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WHAT’S YOUR PLEASURE, READERS?: The Results Of Our Queer Icons In Horror Survey Are Here!

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Channeling all our queerest fans’ power like a bolt careening into Dr. Frankenstein’s lightning rod (no double entendre there, surely), we’ve tallied the results of our last survey! Here are our top five icons according to our dear readers:

  1. THEODORA CAIN (The Haunting of Hill House (2018))

When Hill House burst onto the scene back in 2018, one of the biggest highlights of the show discussion-wise about the Netflix original was the instantly popular Theo, who from the very get-go is revealed to be lesbian.

While I didn’t hop on the H.H.H. train when it first hit streaming, I’ve since become a big fan of the show, and Theo in particular. Played by the ever-charming Kate Siegel, a regular on Mike Flanagan’s productions, she brings excellent acting to a storyline built around a young gay woman’s complex relationships with her identity, her family, her powers, and herself.

And where is this most effective and memorable but in the third episode “Touch”? This psychic’s relationship with her abilities not only serves for some great visuals and storytelling but also makes up a touching metaphor for the isolation many young queer people face (see: the gloves that made me tear up a bit when I got what they meant). The way Theo’s story ends also speaks to hopefulness for escaping that isolation through love.

  1. PINHEAD & HIS GASH (Hellraiser Franchise)

No seriously, their gang is called a gash. Does your squad of gays have a cool euphemistic name? Didn’t think so. Start brainstorming before all the good ones get taken, gang.

Creator Clive Barker, an openly gay horror writer himself, gave us a complex and grotesque creation that strikes a funny balance between bloody and beautiful, which you must admire due to the difficulty of pulling off making a legendary symbol of horror.

If you need any more evidence, look to the glamorous novella Pinhead. More plainly androgynous in the story, with a “light and breathy [voice]–the voice of an excited girl”. This, along with the fact “every inch of their head had been tattooed with an intricate grid, and at every intersection […] a jeweled pin driven through to the bone”, just makes me think becoming a cenobite is a fancy process of yass-ification. They’re a bedazzled, murderous, pretty enby, which I appreciate.

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Many fans, including a few anonymous submissions on our survey, expressed delight over the new casting of trans actress Jamie Clayton who will take up Doug Bradley’s mantle: “Pinhead is just iconic, and I’m so excited for the new movie to come out, and to have a trans woman play the character.”

The gash would be proud, in more ways than one.

  1. JENNIFER CHECK & ANITA “NEEDY” LESNICKI (Jennifer’s Body)

THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! IF YOU DON’T PUT SOME RESPECT ON DIABLO CODY’S NAME RIGHT NOW!

Ahem. Sorry, got a little passionate there.

I feel like everyone who watches Jennifer’s Body gets enthralled by the clever and fang sharp writing, the gruesomely good visuals, and most importantly, the tragic and incredibly sapphic romance between leads Jennifer and Needy, who steal the show with their onscreen chemistry. It evokes feelings familiar in many viewers: one of our fans mentioned in their response that “Needy and Jennifer’s relationship captures that undisclosed desire amongst my friends I had in high school.”

Fear Queers podcast host Beyza Ozer (@finalbeyza) also felt strongly about this queer rep: “It wasn’t until recently when queer women started becoming more validated in horror and taken more seriously—[…] hopefully more accurate, inspiring, and empowering stories come out in the next few years!”

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If you’ve seen this film and don’t think that Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried work off each other brilliantly in their romance, I have to assume like Miss Check herself says: you’re just totally jello. You’re lime green jello and you can’t even admit it to yourself.

  1. DR. FRANK-N-FURTER (Rocky Horror Picture Show)

When you cross a legendary performance from Tim Curry, a name with heavy innuendo, and one of the best soundtracks of any musical out there, could you really get anything other than gay icon status?

Rocky Horror is a film that speaks to queer youth especially, in a unique and beautiful way. As someone whose high school had a “Rocky Horror Incident” on Halloween, causing some waves with the faculty, and who has seen the film with audiences ranging from a living room to a theatre full, there’s an undeniable energy that this movie brings out of people.

Twitter user @KalDaHomo told us in their response that Dr. Frank-N-Furter “helped them realize that sexuality is fluid and I can wear whatever I damn well please!”, and I think that experience is really telling of the kind of freeing fun everyone has when they watch Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Don’t dream it, readers. Be it.

  1. ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK

Undoubtedly the most boisterous and unforgettable of the horror hosts we’ve ever seen, there was no other option for our fans clearly as Elvira rounds out the top of the list, edging out her competitors by a very large margin.

When people found out last September that Cassandra Peterson had been in a long-term relationship with another woman, LGBTQ+ Twitter had it trending like Halloween had come early with bisexual flag t-shirt cannons and free money. But it was a no-brainer as to why everyone was hyped.

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Elvira has been a fierce icon in the queer community from the get-go, with a long-running camaraderie to the drag scene in particular; That’s not even mentioning that she believes if there ever is another Elvira to take her place (if anybody could fill in those shoes!) that it should be a drag queen to become the next Mistress of the Dark.

And aside from all that, it’s just a plain old heartwarming experience to see an icon of the horror community share their true self with the world—and to see the world greet that identity with open arms.

Our editor-in-chief James-Michael had this to say about Elvira: “She’s a bonafide icon. From tv to comics, she’s been on every conceivable form of media and continues to transcend barriers. Not to mention, you could never meet a cooler person. I love her so damn much.”

We hope you got to see your favorite icons in the top 5 spots, and we’ll see you gorgeous ghouls again in the next article! Sweet screams!

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Luis Pomales-Diaz is a freelance writer and lover of fantasy, sci-fi, and of course, horror. When he isn't working on a new article or short story, he can usually be found watching schlocky movies and forgotten television shows.

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Misc

8 Iconic Slasher Movie Final Girls Who Have Sex And Survive

There is a plethora of final girls, even in iconic slasher movies, who do have sex and get to live. Some come from movies that are intentionally bucking this trope, and some star in movies that came out during the time when the trope was being firmly cemented. Here are nine of them. They are ranked, because it’s a list, but very loosely. I organized them mainly by how much them having sex figures into the story or feels like it “matters” in a historical context. Here are a list of eight final girls who have sex.

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For “Fatal Attraction” month at Horror Press, I really felt that we needed to further investigate the “sex = death” trope in modern horror cinema, particularly slasher movies. The connection between sex and death in slashers, and virginity and survival, has been discussed by some of our leading academics, from Carol J. Clover to Randy Meeks. And it’s true that many slasher movie final girls are virgins. Or at least, that their survival is linked to them not being distracted by indulging in the same base desires for hooking up, smoking dope, etc. as everyone else around them. Frankly, I think that an ability to pay attention is really their strongest attribute on average, but that’s not fun enough to write essays about, I guess.

Anyhoo, there is a plethora of final girls, even in iconic slasher movies, who do have sex and get to live. Some come from movies that are intentionally bucking this trope, and some star in movies that came out during the time when the trope was being firmly cemented. Here are nine of them. They are ranked, because it’s a list, but very loosely. I organized them mainly by how much them having sex figures into the story or feels like it “matters” in a historical context.

8 Horror Movies Where the Final Girl Has Sex

#8 Jade Kincaid in Bride of Chucky (1998)

I’ve tried to limit this list to characters who have explicitly had sex that is either part of the narrative or directly addressed in the dialogue. To my recollection, neither of these things are true of Jade, but she gets married to her horny boyfriend then they wake up in bed together in the Niagara Falls hotel, and they seem mighty comfortable with the amount of closeness that they’ve been able to share on their deadly road trip, even with Chucky and Tiffany breathing down their necks. So I’m gonna count her.

#7 Jess in Black Christmas (1974)

Jess came into the picture a good half-decade before the slasher rules were really codified, which is why she’s ranked a little lower. And frankly, the implications of the final scene make it hard to claim that she “survived” the movie. But she’s still a final girl in an iconic proto-slasher, and her storyline (and one of the main reasons that her boyfriend is a suspect) involves her arguing about wanting to get an abortion. Zygotes don’t just come out of nowhere, y’all.

#6 Jessica Kimble in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Jessica Kimble’s situation is a double whammy. Not only does she have a baby with her ex, the total drip Steven, her horrible new boyfriend Robert later brags on the phone about having had sex with her after stealing her mother’s body from the morgue. She may not know how to pick ‘em, but she is sexually active and is one of the finalest final girls there is, considering she sends Jason Voorhees (and the entire Friday the 13th franchise) straight to hell.

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#5 Laurie Strode in Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)

Now, this is notable because Laurie Strode is one of the characters who first cemented the “virginal final girl” trope, whether rightly or wrongly. There’s something of a question as to whether she’s actually a virgin or if she’s just better at babysitting than her terrible friends. But her triumphant return in Halloween H20 proves once and for all that she has had sex with, well, somebody, because she spit out a teenage kid with terrible bangs in the meantime. I secretly hope the father is Jimmy from Halloween II, but if wishes were fishes, every Halloween fan could open a sushi restaurant.

#4 Maxine Minx in X (2022)

Maxine Minx stars in a porno movie and survives Pearl’s murderous onslaught so hard that the sequel is named after her. Now that’s power!

#3 Alice Johnson in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

In addition to the Dream Master’s unborn child being central to the storyline of the sequel, the conception of said child is depicted in the opening credits, which is mainly just shots of writhing flesh that are so close up you have no idea what body part you’re actually looking at. But if that’s not sex, I couldn’t possibly begin to tell you what it is.

#2 Ginny Field in Friday the 13th Part 2 (1980)

Ginny Field hooking up with her boyfriend Paul (while the peeping Crazy Ralph gets garroted with barbed wire, natch) in the early going of the movie is important in a variety of ways. First of all, Friday the 13th was the franchise that most dominated the pantheon of 1980s slasher filmmaking, cementing the rules of the slasher formula more than any other group of movies. The fact that one of their earliest final girls more or less explicitly had sex just goes to show that the trope already had cracks in its foundation from the beginning. And OK, technically, she just makes out super hard with Paul, and then it cuts to the next morning, but she’s surprised when she wakes up, and he’s not still in bed with her. The fact that they had sex is simple cinematic language, babyyyyyyy!

The second is that, not only is she a final girl who has sex, she is one of the best final girls out there, using every tool at her disposal to protect herself from Jason: her intellect, her strength, her skill with tools, and so much more.

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#1 Sidney Prescott in Scream (1996)

Scream is the movie that helped fully cement the “virginal final girl” trope with Randy’s big speech in front of a paused Halloween, but it simultaneously turns that trope on its head by having iconic final girl Sidney not only have sex, but (spoiler) have sex with one of the killers! And not only did she survive Scream, she survived Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, the other Scream, and… I guess we’ll have to see about Scream 7, but the gal has a hell of a track record.

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Misc

10 Romantic, Dread-Inducing Movies You Can Watch On Shudder This Valentine’s Day

Love is in the air, and all the romantic horror movies you could want are online. More specifically, they’re on Shudder! As a fanatic for the streaming platform who has had quite a few movie nights saved by its catalog serving up something wild and weird to delight the senses (shoutout the boatloads of weird old Italian horror on there), Shudder can also be your hero when spending time with the person you fancy. No matter how deep into a relationship or how new it is, there are quite a few films to suit you and your significant other this Valentine’s Day. So I’ve compiled a short list of the best horror movies on Shudder for that special date night. These are the 10 best horror movies for you date night!

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Love is in the air, and all the romantic horror movies you could want are online. More specifically, they’re on Shudder! As a fanatic for the streaming platform who has had quite a few movie nights saved by its catalog serving up something wild and weird to delight the senses (shoutout the boatloads of weird old Italian horror on there), Shudder can also be your hero when spending time with the person you fancy.

No matter how deep into a relationship or how new it is, there are quite a few films to suit you and your significant other this Valentine’s Day. So I’ve compiled a short list of the best horror movies on Shudder for that special date night.

10 Best Horror Movies for Your Next Date Night

Audition (1999)

Ah, here we have a lighthearted comedy about a man who auditions for a woman to be his wife but realizes he’s looking for love in all the wrong places!

If you know what Audition is actually like, that was funny. But if you aren’t aware, please don’t take that opening line seriously. Directed by Takashi Miike, a man whose name is branded on Japanese cinema’s back with a hot iron because of his transgressive filmmaking, Audition was one of those films I would see regularly included on “Disturbing Horror” lists back in the late 2010s, and it certainly lives up to that reputation with some of the absolutely nauseating visuals it has on offer. But its cinematography is very well-rounded and garners some pretty interesting shots with its camera work when it isn’t showing you its more spine-tingling content.

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This one is on the list as a staunch reminder for all our Horror Press readers who are as single as a pringle this Valentine’s Day: there are much worse things you can endure than being alone.

Frankenhooker (1990)

Between Nosferatu in 2024, and the forthcoming Guillermo Del Toro Frankenstein in 2025, gothic horror that is red with romantic blood is proudly making a comeback. There’s a warmth in their cold nature, a world-ending and monstrous expression of love that captures the grand emotions of the human experience.

Frankenhooker is not that. It is purely fun, goofy, slapstick horror about a guy giving a bunch of sex workers super-crack that makes them explode, and then rebuilding his girlfriend who died in a lawnmower accident with their body parts. Frank Henenlotter permanently put himself in my short list of best directors of all time with this film just because of how fluidly and perfectly he made this horror comedy work with such a small budget and the many constraints he, the cast, and the crew were working under. So, if there’s anything this film represents on this list, it’s the intimate bond between a creator and their creation, between artist and their art.

Which, again, is kind of hilarious given the premise of the film. But it still counts!

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Tragedy Girls (2017)

If you’ve ever seen the meme about that gay ancient Egyptian couple who are dubbed “history’s first roommates”, that’s kind of how I feel a lot of people watched Tragedy Girls. There’s a clear implied romance here people! This horror comedy is about a pair of friends who frame a serial killer for their own series of murders, planning to capitalize on the deaths of their targets to grow a social media following.

It has some pretty heavy queer subtext in it, led by Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp as the charismatic duo of Sadie and McKayla; they deliver a lot of the movie’s funniest lines, and deserve way more credit than they’ve gotten for this film. Supporting performances from Kevin Durand and Jack Quaid round out a phenomenal cast. All in all, it’s a fun little film that needs more acknowledgment.

She Is Conann (2023)

Queer subtext, meet queer fantasy horror that is so blatant it’s basically screaming that subtext is for cowards like Garth Marenghi. It’s hitting subtext with its muscle car and then plunging a bastard sword into its chest.

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One of my personal favorites from Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Bertrand Mandico’s take on the sword and sorcery protagonist who shall not be named for copyright reasons, is a trip of a ride through time and space. It’s about unrequited love between a swordswoman and the dog demon haunting her, traveling through Conann’s life (where several different actresses depict her, each bringing a unique flash to their roles). It backs up that weird premise with some very weird visuals, including a grotesque & gourmet finale you’ll need to sit down for and feast your eyes on.

Villains (2019)

This film had me smiling from the jump, and it’s not just because it’s a black comedy thriller about a pair of bumbling amateur thieves running into a nightmare situation they never could have seen coming. It’s mainly because Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgård have perfect onscreen chemistry, which synthesizes with their already excellent comedic timing.

Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick, who play opposite them as the two child kidnapping antagonists of the film, also aren’t anything to scoff at since they bring their creepy couple a-game to the table. The movie has some twists on offer, and a bittersweet ending to counter all the boxed chocolates you’ll be snacking on while you watch.

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Mayhem (2017)

Speaking of on-screen couples I love, Mayhem is here! Again! I feel like I’ve recommended this film 3 or 4 times across articles on this site. But I wouldn’t be doing that if I didn’t think this was absolutely positively Joe Lynch’s best work.

People get infected with a virus that removes all their inhibitions, usually resulting in bloody brawls as people succumb to their darkest whims and wants. But with this particular quarantine, a recently fired lawyer at a consulting firm and a woman out to get her loan extended become unlikely allies as they realize they can literally murder their way to the top of the building to get what they want without any legal consequences.

Samara Weaving and Steven Yeun are mind-meltingly great together in this, and they both pull it off as unwitting action horror protagonists who will fight and claw to get what they want. They’re also plain cute together and have a whole romcom subplot going throughout this, so that’s why I am also putting it here.

Perfect movie, no notes!

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Possession (1981)

On the other end of the relationship spectrum is Possession, the most stressful breakup film you will ever watch, and it really doesn’t ever let up since I was still very anxious after the credits had rolled.

It is not cute, it is not fun. It’s a film about a man whose wife suddenly leaves him and his son, the raw wounds of their separation are salted when he finds out his child’s teacher looks exactly like his wife. Things get more confusing from here as the characters enter a downward spiral of pure madness, involving bizarre creatures that turn out to be devious doppelgangers.

It’s through and through an angry film expressing the malcontent of its director, Andrzej Żuławski, who was grappling with feelings of his divorce from his own wife at the time. It’s the kind of raw and emotional filmmaking that you can only pull from a heavy time in your life and sculpt into something breathtakingly frightening. Get ready for a movie that will make you grateful your relationship isn’t that bad, and an ending shot that will punch you straight in the mouth.

Uh, lets maybe get a less depressing film up on the list to mellow things out huh?

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Mother, May I? (2023)

This is quite literally the opposite of what I requested! This film almost made me cry! Which is why it’s on here. One of the less talked about Shudder offerings in general, this film is one of three Kyle Gallner releases from 2023, which sort of pre-emptively got my seal of approval before I even watched it. Because Kyle Gallner can do no wrong, he has the back-to-back-to-back streak of great performances to prove it. If you don’t agree, peep the opening to Smile 2, and if you still don’t agree, argue with the wall.

The premise made me think it was going to be a totally gonzo and off-the-wall horror movie, given it’s about a guy whose fiancé begins to act like his recently deceased mother, and may or may not be possessed by her. What I found was a slow-burn psychological horror with some deeply disquieting moments and an ending that had me hypnotized and leaning into the screen as it unfolded.

The character work Holland Roden does in this film is genuinely incredible, so if you want to see two actors at the top of their game engaging in a mind-bending and uncomfortable relationship, this is the film to look out for. It will keep you and your other half talking about it for hours. 

Mandy (2018)

This might be one of the most romantic movies of all time, and I’m not just saying that because I really like how it looks and how vibrant and red its color palette becomes. After all, what better expression of love is there than forging a battleaxe, getting in your car, and going on a hunt to kill every last member of the demonic drug-dealing biker gang that took your lover from you? It’s a heavy, heavy metal kind of love.

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Panos Cosmatos’ mastery of cinematic language here is profoundly affecting, and Nicholas Cage’s performance is the kind built to slap the taste out of the mouths who claim he is simply a “so bad he’s good” actor. He’s just outright incredible in this, and every rewatch of Mandy reaffirms how absolutely, jaw-droppingly good he is at portraying people going through severe emotional distress.

Also, if Cheddar Goblin doesn’t bring you and your partner together through hard times, I don’t know what will.

Jakob’s Wife (2021)

And finally, one more Horror Press staple to round out the list. If there are three character actors I just can’t wait to see in a movie, it’s Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, and Bonnie Aarons. OH WAIT, WHAT’S THIS? A FILM WITH ALL OF THEM? (Also, AEW’s very own CM Punk is here, which scratches an itch in my brain that loves both horror and wrestling.)

Anne is listless and tired of being the small church mouse at her husband’s side. Jakob is violently complacent and domineering over Anne. But Anne’s attack by a vampire gives her a new lease on life, and their marriage a chance at being repaired after decades of degradation. Jakob’s determination to cure her of her vampirism, however, seems set to undo this new chance. And yes, they do earn that hype description with their performances together; they work off each other wonderfully.

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The movie is surprisingly well-balanced, with many moments for introspection matching against the film’s sometimes absolutely absurdist humor. I’m a big fan of Jakob’s Wife, and if you watch it, you should also check out one of the earlier pieces on the website that the lovely Alex Warrick wrote back in 2022!

BONUS: Habit (1997)

The above entry also reminded me, if you’re looking for more Larry Fessenden and more vampire romance with a deeply rooted allegory for addiction in it, you should watch Habit. The awesome Brendan Jesus put me onto it after I missed its repertory screening last October, and has also written a cool companion piece talking about the experience of seeing it at BHFF, so check that out too!

And if you didn’t find any of these selections enticing, keep an eye peeled on our It Came From Shudder series! Every month there’s a new list of recommendations hot off the presses from the ever-vigilant Sharai Bohannon, sure to zap your brain meats with cool new cosmic and creepy signals pouring out of Shudder! Happy watching horror fans!

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