LGBTQ+ people love horror films, but does horror love us back?

idsommar (2019), Scream (1996), and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) are undeniable contemporary classics. As a self-professed lover of film, horror was always something I was enthused by, but I often overlooked them for psychological thrillers; Panic Room (2002) and A Quiet Place (2018) remain a few of my favourites. Aside from Jennifer’s Body (2009), horror wasn’t something I was gripped by, but it’s hard to sidestep the obvious: blood-soaked films have a hold over the queer community. We’re all familiar with the post-movie conversations guessing which character was likely the gay one or if the film was laden with queer subtext or not. Horror and its aesthetics (yes, this includes the androgynous stylings, overt homoerotic themes, and considered dialogue) has become a genre, that many remark, has been made for the gays. Maybe this is, for the most part, because horror doesn’t give way to many of the toxic anti-LGBTQ+ tropes we see