Queer cinema and the horror genre are a match made in Halloween heaven. The kinship between gays and gore is mutually stimulating and has produced many a film that perfectly encapsulates freaky festive time. As genre films lend themselves to exaggeration within a tried-and-tested framework, the use of horror tropes generates heightened queer inflexions for a pseudo-sadistic viewing full of otherworldly escapism.

No tricks here, get your treats ready and enjoy our list of unmissable queer horror movies!

The Parenting (2025)
The concept of this horror comedy is a cracker. What is scarier than spending a weekend with your partner’s parents? How about a weekend with your parents and your partner’s parents, and there’s a 400-year-old poltergeist? This is a fun one full of tricks and treats for sure.

The Perfection (2019)
The Perfection is full of mystery, hallucinations and brainwashing. When a talented cellist travels to Shanghai to reconnect with her mentor, she also begins a relationship with another student and agrees to follow her across rural China. From there, pure horror ensues. Allison Williams truly cements herself as the scream queen of a generation.

They/Them (2022)
Horrors are camp, and camps are horror. Finally, non-binary representation as serial killers! Just kidding. The cleverly titled “They Slash Them”, starring Kevin Bacon and featuring the lovely Cooper Koch, sends a bunch of queer and trans teenagers to a conversion camp and sets loose a serial killer.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
This A24 comedy horror centres around a group of young women, including some great LGBTQ+ characters. It follows these wealthy Gen-Z friends to a party in a mansion where they decide to play a murder mystery game that quickly evolves into a real-life crime scene. This is an excellent queer slasher film, perfect for Halloween!

The Hunger (1983)
The Hunger tells the story of a love triangle between a doctor who specialises in rapid ageing research and a vampire couple. Sexy, stylish and with an incredible cast (Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie), this cult classic still stands today.

Fear Street Trilogy (2021)
Described as Scream meets Stranger Things, this three-part slasher follows a teenage lesbian couple striving to break an ancient curse on their hometown. The trilogy takes place across three decades, beginning in 1994, and this time travel thriller doesn’t disappoint. Spread it out across the Hallow-Weekend or watch the three films consecutively for a macabre marathon.

The Craft (1996)
A beloved cult classic, The Craft was responsible for many bi-awakenings. It may come as a surprise that it does not include any specifically gay references, but it’s witchy, girly, punk and a perfect group-watch with your coven. 

The Craft: Legacy (2020)
The sequel to the aforementioned ’90s classic brings the themes of witchcraft and magic to the contemporary. Like any good reboot, it honours the original film and introduces some lovely queer characters, making it a perfect addition to this list.

Nadja (1994)
Dracula has died, or rather has been killed by notorious vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing. Seeking proportionate revenge, Dracula’s daughter seduces the wife of the nephew of the man who killed her father. Succumb to the lo-fi, indie aesthetic and enjoy the intensified vampiredom. If the sapphic story wasn’t enough of a sell, Nadja also includes a couple of needle drops from Ireland’s own My Bloody Valentine.

Leviticus (2026)
An Australian, supernatural, coming-of-age, romantic horror; one of a kind, to say the least. Leviticus depicts two teenage boys exploring their mutual infatuation, but a parentally-ordered gay exorcism causes a violent entity to take the form of the person they desire most – each other. Working within the monster genre, this film balances the poignant and the frightful in an eerie exploration of homophobia.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Not a horror in the traditional sense but an absolute queer gem packed with iconic songs, sex, gore and a pretty inspirational life motto in the end: “Don’t dream it, be it”. Over 50 years since its original debut, the Rocky Horror Picture Show still manages to be an absolute cult classic. Pay homage to Tim Curry with a Halloween rewatch this year.

I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
Being trans can feel like a real-life horror film with all of the attempts to censor and eradicate trans people from existence. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. There are many shining lights, like Jane Schoenbrun and their work, including this hauntingly beautiful and hypnotic psychological horror. It will move you like a U-Haul.

Wir sind die Nacht (We Are The Night) (2010)
Wir sind die Nacht follows the story of an all-female vampire trio in Berlin who are taking in a fourth member. Sexy, fast-paced and surprisingly deep, it touches on themes of love, depression and immortality. This critically acclaimed low-budget German film is definitely a queer horror not to be missed at Halloween. Also, the soundtrack is kick-ass.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Dracula? I hardly know her. Queer readings of Bram Stoker’s original text unveil the latent homoeroticism, but Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation leans into sexuality hard. Vampires and sapphism are a recipe for a perfectly balanced Halloween queer horror, and this is no exception. 

Jennifer’s Body (2009)
The world was not ready for this storyline in 2009, but it’s since become a feminist classic with a strong queer following. Jennifer’s Body is ultimately about queer friendship, empowerment and revenge kills. Fit in a rewatch this year and get geared up for the upcoming sequel, which is scheduled to start filming in October 2026.

Knife + Heart (2018)
Set in the gay porn world of the ’70s, Knife + Heart follows the story of adult film producer and director Anne. When Anne’s editor and girlfriend Lois breaks up with her, she tries to win her back by shooting a more ambitious film with the flamboyant Archibald. However, after one of her actors is brutally murdered, Anne finds herself tangled in a bizarre investigation that turns her life upside down.

Stranger by the Lake (2013)
This film begins with a classic ‘boy meets boy’ love story on a French gay cruising beach. Everything is going well, and they decide to pursue their romantic relationship with only one concern: they both become murder suspects. If an in-your-face queer horror is not what you desire this Halloween, indulge in this thriller-romance where the stakes of sex are life or death. 

Spiral (2019)
This Shudder original tells the chilling story of a gay couple who move to a small town looking for a quiet place to raise their teenage daughter. Needless to say, things are not as they seem in the picturesque neighbourhood, as the couple soon discover. Featuring openly gay actor and reality TV star Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Spiral makes for a pretty creepy watch.

Thelma (2017)
Thelma is a welcome venture into queer horror for subdued Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier. It’s a supernatural thriller about a young woman who is struggling with health issues and beginning her first year of college. While adjusting to being away from her family, she is also falling in love for the first time and figuring out her sexuality. Full of unpleasant childhood flashbacks, this coming-of-age spine-chiller features a powerful young queer female lead in a story that is simultaneously enthralling and empowering.

Haute Tension (High Tension) (2003)
This is an absolute wild ride of a horror, and definitely one to add to your watchlist. Haute Tension follows best friends Marie and Alexia, who find themselves relentlessly stalked by a sadistic killer. It’s fast-paced, extremely gory and unpredictable, and will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. We can’t say much without spoiling the end, but be warned: not for the faint-hearted.

Swallowed (2022)
Cooper Koch as a wanna-be gay porn star sounds more like a fantasy than a horror, but this dream quickly turns into a nightmare body-horror when he meets a dark underbelly. It’s hot, it’s gay, and it will make you tingle in different ways. It breaks ground in disturbing ways and might make you gag. It’s kind of romantic, too. A must-watch queer horror film for this Halloween.

T-Blockers (2023)
T-Blockers focuses on a young trans woman, Sophie, in a small Australian town where men bitten by parasites become violent, transphobic misogynists. Unbelievably, Alice Maio Mackay was only 18 when she wrote and directed this. As she comes of age as a filmmaker, T-Blockers veers into the metatextual as the protagonist, Sophie, is also a filmmaker attempting to hone her identity as an artist and a young woman. It’s full of rebellious spirit and embodies the proclamation towards the film’s conclusion: “never fuck with queer filmmakers”.

Bit (2019)
In this comedy horror, a transgender teenager moves in with her brother after transitioning and befriends four queer feminist vampires. Together, they take it upon themselves to rid their city of predatory men because “men can’t handle power”.

We hope this has provided plenty of queer fear to get you into the Halloween spirit!