As the nights are drawing in, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a creepy, spooky or unsettling read. And there’s no end of queer horror books to choose from. Whether it’s the exploration of otherness, themes of transformation, or the long history of queer-coded characters, there’s something that draws many LGBTQ+ people to this genre.
If you’re looking for something scary or supernatural to add to your reading list this Queer Chistmas (aka Halloween), then here are some favourites from the staff and volunteers at Lavender Menace.
The Haunting of Hill House
‘It scared the shit out of me’, said queer novelist Carmen Maria Machado when she discovered The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – over 50 years after it was first published in 1959. Hill House preys on all who enter it – such as fantasist Eleanor and lesbian artist Theo, portrayed by Julie Harris and Claire Bloom, seen in a still from the 1966 film The Haunting. Jackson’s novel has inspired one other film, a play and a TV series. In a 2023 sequel, A Haunting on the Hill, Elizabeth Hand follows Hill House into the 21st century – when a theatre company, including openly queer characters, decide to stay there for artistic inspiration. Unlike Eleanor and Theo, they are not interested in the supernatural except as a spooky thrill, and may be more vulnerable to the house’s powers…
Two Queer Tales about Mary Shelley
‘Mary: or the Birth of Frankenstein’ depicts Mary Shelley conceiving Frankenstein at the Lake Geneva villa where she stayed with Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. But this well-known tale is tantalisingly interwoven and contextualised with Mary’s buried memories of a teenage summer spent falling in love with Isabella Baxter on a rural Scottish estate.
Jeanette Winterson’s ‘Frankissstein’ is very different. Though it also recounts Shelley’s time at Lake Geneva, it interweaves this with a reimagining of Shelley and her companions in a narrative set 200 years later. It considers topics such as transgender experience, transhumanism, AI, cryonics, and how a modern-day Lord Byron might launch a sex robot business.
Old Wounds
Erin and Max are transgender teen runaways and exes, trying to get to California so that Max can finally transition. Unfortunately, the Kentucky woods they’re driving through are haunted by a monster that demands a sacrifice of young women. The locals think they’ve found a perfect candidate – but how do monsters even define gender, anyway?
This is definitely a book where Transphobia is the Real Monster, so while it’s good, it can be pretty heavy going. (Content warnings available on the author’s website)
Queer Horror Collections
It Came From The Closet – Kind of a horror counterpart to The Celluloid Closet. A collection of essays by queer writers on the horror films that shaped them. A fascinating celebration of the intersection of horror & queerness, and a loving deep dive into a historically queer film genre.
Parallel Hells – A collection of short queer horror stories, often drawing on Jewish folklore. I particularly liked the story about a trans golem, and another story had a line that made me gasp out loud in horror! I won’t say more though because it’s best experienced firsthand. (TW for attempted SA in the golem story)
Through the Woods – An eerie graphic short story collection with gorgeous and stark artwork that weaves each story with palpable dread.
Rebecca
The story works on many levels, and there is something in it for everyone. But gradually the queer content has emerged and, if anything, increased the novel’s appeal.
After du Maurier’s death in 1989, biographies revealed her bisexuality. She saw her creative side as ‘the boy in the box’. He escaped in fantasy and sometimes, in reality. Married with children, she quietly had affairs with women.
Meanwhile, the book, once viewed as a superficial gothic romance, is now seen as a classic – a brilliantly plotted mystery whose characters, like Rebecca herself, have survived – and deepened – long after their time.
Manhunt
It’s a dystopian US setting where the virus that turns people into ravaging monsters is caused by testosterone. It follows a pair of trans lesbians and a trans man in their struggle to survive and avoid becoming one of the T-crazed creatures they’ve been hunting. I really enjoyed that JKR is not only canonically dead in the setting, but was killed and eaten by her own followers that she had holed up with in her Scottish mansion, Masque of the Red Death style. Very satisfying. (TW for one instance of SA and a lot of cannibalism)
Short and Spooky
Looking for a creepy book you can whizz through in a day or two? Then these picks are perfect for you!
For an evening of candles, pumpkins, and fallen leaves, pick one of these bite-sized books or collections and sink those fangs in.
-Unspeakable: A Queer Gothic Anthology
-What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher
-Things We Say In the Dark by Kirsty Logan
-The Vampyre by John Polidori
-Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler
-The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez
There are many other queer horror books waiting for you in the archive. Come and explore them… if you dare… and have a very queer Halloween!
