by Logan Lynch
Queer Horror is a course offered under Stevenson University’s Special Topics in Literature courses during the Fall 2024 Semester, and it is taught by writer Nic Anstett, MFA.
The course covers horror genre classics and contemporary works through a queer literary lens to analyze the use of the genre as expression of queer and trans identities.
How the Course Navigates Queer History
The content of the course is currently based around six novels and five movies with a short story and scholarly articles thrown in the mix. The readings range from classics like Dracula by Bram Stoker and Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu to more contemporary works like Manhunt Gretchen Felker-Marten and White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. When asked why the books were chosen and arranged chronologically, Professor Anstett explained in an interview that “Dracula and Carmilla are important for the literary canon, and [it] just makes sense to go from there. I also knew I wanted to teach The Haunting of Hill House.”
“I wanted to teach books that tie in with moments in history,” said Prof. Anstett. “Dracula and Carmilla were produced in an atmosphere of social panic surrounding queerness, and they reflect that. Exquisite Corpse [by William Joseph Martin] deals explicitly with the AIDS crisis. I chose Manhunt for how its deals with the current anti-trans movement and for its representation of a contemporary queer author writing about contemporary queer issues through the horror genre. White is for Witching, I chose because I wanted a book that was written by a queer person of color, which was complicated because people of color weren’t in the [queer horror] genre until very recently.”
Themes of the Course
Through the use of these texts, SU’s Queer Horror class is looking at “how the horror genre has been used to reinforce norms about gender and sexuality, particularly by treating queerness as a monstrosity, and how more recent works have used [the genre] as an outlet for exploring homophobic norms,” said Prof. Anstett. The variety of texts reflects this as the represented authors present different aspects of queer identity: Dracula and Carmilla can be read as warnings against any deviation from societal gender norms, The Haunting of Hill House can be appreciated as an early representation of characters becoming more explicitly queer, and Exquisite Corpse can be seen as a reductive yet historically accurate description of the 1980s serial killer craze admit the rising threat of HIV/AIDS.
Goals of the Course
Professor Anstett hopes students are able to walk away from this class “with a little bit of better understanding with queer history and how the genre can be used to comment on different social topics especially how it can be a tool for social and thematic change within literature.” It is safe to say her hope has been achieved as one student, when asked their opinion of the class, stated:
“This class has allowed my understanding of queer horror to expand as I’ve developed new strategies and ways of viewing horror specifically through a queer lens. Horror is a diverse genre that offers countless ways to consider different aspects of the human experience, and queer identities are commonly explored within the genre. I’ve been able to apply queer theory to texts to better understand how the horror genre highlights queer identities and experiences. I have also been able to see how well horror as a genre lends itself to showcasing queer identities and struggles because of similarities that can be found in the themes.”