As someone who has been attending the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival annually since 2017, I can comfortably say that the ‘Slayed’ LGBTQ+ shorts block is a true highlight. Horror Press was honored to once again sponsor the block for the 2025 edition of the festival, elevating some of the very best that queer horror has to offer.
This year’s shorts represented a vast diversity of gender identities and sexualities, and the role of intersectionality in shaping a person’s lived experience. They managed to be funny, sexy, beautiful, heartbreaking, and triumphant in turns—and plenty scary, too.
If you couldn’t make it to the screening, here’s a quick recap. Consider it a call to action to prioritize the ‘Slayed’ programming at next year’s fest!
Long Pork (Dir. Iris Dukatt)
The opening titles of writer-director Iris Dukatt’s Long Pork inform us that we are in post-Roe America (don’t I know it). But our currently dystopian hellscape has been taken up a notch, with state propaganda posters plastering the exterior walls of an upscale steakhouse informing us that we need to “Protect the child, forfeit the vessel.” Inside, the head chef (Lena Headey) seizes the opportunity to avenge her daughter, a victim of this extreme pro-life regime, when the smug, hypocritical Chancellor of Righteousness (Marc Menchaca) walks through her doors.
Deliciously cathartic, Long Pork’s master stroke is in its portrayal of a pregnant trans-masc kitchen worker and the solidarity of the women around them. It’s a powerful reminder that queer and gender non-conforming people are often equally (if not more) vulnerable to the kind of oppression that targets cisgender women, and that standing together is the best way to defend ourselves and our communities against those who seek to destroy us. Even if we have to eat them.
Are You Fucking Kidding Me?! (Dir. Zen Pace)
“We’re all clowns in the hospitality industry,” writer and star Zachary Solomon said of their short film Are You Fucking Kidding Me?! during the Q&A at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. In it, they play Jordyn, a struggling birthday party clown dealing with bitchy clients, a fellow performer throwing around queer slurs, and an empty bank account, all while his phone rings off the hook, informing him that his ailing mother has taken a turn for the worse. A mean right hook from an entitled kid and an abusive sexual encounter with the dad finally push Jordyn over the edge, leading to a bloody climax that left the person next to me audibly praying for Jordyn to murder the child next.
He doesn’t, leaving Are You Fucking Kidding Me?! more tragicomedy than outright cathartic horror. Director Zen Pace uses shots through the eyes of Jordyn’s humiliating pig costume to put the viewer in his shoes, but many queer people will already be very familiar with the situation he’s in, forced to debase himself just to make ends meet, any art he might have produced drowned out by the screams of unappreciative little brats.
She Devil (Dir. Allie Perison)
Being a butch woman in hyper-feminine spaces can be uncomfortable. Director Allie Perison amps up the discomfort to an eleven in She Devil, a short film following butch Gemma (Paula Andrea Placido) as she accompanies her femme girlfriend, Mae (Phoebe Voss), to a friend’s breakup party. This is Gemma’s first time meeting Mae’s friends, and she’s alarmed to learn that the group forced the breakup because they distrusted the boyfriend, seemingly without cause. When they realize that Gemma isn’t entirely on their side, the women quickly turn on her, using her as a stand-in for the ex to express all their rage and distrust.
Co-written by Perison and Matt Almquist, She Devil is a chilling examination of weaponized femininity and how it can harm gender-nonconforming women. “I would do anything for my femmes,” one character expresses, pointedly excluding the decidedly unfeminine Gemma. The script also cleverly plays on viewers’ biases, leaving us to reflect on whose side of the story we believe when relationships sour.
Last Call (Dir. Winnie Cheung)
Winner of Best Short Film at this year’s festival, director Winnie Cheung’s Last Call is a dreamy, drug-fueled ride into the psyche. Less a narrative film and more a vivid emotional landscape lit by a lotus-flower sun, the short follows a rebellious motorcyclist (Celia Au) who indulges in her worst vices night after night in an attempt to outrun the seductive serpent woman (Matilda Sakamoto) in her mind. But a high-speed crash forces a collision, triggering a journey of transformation and desire.
Last Call is cut through with moments of stark body horror like a forked tongue slithering from a wound. Paired seamlessly with sumptuous acid-trip landscapes and a triumphant performance from Au, it all makes for one of the most unique—and uniquely beautiful—films of the fest.
Tal 탈 (Dir. Charlie Gillette)
Not all queer stories have a happy ending. From director Charlie Gillette and writer Wesley Han, Tal is a quietly devastating short about the crushing expectations of immigrant parents and the feeling that you need to hide your true self to be successful, or at least make others happy.
Han stars in Tal as Gabriel, a young associate at a prestigious New York City law firm. He’s tried to put his artistic dreams behind him, but he can’t let them go entirely, keeping a neutral mask (a tool used to train actors in movement by hiding their expression) in the desk drawer of his cubicle. As he pulls a grueling all-nighter for his demanding boss and fields worried phone calls from his mother, he finds himself struggling to suppress his feelings for his kind coworker (Barton Cowperthwaite)—and running from a demon wearing his mask. Sadly, Gabriel can’t outrun his demons or confront his desires, leading to an ending that will sit with you long after the credits roll.
Consume (Dir. Aliyah Knight)
The Nitehawk Cinema’s projector broke in the middle of Aliyah Knight’s Consume, but the highest praise I can give the film is to say that I was gutted to miss a single moment of it. From what I did see, the short follows a young woman in a religious household who is struggling to suppress her desires. A little sexy, a little sapphic, and very bloody, it left me hungry for more—a must-watch if I can catch it in full in the future!
Blood Boys (Dir. Jordan Hahn)
When it comes to the topic of blood donation, the shadow of the AIDs crisis still hangs over the gay male community. Writer-director Jordan Hahn’s Blood Boys reframes blood sharing between queer men as a sexy competitive sport, one that fuels toxic masculinity and gets in the way of genuine intimacy.
Based on the real phenomena of creepy old rich men getting blood transfusions from young donors in an attempt to live forever (or at least reverse the effects of aging), Blood Boys follows buff boy Sam (BooBoo Stewart) as he competes to be a billionaire’s personal blood bag. If he wants the job and the perks that may come with it, he’ll have to beat out the current bloodletting champ, Charlie (Damian Joseph Quinn). Hahn contrasts the cold sterility of the clinic with hot skin shining with sweat, plunging needles into swollen veins in a way that is both wince-inducing and undeniably, disturbingly erotic.
The Dysphoria (Dir. Kylie Aoibheann)
With access to affordable gender-affirming care getting more limited by the day, writer-director Kylie Aoibheann’s playful short The Dysphoria packs a surprisingly hefty punch. In it, Alice (Eva Rees), unable to afford a procedure, turns to ancient rituals in an attempt to make her body reflect her true identity. Unfortunately, her boyfriend Tyler (Adam White) not only won’t take the ritual seriously, but wants to dissuade Alice from getting the surgery at all.
The Dysphoria elegantly sidesteps obvious punchlines, instead driving toward a conclusion that is as cathartic as it is amusing. With some great practical gore and a standout performance from Rees, it’s a fun take on a serious issue—and the perfect way to close out the ‘Slayed’ shorts block for another year.