Spooky season is officially here, and frankly, it’s time to get a little haunted, a little horny, and very queer.
We’re kicking things off with two sides of the LGBTQ+ horror experience: the history and the thirst. One story looks at how queer audiences have long found themselves in horror, sometimes coded into the monsters, sometimes hiding in plain sight, and increasingly, front and center. The other celebrates the genre’s enduring tradition of giving us plenty of reasons to keep watching after the lights go out, from scream kings and horror hunks to the beautiful men who make getting chased by a killer look surprisingly good. Together, they’re a reminder that horror and queer culture have always had more in common than you might think: both know a thing or two about outsiders, survival, camp, and finding pleasure in the things society tells you to fear.
So grab your favorite costume, queue up something terrifying, and settle in. Here’s to a spooky season that’s scary, sexy, ridiculous, and very, very queer.
Until next time.
-Alamin Yohannes, Audience Editor
Horror films are finally coming out of the closet
Dennis Leupold
LGBTQ+ audiences have long identified with the victims—and monsters—in scary movies. The genre is moving away from subtext toward queer themes that openly resonate with the cultural and political moment.
43 hunky horror stars who made scary movies sexy
Universal Pictures; Lionsgate; Warner Bros. Pictures; New Line Cinema
Halloween just got a whole lot hotter!
Jordan Aaron Hall loves playing a 'three-dimensional' Black gay man on 'A Different World'
Courtesy Netflix
The 'Rustin' and 'Pose' actor talks the joy of portraying Hillman College's first major openly queer character, Amir, on Netflix's 'A Different World,' which was just renewed for a second season.
'Heated Rivalry' author Rachel Reid reveals struggle writing Shane and Ilya's next sex scenes
Crave Canada/HBO Max; Harold Feng/Getty Images
As fans await the last novel in her 'Game Changer' book series and season 2 of the hit show, Reid says watching stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie get it on gave her writer's block.
'Big Brother' house roiled by 'hideous transphobia'
Courtesy ITV
A housemate in the U.K. reality competition was accused of trying to "cause trouble" after sharing views on the LGBTQ+ community, pronouns, bathrooms, and trans athletes.
Andrew Garfield plays Open AI's 'demon twink' founder Sam Altman in 'Artificial'
Chloe Kern/WireImage
The star said his chilling performance as the AI guru is an "interrogation of who we are giving all of our autonomy, power, and data to."
Go Ask Alex: Whatever happened to fisting classes?
Envato / EyeFound
Columnist Alexander Cheves addresses a reader's concerns that, as fisting's popularity grows, real-world mentorship opportunities on safety and community have dwindled.
Find your own pace in Spain
Photo courtesy of TURESPAÑA
From rural LGBTQ+ celebrations to volcanic landscapes and mountain retreats, discover a Spain worth slowing down for.





