The spookiest, and gayest, time of year is here!
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 — inclusive horror films and series for you.
From classics to brand-new installments, this list will get you through the most horrifying time of the year!
Chucky
Syfy
Chucky was created by Don Mancini, a gay man, and several of the films feature queer characters and themes, including Chucky's child Glen. In the new Chucky series for Syfy, the main character is a queer teen boy named Jake.
The Chucky TV series is currently streaming on Syfy.
Freaky
Blumhouse Productions/Universal Pictures
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.
Los Espookys
HBO
This Spanish-language show follows a group of misfit friends who form a horror group that creates real-life scares for clients who need them. The show is co-created by Julio Torres who plays the gay character Andres. Renaldo, the leader of the group also seems to be asexual.
What We Do in the Shadows
FX
One of the best comedies on TV is also one of the gayest. Matt Berry plays Laszlo Cravensworth, a pansexual and hedonistic vampire, and Kayvan Novak plays Nandor the Relentless, who is also bisexual, and is currently in a will-they-or-won't-they relationship with his former familiar Guillermo, played by out actor Harvey Guillen.
Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire
AMC
The new TV adaptation of this classic novel turns up the gayness to 100. It stars Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt, two vampires and lovers. If you want horror that's dripping in gay sex, this is the show for you.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
New Line Cinema
Mark 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.
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.
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.
You can watch Hellbenton Amazon Prime Video.
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.
The movie is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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.
Streaming on Prime Video.
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.
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.
You can rent it on Apple TV.
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.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
A24
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.
Fear Street Trilogy
Netflix
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.
The Fear Street Trilogy is streaming on Netflix.
Nope
Universal Pictures
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.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Jennifer's Body
20th Century Fox
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.
Streaming on Hulu.
Queer for Fear
Shudder
This docuseries on Shudder features film experts, critics, queer icons, and horror fans discussing the queer history of horror, going all the way back to black and white silent films and continuing to today.
Streaming on Shudder.
Scream VI
Paramount Pictures
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.
Streaming on Paramount+.
Seed of Chucky
Rogue Pictures
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!
Streaming on Peacock.
Talk to Me
A24
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.
Available to rent on Prime Video.
Sandman
Netflix
Netflix's better-than-perfect adaptation of Neil Gaiman's classic horror-fantasy comics bring the Lord of Dream to life, along with a whole set of nightmares, both literal and figurative. It's got enough terror to feed even the most ravenous horror fan.
Streaming on Netflix.
We're All Going to the World's Fair
Utopia
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.
Available for rent on Prime Video.
Yellowjackets
Paramount+
After a high school girls' soccer team's plane crashes in the Canadian Rockies, the team must try to survive in the wilderness until they are rescued. What followed was murder, supernatural mysteries, and cannibalism. The show also follows the adult versions of the survivors and the horrors that continue to follow them.
Streaming on Paramount+.
They/Them
Peacock
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.
Streaming on Peacock.
