Our 5 Favorite Queer Horror Icons!

Pride Month might be over, but that just means we're that much closer to Spooky Season!

Horror has historically been a genre that queer people have felt at home with. Possibly in part because of its over-the-top, campy nature, but also likely because of its safety in protecting queer representation, especially in the time of the infamous Hays Code of the mid-20th Century and other long-standing film industry regulations. 

The genre has presented itself as a perfect breeding ground for queer themes and characters. Even if not queer themselves, some of the most famous horror figures of all time have, for one reason or another, particularly resonated with the queer community. From evil robots and gener-fluid diva scientists to transgender serial killers and hedonistic demons, Horror often embraces the gayest of them all. Here are 5 of the most prolific queer icons that take center stage every time they appear on screen!

1. Angela Baker, Sleepaway Camp (1983)

In Sleepaway Camp, Angela Baker is a young, unassuming mute girl with what just seems to be a slightly overbearing mother and an innocently shy countenance. Things quickly turn on their head, though, as it is slowly revealed that Angela is the killer terrorizing the camp, and her rage is bottomless. She resonates so deeply because her rage is quiet, hard to spot, and, in the eyes of many, absolutely just. Her queerness wasn’t even her choice -- after a wide-angle shot reveals the fact that she does, in fact, have male genitalia, the story comes together. After being assigned male at birth, Angela’s mother forced her to transition. The commentary on gender is very ambiguous and often labeled problematic because of the way it entangles complicated gender identity with psychological pain and maliciousness. Regardless, that shot is iconic and Angela has appeared and reappeared as a manifestation of queer rage for decades after the film’s release. Stream on Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, Crackle, PLEX, fuboTV, Philo, and Redbox.

2. M3GAN, M3GAN (2023)

M3GAN’s appeal is simple -- A dancing, singing, psychopathic robot who will stop at nothing to kill everyone who has wronged her and her dear best friend. When a platinum blonde, coquette-ish robot wearing a dress does cartwheels before slashing an annoying tech bro to bits, you can do nothing else but laugh. Before the film even released, queer people everywhere were heading to social media to label M3GAN a new icon. People even dressed up as her for Halloween that year. Stream on Peacock.

3. Eddie, Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

Funeral Parade of Roses is a Japanese horror classic, just as morally complicated in its messaging about queer people as it is thrilling and masterfully made. It explores the underbelly of Tokyo in the ‘60s and the ways that gender non-conforming individuals found their place in it. At the same time, though, it tells the sickening story of Eddie (Pîtâ), who murders her own father after accidentally having sexual relations with him. Eddie is an icon not because of her cruelty or her tragedy, but because of her inability to fall into any other identity than her own. The film is a psychedelic exploration of pain and rage that fuels the soul of anyone who's ever felt claustrophobic inside of themselves.

4. Pinhead, Hellraiser (1987)

Pinhead is an evil, evil thing from Hell that descends grotesque horror onto everything who encounters them. That’s exactly why they’re such a powerful icon in the queer horror canon. Pinhead is a perverse figure in appearance as well as character, and their non-binary leanings were spotted, celebrated, and quickly adopted into the queer community after the original film’s release. Now, party-goers and drag queens alike recreate the iconic look to celebrate their own identities. In 2022, Hulu remade the film with trans actor Jamie Clayton as the classic character. Stream on Prime Video, Pluto TV, Tubi, and Philo.

5. Dr. Frank-N-Furter, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

How else could a list like this end but with a classic? The Rocky Horror Picture Show is more of a cultural phenomenon than just a film. It started as a theater production and has graced thousands of stages around the world since its conception in London, England, in the early-‘70s. It is campy, colorful, and unabashedly queer, with productions regularly happening in all months of the year but especially during Spooky Season. It has close ties with drag and its fantastic diva of a main character (played by Tim Curry) is a pansexual, self-proclaimed “sweet transvestite” who celebrates perversity with the enthusiasm of the raptured. When he sings, everyone sings. When he shouts, the world shouts. There’s nothing more queer than Rocky Horror! Available on VOD/Digital.