Exploring the Queer Gothic in Literature and Film
by Voice Of Shava on March 19, 2024
The Gothic as a literary genre has captivated readers for over two centuries with its signature blend of horror, suspense, and romance. While early Gothic tales often focused on hapless heroines and sinister villains, contemporary writers have expanded the traditions of the genre to explore more diverse perspectives and themes. An increasingly popular subject is the concept of “queer Gothic” - Gothic narratives that engage with LGBTQ+ identities, relationships, and struggles.
Defining the Queer Gothic
The queer Gothic utilizes classic Gothic tropes like ghosts, haunted houses, and madness, but applies them to specifically queer characters, stories, and motifs. Much scholarship traces the beginnings of queer Gothic literature to the late 19th century writings of Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu and American writer Henry James, which hinted at homoerotic themes. However, the queer Gothic did not fully bloom as a distinct movement until the late 20th century, when more mainstream Western audiences became receptive to overtly LGBTQ+ narratives.
Modern authors working in the queer Gothic mode have explored the genre’s capacity to give voice to marginalized experiences. They often focus on themes like social isolation, fear of discovery, the buried past returning to haunt the present, being trapped in hostile spaces or situations, grappling with one’s own identity, and defying restrictive social mores. The supernatural elements woven through these stories take on a deeper symbolic significance. Ghosts and monsters may represent internal or external demons faced by LGBTQ+ individuals, like self-loathing, trauma, or society’s homophobia and transphobia. These metaphorical interpretations allow the queer Gothic to engage profoundly with real human struggles.
Hallmarks of the Literary Queer Gothic
Several landmark works have shaped and defined the trajectory of the queer Gothic in literature. Anne Rice's iconic Interview with a Vampire (1976) broke new ground with its homoerotic undertones. Angela Carter’s short story collection The Bloody Chamber (1979) put daring, feminist twists on classic fairy tales, influencing a new generation of writers to reimagine genre fiction.
More recent examples that could qualify as queer Gothic include Colm Tóibín’s The Master (2004), a fictionalized biography of Henry James that alludes to his suppressed homosexuality, and Sarah Waters’ book Affinity (1999) and Tipping the Velvet (1998), both set in 19th century England and exploring lesbian relationships - forbidden at the time. Contemporary authors like Paul Magrs, Nicola Griffith, and Cheryl A. Head also utilize Gothic atmosphere and elements to develop nuanced queer characters and themes.
The Gothic in Queer Cinema
Just as literature has been expanded by the queer Gothic, films also adopted conventions of classic Gothic cinema to illustrate the social horrors and psychic struggles facing LGBTQ+ people over the decades. Horror films have long hinted at queer sexuality and gender fluidity through coded stereotypes or metaphors, but eventually began directly incorporating queer perspectives and lead characters.
Lesbian vampire films, like The Vampire Lovers (1970), provided early examples where monstrous femininity and predatory lesbianism intersected. Later supernatural films - The Hunger (1983), Lost Souls (2000), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985) - used Gothic inspired horror tropes to explore marginalized identities struggling with inner demons. Recent acclaimed films in this vein include romantic ghost story Carol (2015) and the Sundance winner Border (2018), which uses fantasy and horror elements to develop an unconventional queer romance.
Meanwhile, Gothic influences are also apparent in stories focused on the devastating real-life horrors experienced by the LGBTQ+ community. Films like Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and Mysterious Skin (2004) feature bleak, melancholic tones and haunting emotional trauma reminiscent of the Gothic. Documentaries Paris is Burning (1990) and The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017) record grave injustices suffered by queer and trans people, exposing real-life monsters grounded in ignorance, fear, and hatred. However, the vibrant self-expression thriving even in decaying, ghostly urban spaces provides a sobering yet hopeful juxtaposition - the certainty of death and difficulty of life never fully extinguishing the human spirit.
A Coming of Age for the Genre
In many ways, the Gothic has always been queer. Duality, instability, transformation, terror, defiance - these intrinsic qualities read as profoundly queer in today’s cultural landscape. By boldly expanding the Gothic canon to include dimensional LGBTQ+ characters and push the limits of monsters as metaphors, contemporary artists have established the queer Gothic as a fully realized mode still bursting with untapped potential. The recent critical and commercial success of movies like The Lighthouse and TV series like Penny Dreadful demonstrate mainstream appetite for provocative tales analyzing gender, sexuality, and queerness through a Gothic lens.
As public awareness continues growing, the vibrant creativity fueling the queer Gothic promises even more fascinating and progressive works that resonate across all sectors of the LGBTQ+ community. The classic traditions of Gothic literature and film remain as culturally relevant as ever by embracing the strange, taboo, and misunderstood aspects of both supernatural and human horror stories.
