\nhas changed over the last few years?<\/strong><\/p>\n
ADDIE TSAI: I believe that we’re in a very exciting moment for LGBTQ+ representation in horror and speculative fiction. As I said in an interview<\/a> promoting It Came from the Closet<\/i>, is there any genre queerer than horror, one that takes everything under the bed–our secret fears, desires, and fantasies–and lays it out for us to confront? I think that we, as living in queer bodies, inevitably queer any genre with our own perspectives and realities, but I think that there is a way that the horror film, which turns everything inside out, enables a kind of queer potential more than any other genre.\u00a0 But, what we’re seeing that’s changed in terms of LGBTQ+ representation in horror and speculative fiction is explicit representation. No longer are we being relegated as “subtext” but are now finally being included “out of the closet.” I’m thinking particularly about the most recent AMC adaptation of Anne Rice’s The Interview with the Vampire<\/i>, in which the characters Lestat and Louis are an explicitly queer couple and their dynamic is complicated as a queer dynamic, rather than being implied. We are also seeing more complicated storylines and characters that don’t end with villainizing queer characters, or having their lives end in tragedy. The more representation we have, the more complex our stories can become.<\/p>\n MONA SWAN LESUEUR: It has definitely become more varied and diverse, but this is only the beginning. Soon\u2026we will infest all shelves on Earth, and then we shall expand to farthest reaches of the known cosmos\u2026and beyond. But for now, you can go to your favorite indie bookseller or book chain and order as much as possible! The more we are read, the more we grow.<\/p>\n One of horror\u2019s strengths historically has been the ability to explore characters that otherwise have unexamined in other genres. That still rings true to this day. In horror, you can see LGBTQ+ at their lowest and highest points. We\u2019ve got problems and we\u2019re just as messed up as everyone else. We\u2019ve also got beautiful souls filled with an abundance of love. We just want to live peaceful lives, but monsters keep showing up who insist on eradicating us in any way they can. In many ways, horror is the perfect place to showcase our fullest truest selves, and that is becoming more and more evident as more queer horror gets published and read.<\/p>\n CRAIG LAURANCE GIDNEY: There has been an explosion of queer-friendly horror and speculative fiction in the past few years. The visibility is amazing\u2014and all the voices are different. It is no longer novel to have queer characters and queer authors. I love that there is room for more than one Black queer author in speculative fiction. And the queer representation we\u2019re getting is written for a queer audience. No dilution or heteronormative palatability is now necessary, and it makes for richer, more dynamic fiction.<\/p>\n K.P. KULSKI: In my view, in the horror community it\u2019s been mostly embraced and further\u2014 actively supported. There are always some people who are hateful, but they seem relegated to the sidelines, and this gives me great hope.<\/p>\n LARISSA GLASSER: We’ve gone from having trans women as the “twist” in Sleepaway Camp<\/em> or![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Cosmic-Horror-Monthly.webp\")
<\/a>CHRISTINA LADD: It\u2019s hard to separate out my own experience of reading horror from the genre itself, since I am in no way an expert\u2014I\u2019m a fan, first and foremost, and I read where my on predilections take me. So with that caveat, I\u2019ve been very happy to see queerness presented as a nonissue more and more often; it\u2019s ubiquitous, normal, and quietly foundational instead of centered as The Conflict. There are, of course, also books in which queer concerns are central, and I like those too! However, queer universality delights me in large part because it\u2019s strangely\u2014subversively\u2014maybe even perversely\u2014optimistic. Sure, there are plagues or serial killers or monsters from beyond the stars, but at least nobody is having a snit about two girls kissing.<\/p>\n
\nthe “transvestite” in Psycho<\/em> or the “what a kooky doctor” in Dressed to Kill<\/em> or the “No Men in this House” in Unhinged<\/em> to trans women writing some of the best work in the genre over the past decade. I never thought I’d live to see this happen. This may not be universally felt within the horror community, but it means a great deal to me.
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