“Queer Horror” with Lucy Holmes

Once upon a midnight dreary, Queer Lit pondered all things eerie… and believe me, this episode is quaint and curious queer horror galore! Horror writer and researcher Lucy Holmes take us on a trip down vampire lane and chills me to the bone with everything from 1930s gay directors to 1970s lesbian bloodsuckers to nonbinary and trans representation in contemporary horror shows. Lucy also reminds us that horror, just like your queer identity, can mean anything you want it to mean. And yes, of course, we talk Buffy and Alien!If you’re not too spooked out, follow @lulu_pew and @queerlitpodcast on Instagram and Twitter and tell all your scary friends.Texts by Lucy mentioned:“Horror in the Closet” in Hear Us Scream ( @hearusscream )https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hear-Us-Scream-Voices-Horror/dp/B09M7F3SN3“Breaking Bloody Binaries” https://www.hearusscream.com/editorials/breaking-bloody-binaries“Silencing Sapphics”https://www.hearusscream.com/editorials/silencing-sapphics-a-mirror-image-between-killing-eve-and-bly-manor“Sapphics Bite Back” in Ghouls MagazineOther texts and concepts mentioned:Hays CodeGhoulfriends Podcast ( @GhoulFriendPod )https://mobile.twitter.com/ghoulfriendpod“Queerness and Race in Gothic and Horror” with Maisha WesterAbigail Waldron’s Queer ScreamsDragulaJames Whale’s Frankenstein (1931)PsychoAlfred Hitchcock’s RopeFear StreetChucky#UntoldTalesRipleyAlienEvil DeadMurnau’s NosferatuMax SchreckKilling EveBly ManorFirst KillDracula’s DaughterBuffyTrue BloodFreaky (Blumhouse)Misha OsherovichThey/ThemScreamWingsMarlene DietrichDandyBury your gays tropeThe L WordThe Wilds#SaveGentlemanJack with Sarah WingroveYellowjacketsAssassination NationBitInterview with a VampireDaughters of DarknessVampire LesbosThe Vampire LoversThe HungerFinal Girls PodcastQueen of the DamnedLet the right one come inElizabeth BathoryVincent PriceHouse of Haunted Hill“Medieval Disney Queers” with Amy Louise MorganSleepaway CampCandymanShudderQueer for FearHannibalMads MikkelsenTagGillian AndersonNightmare on Elm StreetFreddyVelvet BuzzsawBuffering the Vampire SlayerCarol Clover’s Men, Women, and ChainsawsQuestions you should be able to respond to after listening:1.How would you define horror?2.Why might queer people be drawn to horror as a genre? Which possible answer does Lucy give? What do you think?3.What is potentially problematic about queer representation in horror?4.Have you ever identified with a monster? If so, which one?5.Please look up Jack Halberstam’s work on queer monsters. What do you notice about his approach?