classic, queer horror movie is this campy and sexy musical. Starring Tim Curry as the delightfully deranged transvestite named Dr. Frank N. Furter, and featuring Richard O'Brien, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, and Meat Loaf.
14. Pitchfork
Uncork'd Entertainment
This 2016 horror film follows a young gay man who travels with his friends back to his family farm in Michigan to come out to his conservative family. Unfortunately, when they get there, they are stalked and killed by a deranged killer with a pitchfork.
15. Annihilation
This science fiction/horror film stars Natalie Portman as the leader of a group of women who goes into a mysterious quarentine zone called The Shimmer. Once inside, the women start to experience mutated monsters, shifting reality, and body horror beyond comprehension.
16. Stranger by the Lake
Les Films du Losange
This french erotic thriller follows a young gay man named Franck who frequents a nude beach that is also a popular cruising spot. He finds himself drawn to a handsome man named Michel. While Franck begins a flirtation with Michel, he witnesses Michel drown a man at the beach, and struggles with his attraction to someone he knows is a murderer.
17. The Hunger
This '80s vampire flick stars David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve as a pair of centuries-old vampires who start to seduce a new woman played by Susan Sarandon.
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
18. Bodies Bodies Bodies
This comedy horror film stars a great young cast including Amandla Stenberg and Maria Bakalova as a queer couple, Rachel Sennott, Chase Sui Wonders, Myha'la Herrold, Lee Pace, and Pete Davidson. It follows a group of friends throwing a hurricane party when someone actually dies during a game they play.
19. Fear Street Trilogy
This set of three slasher films from Netflix combine to form a centuries-long queer epic about witches, murders, and curses. It stars Kiana Madeira and Olivia Scott Welch, and also features actors like Benjamin Flores Jr., Gillian Jacobs, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, and more. It follows a queer couple trying to break their town's curse.
20. Nope
Jordan Peele's third film is his third masterpiece. Nope follows a brother and sister who own a horse ranch used in Hollywood movies together. The film examines what we're willing to do to see a spectacle, and how far people are willing to trust wild animals when it will get people to watch. Keke Palmer plays Emerald Haywood, a queer woman who gets in way over her head when a UFO shows up at their ranch.
21. Jennifer's Body
Karyn Kusama's underrated classic follows two high school besties (Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried) who's lives are upended when the more popular Jennifer becomes possessed by a demon who eats boys.
22. Scream VI
The fifth Scream movie introduced Mindy Meeks-Martin, the niece of original character Randy Meeks, who is also the series' first queer main character. She survived that movie, and came back for Scream VI, where she had a girlfriend and continued to run from Ghostface.
23. Seed of Chucky
Written and directed by Don Mancini, this fifth installment in the Child's Play series introduced the wolrld to Glen/Glenda, the bigender child of possessed dolls Chucky and Tiffany. It's a campy cult classic perfect for Halloween!
24. Talk to Me
This instant classic is focused around a haunted party game played by a group of Austrailian teens. Nonbinary troublemaker Hayley (Zoe Tarakes) and their friend Joss come into possession of a severed, embalmed hand that when you hold onto it and say "Talk to me" allows you to see ghosts.
25. We're All Going to the World's Fair
Jane Schoenbrun's terrific debut follows an isolated teenage girl who decides she's going to try the viral internet "World's Fair Challenge." It's a quiet study on change, growth, and internet influence.
26. They/Them
They/Them is a thriller/slasher film that takes place at a gay conversion camp. When some of the queer and trans teens at the camp start being murdered, they have to find out who the real villains are before they all die.
27. What Keeps You Alive
This Canadian psychological horror film follows lesbian couple Jackie and Jules who take a trip to remote cabin to celebrate their one year anniversary. When they get there, Jules realizes that her wife is not who she thought, and all hell breaks loose.
28. Cuckoo
Hunter Schafer stars in this recent horror movie as a queer teen who moves with her father to a resort in Germany where the mysterious Herr König (Dan Stevens) is secretly conducting experiments and breeding monsters.
29. There's Someone Inside Your House
This high school slasher movie is about a group of misfit teens (including gay football player Caleb and nonbinary student Darby) who try to survive a serial killer who is threatening to expose all their secrets.
30. Huesera: The Bone Woman
This Mexican-Peruvian horror film follows a pregnant woman who is seeing increasingly disturbing visions all while occult forces gather around her. She goes to her ex-girlfriend for help at one point, but will she be able to escape this evil?
31. Lyle
This thriller is about two women grieving their toddler's death when they realize that their neighbors might be behind the death and part of a satanic cult.
