For so long, queer themes had to linger just beneath the surface, often hiding in plain sight. While some earlier films do include overt queer themes, everything went underground beginning with the Hays code, and continuing even long after. The lesbian vampire, first introduced in the 19th century Gothic novella “Carmilla,” led to an explosion of lesbian vampire movies in the 1970s. When it comes to queer subtext, the genre is ripe for exploring themes such as possession, body transformation, fear of the other, uncontrollable desire, and hidden identities. When Jordan Peele used the genre to show white supremacy as the ultimate terror in “Get Out,” he was inspired by years of socio-political readings on his favorite horror films.
Like its genre-cousin science fiction, horror films have long used supernatural terrors as stand-ins for real-life fears.
